Familiar Spirit

“Sarah,” he said, when they were both inside and the door was closed. “Sarah, I’ve waited so long for this . . .”

His strong, familiar, capable hands had her by the arms, and Sarah no longer wanted to resist. She could no longer resist. She turned and half fell into his embrace, praying that this was not another dream she would wake from alone.

After a moment she pulled away slightly, raising her face, wanting to see him. The room was largely in darkness, but there was light spilling in from the kitchen.

He crushed her to him again and kissed her searchingly. Her eyes closed, but not before she had seen something different about him. Something wrong.

She pulled away again, opening her eyes.

His eyes. It was his eyes that were different.

They weren’t dark brown anymore. They were yellow, almost golden. And something about them—some power —made them seem to glow as if they reflected flames.

As he looked back at her, calm and smiling, his eyes burned into hers and she felt their searing heat.

Then his mouth came down hard on hers, swallowing her scream. Eyes opened, mouths together, they stared at each other, closer than they had ever been before, closer even than when he had been inside her mind.

And suddenly she was no longer afraid.

Sarah felt desire moving through her, stronger than any she had ever known before, more potent and all-­encompassing than mere sexual passion. And she knew that she was feeling not only her own desire, but his as well. They were like twins, in a way—evenly matched, equally strong. She knew what she wanted and she knew what he wanted, and it was one and the same thing. She felt drunk, giddy, powerful. With his kiss he seemed to suck the very soul out of her and send it back, recharged.

When at last they broke apart, she was laughing. A moment later, an echo, he was laughing, too.

“Ah, my darling,” one of them said. “I’ve got you at last.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Tuttle is an award-winning author of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Her first novel, written in collaboration with George R.R. Martin, Windhaven, has been in print since 1981, and was adapted by her as a graphic novel. Her most recent novels are part of a detective series with supernatural elements, set in 1890s England: The Curious Affair of the Somnambulist and the Psychic Thief and The Curious Affair of the Witch at Wayside Cross. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived in Scotland since 1990.