Page 14 of Consumed
Eoin’s hand hitched beneath the fabric pooling around my thighs, squeezing me hard enough to pull air from my lungs. I wound my hands into his hair, arching into him. We were both breathless and reckless in the same way, transforming between the trees around us. We were wicked and wonderful and—stars, I could scarcely think with his body pressed over mine.
“You belong to me,” I said. “You always have. Just as I am yours. You see?”
His lips were still on mine when I felt him remember the world around us. A pause, a tremor of consideration. Slowly, he pulled away to look down at me like a man coming up for air before drowning. Locks of golden-brown hair fell over his face.
Come back. Come back to me.
“No, I-I belong to someone else,” he said slowly.
I stared at him, my lips still swollen and waiting. The energy between us still hummed, but its rhythm was broken. Eoin’s gaze darted around the clearing, remembering where he was and catching briefly on the field of roses my desire had conjured around us. The blossoms stirred in an icy breeze, carrying their sweet aroma around us.
“I gave her my word,” he went on, his voice thick. “I promised her I’d come back to her.”
Eoin pried himself off me, though not without some reluctance. The winter air cut against me where his body had been moments ago.
My chest ached like it was collapsing in on itself. I scrambled to sit up, not bothering to adjust my disheveled gown as I touched Eoin’s leg.
“Your soul is starving for something that girl can never give you,” I told him.
Eoin gazed at me for a long time—just long enough to give me hope. “You and I… We’re not the same. How could we ever…?” He shook his head and swallowed hard, shame replacing lust. When his eyes met mine again, something had shuttered in him. Something closed off to me forever.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I won’t make any excuses.”
He laid his hand over mine. “Please reconsider allowing her into the forest. I want you to be a part of my life. But she’s to be my bride soon.”
Love was an abomination. How could something that made me want to sing and screech with laughter now turn to poison in my chest? I felt like I was dying as he slowly pulled himself to his feet and straightened his clothes, putting space between us.
A tear rolled off my chin. I caught it in my palm and closed my hand into a tight fist. I felt it harden within my grasp. As I unfurled myfingers, a perfect little gem sat in the middle of my palm, winking in the light. I stood, holding it out to Eoin.
“Please, stay with me,” I said in a hushed voice.
Eoin accepted the gem, turning it in the winter sunlight between his finger and thumb. He regarded it with a dark scrutiny he no longer masked. Did he understand? Did he see the value of the gift I offered? The endless joy we could have if he would only sayyes?
“Brianna is waiting for me,” he said.
Giving me one last, shadowed look, Eoin turned. I let him walk away.
And in the space where he had almost chosen me, I sank to the ground and wept.
6
Thatwicked woman is not coming into my woods, I thought viciously as I stalked through the trees.
My siblings kept their distance, but the weight of their stares followed me through the rustling leaves. They sensed my pain through the pulsing roots of the forest. They pitied me. Perhaps they were hopeful that my undoing would revert me to my former, dispassionate ways, before Eoin.
But my temper only rose as I thought about his absence over the past weeks. He promised to return regularly again now that his courtship was complete, but that had to be a lie. He was giving his life to another. Soon, he wouldn’t stop to even consider a stroll through the forest, burdened by a wife and mewling children andtheirchildren yet to come. A new life. One that would burn brightly at first and then extinguish.
I gave a wail so mournful that my sisters even attempted to soothe me. The forest, layered with hushed and sweet voices, fell over me in comfort, but I brushed them away and ran.
I didn’t realizewhereI was running until the trees began to thin and I felt the familiar resistance of the forest’s edge. Thatched roofs came into view between the trees across the meadow.
I stilled, letting the sounds of human life wash over me. The faint murmur of conversations. Everything felt painfully crisp, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
“This way, Aisling!”A warm, calloused hand in mine, pulling me. Brambles snaring on a gown. The smell of dahlias thick in the air.
Memories.Mymemories?
My throat felt tight at the violent wave of emotions. Joy and grief, fear and exhilaration.
