Page 69 of Cursed Lifeline

The familiar sight of him pulls at memories I’m convinced are real.

“I didn’t know you’d be on this leg of the journey,” Alfred says.

“I wouldn’t miss the opportunity if my life depended on it,” Felix’s voice seeps addictively into my heart. It deliciously courses through my veins, leaving me tingly all over as an addictive shiver shoots upward from the base of my spine. His voice is like my own personal melody, calling to me in a way that’s foreign yet feels so right.

Hope hangs in his violet eyes as his hungry gaze roams over every curve of my face. Butterflies dance in my stomach, then quickly take flight through my chest making me dizzy and overcome with a compelling euphoria. I steady myself on Caelum’s arm as we stop before our tiny breakfast nook. The stranger’s seductive voice has me hanging onto every last syllable as he says, “And you. I’d especially not miss the opportunity to meet your acquaintance, Esmerelda.”

My focus sharpens from the mention of my name falling from his lips. I study him curiously. The draw. The lure. It’s a pull unbeknown to me before now.

I find myself falling into it easily like a second skin as the headache between my eyes grows and begs me to pay attention to its apprehensive pounding. After a moment, I smell a hint of rosemary in the air, and my mind whispers,Pray you, love, remember. The headache lifts. My knees grow weak. I steady myself by gripping the back of the chair next to me.

Studying me closely, Alfred says, “Esme, meet Felix Caldwell.”

I tell myself to breathe as Felix’s uncivilized gaze roams lower and hungrily appreciates my curves. The unabashed, immoral way he takes me in makes me blush.

He grins, as if reading my thoughts, then picks up my hand and places a kiss atop my palm, “The pleasure is all mine, doll.”

I cling to his touch desperately. All too soon, he lets my hand go and a tragic loss vibrates through my lonely soul. My palm nervously falls to my side. Turning toward Alfred, he offers him his hand next. My cousin shakes it, then Caelum’s. Hellos are exchanged while I find myself still stuck in a haze wondering where I know Felix from.

I can’t place it, but just like my cousins, I swear we’ve met before.

I take the time Felix’s gaze is turned away to study him. The sun has yet to fully rise and break through the rain clouds, but through the haze shadowing us from a nearby window, it casts a beautiful apricot hue across the room. The way the glow of the day on the horizon surrounds him takes my breath away. Flashes of daydreams that feel like memories scatter to the forefront of my mind. I try to grasp them, sensing their importance, and yearn to know more. But they fade almost as quickly as they appear.

“When I sensed Esme’s decision to join your travels, I made arrangements for the lady to travel first class,” Felix says as I focus back on the present company surrounding me. “Her private roomette happens to be just across the hall from mine. If she’d like, I’ll escort her to her room. Unless, of course, she’d rather eat first?”

Felix’s eyes drift back and forth between Alfred, Caelum, and mine. Alfred glances at Caelum, and a silent exchange is had.

Pulling out his chair, Alfred hands Felix my suitcase, sits, and says, “If Esme wishes to freshen up, you may show her to her room.”

Felix glances my way, and eagerly offers me his arm to escort me to my private quarters. Nervous, I glance down at Alfred surprised. He picks up his menu and glances over his breakfast choices like he couldn’t care less about my safety, my virtue, and has no reservations about a stranger accompanying me to my room. Well, stranger to me, that is. It seems the three men have met before.

Caelum looks to be no help, either. With a mischievous grin, he plops down into his chair and waves over a server.

“Miss Martin,” Felix whispers as he takes a step closer and a panicked breath catches in my throat. “It would be my honor if you’d allow me to accompany you to your room, doll.”

My stomach flutters as I take his arm and he starts to guide me away. Glancing back over my shoulder, Alfred doesn’t bother to look up from his menu, all while Caelum waves me off chipperly as if he knows a secret I don’t, and he can’t wait for me to unravel it.

As we leave the dining car, Felix leans closer. His lips rest against my ear as he whispers over the noise of the travelers, “Your beauty is paralyzing.”

Shocked, I glance up into his eyes as we stop before thedoor. His gaze lovingly trails across my features and butterflies take flight in my lower stomach.

“Excuse me, Mr. Caldwell?” I ask, intent on protecting my virtue since my cousins don’t seem to care about it.

Felix grins, leans closer, and says, “Yet your alluring features don’t compare to the promising fragrance coating your skin.” I suck in a shocked gasp as his eyes intently hold mine. “Your scent is my favorite drug, doll. Your essence leaves me longing and desperately craving more.”

He reaches up and gently brushes his thumb against my flushed cheek. When his skin touches mine, an electric current surges from my body through his and forces us closer as we step through the door onto the open platform. Finding ourselves alone on the gangway between cars, our eyes meet and collide in a carnal frenzy that’s felt from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

I fight the urge to lean into him as the train sways and turns us through the eastern countryside towards Long Island. The clunking and banging of the wheels on the tracks add to the building tension. The rain has subsided, and a heavy mist hangs in its place, blanketing Felix and me in an enchanted spell.

I tell myself not to read too much into everything. His words. His actions. This foreign feeling growing quickly between us. Especially since, up until a few moments ago, I’d never laid eyes on him before.

Or have I?

“Are you always this attentive to women you’ve just met, Mr. Caldwell?” I whisper.

“Felix,” he grins as he sets down my suitcase. His fingertips lightly trail to the back of my neck and he brushes them tenderly across a mark I’ve tried to disguise since birth. “Please, call me by my first name, Miss Martin?”

“Mr. Caldwell,” I assert.

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