He hung up.
I was finding myself again.
Perhaps, I could be more than floral, sweet, and plain Lily. Spring fragrances had shaped who I was, but that wasn’t all.
Perhaps, I could be a seductive aroma of a midnight dream, mystical and voluptuous. An oriental scent of patchouli, precious woods, and cinnamon from the Middle East. The mysterious lands of jasmine and vanilla. The animalistic and captivating tones, accompanied by the scents of myrrh and plum.
Perhaps, I’d been wearing the wrong fragrance on my soul all along.
We’re going to the opera.
A knife under my throat would have been nothing under the torture I was exposing myself to voluntarily. And now, here I was, the sound of my steps resonating through the long hallway and my words stuck on my jaw, sneering at my lack of judgment.
I tucked my tarot set inside my vest pocket, in case business needed to be done, and adjusted my midnight-black jacket. If it wasn’t for the full moon shimmering through the imposing windows, no light would spark inside the dim corridor. Walking faster at the view of the vestibule, I cleared my throat.
I was used to wearing an expensive five-piece suit and Italian loafers, but I’d never come to such events with a date. In fact, most of the time I sent Hugo to represent me. I was the Unseen one, after all. An unyielding ghost, unmoved by people’s feelings. Coldhearted, they said.
The point of the story was, I had no clue why I’d invited her. She weakened me, fucking up my head with unwanted questions. I had to make a decision. The scenario where I’d steal her from her world was growing deeper in me. I yearned for sweet Lily to shine by my side, to curse them with her beauty just like she had cursed me.
Everyone I had business with would be there. I cracked my knuckles, imagining their delighted faces at the sight of me, and the headlines: “The monstrous Devil of Ravencliff, ladies and gentlemen, leaving the underworld.”
Each of them, irrelevant as they were, would be thinking tonight that their exclusive invitation would guarantee themThe World. It wasn’t the truth. I’d seen in the cards the night would rule underThe Moon.
Danger. Hidden enemies. Disgrace.I can’t wait for it.
I checked my watch as I arrived at my front door. She was late. I stopped, crossed my arms, and tapped my foot impatiently. She was making me wait in my hallway like some teenager picking up his date for prom. I didn’t like this. What the hell was happening to me?
Mrs. Walton passed in front of me with a warm smile on her face. I slightly quirked my eyebrows together, observing her engulfing herself in the darkness. She never smiled in my presence. The last time it happened, I was a weak boy. My heartbeat increased into a pounding of anger. Lily was changing too many things around here. They needed a reminder I was still the same monster.
The staircase squeaked, and my body froze into place like it had received an electric shock. My gaze sliced straight to Lily’s hand, delicately posed on the rail, before roaming to her long legs as she started her descent. She was wearing high heels, and most unexpectedly, she was dressed in all black for the first time. Her silk dress curved to her form with elegance and charm. I adjusted my tie at the sight of her—she knew how to make an entrance.
Fuck me.Blood hissed into my pants, and I hid my throbbing erection by crossing my hands in front of my trousers. My body was rebelling against me. That damn witch. She was a sorceress, more beautiful than Aphrodite, more charismatic than Cleopatra. She wore an invisible crown, her eyes screaming of fire and power. Lily wasn’t solely an angel. She became something darker and somehow magnified.
Sweet Lily took from Eve, but tonight she became Lilith.
“You’re staring,” she mused, finishing her descent to meet me. “Thank you for the jewel. It’s beautiful. I’ll always cherish it. You must have had a hard time finding something this perfect?”
I swore her lashes fluttered. She skimmed her fingers across the brooch tangled in her hair that she wore like a goddess. The illusion that she was mine built up, and the impulse to fist her hair and draw her into a kiss tore me apart.
“It’s nothing.”
I just scared the hell off some of the most well-known Parisian jewelers to have it made by tonight. Roared after them when those incompetents placed roses instead of lilies on the brooch. Then, I fired them. The perks of owning not only diamond companies but also being one of the top jewel companies, some people might think.
“Well, thank you again.” She nibbled on her bottom lip.
For fuck’s sake.A thirsty demon in my chest was increasing like a bad tumor with the need of possession. My dick kept on pulsing behind my zipper, an intense craving wanting me to brand her lips with mine, to fuck her senseless and take everything from her. Her heart. Her soul. Her essence. I wanted her to poison me, to spellbind me while I devoured every piece of her. My devastating compulsions yearned to be freed.
I wanted ownership.
To snatch her to heaven for us to plummet to hell.
She’d be the most exquisite form of self-destruction I could inflict on myself.
What the hell—I’d gone mad for that woman. I shouldn’t fall for it.
“Black isn’t your color.” It was mine.
Her wearing it was a lie. It wasn’t her. She didn’t belong with me.
