Shadow Kiss

Chapter 9

I had known the exact moment when Zak had approached the end of the path. His presence…there was just something dark and unavoidable about his presence. It was almost like he carried the darkness with him wherever he went except he was unaware of it.
Zak climbed up on the rock next to me and instead of facing out toward the lake like I was, he turned his back toward it. We sat there in comfortable silence for a while. I stared up at the bright crescent moon while he stared down at his hands. Neither one of us knew what to say.
“I’m sorry,” I quietly apologized looking over at him. He glanced up at me, his brows bunched in confusion.
“For what?”
“For being all…” I waved my hands around in the air looking for the right word I wanted to use. “All…dramatic I guess.”
Zak quietly laughed, turning his face up to the sky. “Don’t worry about it. You had every right to get angry. I accused you of only wanting to be on television only to turn around and say that’s not who you are at all. It’s a definite mindfuck,” he grinned over at me. I couldn’t help but return his smile.
“Well, at least you are aware of the fact that you were an asshole,” I commented. Why was it that when we were alone like this, he was the Zak I saw on TV, but when we were around others his personality did a complete 180?
“Of course I’m aware of it,” he chuckled as he leaned back onto his hands.
“I don’t think you are fully aware of it ALL of the time though,” I quietly confessed.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been nothing but mean to me all day,” I pouted.
“Not all day,” he quickly pointed out. My cheeks flushed at the memory of his lips being so close to mine. They reddened even more when I remembered how he had just been removing an eyelash from my face. Although he removed the eyelash rather seductively.
“Well, no I guess not. Which poses another question: why are you so nice to me when it’s just us like this?”
“Honestly?” He asked.
“Well, that would be preferred, yes,” I answered rather annoyed.
“I don’t know why I’m so mean to you one minute and nice to you the next. I think it’s because when I am around the guys with all the equipment and stuff…it reminds me of the constant strain I’m under to finish filming these locations. But when it’s just you and me, I can feel at ease. I don’t need to frantically run around trying to get things done. I can just…relax.” Zak lifted his broad shoulders up in a shrug. “I don’t know. I sometimes feel like I am just making excuses for my behavior.”
While Zak was talking , face up towards the sky, I marveled over the perfect structure of his face. That strong, square jawline…his straight, slightly pointed nose…his bow shaped lips. I could even see how long his black lashes were in the moonlight. God was definitely having a good day when he created Zak. I looked away and went back to staring out over the lake. The light breeze caused the sparkling waters to gently ripple the calm surface of the water; the moonlight reflected upon the black water. I sighed, content with everything that had happened up unto this point. Sure Zak and I had had a few bumps and bruises along the way, but overall I was glad I was able to win the chance to hang out with them. Even if I would only be seeing them for one more day.
Thinking about how short of time I had left with Zak and the others, sadness consumed me. I didn’t want this time to end. I didn’t want them to leave just yet. I smiled sadly to myself. At least I have one more day with them.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt Zak’s thumb brush across my cheek. I was about to ask if there had been another eyelash on my cheek when I noticed the tip of his thumb was sparkling with something wet.
“You were crying,” he informed me. He backed up the rock a little more until he could look directly at me. I touched my cheeks and noticed there was a single damp track leaving the corner of each eye.
“Oh…” I replied stupidly. When had I started crying?
“Is something wrong?” Zak inquired his eyes never leaving my face.
“No!” I quickly denied. “Well, at least I didn’t think there was,” I laughed nervously.
“What were you thinking about?”
I glanced away from his penetrating stare afraid I might start crying unknowingly again.
“Just thinking about how quickly today has gone by and how after tomorrow’s lockdown, this fairy tale will end and my life will go back to the way it was. Boring and monotonous,” I sighed.
“Oh…” Zak’s gaze dropped to the ground. “I suppose that is true, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I softly agreed. “But it’s not like we get along all that well anyways, right?” I chuckled trying to lighten the sad atmosphere that had enveloped us.
Zak looked up at me then, his eyes full of solemnity. The gravity of the situation combined with the heated look in his eyes made it nearly impossible for me to look away from him. I could feel my heart pounding hard and fast against my ribcage. I vaguely wondered if maybe he couldn’t hear it, too. Even though the only thing I knew about this man was what the internet told me or he himself admitted to on television…I had a strange sense of familiarity. I felt like I had known him my entire life. Like I knew about all of his likes and dislikes; all of his fears and his dreams; like I had shared with him the good times and led him through his darkest times. And when his eyes felt as if they were piercing straight through my barriers and into my soul? I could feel my heart begin to swell with the indescribable love I felt for this man who I had personally known for only a day. And for the majority of that day we had fought.
When Zak finally glanced away, I could feel his magnetic pull on me suddenly release.
I touched my forehead with a shaky hand as I inhaled deeply. I realized my lungs were lightly burning from when I had been holding my breath during the time we were staring at one another.
Zak pulled himself up to sit on his haunches before standing up and brushing off his jeans. He held out his hand.
“Well, I think it’s time we start heading back,” he said. I nodded in agreement and slipped my hand into his. A jolt of electricity shot up my arm from the contact.
My eyes snapped up to his face to see if he had felt the same electric shot I just felt. His face remained impassive. Must have just been my imagination, I thought to myself.
He pulled on my hand at the same moment I was trying to stand making me stumble and fall against him straight into his arms. My cheeks erupted in a blush of embarrassment as I quickly entangled myself out of his arms.
“Sorry,” I quietly apologized looking everywhere except at his face.
His low, soft chuckle resonated throughout my body, warming me from the inside out. He slid his jacket off his shoulders and wrapped it around me. I glanced up at him in alarm. How had he known I was beginning to feel cold?
“When I grabbed your hand it was ice cold. I figured you needed my jacket more than I did,” he answered almost like he read my mind.
“Oh, um, thanks,” I smiled resisting the urge to revel in Zak’s dark, spicy scent. I slipped my arms into the sleeves and zipped the jacket closed. I could feel the warmth of his body that lingered in the jacket as it slowly warmed me.
Zak grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. When I met his eyes, mine round in shock and curiosity, his lips merely curved upward in a grin.
“I’d hate for you to stumble into me again,” he teased.
I smiled and smacked him lightly on the arm.
“It was your fault,” I laughed.
“Nuh-uh,” he argued with a sly grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, let’s just go, Princess. You’re the one that needs protecting. Not me,” I huffed like it was a nuisance to be so close to him and hold his hand.
But inside I could feel the fireworks being lit off.