As their erratic breaths mingled and their pounding hearts slowed, reality seeped back into his consciousness.
It was always this way. For a few precious moments while he and Elyesha were one, he could forget everything but the love they shared. Could imagine accepting her terms, giving her all she demanded and sharing a future together.
But they were mere dreams. Fantasies created in the heat of passion and heights of ecstasy. They had no place in the hell he inhabited in the real world.
He rolled to his side, threaded his fingers through hers. Her wonderful hair, as black as midnight and soft as velvet, tumbled across the ivory linen pillows. For a fleeting moment, peace bathed his wounded soul.
This was the reason he stayed. The reason he kept returning. The answer to why he couldn't simply leave Elyesha, when he knew deep in his heart he should. It was for these few minutes of perfection in her arms, when he could see heaven, taste paradise, and delude himself that somehow their different worlds could co-exist.
"What are you thinking?” Her voice was drowsy.
"How beautiful you are."
She drew his hand to her mouth, kissed the tip of his finger. “But not as beautiful as you."
His beauty was his curse. “Tomorrow, I won't be late."
Her fingers tightened around his, almost imperceptibly. “What is it?” he said, immediately attuned to the shift in her mood.
She let out a long breath. “There's a special gathering of the clans tomorrow night. My grandmother believes I should take more responsibility for our coven.” She paused for a split second. “I want you to be there, Ben."
Loathing churned deep inside at the thought of Elyesha's grandmother. “No.” It had been years since he'd attended one of the gatherings. He had no intention of attending another.
She sighed, as if his reply didn't surprise her. “Then we'll not see each other until the following night."
"It's only one night.” He loosened their fingers and tenderly smoothed back errant tendrils of hair from her face. “Sleep now, my love. There's time before dawn."
Her tiny frown vanished and her eyelashes flickered. Within a heartbeat, she slid into blissful oblivion.
His hand stilled on her hair. Night after night they met. Time after time he promised himself never again. And always he found a way to break that promise. To prolong their illicit relationship, to delay their inevitable parting.
How much longer did he intend to play this destructive game? There could be only one ending. He knew it as surely as he knew the sun would rise in the East each morning.
He rose from the bed and walked to the window. He leaned against the ancient stone, resting his head against his forearm as he stared, unseeing, into the darkness beyond.
His proud Elyesha would never forgive him for leaving. She would curse him, search for him, call his name. But eventually her love would crumble, and in time she would find another. A fitting consort who wouldn't deny her everything she desired. Everything her destiny demanded.
Acid burned his throat at the image of Elyesha with another man. But he had no choice. He had to let her go, or stay and watch her decay from bitterness and unfulfilled dreams.
His heart, which for thirteen glorious years had known a happiness he had never dared to envisage, withered. He pressed his fist against his forehead, dug his elbow deep into the uncaring stone, but physical pain didn't touch the yawning chasm splitting his soul asunder.
* * * *
Elyesha stirred, forcing open her heavy eyelids. Ben stood by the arched window, and by the silvery moonlight she admired his perfectly proportioned body, from his broad shoulders to his tight buttocks and long, muscular legs.
He was all she needed in life. All she would ever need.
And as she gazed at him framed by the window, a shooting star sped across the heavens, leaving a sparkling trail before it disappeared beyond her line of vision. She held her breath, shifted her focus to the waxing moon and closed her eyes. “Great Hecate, hear my prayer. Allow me Ben for all eternity, and I will face any trial you send me."
* * * *
Elyesha leaned over the stone parapet of the tallest tower, and focused her powers on the dark forest which shrouded the castle from mortal view.
He was late. Again. How could he be late tonight, when they hadn't seen each other yesterday? Was this his way of punishing her for acquiescing to her grandmother's wishes?
Streaks of scarlet tinged the night sky, and a sliver of alarm splintered her impatience. Dawn approached, but still her lover remained absent.
"Ben," she called to him with her mind, and his name rippled through the continuum like a diamond dropped into a still lake. Silent echoes of the void mocked her rising panic and Elyesha grasped the ancient stone as vertigo slammed through her brain.
Never before had her power failed her so utterly. Even in the past when Ben had ignored her calls, she'd still been able to feel the heat of his blood and the turmoil in his heart deep in the elemental recesses of her soul.
But now only fissures of ice snaked through her soul.
Her lungs contracted, the breath hissed from her body and her heart pounded an erratic tempo against her breast as an impossible truth clawed through her brain.
He had left her.
But she wouldn't believe it. Couldn't believe it. There had to be another reason why she could no longer feel his heart as she could her own, why she could no longer touch the outer edges of his troubled thoughts with her searching mind.
She could tell herself a million reasons why the connection between them had severed. The idea of Ben's death haunted her. If he had died, she would have felt his death agonies as acutely as if the death were hers.
He severed their connection. The knowledge tore through her, acidic and vile, and she raised her eyes to glare at the distant moon. For one eternal moment, the silvery disc shimmered black. Hecate's moon. The dark side.
Elyesha straightened. Her goddess was harsh, but just. She had called upon Hecate, and Hecate had answered. If her trial was to search the earth for Ben, then it wasn't so terrible.
Elyesha's powers were formidable, and she was young. She would find her lover within the year or perish trying.
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Present Day
"Ben."
The whisper caressed his senses, but he continued to stare at the dark, foam tossed sea. He wouldn't turn around. Wouldn't give in to his twisted fantasies and give them substance.
"I need you, Ben.” Her voice, as gentle and seductive as he remembered caused his gut to tighten. Would her memory forever haunt him?
"I've always needed you."
He dragged in a chest full of the salt tinged air, searing his lungs with the chill of the night. Had she really found him again? Or had his mind finally unhinged? “But I don't need you, Elyesha.” It was a lie. They both knew it.
Her arms snaked around his waist, and his heart jerked in shock. She was truly there. Rigid with disbelief, he felt the heat from her body sink through the leather of his jacket and the linen of his shirt. With Elyesha, nothing was impossible.
"One last night, Ben. For old times sake.” Her breath against his ear was an erotic foretaste of the pleasures she offered, but the price was too high. He couldn't afford to give in to his weakness.
"We had our last night. Years ago.” The timbre of his voice betrayed his need. This woman was in his blood and no matter how he fought against it, she always would be. “There's nothing left to say. Go back to your world and leave me in peace."
She sighed, fragile as spun glass and relentless as the waves crashing against the shore. “You know I can't do that."
Yes, of course he knew Elyesha could never leave him in peace now that she'd found him again. Her nature demanded the impossible, always refusing to acknowledge how incompatible they were. From the night they'd met, he'd known their souls were as opposed as light and dark. Yet he had allowed her vivacity to enslave him. And she ensl
aved him still. His hands covered hers and the chill of them struck him.
"I love you, Ben."
"No.” His voice seemed to come from a great distance, where time and shadows merged. She had loved him once. But that had been long ago. She couldn't possibly still feel the same, not after the way he'd left her without a word. The way he'd deliberately ignored her haunting call through all the desolate years. “You can't love me. You haven't the first idea how to love me."
She slid against him, every tempting curve of her body a sensual reminder of other nights they'd shared, until the danger of losing what little sanity he retained had become too great. “Poor Ben.” She sounded sorrowful. “Of course, I know how to love you. I can show you how much I love you...” Elyesha stood before him, arms linked around him, enslaving him with gossamer threads he had no desire to destroy.
Fire raged through Ben's veins and his hands captured her head, fingers tangling in the black length of her hair. “Your love will send us straight to hell,” he said. But what did it matter? He'd been in hell for too many years. What did eternity mean to him?
Arms winding around his neck, her nails dug into his flesh. “It doesn't have to be this way,” she said. Ben wanted to believe her, but he knew the truth. “You shouldn't have left without a word, Ben. You must have known I would find you eventually—somehow."
"And now you have."
"I won't let you go again."
He laughed at that. Even now she was so proud, so sure of herself, so confident of her power. How had he forgotten how stubborn she could be? “It isn't up to you, Elyesha."
"Yes. It is."
* * * *
Elyesha stared into his dark eyes, willing him to believe. He'd laughed, but now his face was a mask, his emotions hidden. A sudden chill snaked along her spine. Did he still have emotions? Despite how he'd shattered her heart, deep in her soul she'd never doubted his love. Through all the empty nights she'd told herself he had left because of his cursed sense of honor. Had she made a terrible mistake? His thumb traced the curve of her cheek, warming her frigid skin. She'd been so cold over the long years that had passed. Couldn't he see that they belonged together?
"What is it you really missed?” His breath was warm against the chill of the night and she leaned toward the heat, wanting it, needing it, lifting her face so he could see her hunger.
"Us,” she breathed against his lips. “I heard you calling me. I felt your pain. You can tell me it's over, but I will see the truth in your eyes. I always have."
His dark head lowered toward her and she dragged her fingers through his long luxuriant hair. How she loved the smooth, silky strands as they flowed across her palm, tantalizing her with memories of deep velvet nights and hot promises of eternity.
His lips captured hers, teasing, tasting, and her frozen heart melted beneath the probing heat of his tongue. Yes, this was why she'd followed him across continents, over land and sea, through space and time. Ben was her reason for existing, the one she'd sacrificed her destiny for and there was nothing on this earth that would tear her from his side this time.
Least of all Death.
Heedless of the bitter winter breeze, she slid her hands beneath his linen shirt and shivered with renewed desire as her fingers trailed over his muscular chest. So strong. So fearless, and yet he feared her. She knew this, had always known it, but even now could scarcely believe it.
She pressed her palm against his chest, and the steady beat of his heart sent her pulses soaring, damp heat slicking her aching pussy. It had been too long since she'd been in his arms, too long since she'd felt this craving deep in her soul. Nothing but black emptiness had filled her since this man had abandoned her to her lonely fate so many moons ago.
"You should go.” His words penetrated the fog clouding her mind and in answer she pressed closer, melding her body with his, pressing her swollen clit against his hot cock. “Elyesha,” his voice was tortured with suspended lust. “You know why I left ... Why I must always leave you..."
She twisted against him, throbbing nipples straining against the fine silk of her bodice. “No. I don't know why, Ben.” If she dared to release him for one precious moment, she would rip the gown from her body and find a modicum of satisfaction caressing her naked flesh against his. “Together we could be equal—but alone I wander in the dark. Is that what you want? To break my heart because you're afraid of what might be?"
His body tensed, all hard muscle and sinewy strength, but he didn't release her. “This gets us nowhere. We walk in different worlds, Elyesha. We always have and always will. There's no place we can meet as equals, and you know it. Yet you continue to haunt me with your foolish dreams and fantasies."
"As you haunt me.” Her nails scraped along his flesh, drawing blood, and he shuddered with a desire he couldn't deny. “It's the price we pay for who we are, Ben."
Slowly she slithered down his rigid body, palms sliding over linen and leather. She sighed with pleasure as her searching fingers curled around the hard, throbbing heat of his shaft, releasing him from the leather confines, and his desperate groan thrilled her heart.
Kneeling before him, she gazed upward. A stark silhouette against the full moon, Ben no longer looked fully human; with his long flowing hair, preternatural height, and silver-red glow in his eyes, he could have been a primeval forebear, an alien ancestor of mankind.
The thought excited her, sent tremors of heat dancing through her blood. Tonight, now, Ben was hers. The way she had planned for so many empty years.
Her last chance.
She leaned forward, her warm breath caressing the engorged head of his cock, before she curled her fingers around his thick, pulsing erection. The tip of her tongue flicked across his slit, teasing him, tempting him, but the primal taste of his ferocious arousal sent her spinning toward oblivion.
Not yet. She drew on the wispy remnants of her magic to focus on the moment. She widened her mouth around him, lips sealing his massive head, before slowly sucking him deep into her warm, wet mouth.
He let out a harsh curse in his ancient mother tongue, as trembling fingers traced the outline of her face. Looking up, Elyesha saw his tortured expression; part ecstasy, part insanity. Devastating emotions that had equally blessed and cursed them both since the dawn of their doomed love.
Fleeting regret speared her heart for all their lost chances. But it was too late to lament the past. Tonight was all she had, and tomorrow was beyond her grasp.
She tightened her fingers around the base of his cock while her other hand cupped his balls, feeling their weight, before scraping her fingernails over his sac.
His reaction was instantaneous and infinitely gratifying. His balls tightened, drew upward, and his fingers closed around her head as he slowly thrust forward, burying his penis within her. Elyesha swirled her tongue around his swollen shaft, stroked his taut sac, and inhaled his heady male scent deep into her lungs.
Alive. He made her feel so incredibly, deliriously alive. How could he turn from their love? Did it matter what it cost them both?
His body trembled with need, and Elyesha slowly pulled back, before once again sucking him deep into her mouth. Ben's fingers shook as he grasped her hair and primordial power filled her at the knowledge that, despite his words, he needed her as much as she needed him.
She stroked the base of his shaft, slid her fingers beyond and teased the sensitive spot behind his balls, as she made love to him with her mouth. He ground out an inarticulate curse, and although she was the one kneeling before him, the supplicant was Ben.
* * * *
Ben's hands descended to her shoulders and he pulled her roughly to her feet, barely registering the exquisite pain as her teeth grazed against his straining erection. The moonlight cast silver shards across her face, but he remembered well enough the strange amber glow of Elyesha's beautiful cat-like eyes, the way her pupils dilated with primitive passion when aroused.
How could he not remember? Not a night had pass
ed that he hadn't thought of her. Dreamed of her. Cursed and worshipped her very existence within the same frenzied moment.
Her breath reminded him of summer meadows and gurgling brooks, of sunlight and cool breezes, a vision recalled from a dream or memory before the darkness descended. Before Elyesha had woven her spell and driven out his illusion of peace. “Your magic doesn't work on me,” he said, as he dragged her against his tortured body. It was true. Her magic held no power against his kind, but she'd enslaved him just the same.
"Take me with you,” she whispered against his lips, and he caught the elusive scent of his mad desire on her warm breath. “Don't abandon me again."
His hands snaked beneath her long woollen cloak, and he groaned as the cool silk of her dress slid over his searching fingers. “I can't give you what you want."
"You can. I want only you."
He cupped her full breast, his thumb caressing the hard peak of her nipple. She leaned into his touch, a silent sigh escaping her full, dark lips. “What of your daughter, Elyesha? Doesn't she matter to you anymore?"
She tensed beneath his probing fingers and, for a timeless heartbeat, he regretted his words. Yet he wanted to hurt her, the way she hurt him, but it was a hollow victory when her pain only magnified his.
"I'll never have a daughter. That opportunity is dead to me now."
His lips grazed her jaw. “You need a daughter to continue your line. It's always been the way of your kind.” He breathed in her elusive, musky scent and his body ached to sink into hers, to feel her hot, wet cunt clasp around him, hear her scream his name as he fucked her for all eternity and beyond. “Don't lie to me. Your magic failed you before.” And so had his. “It will always fail you."
"I don't need my magic for this.” She dug her fingers into his skull, pain and desire mingling as they shared a desperate kiss that sent reality spinning.
* * * *
Heat, red and lethal, raced through her veins, pooling with molten want between her thighs. His arms enslaved her, hard as iron, and yet she knew he was oblivious to his strength. Unaware of just how easily he could crush her with his passion.
Foretaste of Forever Page 2
