CHAPTER FORTY ONE
SWEET SURRENDER
KAT CONSTANTINE:
I admit it, although only to myself, I have a massive girly crush on Embry Call. He is so tall and gorgeous with his shoulder length dark hair which shimmers and shines in the light. His dark dark eyes seem to penetrate my soul and his smile lit up the cold dreary Winter's day so perfectly. I only met him yesterday on a momentous first day of this new year. Today we are going on our first date. I was overjoyed when he asked me to go out with him. I thought I'd been imagining the admiring glances and surreptitious looks from him yesterday. Seemed not. We'd both definitely been on the same wavelength. I am meeting him this afternoon outside the Pacific Inn Motel. I just got back from visiting Rebecca's real Mom. It was nice to see where she'd really come from even though I knew I'd always think of her as my real sister. Always.
Rebecca was getting on just great with her Mom, even though I could see she was a completely different person from my bright vivacious mother. Rebecca had told me the awful story about her father and what he had done to her real Mom. She never ever wanted to try to find him. She had another brother too, Sam Uley, who was her father's son. Rebecca told me he was actually the boy she had saved from the ocean the other night. One day soon she would call on him for a chat if he wanted. She didn't want to judge him on his genes, after all the same blood ran through her veins. Tiffany Call had definitely had a hard life, but she seemed fine, although a little shocked to find her long lost daughter on her doorstep New Year's Day. Not only was Rebecca turning up a surprise, albeit a nice one, finding out she had inherited her absent Father's shape shifting abilities was a very big shock! Tiffany was used to having a shape shifting son, but female shape shifter's were rare. In fact it seemed there was only one other, Leah Clearwater. Her whereabouts were currently unknown according to everyone around here, even though when Leah's name was mentioned everyone developed a strange look and started acting weird. Something wasn't right there, but I didn't know exactly what.
I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. A girl with happy blue eyes looked back. Her hair was tied back in a long plait, some thin honey gold strands escaping at her brow and nape. A secret smile played on her lips as if she was on the brink of telling somebody something wonderful. I was happy with how I looked for my date. I didn't want to be too dressy so I wore my dark blue flared denim jeans with a scarlet red gypsy blouse which skimmed my narrow waist. I was quite short, so I wore my wedge heeled cherry leather boots which were my absolute favourites as they were so comfortable but gave me some height. Embry was so tall, so strong and masculine. I laughed at the speed at which my mind honed onto an image of him. I had butterflies in my stomach and my mouth was dry with nervous excitement. Rebecca had confided in me ages ago about her special ability. My Mom and Dad didn't know, it was a lot to take in for a normal human. I wasn't normal though. I believed in the strange and supernatural. I always had. I was so excited to find my sister was a shape shifter. She could phase into a wolf whenever she liked. When she first told me she had been so scared. The change had happened when she was fourteen but she waited until she was sixteen to tell me. We had found out stuff together and she felt so much better when I knew her secret. Rebecca and I had always been close, after her confession we became even closer. Now, here was another who could do the same. Embry was already pretty special in my eyes, his shape shifting was just an added bonus. Unfortunately I didn't possess any special talents. I was good at what I did. I was a kindergarten teacher. I loved my job so much, the children were fantastic.
I glanced at my watch, it was time to go. Embry would be waiting. I grabbed my old brown leather jacket from the pile of clothes on the floor. Rebecca was so untidy, the complete opposite to me! I ran down the stairs and out into the frosty January day. There in the winter sunshine stood Embry Call. A vision in black jeans, black t shirt and a denim jacket. It was a beautiful day. I had been told the sun rarely shone in Forks, but the last two days had been sunny although cold. Ever since I met Embry. He held out his hand to me and I willingly let him take mine. He kissed my cheek as he led me around the back of the Motel. There sat a large motorbike with two helmets, one black and one red. Embry's large grin told me this shiny machine belonged to him. I felt excitement build up in me. How exciting to ride on the back of this bike, my arms around Embry, our bodies close. In reality it was even better than I had imagined. He drove me to Port Angeles, a slighter larger town close to Forks. I was used to the hustle and bustle of Vancouver, however I found Port Angeles to be quaint and quite beautiful. We ate seafood in a romantic harbour side restaurant. We chatted easily with no awkwardness, which I usually found first dates to be. Embry often brushed my hand with his, or touched my arm when he was talking to me. My skin burned slightly when he did this. It was if there was an electric current flowing between us. I was having such a great time. To end our day we took a walk down the cobbled harbour side to watch the sun set. The sky was orange and red. It was perfect and beautiful. Embry turned to gaze deep into my eyes, which made me shiver. In response he put a strong arm around my shoulder. The warmth from his body spread to mine quickly. So it was true about male shape shifters temperatures running higher than the ordinary male. It wasn't the cold evening air that made me shiver though but the close proximity of him, the way he looked at me and the electricity in the air when we touched accidentally on purpose.
We wandered down onto the stony beach, where time seemed to stand still as he lifted me in his strong arms and placed me on a large flat rock. I was now in line with his face, his eyes, his lips. He sighed as he gently brushed my cheek with his fingertips. I pouted and brought my lips closer, waiting for him to kiss me. But he didn't, he just kept staring at me. I smiled shyly, wishing he would kiss me. I wanted his mouth on mine. "Kat, I need to ask you this. Rebecca mentioned you have a boyfriend. Is it true?" he softly said. Oh Rebecca! My sister was being protective. I did have a guy whom I went on dates with occasionally, but he was nothing serious. Just a bit of fun really. She obviously didn't want me to get involved with Embry for some reason. I told him this. He smiled at me, he had a lovely smile. "Kat I think I know the reason why your sister is worried. When you did your research on the Quilette tribe did you ever read about imprinting?" he asked. I shook my head. I couldn't remember that part. Embry looked confused, "Well that's strange. Rebecca definitely told me you had heard about it!" he said shaking his head. "Rebecca is very very protective of me Embry. Ever since I was born she has been like that! So, are you going to tell me what imprinting is?" I asked curiously. Embry suddenly looked nervous and awkward. He seemed lost for words and I don't know what came over me but I kissed him. I placed my hands on either side of his handsome face as I pulled his lips down onto mine. We kissed gently and slowly. I had never experienced a first kiss like this. It felt as though we were the only two people left in the world and all that existed was this pure perfect moment between us. As we reluctantly pulled away our eyes were locked onto each others gaze. I did not, I could not, speak. Embry breathed "wow" very softly as he stared deep into my eyes. His dark eyes were mysterious pools of liquid onyx. He gently took my hand in his, our gazes still holding strong and true. "Katherine Constantine, from the moment I saw you I was entranced, enraptured and intoxicated by you. I knew life would never be the same again, I will explain this to you in greater detail, but I have to tell you this now or I will explode!" he said dramatically. As I looked into his dark eyes I knew something magical was about to happen.
"I imprinted on you Kat" he said.