Page 8 of Cursed Lifeline (Eternal Love)
Seven
Esme
song: let me fall | Ex habit as he licks his lips, his eyes lock with mine, and he gathers my hair in his right fist.
Neither of us speaks. The silence building between us becomes a powerful aphrodisiac, and I suddenly find myself losing the battle to not fall for any more of his tricks or his breathtaking illusions. Despite my best attempts to deny how he makes me feel, my breath hitches as he leans closer, tugs my hair to the side, and growls against the curve of my neck, “I lied.”
He breathes in deep and groans. My breathing quickens. My hands shake as he slowly binds them in his left palm and raises them above my head.
Paralyzed, I’m rendered speechless. Caged and restrained for his undoing, my knees wobble. My thighs shake.
A whimper falls from my lips as I ask, “About what?”
His strong left arm wraps tightly around my waist, and he draws me closer. My breasts ache as they firmly press against his firm chest before his mouth tenderly brushes against my collarbone, then further down against my chest. Then, further still, between my breasts. I suck in a sharp gasp when his warm breath dips between my cleavage.
“When I said I wanted you to stay away,” he growls.
His violet eyes lift slowly, seductively. When they hesitantly meet mine, they’re aglow with forlorn longing.
Holding his hungry stare, I whisper, “Don’t play tricks with me.”
He cocks his devilishly handsome face to the side and tries to read me. Tries to enter the secret workings of my mind. His magic twists around my thoughts, fiercely looking for an area to penetrate, but I keep a guard up as best I can.
It’s a trick Alfred has started to teach me. And I am glad he did since the man who’s intent on hunting me when I should be the one hunting him doesn’t seem to take no for an answer.
After a moment, Felix whispers with heartache, “I could never lie to you, even though we both know I should.”
He gently releases my hands above my head, and my arms slowly fall to my sides. His fingers trail over the curve of my face before resting on my lips. His eyes follow their path before passionately capturing mine. “Do you want me to stay away, Esme?”
It’s a question that’s so easy to answer, yet I pause. Though my hesitance should tell me the truth, my heart has me whispering a moment later, “No.”
His smile is one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
Relieved. Happy. Content.
“I have to leave for a while,” he says, and my heart plummets. “When I return, may I see you?”
Swallowing hard, I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. It’s one thing to dream of him, but to open myself up to more when he’s… and we’ll I’m…
“Please,” he begs softly. “It took more courage than you know to ask.”
Shaking my head, Felix gently grips my chin and says, “I know I said stay away, and I know what’s at stake. I’ve weighed the risks, and I’ve concluded that there is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so .”
“Felix, I…”
“Do you think about me?”
I startle and debate not answering. But if I never get the chance to tell him so again, I want to be truthful, and so I say, “always.”
Leaning forward, he smiles and places a tender kiss on my cheek. It’s a kiss that has my toes curling from just the simple brush of his cool lips against my flushed skin.
“So then that’s a yes?” he whispers.
I nod my head and his grin grows.
Pulling back and looking in my eyes, desperate longing clings to his voice as he whispers, “The way I feel for you, it’s…” he trails off. I close my eyes and cling to him, hopeful this moment never ends. Just when I think he won’t say another word, he says, “ though this be madness, perhaps there is method in ‘t .”
Before I can wrap my brain around what he said, before I can catch my next breath, before I can open my eyes and respond, he’s gone.
His absence is felt in my heart before the warmth of his skin ever leaves mine.
Bracing myself against the wall behind me, I open my eyes and attempt to force my breathing to return to normal. A small tear runs down my right cheek. I brush it away sorrowfully. After a moment, when I think I can walk without my knees giving out, I step around the dark corner and start walking towards my room. I don’t get more than two steps down the hallway before someone catches my eye down the vast expanse of the corridor.
Alfred.
He studies me with pity. With shame. As if I’ve committed a sin.
As I twist the knob to my chambers, hurry inside, lock the door, and slump to the floor, I can’t help but hope maybe Felix is right.
The way we feel for each other is crazy.
Impossible.
Madness .
But, perchance, by some miracle set into course before our time, hopefully there is method to it.