Page 12 of The Immortal’s Curse (Bound to the Immortals #2)

DARCIE

I stand across from Des, hands on my hip, staring slack-jawed at his naked torso gleaming in the midday sun.

My fingers had traced his impressive abs when we kissed in the closet, but the view before me is a mouthwatering masterpiece. Eight-pack abs carved like stone, each ridge catching the light. The V-cut at his hips draws my gaze downward, a perfect funnel of temptation.

I have no idea how my imagination created something so… perfect.

A bird swoops down from overhead. Argos yaps and jumps up to catch it, pulling me out of my lust-filled haze.

I shake my head and say, “I don’t understand. How is it possible you don’t know how to swim?”

Des stands at the edge of a pond, wearing his usual smirk. “I said I don’t like to swim. Not that I couldn’t swim.”

“Who doesn’t like to swim?”

“People who don’t like to be wet.”

I snort and turn away, walking to the edge of the water. “Everyone likes to get wet. ”

Des’s voice hums close behind me. “Especially with the right person.”

Heat blooms in my cheeks. I keep walking, forcing my steps steady, stubbornly refusing to glance back.

I reach the pond's edge and dip my foot in to check the temperature. It’s chilly, but nowhere near as cold as it would be in real life.

One benefit of my dreams? I get to control the temperature.

Another benefit? I have no problem revealing my bikini-clad body to the insanely gorgeous Immortal behind me.

I slide the robe off my shoulders, letting the cozy material gather at my feet before I step into the water.

My fingers trail over the surface as I walk over the muddy pond floor. Ripples expand outward, the water reflecting the sunlight filtering through the clouds above.

“Don’t go too far,” Des says.

I look over my shoulder. He stands closer to the water’s edge. “Why not?”

“The terrain isn’t even. It can drop off without warning.”

I grin, continuing to walk deeper in the water without taking my eyes off him. “Well, it’s a good thing I can swim then, huh?”

He shakes his head, then does exactly what I want and steps into the water.

Of course he does.

This is my dream.

Des’s strong arms slice through the water with effortless power, each muscle flexing beneath his skin. My stomach tightens, a mix of awe and something more restless stirring inside me.

I step back and just like Des warned me, the surface beneath me disappears.

My head submerges for only a second before I remember to move my arms and legs. With a strong kick, I pop back through the surface with a cough that quickly becomes a gasp when pulled into a muscular chest .

“Are you okay?”

I sputter and wipe my eyes. Des scans my face before looking down, as if he can see my body under the murky water. For all I know, he can.

“I’m fine,” I murmur, acutely aware of the buzzing sensation zipping over my body, amplified as it’s conducted over the water covering my skin.

Des’s hold on me doesn’t loosen. His hand slides to my low back. My stomach presses against his naked torso, and my heart begins to race.

In real life, I’d resist the pull he has on me. I’d remind myself of all the complications he and his Immortal kind bring. Every risk. Every danger. I’d force myself to recall every dismissive word he ever spat my way, every time he fiercely denied we had any connection at all.

But here? In my dreams? I let myself succumb to the string wrapped around my heart, reeling me in to the stoic Immortal.

Here, I don’t have to worry about the repercussions or what-ifs that come along with giving in to this attraction between us. I can just… feel.

“What are you thinking?” Des murmurs, his green eyes searching mine.

I rest my hands on his shoulders, loving how he shivers from my touch. Instead of answering, I ask, “Why are your eyes green whenever you touch me?”

I’ve asked the question in the real world, but he never gave me an explanation. Here, in my dreams, whatever he says will be a projection of my subconscious assumptions. Still, I can’t help but voice the question.

His lips lift into a subtle grin. My heart flutters. “My eyes are always green.”

I scowl. “No, they’re not.”

I’ve studied his hazel eyes more times than I can count, wondering how they could bear such a strong resemblance to the eyes that haunted my dreams for as long as I can remember.

It wasn’t until Des touched my skin for the first time and I saw his eyes flash green that I knew I was right. Des’s eyes are the ones from my dreams.

Now, with our chests brushing and my hands resting on his arms, the vibrant, unique emerald hue glows in his gaze.

“It’s true.” His gaze drops to my lips. Electricity crackles between us.

I clear my throat. “If your eyes are really green, why do they look hazel?”

The hand pressed against my back slides lower as he shifts his grip and lifts me higher. My legs float up, and I wrap them around his waist. Heat floods my cheeks when evidence of his arousal brushes the underside of my thigh.

Sparks ignite my core, stoking the heat between my legs.

Focus, Darcie.

“It’s an illusion,” he says. “A favor from Charmian.”

I grip his shoulder and lean back, brow furrowing. “Why would Charmian make me think your eyes are hazel?”

“She didn’t. At least…” He cocks his head to the side, studying me, as if wondering if I’m going to be able to handle whatever he’s about to say.

I must pass the test, because he continues, “The illusion wasn’t cast over you , specifically. Just… someone like you.”

That wouldn’t make any sense… if I didn’t know about reincarnations.

My heart hammers against my sternum, each beat a thunderclap in the quiet. This is just a dream. But even so, I ache for Des’s deep, smooth voice to speak the words that have tortured me for weeks. Words that could shatter the doubt twisting in my mind.

I want him to admit I’m not crazy .

“Why would Charmian cast an illusion on someone like me?” I whisper, my voice trembling.

His gaze drops to my throat, tracing the rapid pulse beating beneath my skin. “I believe you already know the answer.”

“Pretend I don’t.”

His eyes meet mine, and the sudden flash of heat in those stunning irises steals my breath.

“Because you are my One, Darcie.”

The world narrows to the sound of blood roaring in my ears, yet every word comes through crystal clear through the noise. My lungs tighten, desperate for air, but I’m rooted in place.

Des cups my cheek, his thumb grazing my skin with a tenderness that sets me ablaze. “Surely, you aren’t surprised.”

I shouldn’t be. After all, this is my dream. But I am. God, I am.

I’d imagined this moment a hundred times, but I wasn’t ready for how those words would burrow beneath my skin and settle deep inside my soul.

I inhale a sharp, desperate breath, then lick my dry lips. “But… you’ve denied I’m your soulmate so many times.”

Des’s gaze drifts to my mouth, dark and searching. “I have.”

“ Why ?”

Pain shadows his handsome face as he meets my eyes again. “Because there’s no point in acknowledging our connection.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am cursed, Darcie. My One and I will never have a happy ending. The Creator has seen to that.”

My stomach twists with a hollow ache. “You’re talking about the fact each one… died?” I drop my voice to a whisper on that last word, as if lowering it could somehow soften the blow of dredging up such painful memories.

“Yes.” His hand falls away from my cheek to rest on my hip. “Among other things.”

Other things ?

My gaze darts between his eyes. “Bella made it sound like your enemies were to blame for their deaths.”

“That is true.” The hand against my waist flexes. The pulse in his fingertips thrums against my skin. “But I’m certain my sister-in-law left out the part that it’s my nature that truly sealed their fates.”

I frown. “How could you possibly be responsible?”

His face twists into a bitter, almost mocking smile. “Don’t you remember? I am the God of Death. Even the passing of those I love feeds my power. What use would I have for a soulmate to share my strength? I am already invincible.”

His words land cold and haunted, aloof yet piercing.

Every fiber of my soul aches, imagining the torment he and his lost soulmates endured. How deep pain has been carved into his Immortal existence. I hate that he shoulders the blame for their deaths.

“You didn’t want them to die.” I continue to search his eyes, willing him to believe me. “What happened to those women was not your fault.”

His scoff is sharp, bitter. “Don’t you blame me and my brothers for the chaos in your life?”

I shake my head. “That was Thane’s doing. You did everything you could to try and keep me out of your life…”

And after hearing his confession, that fact stings more than I thought it would.

Des shakes his head and looks away before muttering, “And look at how well that turned out.”

This isn’t real , I remind myself, but my subconscious weaves such vivid detail that it blurs the line between dream and reality.

I press my lips together and follow the direction of his gaze. The bird Argos attempted to catch sits on a naked tree branch, chirping away.

Argos rests on his haunches, waiting for the creature’s next move .

I inhale slowly, trying to steady the swirl of emotions inside me.

The bond between the brothers and their Ones is supposed to be unbreakable. Bella said she couldn’t resist her pull to Thane, and he felt it too. The moment I saw Des, something sparked—an undeniable pull—but it was snuffed out just as fast by the chill of his dismissal.

If those men hadn’t attacked me outside the club in Portland—if Evetta hadn’t come after me, would we have crossed paths again?

The answer is no.

No matter what this dream says, I have no proof I’m Des’s reincarnated soulmate.

But what about that kiss?

I squeeze my eyes shut, overwhelmed and confused.

Des tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “What is it?”

I take a deep breath and open my eyes. “Nothing.”

“Darcie…” His concern is a living thing, swimming deep in his gaze. “Talk to me.”

I bite my bottom lip. Don’t do this. It’s not real.

But then what’s the harm?

I stare at the base of his throat, tighten my hold on his muscular shoulders, and ask the question that’s gnawed at me since he left me in Maine, “What’s wrong with me?”

His head pulls back. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Insecurity claws at me, an enemy I’ve always struggled to keep at bay. “Then why was it so easy for you to walk away after we first met?”

His expression softens, understanding flooding his eyes. “Is that what you think?”

“It’s what I know ,” I counter, lifting my eyes. “If not for forces beyond your control, I wouldn’t be part of your life.”

His fingers flex. The pressure against my skin sends shivers through me .

“You’re right,” he admits quietly. “But that doesn’t mean it was easy for me to stay away.”

My heart clenches. “It wasn’t?”

“No fucking way.”

A rush of satisfaction floods me, stoking my desire for him back to life.

Hell, who am I kidding? It never really died.

It’s a problem how drawn I am to a man who is more dismissive than he is kind, but it’s not one I’m compelled to solve. Not here. Not in this dream.

Des continues, his voice low and heavy with years of burden: “The Creator meant for me and my brothers to share our power with our Ones. I was meant to find you, Darcie. It took everything I had not to come to you after the night we met.”

My soul sings, but I temper its happiness. There’s still so much more I need to learn. “You say the Creator wants us together, but what about you ?”

A hand slides up my back. Like lightning beneath my skin, the slight caress sends a rush through me, threatening to split me open from the inside out.

“What I want doesn’t matter,” he says.

My hands tremble as I slide them around his neck. “Why not?”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend in Maine?”

The fire in my veins extinguishes instantly, drowned by a wave of cold, sobering truth.

I pull back, breath catching.

God, what am I doing? I’m a terrible person.

Here I am, dreaming of a shirtless Des with his hands all over me, the ache between my legs throbbing with every touch, while a good man waits for me in the real world.

I should be dreaming of Kevin, the guy I’m actually with—the guy who actually likes me .

“You’re right.” I plant my hands on Des’s firm pecs and push.

Des’s hold tightens. “That does not mean I do not want this .”

I stop pushing and search his eyes with a frown. “It doesn’t?”

“No.” His eyes smolder. “The opposite, actually.”

Desire billows into an inferno once more, and hope blurs into lust. And all thoughts of Kevin float from my mind.

“Well…” My fingers slide up and tangle in Des’s thick, dark hair. “Good thing I feel the same.”

His bright green eyes widen just before my lips crash against his. A low moan escapes him, and his tongue plunges into my mouth, insistent and demanding.

My hips press against his, rolling against the hard line of him, and I let myself revel in the heat pooling between us. Guilt? That’s a thought for the morning.

Right now, in this fantasy, I surrender—body, mind, and all—to the stoic Immortal and the fire he ignites in me.

Because I’m not sure I’ll ever feel so desired, so alive ever again.