Chapter 4
"I'm Bryant," she heard him say in an unaffected voice. His eyes however roamed freely as they had this morning. She felt a shiver of excitement run up the length of her body from his appreciative gaze. She could feel the other's eyes on her as well but she had only eyes for Bryant. She could tell he was interested in her; he just wasn't interested enough. It was obvious that most guys would kill to have a chance with a girl like her, but Bryant was only slightly intrigued by the attention she had given him. Inwardly she fumed though she knew it didn't matter. She always got her guy, always. Throughout the rest of the morning she saw Bryant in another one of her classes, and this time Alyssa was with him. She seethed inwardly as she watched them glance longingly toward each other, and watched silently as they stole brief caresses throughout the class. That girl would get hers, and as for Bryant, he would be all hers. Saiya too was in a couple more of her classes, and Blaise found herself looking forward to lunchtime. That was when she would find out everything she needed to know on Alyssa Talon and Bryant. Also, she was glad to find that not all the witches in this school were pansies. She collected two Circle Midnight witches, Ana Therasol and Melody Summermoon. Ana was a freshman and had fairy blonde hair and had a petite but sensuous build, while Melody was a sophomore and had blood red hair, hazel eyes, and a body of a supermodel. Melody had decided to eat lunch with Blaise today instead of her usual crowd because she had found herself drawn to the magnetic girl who acted like she owned the world. Usually anyone else with that kind of attitude would have pissed her off, but it fit Blaise completely. Plus, Melody knew Blaise's reputation. Blaise was a natural born leader. The two of them listened in rapt attention as Blaise told them about a couple of new spells she had dredged up from one of the forbidden texts at her grandmother's house, and how they were going to try them out as soon as possible as she led them to the tree where Saiya and her friends would be waiting.
As they approached the tree they found Saiya and a very good looking vampire on the ground talking while another equally handsome boy was leaning against the tree looking at nothing in particular. When she saw Blaise approaching, she smiled slightly and nodded to the guy beside her saying. "Blaise, this is Yvres Montfleurre. He's been my friend since we were wee little vampires. He has the cutest accent, because he was raised in France." Yvres frowned slightly and said something to Saiya. Blaise lifted her eyebrows and nodded as he acknowledged her with a flashing smile. He looked like the classic vampire exuding cut, lean elegance at every turn. He was dressed fashionably in dark clothes and reminded her vaguely of her cousin James Rasmussen. Then she introduced Melody and Ana, whom both looked interested in Yvres. Saiya seemed to approve of her new friends and welcomed them into the circle under the trees. Then she spoke up, suddenly seeming to remember the other boy who had not noticed their existence at all throughout the entire exchange, and said in a slightly annoyed voice, "Malik meet my new friends."
Seeming to snap out of whatever thoughts had preoccupied him he turned his face so that for the first time Blaise could make out all his features. Time seemed to stop as she studied him. He was possibly the best looking guy she had ever seen. There was no softness to his face that was hard and lean. He had glittering gold eyes that seemed to shift with the shadows the leaves cast on the ground. His tall and slim body had a hardened elegance that showed absolute control and barely suppressed power, and then there was his hair. His hair was a shade of dark auburn or red- brown that shifted colors with the light filtering in from the foliage of the tree. Strands of it fell carelessly against his forehead where his dark and perfect eyebrows were violent slashes against his bronze skin. He had a dangerous glint in his eyes that hinted of mystery upon mystery and his mouth was a contradiction, both hard and incredibly sensuous looking at once. She heard a sharp intake of breath beside her, probably Ana, which broke her out of her reverie. His eyes met hers and caught her staring off guard. She felt a jolt of awareness that spread throughout her. Feeling slightly embarrassed and like a kid who had been caught with her hand in a cookie jar, she lowered her eyelashes and quickly crushed the sentiment. She looked up and gave him a confident smile that said, I can look if I want, and I know your every fantasy. His eyes widened slightly at that open challenge and he looked at her with begrudging admiration.
"If you guys are finished sizing each other up, we should eat some lunch. I'm starving," Saiya's voice interrupted sarcastically. Blaise then remembered her own personal rule of not dating NightWorlders, flicked her hair in place, and went back to her first objective of finding out more about Bryant. Feeling Malik's golden eyes on her, she sat gracefully down on the blanket and queried Saiya about Bryant. While Saiya filled her in on the quarterback, Blaise could see Ana glancing longingly at Malik, and suppressed the urge to glare at her. Where are these feelings coming from? She silently wondered to herself. The boy wasn't even hers. It didn't matter if Ana was showing interest in him. She glanced at him surreptitiously from beneath her shadowed lashes, and again she felt that jolt of awareness that she had never experienced before as his golden eyes flicked down to meet hers. She forced her gaze away from his abruptly and turned towards Saiya.
"Well, I'll leave you all here for now. I think I left something in one of the classrooms," she said and left quickly to find somewhere to think. She'd see Saiya tonight, at the club where she assured her Bryant would be. --
"So what do you think?" Saiya asked Malik and Yvres as soon as the other two girls had left for their afternoon classes.
"Damn," Yvres began, "She is too gorgeous. No one is supposed to be that beautiful. I've never met a non-vampire that gorgeous. Come to think of it, no one so beautiful in my life, and believe me, I am accustomed to beauty." Saiya pursed her lips and thoughtfully said, "There's something about her. Even if she weren't an assignment, I'd want to be her friend." Yvres glanced over toward Malik to see his reaction, but strangely Malik was brooding over something. "I think Malik has been ensorcelled by our little witch," he said teasingly. Malik looked annoyed for a second and then flung his backpack playfully towards Yvres.
"Yeah she's hot. You think I'm blind or something? But remember our mission. That's what is most important for now." Malik grimaced to himself. This was proving harder than he had thought, especially considering how he was reacting to Blaise's presence. His well-erected shields were being torn down by her one look, and every time he saw those smoky gray eyes directed in his direction he wanted to... he shuddered. He didn't even like witches. Shapeshifters were supposed to hate witches, and witches were the natural archenemies of his people. Malik summed it up to a hormone attack. Afterall, he had been feeling strange these last couple of days... first there was that incident at the club, and now this. It would pass he reassured himself, he was just overstressed and had gone without a woman for too long. He kept on repeating this to himself as he drove up to her house later that day. Since he had sent Yvres and Saiya to do some last minute preparing for the kidnapping, he was delegated the role of picking the girl up. It was already dark when he arrived at where she was staying. The lights of the city and pale streetlights were all that illuminated the darkness. She still lived with her grandmother, the Crone of all the witches behind her shop, and as he entered he could smell the strong fumes of incense and herbs. From behind a curtained door he heard her silky voice, "I'll be right out," and a moment later she was before him in all her dangerous beauty.
Tonight she was wearing a shiny black leather two-piece outfit. Her lace-up top revealed the tops of her luscious breasts as well as a lot of the silky skin of her back and side. The miniskirt she wore was so short that her long legs looked even longer than usual. Her hair fell freely in a sensuous mass, caressing her form, and to top off her ensemble she had on tall black leather boots and a set of ruby earrings and a ruby pendant dangling between her breasts. In short, she was stunning. Malik felt himself stiffen with desire for her. He controlled himself as he let his gaze rake her body sensuously. She glanced around him as if to see whether any others had come with him. He walked up to her so that they were barely an inch apart and he his senses were swamped with her heady scent. "Shall we?" he said in a soft voice that said volumes and with that he stalked towards the car leaving her to follow in his wake. She gasped with pleasure when she saw his car. He smiled inwardly, his sleek black Porsche usually elicited this kind of reaction from women, and he was glad that this ice princess was no different. He watched her hungrily as she ran her fingers lightly down the side of the car. His eyes met hers and all thoughts of the mission went out of his head. All he could think about was burying his hands in her hair and kissing those lips.
His hands went to the small of her back of their own accord and Malik violently brought his mouth to hers in a crushing kiss. She moaned softly as her hands went around his neck, and her tongue fought a fierce battle of his. He felt her teeth sink into his lip, and he tasted the copper of his own blood. His hands roamed all across her body sliding into her top and his fingers twisted of their own accord in her hair. He caressed her, feeling the softness of her. He felt her hands on his body, and he stiffened unimaginably. She raked her nails on his skin under his shirt, and Malik felt a thrumming feeling cracking like electricity running through him. Every feeling and sensation was unbearably heightened. What are you doing to me princess? he asked her. Somehow he was in her mind. Her mind was a blood red, beautiful and dangerous like a rose and its thorns. Malik saw himself, the way she saw him, a dark brooding warrior. He could feel her touching his mind with wonder and awe. No, he thought, It's too dark for you to see, I don't want you to see what's in my mind. I have my own secrets too you know, she told him, I'm not afraid. Suddenly she was exploring the razor sharp depths of his fears and hopes. As she was about to touch the part of his mind where all the dead bodies and missions were hidden, he snapped shut the connection and stepped away from her. She looked at him with a bewildered expression on her face that broke his heart, and said with a voice bare of the seductive coyness that drove men to madness, "What is happening to me?" A single tear slid down her cheek, and he hugged her tightly to him. "Whatever it is, it's happening to me too," he said unsteadily. He wrapped her up in his cloak and ushered her into the car. They were silent as they drove to the club, and as he pulled the car into the parking lot he felt a change in her. It was a hardening, the other Blaise was back, and the vulnerable girl that he had seen a few minutes ago had vanished completely. So she had decided to ignore whatever was happening between the two of them. It was just as well, Malik thought, Under different circumstances... He quickly banished the thought, there were no different circumstances. She was a witch, as well as an assignment. He was no slave to his desire, in a day she'd be out of his mind forever. The two of them walked toward the club, and just as the tension was getting unbearable Saiya finally chose to make her appearance.
"I'm Bryant," she heard him say in an unaffected voice. His eyes however roamed freely as they had this morning. She felt a shiver of excitement run up the length of her body from his appreciative gaze. She could feel the other's eyes on her as well but she had only eyes for Bryant. She could tell he was interested in her; he just wasn't interested enough. It was obvious that most guys would kill to have a chance with a girl like her, but Bryant was only slightly intrigued by the attention she had given him. Inwardly she fumed though she knew it didn't matter. She always got her guy, always. Throughout the rest of the morning she saw Bryant in another one of her classes, and this time Alyssa was with him. She seethed inwardly as she watched them glance longingly toward each other, and watched silently as they stole brief caresses throughout the class. That girl would get hers, and as for Bryant, he would be all hers. Saiya too was in a couple more of her classes, and Blaise found herself looking forward to lunchtime. That was when she would find out everything she needed to know on Alyssa Talon and Bryant. Also, she was glad to find that not all the witches in this school were pansies. She collected two Circle Midnight witches, Ana Therasol and Melody Summermoon. Ana was a freshman and had fairy blonde hair and had a petite but sensuous build, while Melody was a sophomore and had blood red hair, hazel eyes, and a body of a supermodel. Melody had decided to eat lunch with Blaise today instead of her usual crowd because she had found herself drawn to the magnetic girl who acted like she owned the world. Usually anyone else with that kind of attitude would have pissed her off, but it fit Blaise completely. Plus, Melody knew Blaise's reputation. Blaise was a natural born leader. The two of them listened in rapt attention as Blaise told them about a couple of new spells she had dredged up from one of the forbidden texts at her grandmother's house, and how they were going to try them out as soon as possible as she led them to the tree where Saiya and her friends would be waiting.
As they approached the tree they found Saiya and a very good looking vampire on the ground talking while another equally handsome boy was leaning against the tree looking at nothing in particular. When she saw Blaise approaching, she smiled slightly and nodded to the guy beside her saying. "Blaise, this is Yvres Montfleurre. He's been my friend since we were wee little vampires. He has the cutest accent, because he was raised in France." Yvres frowned slightly and said something to Saiya. Blaise lifted her eyebrows and nodded as he acknowledged her with a flashing smile. He looked like the classic vampire exuding cut, lean elegance at every turn. He was dressed fashionably in dark clothes and reminded her vaguely of her cousin James Rasmussen. Then she introduced Melody and Ana, whom both looked interested in Yvres. Saiya seemed to approve of her new friends and welcomed them into the circle under the trees. Then she spoke up, suddenly seeming to remember the other boy who had not noticed their existence at all throughout the entire exchange, and said in a slightly annoyed voice, "Malik meet my new friends."
Seeming to snap out of whatever thoughts had preoccupied him he turned his face so that for the first time Blaise could make out all his features. Time seemed to stop as she studied him. He was possibly the best looking guy she had ever seen. There was no softness to his face that was hard and lean. He had glittering gold eyes that seemed to shift with the shadows the leaves cast on the ground. His tall and slim body had a hardened elegance that showed absolute control and barely suppressed power, and then there was his hair. His hair was a shade of dark auburn or red- brown that shifted colors with the light filtering in from the foliage of the tree. Strands of it fell carelessly against his forehead where his dark and perfect eyebrows were violent slashes against his bronze skin. He had a dangerous glint in his eyes that hinted of mystery upon mystery and his mouth was a contradiction, both hard and incredibly sensuous looking at once. She heard a sharp intake of breath beside her, probably Ana, which broke her out of her reverie. His eyes met hers and caught her staring off guard. She felt a jolt of awareness that spread throughout her. Feeling slightly embarrassed and like a kid who had been caught with her hand in a cookie jar, she lowered her eyelashes and quickly crushed the sentiment. She looked up and gave him a confident smile that said, I can look if I want, and I know your every fantasy. His eyes widened slightly at that open challenge and he looked at her with begrudging admiration.
"If you guys are finished sizing each other up, we should eat some lunch. I'm starving," Saiya's voice interrupted sarcastically. Blaise then remembered her own personal rule of not dating NightWorlders, flicked her hair in place, and went back to her first objective of finding out more about Bryant. Feeling Malik's golden eyes on her, she sat gracefully down on the blanket and queried Saiya about Bryant. While Saiya filled her in on the quarterback, Blaise could see Ana glancing longingly at Malik, and suppressed the urge to glare at her. Where are these feelings coming from? She silently wondered to herself. The boy wasn't even hers. It didn't matter if Ana was showing interest in him. She glanced at him surreptitiously from beneath her shadowed lashes, and again she felt that jolt of awareness that she had never experienced before as his golden eyes flicked down to meet hers. She forced her gaze away from his abruptly and turned towards Saiya.
"Well, I'll leave you all here for now. I think I left something in one of the classrooms," she said and left quickly to find somewhere to think. She'd see Saiya tonight, at the club where she assured her Bryant would be. --
"So what do you think?" Saiya asked Malik and Yvres as soon as the other two girls had left for their afternoon classes.
"Damn," Yvres began, "She is too gorgeous. No one is supposed to be that beautiful. I've never met a non-vampire that gorgeous. Come to think of it, no one so beautiful in my life, and believe me, I am accustomed to beauty." Saiya pursed her lips and thoughtfully said, "There's something about her. Even if she weren't an assignment, I'd want to be her friend." Yvres glanced over toward Malik to see his reaction, but strangely Malik was brooding over something. "I think Malik has been ensorcelled by our little witch," he said teasingly. Malik looked annoyed for a second and then flung his backpack playfully towards Yvres.
"Yeah she's hot. You think I'm blind or something? But remember our mission. That's what is most important for now." Malik grimaced to himself. This was proving harder than he had thought, especially considering how he was reacting to Blaise's presence. His well-erected shields were being torn down by her one look, and every time he saw those smoky gray eyes directed in his direction he wanted to... he shuddered. He didn't even like witches. Shapeshifters were supposed to hate witches, and witches were the natural archenemies of his people. Malik summed it up to a hormone attack. Afterall, he had been feeling strange these last couple of days... first there was that incident at the club, and now this. It would pass he reassured himself, he was just overstressed and had gone without a woman for too long. He kept on repeating this to himself as he drove up to her house later that day. Since he had sent Yvres and Saiya to do some last minute preparing for the kidnapping, he was delegated the role of picking the girl up. It was already dark when he arrived at where she was staying. The lights of the city and pale streetlights were all that illuminated the darkness. She still lived with her grandmother, the Crone of all the witches behind her shop, and as he entered he could smell the strong fumes of incense and herbs. From behind a curtained door he heard her silky voice, "I'll be right out," and a moment later she was before him in all her dangerous beauty.
Tonight she was wearing a shiny black leather two-piece outfit. Her lace-up top revealed the tops of her luscious breasts as well as a lot of the silky skin of her back and side. The miniskirt she wore was so short that her long legs looked even longer than usual. Her hair fell freely in a sensuous mass, caressing her form, and to top off her ensemble she had on tall black leather boots and a set of ruby earrings and a ruby pendant dangling between her breasts. In short, she was stunning. Malik felt himself stiffen with desire for her. He controlled himself as he let his gaze rake her body sensuously. She glanced around him as if to see whether any others had come with him. He walked up to her so that they were barely an inch apart and he his senses were swamped with her heady scent. "Shall we?" he said in a soft voice that said volumes and with that he stalked towards the car leaving her to follow in his wake. She gasped with pleasure when she saw his car. He smiled inwardly, his sleek black Porsche usually elicited this kind of reaction from women, and he was glad that this ice princess was no different. He watched her hungrily as she ran her fingers lightly down the side of the car. His eyes met hers and all thoughts of the mission went out of his head. All he could think about was burying his hands in her hair and kissing those lips.
His hands went to the small of her back of their own accord and Malik violently brought his mouth to hers in a crushing kiss. She moaned softly as her hands went around his neck, and her tongue fought a fierce battle of his. He felt her teeth sink into his lip, and he tasted the copper of his own blood. His hands roamed all across her body sliding into her top and his fingers twisted of their own accord in her hair. He caressed her, feeling the softness of her. He felt her hands on his body, and he stiffened unimaginably. She raked her nails on his skin under his shirt, and Malik felt a thrumming feeling cracking like electricity running through him. Every feeling and sensation was unbearably heightened. What are you doing to me princess? he asked her. Somehow he was in her mind. Her mind was a blood red, beautiful and dangerous like a rose and its thorns. Malik saw himself, the way she saw him, a dark brooding warrior. He could feel her touching his mind with wonder and awe. No, he thought, It's too dark for you to see, I don't want you to see what's in my mind. I have my own secrets too you know, she told him, I'm not afraid. Suddenly she was exploring the razor sharp depths of his fears and hopes. As she was about to touch the part of his mind where all the dead bodies and missions were hidden, he snapped shut the connection and stepped away from her. She looked at him with a bewildered expression on her face that broke his heart, and said with a voice bare of the seductive coyness that drove men to madness, "What is happening to me?" A single tear slid down her cheek, and he hugged her tightly to him. "Whatever it is, it's happening to me too," he said unsteadily. He wrapped her up in his cloak and ushered her into the car. They were silent as they drove to the club, and as he pulled the car into the parking lot he felt a change in her. It was a hardening, the other Blaise was back, and the vulnerable girl that he had seen a few minutes ago had vanished completely. So she had decided to ignore whatever was happening between the two of them. It was just as well, Malik thought, Under different circumstances... He quickly banished the thought, there were no different circumstances. She was a witch, as well as an assignment. He was no slave to his desire, in a day she'd be out of his mind forever. The two of them walked toward the club, and just as the tension was getting unbearable Saiya finally chose to make her appearance.