AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why?”
“Because I couldn’t feel you anymore. Because…” Brow creased, he turns away from me and walks down a hallway, returning seconds later with a small box. “Because I found this.”
I take the box and open it, gasping at the jewelry inside. “My ring.”
“It was found in a burned-out building in Spain. Someone was trying to sell it at a street market. I knew, or at least believed, you would never leave it behind intentionally. I went to that burned ruin.” He closes his eyes. “Your scent was everywhere. I believed I had lost you for good.”
As his voice cracks, I wrap my arms around him, nuzzling my nose into his hair. “We were run out of town by a mob. I dropped it, and I never dared go back for it. But you found me again.”
“You found me.”
“And I will never let you go.” I step back and rub my thumbs over his cheeks. “My gods, Yves, your beauty staggers me still. The only thing Hadrian did right was to unite the two of us. Now we fight against him together.”
“He clearly went to great lengths to avoid us reuniting. We should become his worst nightmare.”
“I believe our love already was.” I run my hand down his chest. “We’ve danced around each other for centuries, you and I, always missing the other, but Yves, my beloved Cillian, surely we can both see that this is no coincidence. It can’t be an accident, any more than it was when Hadrian chose me to join you both. Fate intertwines our destinies. We were always meant to find each other again.”
A hopeful, serene expression spreads across Yves’s features. “What are you saying, Damiano?”
“I am yours, Yves Orpheus. If you’ll have me, my heart is eternally yours. If you won’t have me, I’ll stake my own heart.”
“Wouldn’t we know if we were fated?”
“We are fated as I say so. If fate did not choose it for us, then she is misguided, for there could never be anything more perfect than us. I know you believe it. I know you love me still. I can feel your heartbeat dancing with mine. I’ve waited centuries to see your beautiful face. I convinced myself you must have been dead, or I would have found you. Well, I tried. My heart refused to accept it. Tell me you love me. Let me hear it.”
“I swear to Hades, I love you. I have always loved you. I will until time ends.”
“Then fate be damned. We choose our own destiny, and mine is you. It’s always been you.” I grip his hand. “Take me to your bed, Yves. Give yourself to me. Let me worship you again.” With my free hand, I cup his face. “But be gentle with me. I am raw and broken, but you can put me back together again.”
Yves kisses me hard before pressing our foreheads together. “Come, my love. You have been missed.”
SIX
Yves
A storm of emotions brews within me. The part of me that so desperately wanted to believe this man was my fated mate, the thought I clung to for decades until I finally let go, breathes again. But the logical side is too afraid to hope again. Which side will win?
Damiano’s hand is warm and firm in my grip, his excitement as palpable as mine. I open the door to my bedroom, a place that has been devoid of passion for far too long, and a strange flutter moves through me.
“I feel it too,” Damiano whispers, kissing my neck from behind. “I haven’t experienced pleasure even close to what you and I created together.”
I twist in his embrace to gaze into his eyes. “The search for a love like ours has been fruitless and painful.”
“For me as well. We know it’s because nothing like our love exists. Nothing. It’s as new and fresh today as it was the first time I knew.”
Brushing my fingers down his cheek, I ask, “Do you remember when we met?”
Damiano chuckles. “It might be the only thing I remember. In my darkest moments, I would close my eyes just to see your face.” With his arm around my waist, we sway to silent music. “I was so confused, so drunk on Hadrian’s compulsion. I was sure I was following him to my death, and in a way, I was.”
“Yes.”
“But then you came down the stairs, and it was as if nothing else existed. I think he felt it even then.”
“I know he did. He just believed his own allure was stronger than all others’.”
“He was wrong. I fell harder for you every day, even in the face of his suffocating attention.”
“I both hated and loved the times I was forced to watch him make love to you. I hated it because I wanted to be him, but I loved it because in a way, I could feel you too.”
