Chapter 2 Meeting Him Once Again

• The fourth floor had a long hallway with walls that were still freshly painted. It had no furniture yet, tapestries or paintings to decorate the entire area. A room that was located in the middle of the floor was the one that Selene chose. It was particularly an odd room. Duke Wyndall had it designed to be an altar of worship supposed to be, but now, since he promised her daughter, there was nothing that he could do but to give her the particular room.
• Selene’s chosen room looked barren at first. Its hexagonal shape was easily seen and the plain-looking dome ceiling didn’t give off an impressive aura. However, as soon as she transferred her belongings there, little by little the space became livable after two days.
• She was also given a chance by her parents to decorate it by herself as they knew that she had a talent in interior designing, most specifically the gift of painting and sculpting. With this in mind, she had Mrs. Latrice buy a variety of paint mediums like Greek pitch, linseed oil, gesso, plaster, blue smalt, azurite and charcoal to use for the project.
• There were four casement windows in the room; two were in the west wall which showed a clearing near a cliff; while the other two in the east wall displayed the vast field of oats and wheat.
• Here in this window too, exhibits the small hill Selene used to visit whenever she feels lonely. The maple tree standing alone in it still boasted the same red magnificence; however it is bigger, sturdier and taller now than it was ten years ago.
• On the third day of her stay inside her new room, she began starting her project of painting the dome ceiling. It was late in the afternoon when she took a brief tea break. Mrs. Latrice placed the lemon tea and a slice of cinnamon cake in a coffee table near the east window.
• Selene was sitting in the chair when she caught a glimpse of a man’s silhouette standing under the maple tree. Her heart then skipped a beat and out on impulse stood up quickly to look at the man more clearly.
• She wasn’t insane enough to actually wish that it would be him. For crying out aloud, ten years had already passed and probably, he has a family of his own by now. However, there was still an ecstatic feeling left in her heart. If it is him, she would definitely want to ride her horse, Turri, as fast as she can so that she could ask his name.
• “Milady? Are you okay?” the maid attendant asked as she noticed the abrupt change of her Mistress’ behavior.
• Selene couldn’t clearly define the man’s face but deep inside her, intuition was saying that it was truly him.
• “Tell Sir Dayle to fetch my horse now!” she exclaimed, not wanting to loose precious seconds from just staring out of the window.
• “Ye— yes Milady I will, ” Mrs. Latrice replied quickly.
• Stay there. Please stay there! I will not be long. She stated in her mind.
• It took Selene five minutes to finally reach the small hill. She left her horse alone to graze about the lush grassland while she continued on foot towards the tree.
• The man was still standing there, seemingly intent on staring at the landscape ahead of him. His hands were both inside his black trousers pockets which was partnered with an open three-button black shirt.
• The soft breeze ruffled his unkempt hair sexily and this made Selene’s heart pound heavier than normal. It was more so when she realized that it was indeed him.
• As if the man knew, he turned his back to face her, acknowledging her presence with a silent nod. Their eyes met; hazel ones to brown in an entangling spell.
• “You...” Selene muttered softly under her breath, wide-eyed, hands sweaty, heart beating fast.
• “Hi, little girl.” The man smirked as he greeted.
• This made Selene frown immediately. This definitely wasn’t a greeting she had expected.
• “I am not little, ” mumbled she in an unpleasant way. She gave him a glare amidst feeling excited herself of finally meeting him again.
• His smirk never left him as he remarked, “I see. You still have the same feistiness however.”
• “And you don’t seem like you have aged for ten long years, ” she retorted sharply. She wasn’t oblivious or even dumb not to notice that his face was still the same as she had remembered it. Her eyes thinly focused more on his facial features and whispered low, “How?”
• He chuckled with this. “You have a pretty good observation and good memory too, ” said he without answering her question.
• Selene cautiously walked passed him until they were back to back but still inches apart. She clenched her jaw when she remembered their memory clearly embedded in her once-juvenile brain.
• There was something really odd about this man. Something that wasn’t earthly and she was damned sure to know what or who he really is. But first things first, she needed to know the answer to her question now; a question that had been eating her up since she rode her horse. “Why? Why show yourself again?”
• He glanced at his right shoulder and in the periphery of his vision, he could see her hair flowing beautifully with the soft breeze. A pleased grin appeared in his face. “Hmm... I wanted to see how fully you have grown, little girl.”
• Selene frowned again, and this time she was obviously irked by how he named her.
• “I said I am not little, ” she stated with a hint of roughness in her voice, casting a scathing look on the ground.
• This time, the man turned to his back and quickly pulled her left elbow so that she would directly face him. “Oh...you are...for...me...human, ” he said sluggishly. His eyes easily glowed into a bright red, locking on her surprised hazel ones.
• “Who... who are you?” Selene asked the needed question now, whilst shoving his hand away.
• He didn’t so much as flinch however. He continued holding her and at the same time, grazed her face tenderly with his other hand. “Hmmm... you can call me Khail for now, Selene, ” he answered, uttering her name for the first time. For a moment there, she felt like the syllables of her name drawled sexily on his lips.
• “How—how do you know my name?!” she shouted, wide-eyed in surprise. As much as she can remember, she never told him her name!
• Khail pulled her an inch closer and as he did, she began to squirm from his hold.
• “What are you—”
• She was cut off when Khail inhaled her scent, his nose just millimeters apart of her forehead.
• “I never realized you smell so good, ” he commented, eyes closed, basking on the aroma of a human for the first time.
• She attempted to push him away from her but it was without any success. “You’re a weird man!” she stated the obvious and at the same time, giving him another glare.
• “I sure am, human.” He chuckled lightly again and then without warning, tipped her face up easily with his finger and pressed his mouth down on hers. The sheer fever of his kiss made the contact of their lips exhilarating than it should have been in a first kiss.
• This stunned her of course, but she wasn’t one to be instantly weak on her knees. She mobilized the only body part that she knows of to counterattack his abrupt trespass and launched it forward into his face.
• Slap.
• “How dare you!” she cried, eyes burning with anger.
• A stinging sensation momentarily lingered on his left cheek, but he showed no effect on it except a wider grin and a colder eye on her.
• “Such sweet taste, ” he stated, tracing the outline of his bottom lip with his fingers. Selene was taken aback as she saw him lick it seductively. “It makes me want to have more.” His eyes glowed a bright red again.
• “Just what are you exactly!?” She slammed the question again, stepping backward to guard herself. For all these years, she had thought that there was something about this man. Something that doesn’t fit right. She hadn’t expected that clarifying him this would bring her trembling down to the bone.
• “Hmmm... you’ll know soon enough, Selene, ” he answered and then with a wave of a hand she found herself drifting into darkness.