Enigma (7 page)

“Kate, this is dangerous. I was supposed to stay away from you, and shouldn’t have kissed you, but I had to save your life; I couldn’t let you die.”

I fell into his arms, allowing our lips to meet again. I was wrapped up in the feeling of being desired, but suddenly pulled away from him, finally digesting what he’d said.

“What do you mean you shouldn’t have kissed me?” I asked with wide eyes.

“I gave you the kiss of life on the beach to save your life. Our lips touched and I . . . I saved your life and in return you . . . .” Jack looked at the ground.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Jack kissed my cheek and looked into my eyes. “Nothing. What could possibly be wrong when us being together feels so right?”

After our eventful night, Jack walked me home. As I tried to sneak into the house, Brett came out of the kitchen and stumbled toward the stairs while clutching a beer and a bag of chips. I sighed, grateful that he wouldn’t remember a single thing by morning.

Not wanting to ruin my good mood, I ignored his intoxication and went straight to bed, fixated on Jack’s revelation.

CHAPTER 7

T
he following evening, I met Jack at the beach by the rocks where we’d officially met. We lay together in the sand and gazed at each other in comfortable silence. I smiled up at him as he wrapped his arms around me snugly, and I sensed him smelling my hair, which made me giggle. I was overwhelmed by the attention he gave me. He made me feel incredibly safe, and there was no denying our unusual, magnetic connection. We gazed up at the stars, absorbing the beauty of the night sky, and snuck glances at each other.

Jack intrigued me. He wasn’t entirely human, but I didn’t care; it wouldn’t change how I felt about him. I’d never been happier, even though everything that was happening seemed like a dream. I’d been patiently waiting for him to clarify what he meant by him being an
Enigma
, but refused to wait any longer. I sat up.

“Jack, I have to know something. If you’re not human, what are you?” I apologized for being so blunt, but Jack must’ve been prepared for me to broach the subject because he sat up and didn’t hesitate to answer me.

“This is hard for me, Kate. I’ve never exposed myself to anyone before. I mean
never
. The life I lead, the truth about me, is a secret. Telling you could mean terrible consequences for me and my family. If you know the truth, there will be repercussions for you too,” he said anxiously.

I held his hand. “Jack you can trust me. Whatever you’re about to reveal will remain locked inside of me forever.”

He smiled and relaxed a bit. I smiled, finding it extraordinarily flattering that he trusted me with a secret that he hadn’t told anyone else. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes. Gentle waves rolled toward us while the tide friskily swept over our feet. The cold water made me flinch, but Jack didn’t react at all. He stood and began pacing across the sand; I stood and walked toward him, knowing that this was the moment I’d been waiting for.

“Like I said before, I’m an Enigma. I have powers beyond human ability, but really, I’m just Jack Jones.”

His eyes captivated me and with his easy charm, I felt myself moving closer to him. Standing only a breath away from the guy I was undoubtedly falling in love with, we embraced as the sand rapidly absorbed the water.

“Are you ready to be exposed to the impossible?” Jack whispered in my ear.

“Yes, I’m more than ready to hear your secret; I’ve hardly thought of anything else. Tell me about your powers,” I said eagerly.

Within seconds, I was whisked into the air while wrapped securely in Jack’s arms. When I opened my eyes, we were almost as high as the jagged cliffs, but I wasn’t afraid. I felt that familiar adrenaline rush return and it felt exhilarating.

In the next minute, I was back on the sand. Jack still had a tight hold on me and his smile matched mine. Sensing that I’d regained my balance, he let go of me, and I pulled my top down before rearranging my tangled hair.

Jack laughed and gently brushed my fingers away from my hair. “I have extraordinary speed and agility; I thought it would be easier to demonstrate rather than try to explain.”

I couldn’t help smiling. That explained how he’d been able to climb the cliff so quickly, and how he’d swum to shore extraordinarily fast. I felt like a child reading a superhero comic, but Jack was real. He was flesh and blood. His heart was beating and he inhaled the oxygen around us just as I did. I desperately wanted to hear more, and Jack was willing to tell.

“I have incredible strength too.”

He ran over to the rocks surrounding us and glided his fingers across them. He found the largest rock and picked it up with ease, and then gently placed it back down. He wasn’t straining, breathless, or hurting in any way. I stared at him in shock, but inside, I was bubbling with excitement.

“Jack, how? I mean . . . this is impossible stuff!” I felt embarrassed at my high-pitched voice, but Jack only smiled at my shock and excitement.

“Impossible stuff for a human, but not for me. But remember, you’re the only person outside of my family who’s ever seen me demonstrate my powers. My family’s very secretive and over-protective of me,” he said seriously.

“Is there anything else that I should know or see? Or are you going to wake me up now?” I asked.

Jack laughed as I pinched myself to confirm that I was still awake and not lost in a dream.

“I think that’s enough for one day. There’s a lot to know about me, but there’s no need to overwhelm you with everything all at once.”

He was right; this was a lot for anyone to absorb. It was all shockingly surreal but I didn’t want to wait to find out the rest.

“Jack, you promised to tell me everything.”

He took my hand and kissed my cheek softly. “I will, but this is enough for now. You might wake up tomorrow wanting to avoid the freak next door,” he said, looking at the sand.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. “No, I could never . . . I wouldn’t do that to you,” I said, and when he placed his hands on my hips, I shuddered. “But I need to know one more thing. What happened that day at the beach? The day you saved me from drowning?”

Jack’s expression changed and he looked more apologetic than ever. He removed his hands from my hips and ran his fingers through his hair, looking up at the stars as if they held the answer. His body was tense as he looked down at the sand.

“Kate, I’m so sorry. That day has changed our lives forever and I still haven’t forgiven myself; I doubt I ever will.”

I moved closer to him. “What are you sorry for, Jack? You saved my life; why would you apologize for that?”

Jack looked at me with sorrow bounding from his eyes. “It was my fault that you almost drowned. I was messing around in the water for fun. It sounds stupid, but the ocean is the only place where I feel totally free. It’s the only place where I don’t have to watch how I’m behaving.”

Now I was beginning to understand everything.

“Jack—”

“Wait! Let me explain. I’ve been making waves since I was a child. I created the wave that took you under the other day. You almost drowned and it was my fault. I didn’t see you. I’m usually so careful, but I didn’t know you were there.”

I hugged Jack and he held me tightly while apologizing repeatedly.

“You didn’t mean for it to happen, Jack. It was an accident. I don’t blame you for what happened; you saved my life.”

He held me tighter and I kissed his neck before nestling my head underneath his chin.

“It was stupid of me. You have no idea how relieved I was when you began breathing again. I thought I had killed you.”

“Jack you have to let this go. I’m alive because of you; I owe you my life.” It was getting cooler and Jack took off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. “When you were holding that rock up, did it hurt you?”

Jack took my hand and we walked along the beach.

“Nothing could ever hurt me. I can’t feel pain . . . I’m virtually invincible.”

I couldn’t believe that Jack had never felt any type of physical pain.
How was that even possible?
I thought. But Jack represented the impossible, and everything about him was intriguing.

“Jack, let’s put that day at the beach behind us and concentrate on what the future holds,” I said.

“A future with me will change your life forever, Kate.”

“I want you to let me into your life,” I said, but received no response.

The sky was pitch-black and I knew that it was probably later than I should have been out, but I didn’t want to go home; I wanted to stay with Jack and talk until sunrise.

“So, Kate, if you want to find out what the future may hold for us, does that mean I haven’t scared you off?”

I shook my head. I wasn’t going anywhere.

Jack stopped, gently pulled me toward him, and kissed me tenderly. When we sat in the sand, he leaned over my body and I ran my hands down his bare chest. He felt so masculine and strong, but was so gentle. I’d never felt so physically attracted to someone. If he’d offered himself to me, I knew that I would have given myself back to him without hesitation.

Another hour passed, and we lay in the sand, gazing into each other’s eyes.

“Kate, you’re going to have to make a choice now, and I feel so guilty asking you to do that.”

“Okay, so what are my choices?” I asked, running my hand down the side of his sombre face.

“You have to either accept that the last few days we’ve spent together were nothing more than a short-lived romance and we never speak again, or, we continue seeing each other, but in secret. If my parents found out that I’d exposed myself to you, they’d make sure I never saw you again.”

“This can’t be the last time I see you,” I said, “but it’ll be hard keeping our relationship a secret. How long will we have to keep quiet?”

Jack sighed. “I don’t know. I can’t make you any promises.”

“I don’t understand. This is so unfair. Why can’t you tell your parents that you haven’t told me anything and let them think that we’re just friends? I
am
your neighbor; they’ll never know.”

“I doubt they’d believe that. Anyway, let’s forget about that now. We can make decisions later.”

We got up and began walking again, lost in our own thoughts.

“Jack, I’m really cold. I think I should head home now. Aren’t you cold?”

“No; I never get cold and I never get hot. I never get sick either. That’s a bonus,” he said with a devilish smile.

“Are you telling me that you don’t know how it feels to be hot or cold?”

Jack nodded. “That’s exactly what I am saying. I’ve never been sick in my life. My body has a protective shield against anything that could harm it. I’m physically protected,” he said, and then his shoulders slumped. “But emotionally, I’m vulnerable, especially with you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Isn’t it obvious already?” he asked, looking directly at me. “I’m falling for you and I can’t stop myself.”

As Jack kissed me, I was speechless. Nobody had declared such strong feelings for me before. I’d only had one other boyfriend, but that was merely a high school crush. This was different,
way different
. Jack and I were drawn to each other and there was no stopping the intense magnetism between us.

Jack and I decided to head home, and we agreed that I’d walk ahead. It felt like a childish game, but knowing that Jack was right behind me made me feel safe. We’d also decided that it was best to sleep on our decision about whether to tell Jack’s parents about us, even if it was a lie that we were just friends.

When I approached my front door, I looked for Jack, but he’d stayed back so that we wouldn’t expose our secret. I wanted to tell the world about my gorgeous new boyfriend, but I was enjoying the excitement of secrecy.

As I opened the door, my parents were standing in the foyer. My father glared at me and my mother’s lips were pressed together, her chin tilted upwards. I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was two in the morning.

My father stepped forward. “Katherine Louise Harris, where on earth have you been?” he shouted.

I didn’t know what to do or say. I hadn’t prepared an excuse, and Brett wasn’t here to help me talk my way out of this one.

“Answer you father, Katherine! Do you know what the time is?” my mother asked furiously.

I had to think on my feet, but I knew that my answer couldn’t be, “Sorry, Dad, I’ve been at the beach with the guy next door who almost killed me and told me he wasn’t entirely human.” I thought again and decided that I should go with, “Sorry, Dad, I decided to go for a random walk on the beach, not caring for my safety,” or maybe I could say, “Sorry, Dad, I just didn’t realize the time,” and hope it would suffice.

Eventually, I decided to go with the latter, even though it was completely pathetic. And then I knew that I had to get away from them in order to pull off such an obvious lie, but the questions kept coming.