“Making love,” he said simply, his hands worshiping my body while something inside of me said it would be a bad idea to let him in, then he’d see. He’d see all the horrible thoughts I’d been having about him, humans, all the darkness.
He’d see the darkness.
If we were together again, he’d have access to everything.
He’d see my shame.
“No.” Darkness seeped out of my voice, as a trail of soot left my palm and imprinted against his bare skin.
Hissing, he pulled back, his skin blistering where I’d touched it.
“So that’s how this is going to be?” he asked, his eyes cheerful as if I didn’t just burn him, as If I wasn’t hiding everything from him.
“Y-yes.”
“Well.” He stretched his arms above his head. “I guess I’d better ready myself for a battle. I was never good at winning wars, but battles? Excellent speed, aggression, timing.” He kissed me harder and harder as my body weakened against him, wanting him so desperately while my mind screamed that it would ruin everything.
But what? What would it ruin?
My thoughts were a confused jumbled mess.
Let him in, and he’ll see you for what you really are. Evil.
“No.” I shook my head.
“My voice.” Cassius held my head, our eyes locked. “Focus on my voice, my body, the feeling of us joining, focus on nothing else. And Stephanie?”
I swallowed.
“Whatever you do, do not close your eyes.”
It was what I needed to hear as Cassius pressed a searing kiss against my mouth, his eyes never wavering, never leaving mine, as if his job, his duty, the only reason he had been created.
Was to watch.
To watch me.
I was afraid to blink, afraid I’d miss the planes and angles of his perfect face as he moved his head left, then right, kissing me in every different direction, only to increase his speed, taking his time tasting my mouth, while at the same time leaving remnants of his own flavor, the richness of his blood called to me. He was under my skin, every inch of my body was aware of Cassius in such a real, almost unnatural way, that I had no choice but to kiss him back, match him touch for touch.
His large hands cupped my breasts, staring down at my body in reverence before a guttural groan escaped between his lips, as his head again descended, pleasuring me with his mouth, causing me to whisper his name, until whispering wasn’t possible anymore.
The room trembled.
While my body shook.
Time again seemed to bend and alter right before my very eyes as the air around us stilled, moisture froze midair into tiny pieces of floating ice as Cassius’s head lifted, his eyes white, his mouth swollen from kisses.
“You will never have her.” His voice was loud, dominating, as his body moved against me, slowly… and then faster. “She will never be yours.”
I knew who he was talking to.
I could feel the anger reverberating inside, the maniacal laughter of Darkness as it tried to break free.
“Look at me,” Cassius instructed, his breath like smoke as it froze in front of my mouth. “Watch me. Love you.”
When we joined, it wasn’t out of hurried passion.
Or even pleasure.
But love.
His eyes flashed with swirling white as his hungry kisses made demands of my mouth and his body commanded my pleasure, taking me beyond the mortal realm, into something so beautiful that I ached.
“This,” Cassius said softly as every ounce of darkness drained from the room. “Is what we have together…”
I cried out against his chest as he moved one last time, triggering every pleasure point in my body simultaneously.
Limbs weak, I sagged against him. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he whispered, rocking me in his arms, back and forth, back and forth, our legs still tangled, our bodies with frozen beads of sweat.
It was then, that I forgot his words.
And closed my eyes.
Cassius
AS IF THE LIGHT was getting sucked into a black hole, the brightness diminished within the room leaving us blanketed in the soft glow of the moon and the slithering darkness of night.
“Stephanie?” I pulled back to look into her eyes. Anger swirled beneath the surface of her heart shaped face, like I was seeing her but not truly seeing her. Black specks of darkness spotted her white eyes as she blinked up at me again and again as if trying to clear away the mess of cobwebs.
She shook her head again.
“Fight it,” I urged. “Learn how to fight it, learn how to focus on the good, the bright, the joy. Feel the cold, let it become a part of you.”
“He’s warm.” Her voice was hollow. “He’s so warm.”
“Do not allow the temptation of something so fleeting as warmth cause you to lose your footing on reality.” I spoke quietly taking her face between my hands. “All Dark Ones are born with this choice… stay between the mortal planes of humanity and immortals alike, or give in to the darkness.”
She gritted her teeth together and slammed her hands against my chest with a scream.