Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 42637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
I sat down on a nearby fallen log and immediately pulled my sketchpad out. I started drawing the ruins, getting the details of the crumbling stone and the flora making its home in the rubble. Emotion consumed me. My hands trembled as I ran my pencil across the paper.
The way the shadows crossed and clung to its walls made it seem like they were intimate lovers too afraid to part. I snacked on a few things I’d brought in my bag, getting lost in my art as the air grew colder and the daylight continued to fade.
And then I felt it. A presence.
Someone is watching me.
The back of my neck tightened, tingled, and I froze, my pencil still in mid-stroke as I glanced up and looked around. I noticed the first thing right away.
The surrounding forest had gone silent. I didn't hear birds chirping, didn’t pick up on animals scurrying around. I didn't even hear or feel the wind.
I closed my eyes, my muscles tense as I let myself just…feel my surroundings. After a minute, I opened my eyes and lifted my head, my gaze sweeping the clearing once more before landing on the darkest structure of the ruins.
And then my vision cleared, and I saw him.
There was a person standing in the ruins, partially hidden by the crumbling archway and deep shadows. It was a male, his shape and height a definite giveaway.
He was massive and imposing, with broad shoulders and a towering frame that cast a long shadow across the ground—a shadow that was terrifying and seemed inhuman.
My chest tightened, and I felt something weird take control of me as I took in his very presence. He hadn’t said one word, yet I could feel his gaze on me. And although I couldn’t make out his face, I knew without a doubt he had sharp and angular features… and he was impossibly handsome.
And then he stepped out of the blackest of the shadows, yet still stayed in the darkened recesses of the ruins. I didn’t recognize him, but I knew—without a doubt—that I knew this man.
I held my breath as I stared at his face. But it wasn’t just his features that struck me. It was the way he stared at me, his eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made me feel like prey.
Or like he knew me on the most intimate level.
Because the way he watched me was with this almost hungry expression that was feral and predatory.
I stood, gripping my sketchpad, and took a step back, instinct in me saying this man was safe…yet he was fierce.
Both of us were still silent, and then his lips curved into the faintest smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Here you are.” His voice was low and rough as he spoke in thickly accented English.
His voice curled around me and made my heart race. But it wasn’t out of fear, and that fact terrified me on a primal level.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, not sure why I was apologizing.
“What do you have there?” he asked, gesturing to my sketchpad.
I pulled the pad away from my chest and glanced down. “I was just sketching.” He stepped toward me, his movements deliberate. My legs felt shaky, my feet taking me another step back.
I could make out his facial features more. Taking him in with a more critical eye now, I took note he was even larger than I’d realized. His frame was towering, and if I had to guess, I would have said he was six foot eight. His presence was suffocating.
I started breathing faster as I sensed the air grew colder and the sun set further, casting more darkness until the light disappeared beneath the horizon.
“It’s getting late,” he finally said. “You shouldn’t be here.” His voice was sharper now, cutting through like a blade.
“You’re right,” I whispered, clutching the sketchpad to my chest again. “I better get going.” Yet I didn’t move.
The last sliver of sunlight disappeared, plunging the clearing into shadow. God, how had I stayed out so late? Time had slipped through my fingers.
His figure blocked everything behind him as he moved away from the ruins and walked closer to me. But my feet refused to retreat and take me away from him. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but his eyes gleamed faintly, this unnatural glow flickering in their depths.
“I’m going to go,” I whispered again.
“Come here, Clara.” His command was soft, but it carried the weight of something ancient, something that demanded obedience.
I found myself walking, almost floating, to this strange man who somehow knew my name. The way he spoke to me, commanded me, wrapped around my body in a seductive embrace. I couldn’t place him, had never seen him before, yet… he was familiar.
He leaned in, his face so close to mine I could feel his warm breath brush against my skin. My neck tingled, and I lifted my hand, touching the spot where I knew the bite mark was.