Page 10 of The Immortal’s Curse (Bound to the Immortals #2)

DARCIE

An ominous silence settles overhead, blanketing the copse of trees surrounding me in the dim forest. Not even the leaves rustle, though their branches sway in the strong breeze.

I turn in a slow circle, searching. This is where Des and Argos walk. The massive German Shepherd-like creature demands copious amounts of exercise.

Where are they? I’m dying to see him.

Which him ?

“Darcie?”

My heart flutters as I spin around. The handsome Immortal steps through the gap between two trees. A twig snaps under his hiking boots. Dark jeans cover his muscular legs, and his gray T-shirt stretches over his broad torso.

Thick, brown hair waves in the breeze as his captivating hazel irises travel over my face before his lips set into a deep frown. “What are you doing here?”

“Walking.” I motion to the sky. “The weather is always so beautiful here.”

“Yes. Grecian winters this far south are rather mild.” His eyes dart to the tree line surrounding us. His forehead creases. “ But that doesn’t explain why you’re here. Shouldn’t you be in Maine?”

“I am.” I chuckle. “This is just a dream.”

My subconscious is working in overdrive, pulling me into yet another imagined scene with the Immortals. At least this one isn’t in a dark, dreary dungeon.

My heart feels light…. full . I’m relaxed .

As much as I’ll deny it in the light of day, here, in this dream, I’m willing to admit I’ve wanted to see Des.

Despite the deceit, the lies, the manipulation… there’s no ignoring the tugging in my soul, urging me to the Immortal. Even if it’s only in my dreams.

A brown blur races towards me from the trees. A happy squeal passes my lips just before Argos lunges.

I fall to my back, laughing as I whip my head from side to side to avoid his dripping tongue. “Hey, boy! Down boy!”

“Argos, off!”

The massive dog whines in his throat, but he heeds De’s command and sits back on his haunches.

I climb onto my knees and rub Argos’s neck, my fingers sinking into his black and brown fur. “That’s all right, buddy. I’ve missed you, too.”

Argos releases a happy yip and nuzzles my hand with his snout. My heart melts.

I glance at Des. His hazel eyes soften as he watches me and his dog, but the moment he senses my attention, his back straightens and his features shutter.

I lower my gaze back to Argos and scratch behind his ear, breathing through the tightness in my chest and forcing cheerfulness into my voice when I ask, “So, how have you been?”

“Fine.”

Geeze, you’d think my mind could come up with something more impressive for him to say.

“Good.” I nod, continuing to stroke Argos. “Fine is good. ”

“Darcie.”

I drag my eyes up.

Des’s forehead furrows, and he rolls his shoulders back. “You shouldn’t be here, and we certainly shouldn’t be alone. Come. Let’s go find the others.”

Heaviness weighs on my shoulders, but it’s accompanied by frustration. I lean into that emotion and snap, “No.”

Des rocks back on his heels. “No?”

“No.” I stand and cross my arms. This is my dream. I’ll control the conversation, and I’m not going to hold back. “You owe me an apology.”

He blinks. “An apology?”

I nod, determined. “For what happened in that closet.”

Des’s nostrils flare as he drops his gaze to the forest floor. “Oh… that.”

“Yes, that .” I close the distance between us and dip my head, forcing him to meet my gaze as I unleash the buried anger that’s been tearing me apart. “How could you kiss me like that and then act like nothing happened?”

I can’t shake the memory of Des’s face. Blank. Unmoved. As if our kiss meant nothing. Meanwhile, it felt as if my entire world had been shattered and rebuilt, centered around him and that cursed kiss.

“Wait…” Des tilts his head to the side, watching me. “You’re not upset I kissed you in the first place?”

My face heats, but this is a dream. I can be honest here. And I need to get this off my chest.

“Of course not.” I exhale, forcing myself to hold his stare. “It was the best kiss of my life.”

“Indeed?” He laces his fingers behind his back, his eyes glinting.

I have the distinct impression he’s resisting the urge to reach for me. But I want him to reach for me.

Badly .

“You’re still protecting me,” I murmur. “Even now. Aren’t you?”

Argos trots over and nudges his master’s leg. Des rests a hand on his head, still watching me. If the change in topic throws him, he hides it well. “What do you mean?”

“Adir.” I swallow down the panic trying to crawl up my throat at the mention of the Immortal who abducted me. “He’s only threatening me to get to you. You know that, right?”

He frowns. “I don’t understand.”

“I was in the dungeon.” It seems silly to explain my previous dream within my current dream, but the mind is one hell of a creative machine.

“You were in the dungeon?” Des repeats, his words slow, cautious.

I lean into the fantasy my mind is creating and nod. “I saw how you reacted to Adir threatening me.”

He releases his hands and straightens. A careful mask slips over his face. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“What do you mean?”

He presses his lips together, eyes searching mine. “I do not want you to think of me as a violent beast.”

“I could never.”

It’s true. Even knowing Des’s power is drawn from death itself, I can’t summon the fear I know I should feel in his presence. If anything, it’s the opposite.

The desire sparked by our kiss in the closet now surges to life, burning in my core, and I’m eager to unleash it here—where the repercussions begin and end in my own head.

I take a step forward.

He takes a step back.

“What are you doing here, Darcie?” He shakes his head. “How is this happening?”

“It’s a dream,” I murmur with a soft smile. “And apparently, my subconscious wants me to dream of you. Again. ”

I take another step closer.

Des takes another step back.

I tilt my head. “What’s wrong?”

“This isn’t real.”

“I know that.” I laugh, amused at how such an imposing man can look so unsure and afraid of me . “I just told you this was a dream.”

“No, Darcie, you don’t understand. This is?—”

“No,” I cut him off. “I’m so sick and tired of pretending like living with you guys hasn’t changed me. Like your eyes don’t flash emerald green every time we touch.”

I rush forward and reach out to brush my fingers against the back of Des’s hand hanging at his side. The brilliant green color floods his irises, making the pines around us look drab in comparison.

He pulls away and steps back again. The hazel color returns. “You don’t know what you’re doing, Darcie.”

“I know that kissing you changed something in me.” I stare into his eyes lined by thick lashes, and my heart skips a beat. “It meant something, Des. You know it, too.”

Dream Darcie is bold .

She can confess truths waking Darcie keeps hidden out of fear—fear of rejection, fear of loss of freedom.

I want to be more like her in the real world. But I’ll take what I can get for now.

Des exhales a shuddered breath, closing his eyes. “Please stop. Or I won’t be able to resist.”

My stomach tightens. “So you do feel something for me.”

For weeks, I’ve feared I was the only one affected by our heated kiss in that closet.

I’d wondered if I’d imagined his reaction all those weeks ago—how he held me so tight, how his lips devoured mine. I’d worried he hadn’t been as lost in the moment as I was.

Des lets out a humorless laugh. His eyelids lift, and it’s like I see the depth of his soul in his gaze. “I don’t feel something for you, Darcie… I feel everything. Everything I shouldn’t.”

My heartbeat falters. “What does that mean?”

It’s as if a light switch flips in his head, turning off the reservation that was holding him back.

Des closes the space between us, catching my chin with his thumb and forefinger, tilting my head up so we meet each other's eyes.

I suck in a sharp breath at the sparks emanating from his touch and let myself get lost in his stunning green irises.

His hot breath brushes my lips. “Everything about you—your intelligence, your bravery, your beauty… You astound me, Darcie.”

I preen under the compliments.

This is wild.

No one has ever made me feel this… consumed. This seen.

“So, yes.” His thumb traces the edge of my jaw. “I feel something for you. Try as I might to avoid it, it can’t be helped.”

My lips curl into a shy grin. “I thought you hated me.”

“I could never hate you.” His fingers tighten on my jaw. His gaze locks with mine. “ Never.”

My heart has wings.

Logic tries to douse my desire, reminding me how Des avoided me in Greece. He doesn’t want anything to do with me in the real world. I’m projecting secret wishes and desires onto this imagined version of Des, and he’s saying what I want to hear.

This isn’t real.

What is real is that I’m dating Kevin—something I’ve wanted for a long time. And things are going well between us.

Whatever this is with Des, it’s just a fantasy. It’s what my romance-novel-loving self is projecting onto my and Des’s strange dynamic.

But although it’s a fantasy, it’s one I plan to enjoy .

I rest a hand on his arm. “I could never hate you, either.”

It’s a truth I feel deep in my bones.

The corner of his lip twitches. “Good.”

My hand slides over his bicep. My feet shuffle closer.

“Darcie?”

“Hm?” I rise on my toes, slowly lifting my other arm to wrap around the back of his neck.

He doesn’t pull away. “What are you doing?”

I stop with my lips inches from his, searching his gaze, pleased by the desire swirling in his heated stare.

“Kiss me,” I demand in a breathless whisper.

“Darcie,” he groans. His words brush over my lips. Tingles pepper my skin. “We can’t.”

“We can.” My fingers curl in the wavy strands at the base of his head. “This is my dream. I can do what I want.”

With that, I lean forward and press my lips to his.

Des doesn’t move. He’s still as a statue. But I’m not willing to give up so easily.

I kiss his lips, then his cheek. I move my mouth along the edge of his jaw, encouraged by the ragged breaths passing his lips.

Des’s arms drop to his sides. His hands hover over my hips before curling into fists.

A glance reveals his eyes are closed and his pulse thrums through the vein in his neck. He’s fighting his desire. I know he is. But I’m determined to push him over the edge.

I drag my fingers down his neck before sliding them forward and pressing them into his muscular chest. I place a delicate kiss on the edge of his jaw, then trail my lips down and nip at his neck.

Des’s control snaps.

He grabs my waist and drags me into his torso.

His lips devour mine like I’m the air he needs to breathe, pressing, prodding. My body lights up with sparks—the same ones that always stoke my desire for the broody Immortal.

I’ve always been attracted to Des. He’s always intrigued me. I am drawn to him. Not in the supernatural way Bella is to Thane, but in a way that makes it impossible not to wonder in the darkest hours of the night, what could have happened between us if things were different.

You mean, if he didn’t have a line of dead soulmates behind him?

I ignore the pessimistic side of my psyche. I won’t let her ruin my fantasy.

Des tongue slips past my lips and dances with mine in an enticing rhythm. I arch my back. His rigid muscles press against my thin summer dress—a copy of one Bella had stashed in my guest room closet at the mansion.

His hands slide down and grip behind my thighs, lifting me higher. His lips move to the underside of my jaw. I sigh and wrap my legs around his torso, reveling in the warmth seeping into my core.

“You are delicious,” he mumbles against my neck, his tongue darting out for a little lick. “The sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.”

Desire coils hot and tight inside me, so fierce it feels like my veins are carrying fire instead of blood, and I’m seconds from igniting.

“So are you,” I murmur, too caught up in the moment to be embarrassed by my uninspired response.

Des doesn’t seem to mind. He continues to pepper kisses along the column of my throat, nipping and sucking, stoking the heat in my core to unprecedented levels.

He whispers, “We should stop.”

I whimper.

His chuckle tickles my neck. He presses one last kiss to the sensitive skin, then leans back. “Trust me, I don’t want to go, but there is somewhere I need to be. ”

The hunger in his eyes makes my breath falter, but the tenderness layered beneath it unravels me completely. Lust I could brace against. Affection? That leaves me defenseless.

It’s just a dream, Darcie.

But God… I really wish it weren’t.

“Are you sure?” I give another coy smile. “I could make staying worth your while.”

Who am I?

Des grins and shakes his head. “Don’t tempt me, my flower. I could kiss you for the rest of my life.”

The endearment warms my heart in a way I don’t expect. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I know.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “But I enjoyed seeing you again, Darcie. I’ve… missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

His gaze softens, and he sets me down on my feet. He presses his lips to mine for one last kiss before stepping away. His irises are hazel once more.

“Until we meet again, Darcie.” He slowly backs away, heading towards the tree line.

Argos is quick to follow, but he gives a little whine of goodbye.

I lift a hand. “Bye, Des. Bye, Argos.”

Not sure what else to do, I turn around and debate which direction I should walk. I’m not sure how to draw myself out of a dream.

“One more thing.”

I whirl around, my heart in my chest, wondering if I will get to enjoy even more time lost in this fantasy. “Yes?”

Des’s lips curl into a soft smile that pierces my soul in a way no other smile ever could. “In case I don’t see you on your big day, Happy Birthday.”