Page 129 of Eternal Obsession

Alex gave me a wry smile. He knelt down beside him and nuzzled in.

Stepping back, it was my turn to watch.

Matthew neared death. He was fading fast. He was giving us his life, and we received it with quiet gratitude, an exquisite gift, though plucked from the shadows of the darkest hours, lingering in the mind like a fragile, trembling flame.

Alex dropped him to the floor with a thump.

“Oh, no! I think you killed him!” I laughed. “Are we having fun yet?”

Alex nodded.

“Come here then.” I opened my arms to him.

Alex ran into them.

He was mine. Mine to claim, mine to hold and mine to shatter, mine to lift, and to exult, each fragment of him, trembling in my arms.

He followed me toward the private rooms. With a shove, he landed on the richly engraved wooden four-poster bed.

“Welcome back,” I said.

I prowled around him as though bound by some secret liturgy, eyes locked, breaths shallow, detecting his heart drumming a cadence that only I could hear. I moved toward him, intent that every touch, every deliberate brush of skin would be served like a secret ceremony, each moment a sacrament of possession and surrender.

The air between us thrummed with unspoken vows, each gesture, heavy with the promise of two centuries worth of desires rising like a brilliant benediction of lust and power.

Finally, he was mine.

Never had he wanted anything with such intensity, never like he wanted this, like he wanted me.

Chapter Fifty-Five

JADEON

It was my hundredth attempt to break down the door. I franticly beat it with my fists, leaving bloody smudges and scraping the skin off my knuckles, furious with myself for ending up here.

Use sound judgment. Yeah, right.

Just when I had almost given up hope of leaving this dreary room, a key turned in the lock. To my relief, Alex entered, closely followed by Orpheus. I was so relieved to see Alex. I flew at him, wrapping my arms around him. When he failed to return my hug, I pulled back and studied his expression. Alex stared at the floor, refusing to make eye contact.

I tried to work out why he stood so quiet. “Alex?” I said.

Orpheus raised his hand, gesturing for me to keep my distance.

“Orpheus, what have you done to him?”

“Where would you like me to start?” he said.

I will kill you for what you have done.

“Empty threats, Jadeon.”

“Catherine, what did you do to make her so loyal to you . . .”

“Love me?” he teased.

“Alex, come on. We’re going home.”

Alex was quiet, occasionally glancing up.