He swam to the edge of the pool where I stood, and crossed his arms over the ledge. “I’ve been swimming for ages. How about you? Can you swim?”
“Not very well,” I admitted.
His smile was playful when he asked, “Are you coming in?”
I smirked. “Thinking about it.”
He grinned. “C’mon. Have a go.” He raked a hand over his head. “I dare you to jump.”
I laughed. “Uh… no. I can barely swim. No way I’m jumping off the deep end.”
“Come on,” he urged. “Don’t be a chicken.”
“I’m a ‘walks down the steps slowly’ kinda girl, not a ‘jumps right in’ kinda girl,” I tried to explain but he would have none of it.
He shook his head. “Well, today, you’re a ‘jumps right in’ kinda gal, love,” he insisted, like I had no choice in the matter.
I laughed. “No way that’ll ever happen.”
“Look at me,” he commanded, and my eyes were suddenly drawn to his. His sparkly topaz blue eyes were hard to resist; it wasn’t so much the fact that they were striking, but there was something magnetic about them. As soon as they latched on to mine, they owned me. It felt so weird. Ace is really freaky that way.
My gaze was stuck to his, in a strange trance-like state.
“You can swim, can’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, not very well.”
“Yes, you can swim. You’re a perfectly fine swimmer, and you want to jump in that water,” he started, his voice smooth and soft, his words slow. “You’re hot. Burning hot. And you crave to be in the cold refreshing water. You will jump in, immerse yourself in its coolness, and emerge triumphant, like a mermaid.”
I rather liked the idea of being a mermaid, and I did suddenly feel so hot and sweaty. The heat was stifling actually, and I pictured myself plunging in the water, my hair dancing around my shoulders, my body cool and relaxed as I rocketed back to the surface.
He backed up, expanding the distance between us. “Now jump!”
There had been no debate in my mind, no second-guessing. It was like my mind was numb. And I jumped in. Just like that. And it felt amazing. For a second or two, I was a beautiful mermaid. It was magical.
But the second I broke through the surface, the spell broke and I panicked, flailing my arms like a silly wild banshee. He came to my rescue, of course.
He wrapped his arms around my waist. “See, you did it,” he said, all smiles. “And you’re still alive.”
I scowled, still gasping for breath. “Why did you make me do that?”
“I didn’t make you do anything. You did it all by yourself.”
“No… you’re like a hypnotist or something, you totally put me in a trance…” I couldn’t quite find the words I needed to express how he had made me feel. I had felt completely under his control, like he could have made me do anything; kill someone, bomb a small country. It was a scary feeling.
Spellbinder.
That’s what he was, after all. And now, I finally understood. He had cast a spell on me. “You… you’re trouble,” I finally managed to choke out, attempting to pull away from his hold.
A wicked smile slowly traced his lips, and I thought about the girl Brianna had told me about, the one he allegedly made jump off that cliff. She jumped to her death! That could have been me!
Could it have been true? If it was, why was Brianna still in love with him? He held onto me, not releasing me, but it wasn’t his arms that kept me there, it was his eyes. I understood then why Brianna couldn’t pull away.
“I like you, Anna,” he said quietly, and I desperately wanted to escape, yet my body was frozen in his arms. “You’re a sweet broken doll I want to mend,” he added playfully.
Well, in terms of compliments, it certainly wasn’t one of the best ones I’d ever received. I wasn’t broken. I was pretty well adjusted – well, as far as teenagers go. I had it together, dammit. Or so I thought.
“Let me go,” I pleaded quietly. He held me still for a long beat.
