Henry punched the steering wheel, startling Brianna.
"Dester never took you anywhere around here? No store, no movie theater? No..." His voice was furious, contained with immense effort.
"No."
He reflected.
"I'm sorry, Brianna. You deserved so much more than he gave you. He's miserable."
"It doesn't matter anymore, Henry. Now I know he'll never see me again, and that's no consolation. I'm free of his hands."
Henry stared at her briefly and then went back to concentrating on the traffic.
"I need you to know something."
"Is there a problem?"
"I don't think so. The trip to Búzios. It wasn't my idea."
"Who...?"
"Jasmine. Allister's wife."
"Why did she do it? Did she know what you were planning to do?"
"She thought it was necessary, after seeing what happened to you. The way you were humiliated."
Brianna leaned back in the car seat, thoughtful.
"Jasmine... she's not human either, but she's not a werewolf."
"She's a good woman. It doesn't matter what kind. I know men, purely human, who are much worse than these... monsters. And the worst thing about it is that I... am one of those worse humans."
Brianna said nothing. She was still puzzled by Jasmine's unexpected help.
And, after a few long minutes of silence, Henry asked Brianna;
"Is the bank where you deposited your money an international bank?"
"I don't know."
"Do you want to go to the bank to withdraw your money?"
"No. I'll leave the account number with you, and when I'm somewhere safe, you'll transfer it to me, okay?"
"You hardly know me... How can you trust me not to steal your money?"
Brianna sensed the amusement in his words.
"Then I'd use my spells and get on with my modeling career. I love fashion shows. Have you ever seen me parading?"
Henry smiled.
"You'd be very successful... If you weren't so small."
"Oh! I'm not small. You're too tall."
Henry smiled.
"I have a hundred thousand dollars stashed in the jet you're traveling in. Take that money to use until I send you your own money."
"Thank you, Henry."
Henry didn't reply and turned onto a dirt road. They drove for about half an hour along the bumpy road until they came to a large courtyard where there were two jets and an airstrip. Henry stopped and got out of the car, turning around to open Brianna's door.
She climbed down, and realizing that there were only about three people there, she felt very sad and turned to Henry.
"We've arrived. You're safe here. There's a waiting room inside the shed. Let's go there and get something to eat while they prepare your flight."
They went into the waiting room, and Henry went towards a door that separated the reasonably luxurious waiting room from some other room, and returned with a tray with some sandwiches and juices and placed it on the coffee table.
"Sit down and eat, Brianna. It'll be a while yet." He said and sat down next to her.
"Are you... Are you going back to Ireland?" He asked after a while.
"No."
Brianna replied and leaned back in the comfortable armchair, and the two of them talked while they ate. Henry laughed at the things Brianna told him about her childhood.
He, too, ended up commenting on some of the things he found similar between them, avoiding talking about his family as much as possible.
And they both secretly agreed that it was a happy day that would remain in their memories forever. A day that was interrupted by a young and handsome man. It was the pilot of the jet
"We're ready." He said, and left without waiting for an answer.
Brianna stood up, and so did Henry. They both seemed undecided about what to do next, but Henry suddenly turned cold and, taking her arm gently, escorted her to the jet. They stopped in front of the staircase that led inside.
"Your things are already inside." Henry said indifferently.
"Thanks for everything... Goodbye, Henry." Brianna said with tears welling up in her eyes.
"Goodbye, Brianna. It was a pleasure meeting you."
Brianna followed her impulse and, surprising Henry and herself, hugged him and kissed his closed lips. Then she pulled away, and he stared at her with an arched eyebrow. Brianna couldn't stay there any longer. She needed to get her tears out, away from him, so she turned to go up the stairs, when she felt a hand grab her tightly by the arm and turn her around.
"That's not how it's done, Brianna." Henry said and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her passionately.
This time, Brianna felt what she had always heard from her friends. Something overwhelming. Something that stirred her insides and made her want to be closer and closer to him. Something that made her want to be somewhere, alone with him, and remove the barrier of her clothes.
He wouldn't let her go. They kissed warmly for a long time. Brianna wanted to sip that feeling into her mind, to take it with her into the years of loneliness that awaited her soon. She would have something to tell a neighbor or a young woman in love. She would say that one day, a boy kissed her so intensely that she felt her whole body catch fire inside. And that day, she celebrated love.
After they parted lips, Henry still held her by the waist for a while. He seemed to be fighting an internal battle. And Brianna felt like she had received the biggest and best of parting gifts.
When he finally released her, his gaze softened.
"I can't let you go, Brianna... Not without giving you another option."
"And what would that be?"
"That you stay and be my wife."
Brianna looked at him thoughtfully before answering.
"Why do you want me to stay? You... You told me not to create illusions..."
"Because, Brianna, I need you in my bed. I feel something I've never felt before and I'm going to live hell if I don't have you in my life. If I don't have you as my wife and companion. If I never see your smile or smell your scent again. If I can no longer touch you intimately... Do you know how much I've fought my impulses since I saw you? I'm living in torment. But if you choose to leave, please don't remind me of your existence. Let me believe that it was just a nice dream. That I could never meet a woman who exactly matched all my ideals.