Chapter 23 – And The Stars Aligned I

Clara

"Who, exactly, is a human?" As I walked into the room, I asked the question while keeping my gaze on Dana.

In the corner of my eye, I saw none other than my obstetrician. "Doctor Mathers... I smiled and said, "Nice to see you again, Doctor," before nodding my head in acknowledgment of his presence.

"Please, Clara. Call me Nate. I feel like you're calling my father whenever you call me Dr. Mathers," the doctor replied and chuckled.

"Fair enough," I replied.

I also noticed another man standing right next to Dr. Mathers whom I hadn't seen before. "Hey there, my name's Clara! And you are?" I inquired while extending my right hand for a handshake at the same time that I formally introduced myself.

"Hi there, my name is Barry. Dr. Barry Hamilton.”

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Hamilton." I smiled and looked across at Dana. "I am sorry, I did not realize that you had company... I was on my way to the examination room, and I thought I'd drop by first. I don't know if you know that your door was already open, but I know I should have knocked anyway. I apologize if I am interrupting... "

"Sheesh, not a big deal." Dana smiled as she replied.

It was subtle, but after that exchange and conversation, I became aware of another presence in the room, and it was difficult for me to ignore it because I had a feeling that someone was making holes in the back of my head. When I turned around, I saw two men on the opposite side of the room. Based on their clothes, I would say that they were dressed to the nines and that they are not from around here or working in the clinic.

The man with sandy brown hair is wearing a white shirt underneath his expensive yet elegantly simple coat, and thick gold chains hung from his neck. The coat fits the man's broad shoulders like a glove and feels like it was made for him from somewhere fancy. I can tell from where I stand that he is tall; he must be more than six feet tall, but he definitely can't compete with the man next to him.

The other man standing next to him, on the other hand, is an entirely different story. It is immediately obvious to me, based on the way he stands and the fact that his hands were casually concealed in his pockets, that he is the boss and the other man is his subordinate. He exudes the air of a ruthless royal mafia, someone you definitely do not mess around with, and the combination of his freshly shaven face and the way he carries himself gave me the exact kind of gut punch that caused me to let out a gasp when I first saw him. Subtle, but I'm sure he heard by the way he reacted as his eyebrows slightly shot up. Because of the way his eyes were set so deeply, I felt the urge to walk up to him and look directly into his eyes to figure out whether or not they were light gray or icy blue in color.

The fact that he appeared to be ready to tear me to shreds if I got any closer to him was the only thing that prevented me from getting any closer to him.

However, for some inexplicable reason, the emotion that I had was not one of terror but, rather, a profound desire from the depths of my soul, the likes of which I had never experienced before. The pull was so powerful that I almost went forward to approach him and damn everything else. It's a good thing I still have that sliver of good and sensible reasoning and sense of safety in the back of my head, and this kept me from doing something stupid.

He gave off the impression that he is intense, and he also comes across as being intense, and I have no doubt in my mind that he is, in fact, quite intense, if you know what I mean. Furthermore, for some reason, my body is responding peculiarly to his intensity as well, although I believe this to be in the best possible way. It was of no help that the guy was stunningly attractive from head to toe; all I wanted to do was give in to my urge and leap into his arms, lick his lips, and feel his body rubbing against mine. Does he have tattoos? I can't help but imagine what it would be like to have his hands on me.

*Clara, you need to get a grip on yourself! What in the name of all that is holy are you thinking?*

Do you remember the scene in the romance movies where the main man sees the leading lady for the first time, and everything seems to move in slow motion, and his focus is solely on her? In my head, it felt precisely like that the entire time this scene was being played out, only he is the focus of my attention and completely the other way around.

I didn't even realize it, but up until the very first time he spoke, I was staring directly at the man without any shame or cause whatsoever. I didn't even realize it until he started talking. I have to admit shamelessly that I am mesmerized with good reason.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Dr. Cortez?" He questioned me in a deep and somewhat scratchy voice that is hellishly seductive without even taking his eyes off of me, and it went straight up to my core.

I could tell right away that I must be as red as a freaking sun-dried tomato, and I felt my blood surge up to my neck and into my cheeks as it became increasingly warm. I had an uncanny feeling that steam was gushing out of my ears in embarrassment. I tried to hide my humiliation by lowering my gaze and wishing the ground would just cave in and consume me whole, never to be seen ever again.

"Errr, excuse me. Sorry about that." She muttered those words while wearing an odd grin on her face. "Please allow me to introduce my beloved friend Clara Beaufort to you, Mr. Alaric Moonblood.” She said. "Clara, I'd like to introduce you to one of the clinic's generous donors, Mr. Moonblood."

"I would appreciate it if you called me Alaric." He noted this as he put his right hand out for a handshake.

"I-if you insist," I said. "Just call me Clara. I-it was a pleasure to meet you…Alaric." When I went for his hand to receive his handshake, I could not help but stutter and stumble because I was fairly sure it wasn't my overactive imagination when I felt a tingle of electricity travel from his hand to mine. It was a good kind of energy, but nonetheless surprising.

Although it was only for a fraction of a second, the sensation caused both of my eyes to widen. I have no doubt that he went through the same thing. I was able to make out very clearly in his eyes how it turned from light to dark, icy blue pools as I felt that electric shock run through between our bodies and how it went straight up to my core, creating tingles that caused me to gasp as I retrieved my hand.

And it turned out that I was correct. His eyes were a light, frosty blue that looked almost exactly like silver.