THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - BWS

twenty-seven

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was how warm I felt. I had been so cold for the last few days that I welcomed that new warmth with a smile. I didn't feel as tired, sluggish and weak either. I finally felt whole again. My eyes flew open when I realized the tingly feeling on my skin was back. I had grown so used to it that it was only the last thing I noticed. William was back, and this time there was no doubt about it.

"Good morning."

My head jerked to the corner of the room where the voice came from. William was sitting on an armchair, Dee lying at his feet. It didn't take long for my heart to start racing as he looked at me with a mix of care and relief in his eyes. His brown curls were messy, and yet he looked even more handsome than I remembered. He was finally back. I didn't know if I wanted to kiss him or hit him for leaving for so long and for watching me sleep without my knowledge.

I shifted to a sitting position on the bed and turned towards him.

"You're back." I had been waiting for this moment since he left, and now that he was here I didn't know what to say. There were so many things I wanted to tell him, and yet it seemed like my mind was suddenly blank. All I could think about was the throbbing pull I felt in my entire body and I wondered if he felt it too. My body was screaming for him.

His eyes wandered along my face and down my torso, probably checking if I was hurt. But something in the way he was looking at me felt as if it was the first time he ever saw me. Had the last three days been as terrible for him as they had been for me?

"I came back as soon as Cal called me," he said, his eyes finally back to mine.

I shook my head. "He shouldn't have called you, I was fin–"

"He was worried about you, and from what I've heard he had good reasons to be," he cut me off. I wanted to argue, but the worry in his eyes told me there was no point doing so. And what he was saying was true. I wasn't entirely fine while he was gone. But he shouldn't have come back because I was weak or tired. He should have come back because he missed me, because he couldn't stay away from me.

What Isla told me the night before came back to me. 'He's sabotaging your relationship to keep you safe.' Was that really what he was doing? My heart ached thinking about how doomed a relationship that didn't even exist already was.

"I didn't know this would happen," he admitted, his voice softer now. "I wouldn't have left for so long if I had known." He looked away from me and at the window. It was obvious that he was mad at himself. Why was he feeling responsible for the way I felt? "I should have known it would be different for you. We're not supposed to mate with humans."

"That's what Isla said," I answered and he turned his head back to me, his eyebrows arched.

"You talked with Isla," he said, although it didn't sound like a question. He sounded nervous.

"She's a lot less scary once you get to know her," I said and he smiled. I couldn't help but smile too at the sight. I had missed that smile.

"What did you two talk about?"

"Lots of things–" I said, teasingly. "Mostly you."

His grin grew larger, displaying both of his dimples and I felt liquid pool down my stomach. Why did he have to look like that? It would have been so much easier to resist him if he wasn't so handsome. Vampires were all stunning creatures, but he looked like a God.

"And yet you're still here." He looked surprised. As if whatever he thought Isla and I talked about should have made me run away.

"I am." I held his intense gaze, wondering what he was thinking at that moment. He looked hungry, and I doubted it was for my blood.