Free Shades of Atlantis by Carol Oates Page A

neck and ran my fingers through it. At least my ears would be warm. The snow crunched under my feet; it was freezing, and I shivered almost instantly.
    Caleb held out his hand to me, and I pouted but took it. Like before, I noticed his skin was smooth and warm. He led me around to a patch of ground in front of the jeep where the heat from the engine and the low lights made the cold air swirl like smoke over our feet. Caleb stood inches from me, the lights from the headlights making his golden skin gleam. For a moment, nerves took over and I wasn’t sure where to put my hands, not used to being made to dance on mountain tops.
    Triona, Caleb sighed, exasperated after a few moments of my hands waving from his shoulder to his back, to his waist and then back again. He smiled, his eyes creasing, and I was sure it was meant to be reassuring, but instead it just made it hard to breathe.
    Sorry, I whispered.
    He took my hand in his again and raised it to his chest, just over his heart.
    Then he slipped his other hand around my waist to my back, pulling me to him so our bodies were pressed together lightly. Tingles ran up my back as we started to move together slowly. It was effortless; we moved without thinking, like we were made to fit. I slid my hand around to his back and heard him inhale, his face buried in my hair. The scent from his skin was dizzying, and each shallow breath I took was filled with it.
    I told you, we have everything we need right here, he murmured. I could feel his lips move against my hair as he spoke.
     
    I knew I should have felt cold, but I didn’t. I couldn’t feel anything except his presence. Caleb twisted the hand that was holding mine so my palm was flat against his body inside his open jacket. His heart was racing, thundering like mine. Was he trying to tell me something? The music slowed, and the words sounded so familiar. I had heard this song before, but that wasn’t the reason. His body was so close to mine it muddled my brain. I couldn’t think straight. Then it hit me like a thunderbolt straight through my body. It was what Caleb said about me, about figuring out what was special.
    Caleb, I murmured, barely breathing. I pulled back to look at him, and the depth of emotion in his eyes staggered me. I couldn’t see anything clearly other than the amazing blue, even in the dim light. Was he letting me know it was me that blinded him? The warm air rolled off Caleb’s lips in puffs. I felt the pull between us again; I felt us moving closer. I was suddenly scared. Scared and excited.
    Caleb smiled, and as the beat of the music sped up again, he twirled me outward, away from him, until I held onto his hand with my arm outstretched. Adrenaline rushed through every cell in my body. With one fluid movement he pulled me back, twirling, with my hair whipping across my face, until I crashed into his strong muscular body. I laughed and looked up into his smiling face, and all the tension of moments ago evaporated.
    My hands rested against his chest, and his arms came around me, holding me close against him. Caleb’s breathing was rough and exaggerated. I was too exhilarated to feel nervous anymore. It was like everything and everyone had disappeared from the world, and it was just the two of us left. He brushed the hair away from my face and then lightly ran his thumb across my smiling lips. I shivered again, and it wasn’t because I was cold. His breath was on my face where his palm curved against my cheek, where his thumb caressed my jaw, where his lips were coming down on mine. My heart was about to burst through my ribcage, and my knees trembled.
    Caleb’s lips were like his hands, soft and warm, softer than seemed possible. His taste filled my head, like new rain, sweet and luscious. His fingers tangled through my hair, holding me to him, and then he pulled away with one last brush of his lips and smiled down at me. I wanted to ask what this meant. What would happen now?
    Why did you do that? I