"Good morning, Miss Burton." He smiles slightly at me with that smile that makes my knees weak.
Raphael has never smiled at me before. I thought he was the kind of man who is simply not able to do that. I thought, like, it wasn’t his style or something. But here he is, fresh and rested, smiling at me as if nothing happened yesterday.
A shiver covers my skin right away, and I slow down. I try to convince myself that this man is dangerous, that I should run away from him. But there is a part of me that is wonderingWhy is he following me everywhere? And why do I feel what I feel when he's near?
When he sees that I have slowed my steps, the smile disappears from his face. I guess the shock of seeing him is written all over my face.
"What are you doing here?" I ask when I get closer, stopping as far away from him as possible.
"I'm here to take a riding class; isn't that obvious?" His gaze is stuck with mine, and another shiver runs down my spine.
I can't stand that gaze, so I lower my eyes, taking a deep breath, trying not to faint from all those mixed feelings inside of me.
"Don't worry, I will behave appropriately," he adds casually as if we're some kind of friends.
"How did you know I'd be here?" I ask irritatedly, ignoring his friendly tone. "Did you threaten them to give me this job?"
"Does Alexa looks like a scared woman who's been threatened?" he asks in response, ignoring my questions.
No, she doesn't,I think but do not say aloud, exploring his face, trying to understand his intentions.
"Is this some kind of a game? You choose a woman to chase until..." I stop myself before saying too much.
"Until what, Katie?" He takes a step closer, standing against me. "Until I sleep with her? Do I look like a man who needs to chase a woman to have sex?"
He could touch me if he wanted; he's standing too close. And those deep grey eyes are looking intently from above. I swallow, doing my best to stay still and not look away.
He's rich and handsome; of course, he has no problems with women.
"Then what’s going on? Why are you followingme?" I ask and hear that my voice is shaking. I realize that I'm on the verge of crying at how desperate I feel when he's near.
"Katie," he says calmly and reaches out a hand, probably to calm me down, but I jump back, so he changes his mind. "I'll answer any of your questions if you do the same for me."
"How will I know that you're telling the truth?"
"Have I ever lied to you?"
I don't know,I want to say, but I stay silent. For a couple of moments, we simply stare at each other, motionless; our gazes have their own dance, so passionate that all of my insides are burning.
"I'm not gonna play your games, Mr. Darrington," I say, taking a step back. "You came here for a lesson, so I'll do my job. But that's all."
I see a disappointment mixed with...sadness? on his face, but I turn around and walk to the stall with horses.
Chapter Nine
Raphael
She's good at horse riding, almost as good as Beatrice, even though Katie is young, while my sister has had centuries of practice. When did she learn to ride like that?
I want to ask but stay silent, waiting for her to start the conversation first. I don't want to push her, even though the passion inside of me is growing with an incredible force. But I have to get my feelings under control not to drive her away even further. I’ve already done everything possible for her to be scared of me.
I take a deep breath and remind myself that I have been waiting for centuries to meet my soul mate, so a couple of weeks, maybe months, is nothing compared to that. I know I'm not a very patient man; I am used to getting anything I want anytime I want.
And now I want Katie so much that everything inside of me burns with need and rage because I can’t have her. I’ve never experienced this before, and I can tell for sure that it’s the most unpleasant feeling of all. I’ve lived a very long life, and nothing, not even my death, was this painful.
She takes a look at the watch on her wrist to see what time it is. She exhales deeply with regret when she realizes that it's only been a quarter of a lesson. She's probably counting the seconds until she can get rid of me. While all I want is for her to never leave my sight.
"May we go outside of the paddock?" I finally break the silence, realizing that we've simply been riding silently in a circle. "The forest is so beautiful. I want to explore it further."