Eternal Eden (48 page)

I lifted my head from my pillow and threw both arms around his neck at the same moment I placed my lips over his to find my answer. He responded immediately, wrapping both of his arms around me and pulling me against him, where our lips attracted each other like magnets.

When I pulled back from him, breathless and reeling from the sparks that surged through my body, I had all the answer I needed. He was here in true form with me now, promising to remove me from the confines of my bar-less jail. His eyes closed for a moment and a pleasant smile spread over his face.

As my lips cooled and my mind cleared, I was reminded of something infinitely important. “He’ll know it was you.”

He reached his hand to my face, molding it over my cheek. “That’s why I’m leaving with you now, instead of staying behind.”

“He’ll still figure it out. You know that, and once he does he will make it his sole mission to find us.” I tried to keep the high notes of hysteria from my voice, but I heard a few slip through. “You know this better than anyone, William.”

Wasn’t he the one who wanted to be so careful about my escape plan, the one who told me John was not the kind of man one should cross, and the kind of man that always got what he wanted?

A dark fury flowed through his eyes. “Let him come. I will be ready—we will all be ready. Our Alliance is strong and will defend you.” The darkness hardened in his eyes and resolve pounded through, melding into the shattered cracks. “I will not leave you here for another hour to be at the mercy of John and his corrupt Council—”

“But . . .” I interrupted, ready to make my valid counter argument, but was struck speechless when I saw the desperation that knotted his face. His eyes dropped, and if I hadn’t seen his lips move I might not have heard the muted words he spoke.

“Please don’t make this difficult. I will not be separated from you. Even if you do what you think is noble and in my best interest, and stay behind . . .  so will I. Even if you go forward with the Unity to John, I will stay here just so I can be with you. If only to be with you in the occasional passing in a hallway, or the courteous exchange of a good morning. . .”

I blinked several times, fighting tears. 

“My life has not been my own since you entered it decades ago. It belongs to you fully and you cannot expect I could go on living while separated from you when everything of any substance in my life remains here with you.”

Finished with his confessional, his eyes remained lowered and his face wrinkled from the painful images the future might hold for us. As dead set as I’d been on staying here and doing my duty of protecting him from whatever punishment John would hastily dish out if the truth was discovered, his words reminded me of what I’d known all along—William and I could no more survive being apart from one another than a Mortal could without clean air. He was right. From the moment we entered each other’s lives we became one—incapable of sustaining life on our own. Even if we were capable of sustaining life apart, it wouldn’t be much of a life to live.

Despite the consequences and unknown future that would be ours for the remainder of our eternities with what we were about to do, it was worth it. Whether we had to be in hiding, or on the run and fearing for our very existences every day forward, we would take it all happily in exchange for being together.

Finally shutting my mind off and allowing my heart to govern my future going forward, I responded without thinking. “What are we still doing here?” There was a lightness and joy in my voice I resurrected from the grave I’d buried them in last night. “I’ve had
more
than enough of Townsend Manor and its owner for one eternity.”

The mix of relief and joy that burst over William’s face was heart-wrenching.

“Now . . . we’re leaving
right
now.” He laughed eagerly.

“But first”—his hand reached up and his thumb polished over the shape of my lips, making thinking difficult to attain—“there’s something I need to do.” His eyes danced with the mischief that would always be his trademark, while his arms grabbed tightly around my waist, pulling me down over him as he laid back in bed.

His movements were so swift I wasn’t quite sure how I’d ended up on top of him, my face inches from his, but our uneven breathing and the electric charge coursing through my body assured me of our precarious position.

“What do you need to do?” I asked, not really caring as long as he didn’t let me go.

“This,” he answered, running one hand up my back and behind my head, pulling it to him. Our lips touched with the shyness of strangers at first, but it didn’t take them long to be reminded of who they were united with. Mine moved always a bit more urgently than his, and by the time he caught up, I’d already moved on to the next level.

This pattern continued until I could feel his lips quivering beneath mine, and the heaviness of his breathing was interlaced with sighs of pleasure. If he would have been a Mortal, I was sure I would have been suffocating him—but excusing my actions given his Immortality and that he wasn’t objecting—I continued on.

With as much speed and grace as before, I was suddenly on my back. William’s face hovered over mine, and to my great satisfaction, the rest of him did as well. The movements from the quick rise and fall of his chest threatened to undo my slightly refocused mind now that our lips were separated. With that reminder, my head lifted off the mattress and towards his mouth floating above mine. I let my lips rest on his without moving, parting his mouth softly, so I could breathe his breath in and hold him inside me forever. 

William’s gaze suddenly flashed up with alert in them, but his eyes moved a one-hundredth of a second faster than his lips and the rest of his body could move from me. I heard the thunder of my door being thrown open so hard it smashed into the wall behind it.

William froze, only removing his lips from our embrace. His arms tightened around me protectively as raucous footsteps pounded through the door. I didn’t look at the intruders, I didn’t need to. I knew who would be there and only waited for his voice to do a final confirmation.

“My, my—look at what we have here,” John’s voice exploded, cutting through my ear drums and pounding my insides. “This wouldn’t be the woman I was Betrothed to not even twelve hours ago lying beneath one of my men
and
her professor would it be?”

I refused to look at John and whoever else was with him. I held my focus on the man above me, melding my body against his. His eyes were glowing with hatred.

William looked ready to take on John and his crew at any minute, and I couldn’t find a trace of doubt on his face that he wouldn’t succeed. It was his confidence that gave me mine. I wanted to shout obscenities at John, along with :
Don’t you see you idiot? I’ll never love you.
Or perhaps,
There’s nothing you could have done, or can do now to keep William and me apart. Even with our deaths you cannot separate us.
I wanted to spit the pent up shrapnel at the man nearing his boiling point behind us. I’d never seen John lose his cool, but the frantic pacing I could hear behind me and the words spoken through tightly clenched teeth confirmed—without having to look at him—he was close to loosing his claim on sanity.

“What is a man to do about this,” John feigned musing—his words not inflected as a question and I was certain this was because he already knew what he was going to do about
this
.

“Thomas, Dante—would you please retrieve my Betrothed from underneath Mr.
Hayward
and bring her to me?”

At John’s request, I heard two figures stepping towards us, but with the tap of the first footfall, William grabbed me up from the bed and had me across the room with blinding speed; with him positioned between me and the approaching men. He held his arms out and was kneeling defensively, ready to attack.

I got my first glimpse of the party in my room; John, a couple of his approaching goons, and Stella. Her arms crossed contemptuously, and a smug smile decorated her bee-stung lips. Her presence seemed out of place in this muscled line-up John had assembled, but I was certain he’d brought her along for a reason. John never did anything without intention.

I gasped when my mind caught up with the impending situation and I recalled what name John had used of William’s—his
true
last name. Hayward. My stomach churned and my throat constricted as if a boa constrictor wound around it, suffocating it of life. He found out who William really was . . . but how?

I was sure William hadn’t missed John’s mention of his true name, but he continued his silent sentinel in front of me. He was teetering from side to side, depending on which side either man approached. At the same time, he was inching back, forcing me to do the same. He was making our way towards the open balcony doors.

“Why don’t you stop right there, Mr. Hayward. I don’t think you’ll find that exit any more desirable than the door behind me.” John glanced purposefully behind us.

I turned my head, following John’s gaze. There were two more men I’d never seen before, pressing towards us from the balcony, equally as large and imposing as the two still advancing before us. My head shot feverously from William, to John, to the two men in front of us and now the two men behind us—closing in the gap between us with each step.

John’s face was filled with a look of conquest, William’s filled with resolve, and the faces of the four men who would be able to wrap their open arms around us in six more steps, were filled with a sense of duty.

William’s eyes scanned over each man, as if analyzing every strength and weakness, formulating a plan as to how best attack so as to provide enough of a window for an escape. I knew though, there would be no escape if he factored me into it. I was still too weak to do any good against these monster sized men. A thought flickered through my mind—if I could tie up a couple of the men with a distraction, William could make an almost easy escape . . .

“Go, William . . . please,” I begged, my voice shaking. I took a step back, and then another; separating from my protector and surrendering to the unknown men behind us. Their attention distracted by my surrender would give him enough time to make his escape via the balcony.

His head spun around, and his eyes became wild when he saw me moving towards the men behind us. In another blinding flash, I was in his arms as they formed like vices locking around me.

He whispered softly into my ear, “I thought we already discussed this—we won’t ever let ourselves be apart again. No matter what price we must pay . . . no matter what befalls us.”

I nodded, choking back the ball suffocating my throat, “Whatever end may come,” I vowed, as our eyes locked in what might be the final exchange of intimacy.

John’s voice crushed the sliver of peace we’d summoned, and stilled the two men in front of us. “Come now, William. There’s no need to be so overly-protective.” His voice sounded placating. “Do you really think I would allow any harm to come to my lovely Betrothed?”

William’s eyes narrowed, his face full of hate. I could see John’s words had not convinced him any more than they had me.

“Of course, I can’t promise the same thing for you, Mr. Hayward, but I will allow justice to be served. We shall put this before the Council, and they will sentence you for what they see appropriate.” John approached us, Stella sneering her way in unison.

“Although I don’t think the outcome will be what the little infatuated pet in your arms would approve of. Espionage and, shall we say,
inappropriate
behavior with another man’s Betrothed?” John thrummed his fingers together. “And to think I’d always been under the impression the Hayward name came with such a high degree of respect and moral esteem.”

William’s clutch tightened yet again on me, and I buried my head under his chin, savoring our last embrace.

Tired with the formalities and seeing that his lecture was getting him no where, John sighed. “There’s two ways this can go, William.” His tone scalded like acid. “One—you can maintain your hold on her, and I command my men forward, but of course, I cannot guarantee she will not be injured in the process.”

William’s face contorted, despite the fact that whatever injury may be inflicted, I would be healed from it in hours.

“Or two—you can release her and surrender yourself, to await your sentence from the Council.
My
Council.
” John tilted his head and smiled crookedly, knowing William enough to know what option he’d choose.

“You swear to me no harm will come to her.” William growled through his teeth. My fingers gripped deeper into his flesh, wishing I could adhere to him. I didn’t want to go anywhere without him.

A half smile pulled at the corner of John’s mouth. “I swear.”

I felt his hold on me loosen, but it wasn’t the natural kind of loosening one might expect when being set down from someone’s arms. It felt like ever muscle and fiber in his body was fighting a battle to contract around me again, to permanently cement me to his body—the only thing able to force the continued loosening was the strength of his will.

“It’s your choice, William, but you’ve got five seconds to make it.”

Ignoring John, William lowered his mouth to my ear again. His quiet voice flowed with urgency, “You stay silent, no matter what is said or happens. Let me do the talking . . . and then,” his voice nearly faltered, but when he continued, his voice was flat and emotionless, “when I’m gone, you wait and stay obedient here until my brothers come for you. They will come. I swear to you.”