Alex laughed with me. And probably at me, too, considering my habit of snorting when I laughed. “Well, I’m not suggesting we do that,” he said. “And it wouldn’t be entirely accurate anyway.” His grin faded, and his gaze became wistful. “Just introduce me as your new friend. A potential lover. That’s what I am, anyway.” He shrugged. “I can’t touch you, and I won’t touch you. Margot will see that, and she won’t be worried.” His eyes dropped, and he reached out to brush some heavy palm leaves aside. “And you probably shouldn’t let her know I’m half-demon, just to be on the safe side.”
I sniggered, but Alex stopped walking and tugged my hand so I would stop too. We were only one more corner of the path away from reception.
“Look, Eve,” he said slowly, in a low tone. “I know that this is overwhelming for you. I don’t know why this is happening to me, but I know that it’s right.”
His eyes burned into mine. “Something is happening here, with us, that goes beyond everything. I can feel it. It’s deeper than who we appear to be; me, as a Cambion, and you as the Chalice.” His brow knotted, his expression frustrated. “I don’t… I don’t know why, but I know. I’m sure, as sure as I know my own name, that I’m supposed to love you. I’m supposed to be with you - not as your protector, but as your equal.”
I was speechless. My whole body felt like it was submerged in warm water; I felt weightless, relaxed. Slowly, not breaking my gaze, Alex lifted my hand and placed it to his chest. “Feel that?” His voice was a whisper. “Can you feel my heart?”
I nodded dumbly. The heat from his body was intense. And the sure, confident thumping of his heart echoed in my pulse.
We were beating in time.
Alex looked deep into my eyes, right into my very soul. I felt naked. He spoke slowly, in his voice that sounded like the quiet boom of distant thunder. “In every beat of my heart is the love I feel for this world,” he said softly. “For everything good that’s in it, and everything good that’s come out of it. The light, as well as the dark. And that’s you — the perfect amalgamation between light and dark. And I’m sure that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be - right here, with you. Beside you.”
His words echoed with resonance, they felt so true, and he was so sure. I felt like a tiny bit of my wall crumbling down again. He was a conqueror, an invader, scaling my defenses, coming to capture my heart.
I swallowed roughly. “Okay, Casanova, back it up a bit. You’re freaking me out.”
The intensity in his eyes lifted. He smiled at me warmly. “As you wish, woman.” He moved his hand - still clutching mine - away from the burning heat in his chest, and we started walking slowly up the path towards reception. “I’ve got an eternity,” he added idly. “I can wait.”
I felt another bit of my wall crumble. The heat in my cheeks flared, and I kept my face fixed on the path ahead.
The glass doors to the main resort building were soon right in front of me. I glanced in. Dale and Clover were already there, which meant that I was probably late.
“I have to go,” I told Alex.
“I’ll stay close. Don’t worry; they won’t see me.” The heat flared in his eyes again. “Until you want them to see me.”
I bit my lip. Alex squeezed my hand one more time and disappeared. If I didn’t know better, I would say that he’d vanished into thin air, but I’d seen him in action before, and I knew that he just moved way too fast for human eyes to follow.
My hand felt cold now that he’d gone. And the air around me felt a little thicker; a little less clear. Being with Alex was like being on top of a mountain, where I would see the entire world all around me. Now that he’d gone, I felt like I was back in the fog.
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Revelations: The Black Chalice (Revelations Series Book 1) Page 28
