Page 21 of Dark Awakening: New World
"That is a beautiful philosophy." Looking into her eyes was mesmerizing. There was a hypnotic quality to the gold flecks swirling around her irises, and he found himself lost in them.
"Ell-rom," she said softly. "Are you tired?"
"No. I was just thinking that sitting by an unconscious male and singing and talking to him to pull him out of the abyss is also one of those positive deeds."
"Yes, but that was not as selfless as all that." She cast him a bright smile. "You are my prince. I found you, and I hoped you would wake up, take one look at me, and fall hopelessly in love with me."
"Then you have gotten your wish."
"Oh, Ell-rom." She leaned toward him and brushed a soft kiss on his lips. "I love to hear you say that, but I don't want to take advantage of you, and right now, it's gratitude talking. You don't even know what love is."
"Then you need to tell me. You are the one with all the life experience that I lack."
A shadow passed over her eyes. "I'm not sure I am qualified. Maybe we will figure it out together."
She resumed walking, and he had no choice but to follow. "Have you never been in love before?"
"I thought I was. Many times, but I always realized that it was just an infatuation. I've never really been in love." She slanted a look at him. "You are going to be my first."
His heart squeezed so hard that, for a moment, he couldn't catch his breath. "Going to be? Don't you have feelings for me now?"
"Of course I do, silly. But we have just met, and even though the seeds of these feelings are strong and robust, they need time and space to grow. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
He nodded. "You are right. I'm acting like a young boy."
"I think it's sweet." She leaned over and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "I love that you are so inexperienced, so innocent. Teaching you is exciting."
She'd called him innocent, but was he?
He might have never been with a female in a carnal way, but he might have done bad things that he couldn't remember. It wasn't that he felt unexplained guilt because he didn't, but there was some unease. He knew that hidden among his memories would be things he would have preferred to forget.
When they reached the end of the long corridor, and he turned the walker around for the return journey, the exertion was starting to take its toll on him, but he tried to hide it. If he wanted to get stronger fast, he needed to push himself.
"Where are the living quarters?" he asked. "Are they on those other levels you mentioned?"
He knew that Jasmine had a bedroom in the building, but he didn't know where it was.
She shook her head. "Maybe a few are on one of the underground levels, but most people live on the floors above, the ones that have windows to the outside. Many of Kian's people used to live in this building, but they moved to a different place a while ago."
13
JASMINE
Ell-rom looked tired, but given the stubborn expression on his face, he wasn't about to admit it or quit before he fell on his face.
Jasmine needed to coax him into returning to bed. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "The truth is that I've never been to their new location, but there is a whole beautiful world out there."
Perhaps as nature went, it was still true, but the state of humanity was a different story. The world wasn't as beautiful as it had been just a few years ago, with wars raging and hatred seeming to spread like wildfire. But Ell-rom was still too fragile, physically and emotionally, to be burdened with the harsh realities of the world he had woken up in.
She could shield him from that for a little longer.
"I'd like to see it," Ell-rom said. "I don't like being underground, and I miss seeing the sky and breathing fresh air."
Jasmine patted his arm. "You will. As soon as I can, I will sneak you up to the penthouse, and you can sit outside on the terrace and enjoy the Los Angeles smog."
He frowned. "The angels?"
She hadn't known that the Kra-ell religion had angels. Perhaps the teardrop translated the word to the closest thing it could find in Kra-ell.