FREYA 2
The minute I touch him it feels like everything around me stills, but I know it hasn’t because I hear the other man talking. His voice is faint and garbled because my focus is only on the man standing before me. He is a giant of a man, easily double my size. The smell of his leather kutte fills my lungs with an unmistakable fragrance of leather and sandalwood. His eyes capture and hold my attention, ever since I was a little girl, I’ve dreamt of his eyes.
I always thought that it was just a dream—a dream of a silly girl that just wanted someone to be the same as her and not labelled a freak. While at school, most people used to tease me about my eyes, and that is why I always wear contact lenses unless I’m alone like I thought I was out here. The paparazzi would have a field day if they found out about me.
I’ve worn coloured contact lenses for as long as I can remember—not even my agent knows that my eyes are different colours. But here is this man, he seems bigger than life and dares anyone to say anything about him being different. I wish I was like that; I wish I was courageous like him and could show the world that I’m different. Somehow, deep down, I knew he was out there somewhere because he and I were always destined to meet.
His skin under my hand feels so warm—so inviting. The feel of his stubble makes my fingers tingle in reaction. I want to stroke my fingers over the long, dark blond tresses that lie around his shoulders. On any other man, this long of hair might have looked feminine, but not on him. He is too male to ever look anything but rugged. There is a magnetism about him that is pulling me in—talking to something deep within me. I said to him that he was like me, and I’ve a feeling that he is more like me than I thought.
His fingers tighten gently around my waist as what sounds like a growl escapes him. His eyes are staring deep into mine and I feel like he is seeing right into my soul. “Are you okay?” His voice is deep, with a growly texture to it that seems to caress me.
Am I okay? I don’t know. My mind seems to be focused only on this man, and even though I try to concentrate, I seem to be drawn to his energy alone.
“Who are you?” I ask, but I feel like my very soul already knows him. How is that possible?
“Dane,” he replies, inclining his head against my palm. Only now do I realize that I’m still cupping his face, but I don’t want to pull away. I don’t want to break the connection I’m feeling with this man. It feels right—it feels like home.
“Can you feel it?” I whisper, worried that he is going to think I’m a fruit cake, but I need to know if I’m the only one feeling our connection. One of his eyebrows arches, followed by a curt nod. My head spins as my vision goes blurry, but instead of being worried of my sudden decrease in focus, I know that everything will be okay. My body shakes as if I’m ill with a high fever and my legs give way, but Dane is there to catch me, cradling me up against his chest.
My head falls against him.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” I suddenly hear the world around me once again as my body convulses.
The rumbled words vibrating through Dane’s chest penetrate my very soul. “She’s mine.”
“Fuck,” someone says, but it sounds like it’s coming from a long distance away. I’m not sure if I lose consciousness, but the next thing I know, something warm is trickling into my mouth and down my throat. I still feel the warmth of Dane’s arms around me, so I ignore the fear of whatever has me reacting like this and trust that whatever it is, is meant to be.
“Everything is going to be okay,” I hear Dane say close to my ear. “I’m right here.” The assurance that he isn’t going anywhere has me succumbing to the darkness, knowing that Dane will be here to look after me until I’m feeling like myself again.
***
I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but the first thing I feel is heat radiating all around me. I know that I’m still in Dane’s arms, even though I haven’t opened my eyes. I don’t know what happened earlier, but I swear I must be going mad because I’m sure that I can feel a connection with this man. Opening my eyes, I see him looking down at me. His hair falls over his face, placing it in shadows. Even with his hair concealing his features, I can still see his intense eyes boring into me.
“How are you feeling?” I didn’t dream the reaction his voice has on my senses, it’s like a live wire sharpening every cell inside my body.
“Fine, but what’s going on?” I see him frown; I get the feeling that he is contemplating on what to tell me.
“This is going to sound strange to you, but you were made for me, you are my woman.”
Maybe with anyone else it might sound strange, but not with me. I’ve been living a strange life ever since I was a teenager, and there isn’t much I find strange anymore. When I was twelve, I realized that I could do something no one else could. I tried to tell my mom, but she put it down to having a very fertile imagination until one day I could show her. After that, I wished I hadn’t because from then on, our relationship changed.
My mom and I don’t speak much now. She doesn’t say it, but I know she thinks I’m a freak. I also know that she loves me, but fears what I can do. Will this man think I’m a freak and leave? Maybe I should just not tell him anything, it’s not as if he’ll ever find out unless I tell him.
How do you tell someone that you’re able to freeze everything around you—even him? How would that make him feel? I don’t think anyone would want to be near someone that can do that. I found out that I could make everything around me come to a standstill when I was twelve. I was upset because a girl, that I thought was my friend, posted a picture of me, and on the photo it stated beware of the witch.
I was already weary of those around me, but that changed me. I don’t trust people easily, and I sure don’t get close to anyone anymore. So, this feeling that I’m having with Dane is completely new to me—a feeling of oneness I can’t exactly explain. Not even with my own mother do I feel that. “It doesn’t sound strange. I feel something with you that I’ve never felt before. How is that possible?”
“I’m an Elemental. We Elemental’s mate for life.” His words are firm, as if to ascertain their truth.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I’m not completely human. I’m stronger, faster, and can bend air to my will.”
I tense at his words. Is it possible that he is as different as I am? Is this someone playing a prank on me or did someone find out what I can do and is trying to test me?
“Show me.” If he really is as he says, then it won’t be a problem for him to demonstrate it.
He suddenly raises his hand, motioning for me to look behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I only now realize that we are inside the house, and that the other men that were with him are nowhere to be seen. We are on the two-seater couch—Dane’s girth taking up most of it. I’m about to turn back to Dane when I see the door opening. It moves the other way again as if someone was closing it, and just when I thought it would stop, he opens it again.