Chapter 10. Battle of Wills

Proserpina

He regarded me in silence. The lights behind him threw his face in shadow and I worried my lip anxiously as I watched him. I had a horrid feeling that the mascara had run down my cheeks when I had begun to cry but a furtive scrub at my cheek reassured me. At least I wasn't looking like a chimney sweep!

As he continued to stare at me, I felt my breath coming faster.

I was here, alone in a room with this strange man who exuded a careless mastery over my emotions. Although I had just met him, I felt a flutter low down in my stomach, a growing excitement...

He observed me impassively, and I felt a strange warmth spreading through me. The overhead lights caught his silver-tipped hair and I caught myself becoming aware of a strange pull towards this person...

I can't, I thought in bewilderment...but I was beginning to feel attracted by his controlled, powerful presence. The room we were in was tastefully decorated like a man's den.