Hunter Redfern strode in, radiating power, confidence and evil wherever he went. He headed straight for Gisele's table, not appearing to notice her there. He'd never met her, and he sat in the chair across from her, in the torchlight. The candle flame dwindled and died. Then he saw her; long dark hair, pretty, slanted blue eyes, a finely boned face. He smiled, his charming self.
"Hello," He said. "I don't think I've met you before. I'm here looking for Ash... But I don't think he's here yet."
Gisele smiled and stretched a hand across the table. "Yes, I've never seen you here before. My name is Gisele." He nodded. "Hunter Redfern." He reached his hand out, and their fingers touched, bare skin to bare skin. And then.... fusion. Like someone had turned on a light in a room that had been dark for centuries. An immense surge of feelings hit Gisele like a brick wall, not feelings she had ever felt. And she knew. The words formed on her lips but she could not say them. Soulmates.
Hey, don't I know you? Hunter gripped the girl's hand and stared across the table into her bottomless blue eyes. He couldn't have let go if he'd wanted to. He was drowning in a pool of emotions, of feelings never felt before. She stared back into his golden eyes, then reached out her other hand and gently touched his titian hair, running her fingers through the soft tendrils.
Hunter leaned across the table until he was face-to-face with Gisele. They were less than an inch away from each other. She tilted up her face, closed her eyes, and was engulfed in a sweet, warm kiss. His hand was on the back of her head, fingers running through her thick, shining mass of dark hair, pulling her in closer to him from across the table. Then he was beside her, crouching on the floor and looking up at her, something loving, tender and caring in his sad golden eyes, so used to hate and anger. He pressed her hand to his cheek.
She was shocked and scared. This can't be; it just can't! Gisele heard a voice in her mind and knew, without a doubt, that it was Hunter's. But it is. It's right. I've never felt like this before. It's just... it feels so right, how could I ever have thought it was wrong? We're...soulmates. He was speaking yet there was not a sound.
She spoke aloud. "It can't be." Hunter reached up and touched her face. Wordlessly Gisele jumped up and fled, leaving him crouching there looking after her.
"Oh, Poppy!" She cried less than a half-hour later. "He was kissing me and it was like...it felt so.. so right! But how can it be? I mean, he's Hunter and I'm... I'm me!"
Poppy smiled. "Sometimes it just happens that way. You couldn't have picked a more controversial person to be your soulmate, Gisele. It's a bit of a shock, I know, but you have to confront it, Hunter is your soulmate. That's the way it was with James and I." Poppy smiled lovingly to James and ran a hand though his hair. He was kneeling beside her, and placed his hand over hers. "It could be worse." Poppy continued. "You could be a human."
Gisele shivered. Poppy was right. But what was she to do? She had left him there, looking up at her with those sad, haunting, yet love-filled eyes... She wanted to hold him, to love him, so badly...
Crawling into bed that night, Gisele still puzzled over what she was to do. She couldn't deny her feelings. She just couldn't deny that she loved Hunter Redfern.... There was a light tap on her door and someone walked in. She slid over to turn on the light and tell her little brother Sean to go back to bed. Leave the light off, a voice in her head said. A voice that was so terribly familiar. She looked up, her eyes adjusting rapidly to the dark, as someone sat down on the bed beside her.
Hunter.
She wordlessly sat up. He looked at her; the moonlight streaming in from the window made his red hair and golden eyes look like those of a god. He smiled.
"I had to come. I couldn't just give up... not like that..." He laid a hand over hers, and before she realized it, Gisele was in his arms. He held her tenderly and looked into her eyes. "I've always laughed at people who talked about the whole soulmate prophecy. I didn't believe it was true-- I scorned them. I was wrong." He said softly. His eyes closed and he dropped his head. She smiled and gently touched his face, tracing out his soft lips and finely chiseled features that were almost delicate. His hand was running through her abundant hair, and he could stand it no longer. Pulling her to him, he leaned down and kissed her.
After they broke apart, he held her, gently stroking her hair. "I love you," She whispered, laying her head on his chest. They sat there holding each other as the night breeze blew in and the moonlight streamed down around them, illuminating their faces, filled with joy and love.
