Just as she believed, Sarah had a time of her life on the trip.
London was just as she imagined. London Eye, Tower, British museum, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Notting Hill, Buckingham Palace, The Queen’s guards… oh those cute guards!
Sarah knew she acted like a typical tourist. She was overly excited and taking photos of everything she could. She was sightseeing and visiting various places during the day and evening and nights she would use to visit pubs and restaurants that tourists rarely visited, but only the locals. That way, she ate and drank what locals did and got an insight into the real London life, the one that most of the tourists never had a chance to experience.
Her stay in England lasted for 10 days and it included organized tours in London, experiencing the city on her own, and an English village tour. Oh, how she loved that one. Riding the bus with the guide and all elderly couples, enjoying everything about those cozy, lively places, local cuisines, sights, B&Bs where the group stayed during the tour.
What gave Sarah a source of entertainment were the hushed comments and side glances she got from the rest of the passengers. How would she not when she was the only one in the group younger than 70. But after a couple of days, they all warmed up to her and started showing her pictures of their grandchildren, treating her lunches and souvenirs and such, and at the end of the tour, she was sad to say goodbye to them.
Her next stop was Paris, and there, too, she spent a week. The city of light took her breath away. Everything about Paris fascinated Sarah to no end. Two days she spent in Louvre Museum. One day simply couldn’t be enough to see everything and enjoy it properly. Eiffel Tower and the view from it was something one can never forget. Notre Dame, all those castles and their history… satisfied Sarah’s cravings for knowledge and beauty.
Just as she promised, every night Sarah would call her parents and give them a complete report of what she did that day. It’s not like Adaline and Richard haven’t seen these places before, but either way, they listened to her excited blabbering.
Maybe they were right, maybe she shouldn’t have embarked on this journey alone. Maybe she should have called one of her friends from college to go with her or accepted her parents’ request to join her… even though she was constantly surrounded by people, she would feel alone at night. But that feeling would disappear as soon as the new day would come and present her with a chance to discover some new wonders.
Whole her life, Sarah had a feeling of not belonging no matter where she was. Not while she lived with those that gave birth to her, oh, especially not with them! not when she lived at the boarding school, not when she stayed with Michael and Anna, even though it was a short period… it was better with Adaline and Richard. She considered them her family, her parents, but no matter what, Sarah always felt like she was missing something. Like some part of her soul was misplaced, and she had to find it to feel complete. That and the immense pull she felt towards everything European made her embark on this journey alone.
Now, when she was on the move, experiencing everything she just read about in books, she felt like that hole in her was filling itself. She was getting to where she was supposed to be, she could feel it.
Sarah took the train from Paris to Rome rather than an airplane. Instead of a night ride, she boarded on the first-morning departure, so she could watch all the beautiful landscapes she was passing by. They were extraordinary, very different from what she was used to seeing in the USA. Almost all the time of the ride, Sarah spent standing next to the window, careful not to miss something.
After whole 11 hours on the train, Eternal city was Sarah’s to explore. A taxi she got in front of the main train station took her to the hotel she will stay in. It was a cute, small hotel, and judging by the younger guy that took her bags and the older lady that worked at the reception, and the two of them looked so much alike it was obvious they were related… Sarah could easily conclude that it was a family-owned business, and she was even happier for choosing it as her base in Rome.
Her hosts were kind and welcoming, and they recommended her some places to visit and foods to try. Now that she was getting down a bit from her buzz caused by constantly moving around, she decided to take it slow and spend some more time talking with the locals and getting to know their customs and traditions.
Rome indeed felt different from the rest of the cities she has visited so far. Sarah felt some spirit she was yet to fully experience, but ever since she arrived she felt good, she felt like now that she’s here everything will be ok.
Tired from the whole day trip, Sarah grabbed pizza in the restaurant across the street from her hotel and headed to sleep. She had a feeling tomorrow will be one hell of a day with everything she planned to do.
~ ~ ~It was late afternoon when Luke couldn’t take it anymore. He dismissed the board of directors he was having a meeting with and without another word headed home.For two weeks now, he was feeling like he was going mad. The itching underneath his skin was reaching unbearable levels. He had a constant feeling of something like a thousand ants crawling up and down his body, and it was driving him crazy. He was irritable, ill-tempered, and he was snapping at his subordinates easier than ever. If they were not afraid of him before, now they definitely were.
No matter how hard he was trying to deny it and suppress it, his instincts, those most basic and primordial once were not letting him even breathe in peace! She was now that close that he could probably just close his eyes and walk to her, only following his instincts.
He needed to see her, and that had to be soon. Luke was perfectly aware of that. Now that she was here, he won’t be able to hold himself back.As soon as he entered through the front gate, Luke headed straight to his home office where his cabinet with the most expensive liquors was. He found the bottle of his favorite rum and after a deep breath that he took, inhaling the scent that brought back the memories of times when he was cruising the seas under the Jolly Roger flag, Luke took a mouthful of liquid and swallowed it fast.
One thing he was sure of, he hated her. He hated her for over 600 years for not being there, for not existing, for not loving him.
Unfortunately, he was sure of yet another thing. He won’t be able to resist the call. It was already too strong. He had no choice but to face her, or at least see her because he was no coward that would run away, and running away was the only other option.
With another big gulp, Luke bottomed up his drink and grabbed his jacket heading out. I’m coming, mate.
The first day in Rome was more than great. Sarah got up early and after a quick breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, she headed out to explore. She planned to squeeze a little sightseeing on her own before the time for her booked tour comes, so she grabbed a city map from the reception and headed out.The same way she explored both London and Paris, but Rome was different. It was special. Every building, every street, every stone exuded with unspoken history …After she had lunch in a restaurant near the Tiber River, Sarah joined the group she was supposed to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum with, and she enjoyed every second. She was so engrossed with the story that, at first, she did not pay too much attention to the feeling in her gut that was trying to tell her something. She completely ignored it. But when the hair on the back of her neck refused to calm, Sarah started paying more attention to her surroundings than the beau
Luke spent the night standing on the corner of the street, not far from where he knew his mate was. He even caught the glimpse of her when she walked by the window before the lights went off, but even for his eyes, it wasn’t enough to notice any significant detail about her.He stood there long after she, for sure, was fast asleep. He knew it was pointless, but either way, he couldn’t make his legs move and take him from the spot where dawn found him. Only the first rays of the sun reminded him of where he was and what he was doing, so he quickly straightened and followed the way back to his home.By some chance, the hotel his mate was staying at was not far from his villa. Yesterday, it took him just a couple of minutes to locate her following his senses. Now, he needed even less to get back to his sanctuary.All along, Luke was thinking about what he had done. And what he is about to do…A whole night of thinking and contemplating with himsel
Sarah woke up feeling energized and rested like never before. She stretched her hands above her head and rolled to her side. Deciding she was feeling way too comfortable to get up immediately no matter what waited for her outside and what she had previously planned, Sarah opted to stay in bed for a little longer.What was it she planned to do today? she wondered. Hm… what was it she did yesterday? For a moment she couldn’t remember but then it all came back rushing to her. Tour of the Roman Forum, the feeling of being watched, getting lost in the dark streets of The Old town, falling and hurting her ankle, and then the eyes… those shining eyes she saw before everything went dark.Sarah’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up straight in bed looking around to find that she was in her own hotel room. What? Is it possible that she only dreamt it? But before she had a chance to really decide what’s real and what’s not, she saw an unknown m
When Sarah lazily opened her eyes and recognition blazed through them, Luke found himself petrified in front of her.How was it possible that she knew what she was to him? he wondered.To his utter surprise, Sarah’s hand found its way to his cheek and for a moment, a second, Luke let himself enjoy the feeling her hand brought. That moment was all he could afford before the memories of all the sufferings without her in the past rushed back and anger took place of all of his other feelings.Sarah didn’t miss the sudden change in him, and it confused her.“You hate me,” she whispered her conclusion, retracting her hand and stepping backward. “You don’t even know me… why would you hate me?”He stood there, watching her with hate and amazement, his breath rigid and labored. He looked like he couldn’t get enough oxygen in his lungs like he was drowning…“Why do you hate me?”
“Here. This will be your room while you stay in the villa.” Luke opened the door on the first floor and Sarah followed him.It was a spacious but simply furnished room although she didn’t mind it a bit. She was never the one to pay too much attention to furniture in the first place… a place to sleep peacefully was always more than enough and the bed that was dominating the room seemed comfortable. There was also a paravane in the corner she could use to change her clothes and a dresser right next to it, although she had no plans of unpacking.“There is one bathroom at the end of this hall, and the other is downstairs. This is an old type of building and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to adapt it to modern standards.” To Sarah, Luke sounded like he was apologizing. “Anyway, get your
"All right... How do you want to do this?" After some nagging from Sarah, Luke gave in. He could tell she was serious and that she would indeed leave, and he didn’t want that. No matter what, he didn’t want her to be in danger…Sarah pulled him by the hand, and he followed her out of the house. She didn’t stop until they reached a particular tree in the garden, the one she saw when they passed by earlier. She sat down on the grass right where the shade of the tree was the most comfortable, and she motioned to Luke to do the same.Luke rolled his eyes, but either way sat down, not too close to her. Holding her hand for less than a minute was temptation enough. For now, he shouldn’t push himself too far.“Well, I was thinking something like asking questions… you know… I ask something and you answer and then you ask something and I answer…&rd
What the hell was he doing? Kissing her like crazy? After everything!And what was she doing? Kissing him back?He should stop, Luke knew he should stop, but he couldn’t detach himself from Sarah. Her lips were so soft and inviting and the way she responded to the kiss, the way she responded to him… it was crazy! It was unbelievable!He has entranced, he was not himself, he was not controlling his own body, he was completely under her spell. Bewitched!Never in his life has he felt like this before… so… so… he couldn’t even find the words to explain what he was feeling right now. Passion, desire, pain, hurt, love, acceptance… everything! He was feeling everything at the same time.It was exactly what he was missing his entire life. The other part of his soul, a place where he belonged… and he finally found it. He found all of it in this silly girl!And judging by her reaction, Sarah felt
“I don’t understand what’s wrong?” Sarah was confused by Luke’s reaction.“What’s wrong?! You ask what’s wrong?!” he started pacing around the living room.“Yeah! Because I don’t understand your reaction. Do you know my father?” Sarah tried to keep her cool, but something was telling her this will not end nicely. If she were forced to choose between those she considered a family and the one that’s supposed to be her world, she wouldn’t have to think twice.“Start talking!” Luke was in front of her, inches separating them. “And start from the beginning!” he roared.“What the hell is wrong with you, ha?” Sarah snapped. “I don’t know if that’s how you usually interact with people, but I have to stop you right there! I don’t care who you are or who you are supposed to be to me, but I won’t allow you to act like