I saw his eyes first. For a long moment, they were all I could see. An unearthly shade of stormy blue, the color of an ocean I knew didn’t exist, with swirls of pearl gray circling his irises that matched the stone wall he leaned against. They weren’t just the color of the sea, but as if an actual ocean were contained within them. I could see movement, a current of water spiraling around his pupils, like a whirlpool or a hurricane. A flurry of whirling violence and passion with a dead calm at the center. I was lost in that calm blackness for an eternal moment, sucked into the abyss by the vacuum of his fixed gaze.
He closed his eyes and I was back inside myself again, safe. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of any lingering strands of his silky web. The stifling strength of his power frightened me to the very core of my being. I knew if I wasn’t careful, I could fall under his commanding spell and lose myself completely. Still caught in a daze, my stare locked in place, I noticed the contracted muscles around his eyes. He was straining to keep them shut. Was he aware of the mesmerizing power of his gaze? Was he trying to protect me? His intentions were a mystery to me.
