An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2)

  I ran my fingers through OinkOink’s fur, holding him securely with one arm while I turned to the Demon at his side. I was done with this circus. He was my Demon—no one else’s. I strutted over to Eclipse, feeling selfish and not wanting to share his “hot-piece-of-ass” with anyone else. I glared at his provocative self and started to shake him awake.

  “Eclipse,” I hissed, nudging him as the rest of the girls started to scramble off in fear of being caught staring. “Eclipse, wake up. Why are you being so irresponsible and allowing people to objectify you?”

  He woke up with a groan, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and stood up with a sheepish smile that had my heart racing. Damn him. That languorous look suited him well.

  Like a sleepwalker, he walked around me, looped his arms around me from the back, and rested his chin over my head.

  “Hi Gracie,” he greeted faintly, his voice overflowing with fatigue.

  I could feel my neck ache from supporting his chin. However much this gesture made me feel nice, it was also straining my neck.

  “If you’re so tired, then why are you here?” I asked quietly.

  Eclipse chuckled softly, extracting his arms from around me and appearing by my side. “I like walking you home, Teacup,” he replied as we began towards the exit. “It’s the highlight of my day.”

  We were ambling out when Eclipse stopped briefly.

  As if something came over him, he turned his attention away from me and back to the dwindling hall. I followed his gaze and realized he was staring at the empty spot where I once stood with Shin.

  “What?” I asked warily, wondering what caught his attention in that empty space.

  I guess Eclipse must’ve just been exhausted because, as though there was nothing out of the ordinary, he redirected his attention back to me. He flashed me a light and assuring smile. “It’s nothing. I think I’m just really tired.”

  I noticed that too. His lids looked heavy, like they were begging to rest for the day. “You should go home and sleep.”

  He smiled as we stepped out of the business building and into the freezing night. In the distance, I could spot people walking around speedily, bundled up in their coats and scarves as they ran from one destination to the other. I was thankful that I chose to wear dark jeans and a white trench coat to keep me warm.

  “Well,” he responded charmingly, “we’re going home right now, aren’t we?”

  I nodded before getting serious. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like there’s a jackhammer in my head,” he admitted with exhaustion. “It sucks being a Dimmed Demon who is still trying to renew his powers.”

  “How long will it take for you to get better?”

  “A couple of days.” His gaze flickered over to me. “Then I should be back to my old charming self.”

  Oh man, I thought in dread. I was getting too used to a tired Eclipse. I didn’t know if I could handle his energetic, charming, and flirtatious self again.

  “By the way,” I prompted, changing the subject when I saw a white car drive by, “where’s my car?”

  “Drowning in the Han River if I had it my way,” he bristled.

  I shot him an angry glare, and he held back a smile.

  Trying to control my temper, I calmly said, “Didn’t you give the baby Demons my address?”

  “I’m sure they’ll find it sooner or later,” he replied carelessly.

  “I get why you’re punishing those baby Demons,” I uttered, hurt that he was being such a bully to my car, “but why are you punishing my Rav4 too?”

  He snorted and gave me an unimpressed look. He was angry, not at me but at the inanimate object I owned.

  “What car broke down and caused us to go to that inn in the first place? What was the root of all these sacrilegious events that led me to this pathetic state in life?”

  I closed my mouth when I saw his point. It was the Rav4’s fault. That was for sure.

  “By the way,” he surreptitiously announced once we neared my apartment, “I have something for you.”

  I stopped and turned to see what he was talking about. My eyes settled on the orange fruit he held in his hand: a persimmon.

  I tilted my eyes back at him. “Why do you have a persimmon in your hand?”

  “It’s no regular persimmon.” He placed it on the palm of my hand as we entered the apartment building. “Here.”

  I stared at him strangely once we stepped into the elevator. “Why are you giving this to me?”

  “The image of you with blood seeping out of your eyes won’t leave me.”

  I paused, floored by his admission. We hadn’t spoken about what happened to me when Eclipse used up his full powers since the night it happened. Eclipse seemed to be more inclined on keeping this topic at bay. I was surprised that he was the one who voluntarily brought it up.

  “Is that guilt I’m hearing?” I asked absently, admiring the flawless looking fruit.

  “Regret,” he amended. The elevator had begun to ascend to my floor. “I should’ve given this to you as soon as I met you. If I did, then perhaps you wouldn’t be so afraid of being near me.”

  I felt my tummy flip-flop at the authenticity in his voice. He truly sounded apologetic, like he really cared about me. I gazed at him, slowly seeing him in a new light. I had really underestimated him. No matter how apathetic he appeared, Eclipse was very observant. It was clear that the little things I said (and did) truly stuck with him. All this time, he hadn’t been ignoring my concerns; he was simply figuring out a way to make reparations.

  He jutted his chin at the fruit. “Eat it, Teacup.”

  Instead of immediately obeying, I reluctantly stared at the fruit. I didn’t know why, but I was suddenly terrified of it. Why did he want me to eat this so badly?

  His entertained gaze traveled down to the persimmon in the palms of my hands. I guess he was beginning to grow impatient because the next words out of his mouth had me glaring at him in resentment.

  “Are you posing for the cover of a vampire book or something? Are you going to eat the persimmon or not?”

  I reddened at the unexpected jab. Suppressing the desire to flip him off, I did my due diligence and suspiciously asked, “What does it do?”

  “Protect you and your veil. If you were to bleed out, it will hide your scent and keep your veil intact. No one will be able to figure out that you’re a Source.”

  “Seriously?!”

  Holy eff! This thing’s a rock star! My inner cheerleader was cheering with wonderment that this succulent little treat could protect my identity as a Source.

  I held it up, my eyes glowing with greed. I didn’t need any more persuasion. I’d be a fool to not eat this when it was being offered so freely to me.

  “Do you have anything to peel it?”

  “Eat everything.” He smiled when he saw my apprehensiveness. “It will be one of the most delicious things you’ll ever taste.”

  “Okay,” I said quietly.

  I took my first bite out of the persimmon and felt the contents spill over my tongue. My taste buds tingled in awe as my entire world lit up. It was the best persimmon I had ever tasted. For an impossible moment, I could have sworn I tasted the elixir of life.

  “You’re right!” I blissfully exclaimed. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted! It’s so good!” I held the remaining half out to him while the elevator doors slid open in front of us. “Do you want some?”

  Eclipse shook his head and gestured for me to eat it all. “You have to eat the whole thing for it to work properly,” he said as we stepped out of the elevator.

  For a paranoid instant, my eyes morphed into suspicious slits. “You’re not poisoning me, are you?”

  I didn’t realistically think that he would, but it felt like the right question to ask at the time.

  “Blessing you, actually.” He opened my apartment door with a warm expression. “You should feel blessed, Teacup.”

  I laughed, munching on the persimmon. ?
??Why is this fruit so special?”

  We closed the door behind us and headed straight for my room.

  “There’s a rare elixir in it,” he provided briskly. “It’s highly sought after.”

  I beamed, eagerly finishing the persimmon and loving the lingering taste of it in my mouth. My inner fat kid was a fan of this fruit. It truly tasted like Heaven. “If it’s so valuable, why’d you give it to me?”

  Eclipse sat on my bed and gave a non-committal shrug while I set OinkOink beside him. The puppy slowly woke from his slumber. He whimpered as he looked around the room. Once he saw that Eclipse was right beside him, he bounced over to him like a little bunny, lay down beside him, and was already falling asleep again.

  “Because I wanted to be the one to give it to you,” he told me smoothly, his voice sounding more sensuous than I could handle. He took off his jacket, unbuttoned his white dress shirt, and tossed it aside, unveiling the steel muscles etched in his upper body.

  I shot him a pointed look, trying to ignore the fact that he was half-naked on my bed, looking as welcoming to sleep on as the mattress beneath him.

  “That didn’t answer my question,” I said tightly, finding it difficult to catch my breath.

  “I know,” he whispered, his head resting against the wall while his eyes appreciatively roamed up and down my body.

  The room suddenly felt more heated than when we first entered it.

  There was a smoldering look on his face that had me hypnotized. He sensually bit his lower lip, causing me to bite my own as well. Red-hot fire consumed my body, and I distantly wondered if he fed me an aphrodisiac as opposed to an elixir. Oh my goodness. I was really tempted to launch myself at the gorgeous Demon and let him have his way with me.

  “I lied to you, you know?”

  A sinkhole formed in the core of my stomach.

  “Lied?” I parroted shakily, dreading whatever truth he was going to tell me. “Lied about what?”

  “When I said the persimmon would be the best thing you’d ever taste.” His gaze grew darker, more carnal. In the huskiest and sexiest voice I had ever heard, he declared, “I will be the best thing you’ve ever tasted.”

  In a flash, he sat on his knees, wrapped his arms around my waist and with feline grace, tossed me onto the bed with noted care. OinkOink, who was still on the bed with us, was delightfully knocked out and unaware that his two owners were in a wicked world of their own.

  Eclipse came over me at once, his forearms rested on either side of me while his beautiful face was inches above mine. The enticing heat of his body and the enthralling scent of him bombarded my senses.

  I dragged in an unstable breath.

  I was so enamored by how intimate we were that I didn’t have the mental capacity to jump off the bed in protest. Deep down, I was ashamed to admit that a mischievous part of me wanted to simply lie there and be seduced by him. I knew he was a threat to my existence. One kiss on the lips could have me on my deathbed. This knowledge should have been an obstruction, but instead, it became a temptation. I suddenly wanted to challenge death—to test the waters so I could feel alive.

  As if reading the thoughts in my congested mind, Eclipse smiled and began to trace his finger over the contour of my jaw.

  “Whatever nirvana that little fruit was able to give you, know that my nirvana will be a million times better.”

  He chuckled when he saw the intrigue bloom in my eyes. He lowered himself, coming closer but still not touching me. If anything, the subtle move caused me to become drunker with longing.

  “And I will keep giving it to you.” His lips brushed my ear, making me shiver. Everything about him was luring the mischievous girl inside me to come out. “Whenever you ask for it, whenever you yearn for it, and whenever you are hungry for it, I will give it to you until you beg me to stop.” Another extravagant chuckle escaped him. “And we both know that once you’ve had me, you’re never going to beg me to stop.”

  I felt breathless by the time he was done with his “promise.”

  My chest rose up and down in rapid movements. I felt like I had just ran a marathon and my lungs were desperate for air.

  After taking a second to compose myself and digest what was happening to my body, I awkwardly announced, “I’m getting a nosebleed.”

  It was so lame that I was getting a nosebleed simply because of Eclipse’s words. He wasn’t even kissing me, touching me, or doing anything physical to me. He was merely speaking, making suggestive promises and it was enough for my nose to bleed. Oh God. I was so embarrassed. I wanted to bury my face into OinkOink’s fur and hide.

  A doting laugh radiated from Eclipse’s chest. In a swift movement, he withdrew himself from above me, giving me room to breathe and my nosebleed time to stabilize itself. He laid himself beside me, suddenly looking more like an Angel than a seductive Demon.

  “Why did you do that?” I asked numbly, coming out of the lustful spell he placed me under. I sat up, feeling utterly intoxicated. My eyes widened when an outraged thought hit me. I shot him an accusing look. “You were warming me up again, weren’t you?!”

  His sleepy eyes twinkled with laughter. The expression on his face was one of coyness, one that knew that he had been caught. His lips curved up into a half-smirk.

  “I haven’t teased you in a while. I didn’t want you to think I’ve forgotten about the marathon I wanted to have with you.”

  Though desire continued to teem in his eyes, I noticed he was starting to look drowsy again.

  Placing my outrage aside, I curiously tipped my head at him. “Why’d you really come to walk me home tonight?”

  “I have to go into recuperation mode for the next couple of days,” he shared as he began to rest on the pillow, his eyes looking drowsier. “I won’t be able to see you for a while, so I wanted to hang out before I left.” He flashed me an adorable grin. “And I seduced you a second ago because I didn’t want you to forget me while I slept . . .”

  Warmth flooded over me.

  I really couldn’t deny how cute his answer was.

  “Are you going to sleep now?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  He nodded, his lethargic eyes staring up at me. It was the most innocent I had seen him since we met.

  “Will you stay here with me until I fall asleep?”

  My logic said no, but my body behaved differently.

  Instead of walking away and making some smart-ass comment, I continued to sit on the bed. Then, I did something I thought I’d never do: I actually sat there the entire night and watched him sleep.

  I couldn’t fathom what had gotten into me these past few days.

  I was not this person. I wasn’t the girl who genuinely hugged anyone because I was relieved that he was healthy again, and I wasn’t the girl who watched someone sleep because that person had asked me to stay there with him.

  I wasn’t that person, yet there I was behaving just like that girl.

  I was thankful that no one else saw me like this. Eclipse was drifting further and further into his slumber, OinkOink was nuzzled quietly between us, and the world seemed distracted with the rain outside. At that suspended moment in time, I was the only one who played witness to this strange behavior. I suppose in the bigger scheme of things, I was the only one who mattered. Nevertheless, much like all the other aspects of my life, I didn’t allow this to have any profound effect on me.

  “I’m just tired,” I whispered to myself, sounding more uncertain than I would’ve liked. “This means nothing. All of this means absolutely nothing . . .”

  “Then I don’t know what would.”

  18: Punishment on Earth

  Eclipse was officially in “recuperation” mode when the next morning arrived.

  I had assumed that Eclipse “resting” would equate to how humans rested, which was that he would wake up every so often. To my surprise, his sleeping cycle was far from normal. Evidently, recuperation mode in demonic terms meant that said Demon would sleep like the d
ead. Absolutely nothing would jar him from his slumber. Even when OinkOink, who could be pretty obnoxious when he was seeking attention, was barking and whimpering at his ear, Eclipse remained as he was: quiet and unresponsive.

  Even though I was still slightly worried about him, a big part of me was also relieved. This was unlike the hibernation mode he went into on the bus. He had color to his face and appeared to be in perfect health. I had no doubt that in several days, once he was fully recharged, he would be back to himself.

  Feeling assured, I slowly found myself thrilled to go back to the normalcy of my life. I had nearly been driven over the edge of insanity ever since Eclipse entered my life. I was excited for a break.

  So with all the drama in my life momentarily suspended, I got into the shower and relished in the tranquility of being alone. It felt incredibly nice. It was absolutely relaxing and peaceful until—

  “What the hell is that little midget doing in there?” squawked a voice that interrupted my serene thoughts. “Why is she showering for so long?”

  “Shh!” said another voice. “Just let her be!”

  Huh?

  “How can I let her be when I have to watch her? Why can’t you watch her?”

  “Because his Dark Majesty is asleep and he needs protection as well. Plus, you’re a girl. It’s more natural for you to do ‘girl’ things with her.”

  Who was talking so loudly outside the door?

  “This is so unfair! She’s so annoying and small and short. I don’t want to do this!”

  Curious about all the noise, I mindlessly poked my head out from behind the curtain.