Read Online Nuit Noire by Carol Robi - Free Book Online

son. He doesn’t look much like his son either.
    “After all these centuries.” My face clouds at those words, my heart throbs, as my mind ponders over the implication of those words.
    “Yes, father. I really think she’s the one.”
    The older man’s attention now turns towards me, releasing his grip on his son’s shoulders and stepping closer to me. My attempts to step away are once again futile as I find myself arrested in place, dreading his proximity.
    “She’s a beauty,” the father says, leaning his head to his side as he studies me some more, and I feel myself as though a lab specimen. It unnerves me that the party at the nightclub goes on behind me, as though no one can see us, is seeing what is going on here.
    “What’s your name, child?” His father asks me. I will myself to remain quiet, my jaw moves to speak regardless. Traitorous body.
    “Sophia. Sophia Torres,” I say.
    “Sophia,” the older man repeats. “That’s a beautiful name,” this he says to his son beside me.
    “It is,” Gauthier confirms.
    “Have you touched her?” He asks.
    “No. But I got as close as I could.”
    “And.”
    “I nearly tore myself apart trying to keep away,” he rasps with what sounds like great torture. My breath catches at my throat when he says this. I turn to stare at him, finding it hard to believe that it’s me bringing such strong sentiments to his voice.
    I then think back to the night at the lake when a strange boy had emerged in the shadows and tried to touch my face, only stopping short. I remember how he’d struggled. Blessed heavens! He’d cussed in a whisper. My presence had affected him greatly. Maybe he is as much enslaved to me as I am now to him.
    “You’re greatly affected,” father tells son.
    “Greatly so,” son admits uninhibited. “She’s breathtaking.”
    “That she is,” father says, reaching out his gloved hands towards my face, then stopping just an inch away, as though changing his mind.
    “My son tells me you’re the vixen he’s been waiting for all his life,” this he directs to me, his face changing angles as he slowly walks around me, his face held so close to mine that his warm breath fans me.
    “I.. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.
    “You don’t, do you now?” I don’t answer him, for I doubt he expects an answer. “Look at you, so scared,” he continues. “Wondering what we could possibly want to do to you.”
    The large room is silent now, at least it feels so. The music sounds so distant, I wouldn’t believe we are in the same room as hundreds of party goers. I turn my eyes to Gauthier in a panic, feeling myself edging closer to him, an unvoiced beseech written clearly in my eyes when they meet his which are now gleaming even darker than they had before, and he surprises me by stepping even closer, and holding out a hand to keep his father at a distance from me.
    “Don’t taunt her anymore, father,” he asks, a vulnerability in his voice that I wouldn’t have expected. “Just confirm us please.”
    “You brought her too early!” The woman calls from the small group still seated at the table ahead.
    “I know,” Gauthier says. “But I need to know.”
    “It was quite impulsive of you,” she rebukes. “What if you’ve permanently scared her?” She continues scolding. “Even if father confirms it, she might still not want to be with you. That’s why patience is critical at this point, brother.” I guess he has a sister.
    “I’ll win her heart..” The woman that had spoken laughs, interrupting whatever Gauthier was going to say next.
    “You know nothing about women, brother,” she goes on to say. “In your haste, your impatience, you might just lose her after having waited for her for so long..”
    “Father just tell me!” Gauthier says with exasperation, interrupting his sister.
    His father chuckles, just before stepping even closer to me, as Gauthier steps away. My heart immediately screams in fear, and