Souls of Fire

by Vanessa Black

  When he had barged into the office and seen her for the very first time, he had been stunned to see how beautiful she was.

  He had spent what felt like half a lifetime reading about the curse and the evil woman known as Morrigan, but he had never given much thought to what she might have looked like; he only ever thought about the terrible darkness at her core.

  It had never occurred to him that she would be the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

  Beautiful and deadly ― a devastating combination.

  The emerald dress mirroring her eyes had softly flowed around her as he had held her pinned against the wall; the way the black bodice had strained against the white skin of her rose-adorned chest sending chills down his spine.

  The anger and rage he had shown her had been all too real, but he had needed to summon them from deep down to protect himself, by thinking of the vile creature she was at heart and that it was because of her curse that his mother had met such an untimely and excruciating death.

  Had he not held on to that notion, he could easily have succumbed to her magnificence.

  And he had very nearly kissed her!

  Directly following that thought, Persephone entered the room, coming from the bathroom. It seemed she had taken a shower or indulged in a soothing bath, her fiery wet hair fluidly cascading down her back like a waterfall at sunset. Her eyes deep pools of emerald.

  Aidan’s heart started racing, but he managed not to let on about it and looked away, pretending to be bored. In reality he felt shaken.

  He hadn’t believed it possible that she could be even more alluring than when he had first beheld her. Now he stood corrected.

  The image of her entering the room had taken his breath away ― barefoot with wet hair and clad in nothing more than a lovely silk nightgown with spaghetti-straps adorned with cherry blossoms that reached to about mid-thigh, a hint of vanilla on her freshly cleansed skin.

  Clenching his fists tightly, his fingers painfully digging into his palms, he focused on the malevolence he knew she carried inside.

  Looks could be deceiving, but she could not fool him. He knew her true identity; and the clearer he saw her as the monster she was, the better he could withstand her ensnaring charms.

  Turning onto his side away from her, he tried to relax and get some sleep. It was late by then, and the events of the day had tired him out. Be that as it may, sleep was nowhere to be found ― every time he closed his eyes, the images and sensations that had come to him earlier, the ones he had refused to tell his father about, replayed over and over again.

  He had felt connected, just as he had said; but the connection he had felt had run much deeper than his father could ever have guessed at. In a moment of heightened concentration, he had felt himself kissing her, touching her, their bodies naked and entwined; he had felt every sensation as clearly and acutely as if it had actually happened.

  In that moment he had wanted her so badly that it had completely thrown him, and he had had no other choice than to treat her with the utmost contempt, alarmed and ashamed as he had been at his own reaction. He didn’t want anyone to see how weak he was, and how strongly she had already managed to get to him.

  There he was, prepping nearly his entire life to fight the devil incarnate, and when it actually had come down to it, he had succumbed to her within seconds. He would make her reveal her true colors, maybe then he would be able to resist her.

  After lying awake for what felt like hours, his body too tense, his mind too engrossed in images of Persephone, Aidan’s totally exhausted mind finally drifted off to sleep.

  When he next opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe what was happening. The bed he had fallen asleep in was gone. Instead, he was lying in Persephone’s bed; their bodies naked, flesh against flesh, facing each other, legs entwined.

  He could feel the incredible softness of her warm silken skin, the slight, delicious scent of vanilla teasing his nostrils. Her hair, strands of liquid fire, flowed over her shoulders and Aidan’s arms like molten lava as he held her close.

  Realizing he must be dreaming, and caught up in the moment within this realistic fantasy, Aidan slid his arm tighter around Persephone's waist and pulled her closer into his body, his lips caressing the skin where her neck met her shoulders.

  As his tongue glided over her flesh, the beguiling taste of her filling up all of Aidan’s senses, he could hear her moan in response. Aidan cradled her head, his lips hungrily moving to her mouth. Persephone’s eyelids suddenly fluttered open, her eyes staring at him in horror and indignation. A split second later, her fist connected painfully with his jaw.

  Aidan had a moment to wonder why this dream image of Persephone would hit him ― if she wanted to see the world in ruins, she was the one who would try to seduce him ! ― when he suddenly awoke and found himself in his own bed, bathed in sweat and panting heavily.

  The room was nearly dark, except for softly glimmering pools of silvery moonlight gliding in through the large bay window. In the bed beside his, he could make out Persephone’s silhouette, trembling and panting as well. Moments later, they had both managed to quiet their heavy breathing.

  Across the shadowy confines of the suddenly silent room, Persephone and Aidan’s eyes met and held, understanding washing over them:

  They had shared a dream.

  The physical contact may not have been real, but the sensations had felt truer to Aidan than anything he had ever experienced while being awake.

  Minutes past in a silence so thick it could have been cut with a blade, the sexual tension hovering in the air between them like an ominous cloud, almost palpable.

  However much Persephone had appeared indignant about their highly intimate shared moment, Aidan could tell without a doubt that, at least physically, she was just as attracted to him as he was to her. He looked just like his brother, after all. So why would she not be? She could try to deny it all she wanted; it would not change the fact of the matter.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Persephone’s outraged voice floated toward him through the darkness. She seemed to think he had somehow magically orchestrated the dream.

  Reeling from the confusing intensity of what he had just experienced, the longing her nearness had awakened in him, and therefore, feeling the very strong need to put up a strong emotional barrier between himself and her, he said:

  “Fucking you, obviously. Not that you’re good for anything else.” His tone was hard and condescending, the crude and hurtful words a shield.

  Persephone seemed momentarily stunned and wounded before regaining her equilibrium.

  “I wouldn’t fuck you if you were literally the last man on earth!” she spat, her voice seething and positively oozing disdain.

  Before Aidan even knew what he was doing, and before he could actively stop himself, he found himself off the bed and towering over her.

  Hastily she scooted away from him, retreating to the head of the bed, her back up against the wall; arms slung tightly around her knees, she cowered in the corner, obviously afraid of him and what he might do.

  “What do you want from me?” Persephone asked, her voice a trembling whisper. Taken aback by her strong reaction, he held up his hands in a passive gesture and backed up slightly.

  “I wasn’t going to hurt you,” he said, his voice a low rasp. But what exactly he had been about to do, even he couldn’t say. It had been the spur of the moment that had made him leap off his bed and confront her.

  Deep down in his gut, the way in which she had ridiculed the very idea of being with him, had made him want to make her long for him as much as he longed for her. Even though he knew full well that he shouldn’t!

  Carefully sitting down on the very end of her bed so as not to spook her, he took a moment to sort out what he needed to say, before continuing.

  “I’m sorry I frightened you,” he apologized. I didn’t mean to make you feel threatened. For some reason the words you had spoken ― though, I admit
, well deserved ― riled me a bit.”

  By a beam of moonlight that fell softly around Persephone’s frame, illuminating parts of her face and her luminous green eyes, Aidan thought he detected a change in their sparkling depths. They no longer seemed spooked, but wide, sad, and innocent. She looked like a lost little girl, and Aidan felt a pang of guilt at the vile words he had thrown her way earlier.

  Oh my god, she was beautiful!

  Aidan had to give himself a mental shake to recover from the light-headedness she was making him feel. She was so beguiling that he had a very hard time thinking straight. And she had a way of making him see her as someone pure and vulnerable.

  With incredible effort Aidan reeled in his emotions and reminded himself whom he was dealing with. She must be in touch with her power after all; she had managed to bewitch him, to completely pull the wool over his eyes.

  There was no doubt as to her actual identity. She was Morrigan. His father would not be mistaken about something as important as this. She was vile, she was evil … her heart was filled with darkness!

  “Nice try, honey,” he finally managed. “You almost got me there.”

  “I don’t understand what ―,” Persephone started only to be abruptly cut off.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t see through your little charade?” Aidan said in a low, dangerous voice, slowly and relentlessly scooting toward where Persephone sat.

  Reaching for her, he pulled her struggling body toward him as easily as if she weighed no more than a doll, and pinned her body securely to the mattress, his hands at her wrists beside her head, his knee resting between her legs, his body weighing hers down.

  “What is this?” Persephone panted, her voice panicked, “what are you doing?”

  “Relax,” Aidan said evenly, “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. But I need to get as close to you as I can to better get inside your head.”

  Aidan wanted to know exactly what he was up against; he needed to know her end game. He was struggling to understand the motivation behind her actions.

  Why had she told him to kill her when his hands had been around her throat? Why was she treating him with contempt when she could have just tried to charm her way into his bed?

  Didn’t she want to seduce him, wasn’t that supposed to be her plan? He seemed to be a part of this, after all. In the absence of his brother, wouldn’t it make sense for her to try to get to him instead?

  Had she changed her mind and given up on the curse, planning something else that was just as foul?

  Or did she actually think she could fool him into falling in love with her if she behaved as though she were innocent in all this? Was his falling in love with her required to make the curse work?

  “Well, you can let me go then, right now,” Persephone growled, “because ― big surprise ― I don’t want you to pin me to my mattress,” she said insolently.

  “Not going to happen. Let me revise my statement. I might do some things you don’t want me to do, but I won’t kiss you, and I won’t touch any part of your body that qualifies as ‘private’.”

  “Every inch of my body qualifies as ‘private’,” Persephone spat.

  “Well, then we have a very different understanding of the word, “Aidan said, a mischievous grin spreading over his face.

  “Please,” Persephone squirmed underneath him, her voice barely above a whisper, “don’t do this, just let me go.”

  “I can’t,” Aidan said simply. Repositioning Persephone’s arms and gripping them tightly above her head with one hand, his other slowly stroked down one of her arms and over the silken material of her nightgown along the side of her waist. Her body jerked nervously.

  Closing his eyes and concentrating hard, he tried to catch any thoughts she might be having at that moment.

  Nothing.

  That was strange, Aidan mused. It hadn’t taken much before to get a rise out of her.

  It appeared she was actively trying to shut him out now. And, so far, she had succeeded.

  Well, he was far from done with her.

  Gently turning her face away from him, he leaned even closer into her body, his lips finding the tender spot between her neck and shoulder. Touching his lips to her skin, he could feel her body trembling in response.

  Still nothing.

  His tongue leisurely glided up her neck until finally reaching her ear, his teeth gently tugging on her earlobe. A tiny moan escaped her lips.

  Nearly there, Aidan thought, getting ready to move in for the kill.

  Aidan’s tongue sensually slid into Persephone’s ear and made her cry out in surprise, tremors rolling in waves over her body while she now moaned in earnest.

  Oh god, yes! The feel of him … No … no, I can’t … Aaron!

  There she was! He had finally managed to read her.

  “What exactly is your plan?” Aidan whispered gently in Persephone’s ear, waiting to hear what she would think.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Persephone replied, breathless.

  “Morrigan,” he resumed softly, “I know it’s you, there’s no place to hide in there … show yourself.”

  Nothing.

  Grasping Persephone’s chin, he turned her face toward his. Her eyes were closed. She seemed to be deliberately keeping them shut, refusing to look at him.

  “Look at me,” he commanded gently.

  She did not obey.

  “Look at me …,” he repeated, his hand moving to cup her face, his thumb leisurely stroking along her cheekbone, his voice so low she could surely only just make it out, “… or I will kiss you.”

  That got her attention, her eyes instantly flying open.

  “You wouldn’t,” she said, sounding shocked, “you said you wouldn’t kiss me!”

  “My game, my rules,” Aidan stated simply, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Malcolm warned you not to kiss me. You wouldn’t dare defy him!” Persephone said heatedly, though Aidan could tell her voice lacked conviction.

  “Care to find out?” he asked softly.

  “My eyes are open now,” Persephone said quickly, “there’s no need to kiss me.”

  Aidan couldn’t help the smile that crept over his face. She was like a wildcat, and he liked her cheeky manner. He shouldn’t be thinking along those lines, he reprimanded himself. He had no business liking her!

  Grasping Persephone’s head more securely, he moved toward her, their faces within inches of one another, breaths mingling, his eyes gazing intently into hers.

  “Let me in,” he whispered, his voice low and seductive.

  “I don’t understand, what do you mean?” Persephone asked, obviously confused.

  “Let me in so that I can read you. You’re hiding your thoughts behind a wall. I want you … no … I need you to take down the wall.”

  “I can’t,” Persephone answered.

  “Why?” Aidan challenged.

  “I … don’t know how,” Persephone argued.

  “It’s easy. All you have to do is concentrate. Envision a wall hiding your thoughts and tear it down … see it happen, and it will.”

  “No … I can’t,” she whispered back.

  “Why?” Aidan demanded, slightly irritated, “why would you ― a powerful witch such as yourself ― care if I could read your thoughts? I thought you perceived yourself as invincible. So what do you care?”

  “I care,” Persephone responded fervently.

  “Why?” Aidan urged her avidly.

  “Because you could break me,” she admitted, her shattering voice echoing her fear. “I’m not who you think I am!” she fervently cried, her voice breaking on the last word. “I’m not who you think I am,” she repeated,” her voice trembling, tears brimming in her eyes and flowing over as she squeezed them shut in anguish.

  “I know who you are,” Aidan managed through clenched teeth. He was having trouble keeping his cool. She really did seem distressed, but he didn’t have the luxury of believing her.<
br />
  “You know nothing!” Persephone challenged.

  “So show me,” he replied, deciding to try a different tactic, “prove me wrong … let me in and show me who you really are. Take down the wall and let me see you.”

  Persephone hesitated for a moment. When she looked into his eyes, he knew she had decided to open up.

  Who are you? Aidan thought, waiting to see if she would now be able to read his thoughts as well. If she had successfully torn down the wall, she should be able to hear him, seeing as they were so very close at that moment.

  Persephone, she responded calmly.

  He had been right, she could read him back.

  Let’s try this again, who are you?

  Persephone, she repeated evenly.

  Apparently she wouldn’t admit to being anyone else. There was no sense in pushing her, it wouldn’t do. Aidan tried a different angle.

  What do you want? he demanded.

  I want … I just want to be happy.

  What makes you happy? he wanted to know.

  You do, she said, then suddenly seemed to catch herself.

  No, no … I meant … Aaron … I’m so confused…

  Suddenly her cheeks had turned a bright shade of red. She was blushing! She seemed so innocent. What the fuck was going on?

  Morrigan, Aidan tried again, Morrigan, I want to speak with you…

  I’m sorry, Persephone answered, there really is only me.

  That can’t be true, I know she’s there … she is you … stop trying to manipulate me … stop lying.

  I’m not lying! This is me! This is the only me you’re ever going to get!

  Aidan said nothing … he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that she seemed so innocent. What would it take for her to actually show her true self?

  You think I didn’t wish I were a powerful witch right about now? Persephone continued, her voice now filled with anger and contempt.

  Do you think I want to feel so helpless and cowed? I’m pathetic … I can’t even take care of myself … can’t stop anyone from continually pushing me around!

  Do you think I like being pinned to walls and mattresses? You were supposed to be here to protect me, to keep me from becoming ill! You promised your father that you could do this, that you could be objective. You’re betraying your father. You’re betraying me!