CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN –DEREK

A delicate shiver coursed through Jasmine's frame at both his words and the sheer magnetic force radiating between their joined hands. Was this what lightning felt like mere moments before striking? "The feeling is quite mutual, I can assure you," she managed in a hushed tone. "If I'm being fully transparent, I had more or less resigned myself to perpetual cycles of disconnection and despair before encountering your radiant essence tonight..." They held one another's spellbound attention for a weighty moment more, the smoky glow of the streetlamps framing them almost otherworldly against the blackness of the city night. And then, with infinite grace and composure, Derek raised her knuckles to his lips for the slightest, softest graze of a kiss. "Until we have the exquisite privilege of reuniting," he purred, his breath caressing her fingertips. "May the light of cosmic curiosity continue blazing within your immortal spirit." Jasmine could only nod mutely in reply, utterly disarmed