A gust of wind surges around me, and then I feel his hand on my shoulder. I spin back around to face him. He’s so close, even closer than he was on the couch. I can make out every single pigment of his shimmer, moving through him like ocean waves.
Please, don’t be embarrassed. What I saw, it was truly…transcendent. I didn’t touch you, but…I did…something. I’m not even sure how to describe it. I put a sensation into your mind. It was almost as if I wanted to touch you so bad, right in that spot that makes you feel so good, that my thoughts…made it happen. I’ve never had anything like that happen before. And then, lastnight while you slept, I did it again. I projected my thoughts into your dreams, and you woke up full of desire.
I know I should be appalled. I should be disgusted that he did that to me, that he somehow manipulated the way I was feeling until I was so horny that Ihadto touch myself. I felt his touch, or whatever it was that he did to me, like it was real, like it was physical. The memory of his voice as he talked me through the act is enough to make me clench my thighs together.
“I think maybe I need some time alone.” I can’t process this when he’s here, staring at me like that.
Gabriel blinks slowly at me. It’s disarming the way there’s almost no change between the color of his eyes and the color of the rest of him. The only indication that he blinked is the shimmering edge of his eyelid moving down and then back up.
I cannot leave you entirely.
“No, I get that.” I take a step back, putting distance between us. “But I need some space to think. Can you…can you maybe go as far away as you can?”
He nods, a slow dip of his chin.Of course.
And then he’s gone. Just like that. The only thing left is a puff of black smoke that dissipates almost immediately.
Chapter 4
Iwish I had brought more wine. I only brought the one bottle because I’m generally not much of a drinker. But finding out I’m stuck in a cabin with a shadow creature–or whatever he is–for a week is a call for wine.
I try to get back to work, but how can I possibly focus on this book when I know Gabriel is somewhere nearby? I told him to go as far away as he could, but that doesn’t mean he’s not watching me. It doesn’t mean he can’t see me right now.
A tingle travels up my spine, and I spin around, looking out the window behind me into the trees beyond the property. I stare long and hard into the shadows, but I can’t see him. Of course I can’t. He can blend in with the shadows. Heisa shadow. And he has decades worth of experience making himself invisible to humans.
Even thinking the wordhumanmakes me shudder. To think that there are things in this world thataren’thuman, just walking around amongst us, makes me a little queasy. What else exists in the world, if Shadow People do? Ghosts and monsters and creepy crawlies?
I feel bad as soon as that thought hits my brain. Gabriel isn’t a creepy crawly. He’s been nothing but nice to me. It’s not like he tried to possess me or murder me or anything.
I take my empty teacup to the kitchen, where I spot the flowers sitting in the middle of the table. Hyacinths. I didn’t really look at them before, but I see them completely now. They’re shades of pale blue and soft purple. I walk over to them, brushing the tips of my fingers against them.
That’s it. Please yourself, pretty girl…
The memory of his voice plays through my mind. He said he somehow made me feel good with his thoughts. Does that mean he isn’t able to touch me?
I roll my eyes and let my hand fall away from the flowers. It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I’m going to let him touch me. I should go. I know I should. I should pack up my stuff and get out of here.
But I spent so much money on this week at the cabin, and it’s only been two days. I want my money’s worth. Maybe it’s not so bad, having someone around. He won’t bother me as long as I ask him to stay away. I can keep working, and he can just hang around in the trees outside. Right? Or does he have to eat? And go to the bathroom?
I feel so stupid. I don’t know anything about a creature like him. Maybe I should have asked him more questions instead of kicking him out. That might have been more productive.
My eyes lift, going to the window, where the sun is setting on the other side of the glass, the light shifting to something aquamarine through the trees. If I wanted him to come back, how would I let him know? Would he hear me if I said his name? What if I justthoughtit?
“Gabriel?” I whisper, and a chill moves from one side of my body to the other, like someone has run their hand up under myhair. I gasp, planting a hand on the table and feeling the way my nipples harden under the sensation.
Gabriel stands in the corner of the room, the outline of him stark against the natural shadows cast by the sun. I can feel his eyes on me, and I hold myself perfectly still, not even really sure why I called for him. I have no idea what I’m doing.
Yes, Calista?he asks, his voice almost a purr.
I have a hundred questions, but I can’t bring myself to ask any of them. I don’t even know why. It’s like they’re caught in my throat, like if I open my mouth and speak, I’ll choke on them. I take a deep breath, feeling the thick presence of him in the corner, and then I say, “I think I’m going to go to bed early. Goodnight.”
A shimmer goes through him, but he just says,Goodnight, Calista.
I turn to leave the kitchen, but at the last minute, I turn back. “Thank you for the flowers.”
All of him shimmers and spreads, like someone throwing a rock into a pond, and I bite back a smile as I rush out of the kitchen and down the hall to my bedroom.
A few hours later,I’m still laying awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. I keep thinking I see movement out of the corner of my eye, keep turning quickly to check, seeing nothing but shadows. How well can Gabriel blend in with the shadows? Would I be able to tell he was there, no matter what, or could he make himself undetectable?
