She saw him whilst reading in the bookstore.
Selena had been sitting in the comfy overstuffed chair for the past hour, lost in the words of Bram Stoker, occasionally sipping her now long-cold tea. Lemon and honey. She had been deep into the story, when she felt that telltale frission of awareness, telling her that she was being watched. This was odd in and of itself because normally it would take "World War III", as her sister laughingly said, to distract her whilst she was deep in an interesting story.
She glanced over her book and there he was. She looked back down at the words, then up through her eyelashes, so that she could examine him without his notice. He was still staring--not a rude stare--just a pensive, albeit smouldering, gaze. She felt a blush being slowly drawn out of her.
He was a beautiful man, just the type that she had always dreamed about, but to whom she had always been too shy to talk. Even leaning against a bookshelf, she could tell that he was tall, probably about 6'1", she surmised. His hair, a thick, wavy, gleaming ebony, reached down past the collar of his black silk shirt. His skin was pale, with a pearlescent luminescence. Ebony and ivory. He had thick, black eyebrows that arched like quizzical wings, a proud, poetic nose, and high prominent cheekbones. His mouth was a deep red, with a full, sensuous bottom lip that promised gentle kisses, but it was his eyes that mesmerized her. Even from this distance, she could tell that they were a rich, clear grass green. His mouth slowly curled up into a provocative smile, making her realize that he knew that she too, had been staring. She blushed an even deeper crimson.
She became flustered, knocking over the dregs of her tea as she reached for it. Standing up quickly, she put down her head to let her long, curly, blood-red hair cover her flaming face. Through the screen of hair, she saw him straighten and mentally gasped. 6'1"? Try 6'5". She backed up, bumping into the armchair. He didn't stir, but stood there following her with his eyes. She decided to take the only logical avenue of action. She grabbed her purse, and went home.
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He watched with lazy amusement as she hastily retreated from the room. Looking down, he noticed that she had left something behind. Walking over with feline grace, he flipped it into his hand. A slow smile melted its way across his features. Her wallet. He opened it. Selena Outlaw. Anyone looking at him now would have decided to make it an early night. After all, one would have to be awfully tired to imagine a man whose smile... Something else caught his eye--ah, yes, the book that she had been reading. He left it there; his sharp eyes had already picked up the title whilst he was across the room. Dracula. Pocketing her wallet, he sauntered out of the bookstore, into the crisp autumn night.
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Once home, Selena made a beeline for the bathroom. She needed a long, hot bath to wash away all thoughts of the mysterious, handsome man. She cut on the water and poured in the jasmine scented bubble-bath. Sitting on the side of the tub, she braided her hip-length hair, and then wound it into a messy bun. Her tabby cat, Artemis wound herself between her ankles. Picking her up, Selene went to the kitchen to pour her some goat's milk, and then crouched down to stroke her soft, furry back. Artemis purred her feline pleasure. Laughing, Selena wandered into the living room to choose some soft, soothing music. 'Let's see, Shankar, Liszt, Barber, Tchaikovsky, and...'--she ran her finger lightly over the titles—'Hm, well, why not?' she thought—'The Bram Stoker's Dracula soundtrack. As a matter of fact,'—here she grinned ruefully—'why not make it a night?' Biting her generous lower lip, she discarded some of her earlier choices and chose the Interview with the Vampire soundtrack, as well as the Queen of the Damned score, and placed them into rotation on her CD player.
As the first strains of music drifted through her flat, she wandered back into the bathroom, cut off the running water, took off her clothes, tossed them into the hamper, and climbed gratefully into the steaming, scented water. Sighing, she leaned back and let the water engulf her weary body. Her mind drifted off...and ran right into that infuriating man. The way that he had been looking at her with those delicious eyes...she shivered. Like he had wanted to consume her alive... She tried valiantly to turn her thoughts to more mundane matters, but soon admitted defeat. Taking the sponge and loofah, she proceeded to bathe herself, intent on the looming oblivion of sleep.
Stepping out of the tub, she pulled the plug and absentmindedly watched the water run down the drain, her thoughts drawn to the man in the bookstore. He had been just so...tall. Selena had always loved tall men, the taller the better. And his hair...she sighed. She had always loved dark-haired men, as well. Her hands positively tingled with her desire to run her fingers through his luxurious raven mane. Not to mention his lovely eyes... Standing up, she went over to the mirror, looking deep into her own forest green eyes, whilst she brushed her teeth, wishing idly that it was his emerald ones into which she was gazing. Walking over to her bathroom closet, she took out her aloe lotion and began to rub it into her already soft skin. The comforting, familiar motion began to lull her into a softly sleepy state.
She walked into her room and rummaged in her drawer for underthings and pajamas. Pushing aside her comfortable flannel, Selena reached for her scarlet silk pajama bottoms. Her hand stopped. She looked down at her choice and chuckled ruefully. 'Ah, well,' she thought, 'as long as I already have them in hand...' Donning a matching sleep bra, she moved over to her bed to draw back the curtains, and turn down the sheets. Artemis sauntered in, leapt upon the bed, curled up, and began to purr. As Selena started to walk away, she lifted her head, uttering a single, "Mew?". "I'll be to bed in a bit, love." Selena crooned. Striking a fireplace matchstick, she glided from candle to candle, lighting all of them, breathing deeply as the scents of lemon, jasmine, and various others began to waft throughout the room.
"Move over!" she laughingly exclaimed to Artemis. Indignantly stretching, Artemis stood, arched her back, and sauntered over to the opposite pillow, plopping ungracefully down upon it with a look of feline defiance. Lying back against the soft, lavender scented pillows, Selena once again allowed her mind to wander...and wander it did, right back to the man in black. She sighed, relenting. She snuggled underneath the covers, the crisp breeze from her open window playing with the escaped curls of her hair. She began to drift off to sleep, with thoughts of his gorgeous red mouth... ***************************************
A sharp knock on the door jarred her awake. She sat up, blinking sleepily at the clock--10:30--she had only been asleep for a half hour. Another rap at her door brought her fully to her senses. She pulled back the curtains and stumbled out of bed, yelling, "Just a minute!". Shuffling to the door, with Artemis at her feet as her self-appointed bodyguard, she muttered, "Who is it?"
"You left your wallet," a delicious baritone voice with a strong English accent intoned. Instantly jarred awake, Selena leaned against the door, knowing--just knowing--exactly who it was. Looking through her keyhole, she discovered that her surmise was correct.
"Oh," was all that she could think of to say.
He held up her wallet to the peephole. "See?" he inquired.
"Just a minute!" she called.
Walking over to her armoire she withdrew a dagger and slipped it into the back of her pants. He may be Eros incarnate, she chuckled to herself, but she wasn't stupid enough to open the door completely unprepared--a dagger and her proficient experience in not a few martial arts should take care of most problems. She walked back to the door, took a deep, steadying breath, unlocked and opened it...and stared into a black expanse of silk-clad shoulder. Selena had always been proud of her 5'9", but compared to him, she was almost average. She looked up, and was immediately arrested by his eyes, just as vibrant as she remembered. Eyes like two soothing pools of green, so like her own and yet, despite their lighter colour, deeper, somehow, darker. The motion of her head caused her to catch a whiff of his scent. Clean laundry, some sort of shampoo, and....another breath...him. 'Wow,' she thought pensively, 'What are they putting in the laundry detergent these days?' "Hi," she managed.
"Hi." He gently smiled down at her. After a few beats he said "Your wallet?", and held it out to her.
"My wallet. Right." She stood back and leaned against the door, the movement prompting his eyes to slowly travel down her body. She blushed as she remembered that she had failed to put on a proper top. She straightened her back, embarrassment causing a full body flush, as she vainly sought to cover herself without seeming obvious about it. His eyes once again met hers, but there was no trace of disrespect, no leer. "Well?" she prompted.
