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

  And those lips, those tempting lips. They promised nothing short of divine pleasure. My own lips were parched and I had never wanted something more. Heeding my desperation, that decadent mouth drew down. I waited with bated breath as his lips feathered closer and closer to mine, bringing me further and further to the edge of insanity.

  Kiss me, my entranced heart begged as it thumped zealously. I don’t want to wait for Prince Charming anymore. I want you.

  His eyes glittered lustfully. He leaned down, and when I thought he was going to kiss me, that signature smug smile graced his mouth. He slowly parted his lips, his next words throbbing with unmatched exhilaration.

  “It seems that you have become immune to me, Teacup . . .”

  Coherence surged in my inebriated blood.

  The sensual fog I was in abruptly cleared when my rationale came deluging back to me.

  Crap.

  Oh crap.

  I belatedly came to the realization that amid this sexual frenzy, I wasn’t having a nosebleed.

  I regarded him in shock, aware that this anomaly had everything to do with him.

  “What – what did you do to me?” I spluttered, still feeling the controlled weight of his body on me, trapping me beneath him.

  Eclipse’s smoldering gaze became hotter. He leveled his body down, pressing himself over me and allowing me to feel every hard inch of his physique. And let me tell you, every hard inch of muscle was as firm as steel.

  “Do you remember the persimmon you ate?”

  “Yeah?”

  His visage brightened with vivacity. “Let’s just say the elixir worked.” His carnal eyes appraised me appreciatively. “It has helped to protect your scent if your blood should leak out and it has helped to give you enough strength to handle me—to not suffer the consequences from being around me and all my . . . charms.”

  My pulse raced at the thought of what could be powerful enough to give me the strength to withstand Eclipse’s “charms.” “What kind of elixir was that?”

  He teasingly cocked his head. “What did Adam and Eve eat when they fell from grace?”

  I gasped. “That was the forbidden fruit?” I was thunderstruck. “But – but I thought the forbidden fruit was an apple.”

  “It is,” he mused leisurely. “The tree is filled with both apples and persimmons. I just happened to pick the persimmon. In any case . . .”

  He rose up, looking just like a beautiful God.

  “Last night, I promised that I wouldn’t throw any sexual advances at you unless you could handle it.” He laughed sensually, staring at all the parts of his body where I left teeth marks—basically where I left my lustful claim on him. “It’s pretty clear that you can handle me now, Gracie.”

  Holy shit.

  All of a sudden, being in a rose garden with him while drenched from the sprinklers seemed to be tempting the beast.

  My heart thumped wildly as I rose up and backed away from him, tugging on my strapless dress. Although I was fully dressed, the way he was looking at me made me feel naked.

  All along, I had been protected by my fear of nosebleeds to keep from having sex with him. Now that the barrier had been breached, I was horrified to be confronted with something as tempting as sleeping with Eclipse—and not dying from it.

  The desperation for it scared me, and I couldn’t handle such pressure, especially not when I was still waiting for my future husband. Eclipse, as tempting as a fantasy he was, wasn’t going to be my reality. A human was my reality, not a Demon who would forget about me when my lifetime ended and his eternity continued on.

  I had to get away.

  I had to get away from all this temptation.

  “I – I have to study!” I announced in panic, picking up a startled OinkOink and sprinting back inside the cottage.

  My last image of Eclipse was of him standing there, giving me that striking wolfish smile of his. The smile was one of satisfaction and dark promise. Warm-ups were over. He could finally come out and play, and the Demon of Lust was ecstatic. He was ravenous, and I was his single-minded obsession—his ultimate lust.

  Feeling like I was running for my life, I skidded into my room, locked the door, and set OinkOink in front of it.

  “You have to protect me,” I desperately told OinkOink, who made a move to come to bed with me. I halted him with my hand and pushed him back towards the door. “You’re guarding the door tonight. If Eclipse comes in, you have to bark and let me know, okay?”

  The puppy obviously didn’t answer, but I didn’t need him to. I was already lost in my own world of thoughts. I stood there frozen, my heart pounding like no other. I touched my kiss-swollen lips and I could still smell his lingering scent on me, heightening my desire even after leaving his presence.

  “Holy fucking pigs,” I uttered unsteadily, finally coming back to my senses now that I was away from the source of all my lust.

  I groaned to myself. How was I going to save myself for my future Prince Charming when I had the Demon of Lust stalking after me and tempting me to play with him?

  I pounded my head against the wall, resenting the new dilemma I was in. I was stuck on a mountain with a horny Demon who had just been released from his cage. In the figurative sense, I was screwed, but in the literal sense—oh God—I had to keep myself from being screwed.

  Needless to say, my carefree weekend with my “friend” had become a thousand times more complicated than I could have ever anticipated.

  “If there was a commandment for us, what would it be?”

  26: The Sun and the Moon

  “What are you doing in here?!”

  My back slammed against the marble headboard when I woke up to the most sinful sight any human woman could ever see first thing in the morning.

  Standing at the foot of my bed was a half-naked Eclipse.

  Dressed solely in black silk pajama pants that hung loosely from his sculpted hips, his entire body glowed under the warm embrace of the sunrise. And if the sight of his mouthwatering body wasn’t tempting enough, one of his hands held a platter filled with breakfast food. The delicious scent wafted over to me and made my mouth water even more.

  “Good morning to you too, Teacup,” he greeted with a world-class smile that never faded from his face.

  “How – how did you get in?” I stammered, my mind scrambling from waking up so fast. “OinkOink was supposed to warn me if you came in!”

  Eclipse chuckled, his laughter as mellifluous as a lullaby. He cast a glance in the direction of the door. “OinkOink is a bit busy right now.”

  I followed his gaze. To my dismay, I spotted OinkOink happily munching on the lavish breakfast that Eclipse had set out for him. I frowned at the sight of OinkOink going crazy while eating his food, giving no regard to the fact that I ordered him to guard the door. It would make sense that much like his owners, my puppy was a pig at heart as well.

  Eclipse laughed again and slowly approached the bed.

  “OinkOink likes me better than you,” he drawled out teasingly, noting the bitterness in my eyes.

  “That’s not true,” I disputed, covering myself with the comforter. I was still dressed in my strapless pink dress from last night. I didn’t want him to think that it was okay for him to shower me with kisses again. My eyes were on him like a hawk’s as he inched closer to me.

  “Oh yeah?” he whispered lightly.

  “He likes me better.”

  Eclipse chuckled slyly. “Is that why he’s eating when I told him to?”

  My eyes twisted into incriminating slits. “You mind-fucked him with your demonic powers, didn’t you?”

  I wanted to accuse him of doing the same to me last night, but I suppressed the urge to do so. Eclipse may have tempted me, but I was the one who gave in. Plus, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to bring up the hedonism from last night, especially when I was trying so hard to move forward from it.

  Exhibiting the male grace that had me lusting after him, Eclipse comfortably sat on m
y bed, causing me to stiffen up even more. From the weight of his powerful body, the mattress dipped obediently, nearly flopping to one side and throwing me right into his arms. I had to forcefully brace myself to keep my body rooted in its position. The last thing I needed was to be back in Eclipse’s arms, while in bed, no less.

  “Don’t need to,” Eclipse replied, unaware of the thoughts manifesting in my mind. “That oversized ball of white fluff loves me. He’d do anything I ask him to do without using any powers.” He appraised me with smiling eyes. “Which is more than I can say for you, beautiful girl.”

  Then, with a lethargic sigh, he placed the tray in front of us and pushed the scrambled eggs and sausage closer to me.

  “It’s rude to barge in on someone when they’re sleeping,” I reprimanded in a subdued voice, trying to avoid eye contact with the scrumptious food. I hated that my two biggest weaknesses were conspiring against me: Eclipse and food.

  “It’s rude to run out on someone when you’re in the middle of a . . .”—I scowled at him, willing him to not say anything incriminating, and he merely smirked and said—“conversation. But you don’t see me holding it against you.” Feeling the indisputable hostility that was shooting out of me, he mediated the tension by adding, “Let’s just have breakfast together, Teacup. I cooked everything myself.”

  “I’m not hungry,” I lied.

  He grinned brightly, unfazed by my blatant discontent with his presence in my room.

  “That’s funny, because I’m starving,” he declared, wasting no time in cutting into a pancake and bringing it to his mouth.

  As if my morning wasn’t difficult enough, the fates teamed up with Eclipse by allowing the syrup to drip from the pancake and fall listlessly onto his defined chest. I nearly burst into flames as I watched the tantalizing syrup drip past his pecs and fall onto the hard ridges of his washboard stomach.

  I swallowed anxiously, the back of my teeth hurting from wanting to lick the syrup off of him—just like I did with the alcohol last nig—

  Oh God. No, no. Don’t think about that. Don’t think about last night! I desperately told myself, struggling to keep those impious thoughts at bay.

  “You’re sure you’re not hungry?” he questioned with lazy sensuality. Even though he wasn’t a mind reader, I had a sinking suspicion he knew exactly what was running through my mind, which was that I was hungry for both the food and for him.

  When I said nothing, he continued to tease me.

  “Are you going to spend the entire day being a chicken or are you going to continue to give me a special weekend?”

  He bit into some scrambled eggs as he asked this, staring at me expectantly.

  “I’m – I’m not feeling well today,” I bristled, avoiding major eye contact.

  “Really? You were pretty energetic last night.” He subtly touched the hickey and bite marks I left on his neck and shoulder. There was a gentle tease in his eyes. “Pretty aggressive as well.” I blushed when he added, “It’s still my birthday weekend, and you’re going to ditch me today? What kind of friend does that?”

  I bit my lower lip in guilt.

  It would be screwed up of me to ditch him on his birthday. I had one more surprise planned for the weekend, and it would’ve been a shame to cancel it, especially because this was the one I had been looking forward to the most. Moreover, I reasoned that if I kept on avoiding him, then this would only lead him to believe that I was still hung up on what happened last night. I couldn’t let him think that. I had to save face and make him believe that the temptation from last night meant nothing.

  “I’ll finish eating and then get ready.” I shot him a pointed look. “Wear your hiking clothes. I’ll see you in a bit.”

  His eyes brightened with approval. Thrilled that his birthday celebration was back in full swing, he got up from the bed and said, “Enjoy breakfast, Teacup.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath after he sauntered out and eyed the fluffy traitor in my room. OinkOink was feasting like a king, acting like he hadn’t thrown me under the bus.

  My face hardening, I stomped hard on the ground and jarred OinkOink from his breakfast stupor.

  “You let me down, OinkOink!” I reprimanded loudly.

  OinkOink whimpered when he made eye contact with me, bowing his head down in disgrace. He shamefully tiptoed away from the food and peered up at me with his puppy-dog eyes.

  “How could you let him in?” I pointed furiously at the door. “You failed me. Now get out of my room before I kick you out myself.”

  A sad bark emitted from OinkOink before he closed the door with his button nose and hopped over to me. He whimpered again as he pawed at my legs, as if to apologize. With any other puppy, I’d probably punch it before kicking it out, but I didn’t have the heart to abuse OinkOink. He had always been such a nice pet. I couldn’t fault him for giving into temptation when that was all I did last night.

  I blew out a broken breath and bent down to scoop him up.

  Without wasting time, he poked his little tongue out and licked my chin with affection.

  “Did you see what happened last night?” I whispered, petting him. “Why was I acting like a fool?” I looked at OinkOink in worry. “How am I going to survive today, OinkOink? I want to save myself for my husband, but how am I supposed to survive with Eclipse tempting me constantly? How can any woman resist that gorgeous Demon?”

  As expected, OinkOink offered no answer to the quandary.

  With a morose sigh, I set OinkOink on the unmade bed and started to change. I was so screwed, and the only thing left to do was hope I didn’t screw myself even more in this next stage of the birthday celebration.

  ●●●

  “Bloody fucking hell!” Eclipse cursed several hours later, heatedly vocalizing what I had been screaming in my head. “Are you seeking nirvana this weekend, Teacup? Why the hell do all your surprises involve us climbing Mount Everest?”

  Holy flying pigs, this is torture! I thought to myself, struggling to climb up the mountain. Leave it to this physical excursion to briefly take our minds off our sinful actions from last night.

  Saving face, as I didn’t want to admit that I made the wrong decision by making us hike again, I pivoted around and defensively said, “Didn’t I tell you yesterday that we were hiking again?”

  “I thought I was hiking up a mountain. I didn’t know I was on an odyssey to seek Heaven,” he exaggerated, panting to himself as OinkOink, being the slave driver he was, pawed at Eclipse encouragingly, pushing his shoes with his nose to give him the strength to move forward.

  Eclipse was right; the incline on this mountain was pure torture. Muscles that I didn’t know existed were beginning to ache.

  I panted as well, staring at him lethargically.

  “I read online that hiking to the summit of a mountain is one of the most rewarding things you can do to celebrate someone’s birthday,” I informed him tiredly, still trying to defend my choice to put us through this. I had hoped my explanation would give him the necessary energy to push through this hardship and come out triumphant. “It brings you back to nature and you have a better appreciation for life.”

  “Oh yeah,” he agreed, sullenly drinking from his water bottle. His body glimmered under the bright sun. He was only wearing white basketball shorts as his hiking attire but by God, he looked sexy as hell. “I can’t believe I’m saying this: I actually miss that dilapidated Rav4 of yours. I’d rather be stuck driving that hunk of trash than be one with nature.”

  I frowned, taking my mind off his naked upper body and distractedly drinking from my water bottle. I was dressed in a nearly all black ensemble—black shorts and black tank top. The only disturbances in the collage of black were my white shoes and the white ribbon I used to tie up my high ponytail. And of course, I was still carrying my pink backpack. I resembled a perky cheerleader, and considering the way I was speaking—in terms of being annoyingly optimistic and energetic—I was beginning to act like one too. “Ever
yone should do this before they die.”

  Eclipse scrutinized me, knowledge rippling in his eyes. “This is on your bucket list, isn’t it, Gracie? Things you want to do before you die?”

  I blinked at him slowly, not wanting to answer him.

  When he hurtled a stern look in my direction, I begrudgingly admitted the truth. “Yes.”

  A flash of offense blanketed his face. He paused mid-step and regarded me with shock. He couldn’t believe I was being so shady.

  “You made me believe that you were doing something special for my birthday when you’re just checking an item off your bucket list?”

  He made it sound so bad.

  “This is special,” I defended meekly. “I spent the last of my entertainment money on this.”

  “This is special alright,” he agreed curtly, miserably looking at the summit before us. “By the time I reach the summit, I’d probably be a century older.”

  Nooo!

  He shouldn’t have said that!

  “Okay, okay. I can’t do this anymore.” I finally broke down and collapsed to the ground, catching my breath. His mention of the extended century only made me realize how impossible this hike was. I could no longer go on pretending that I was superwoman. “I’ve been trying to act cool because I planned this event, but this is dreadful. The chubby girl inside me can’t go on anymore.”

  At the sight of me collapsing dramatically to the ground, Eclipse choked back a laugh.

  “We’re in the middle of a mountain trail,” he grunted, helping me up as I wailed in misery. Even though he had been complaining this entire trip, it seemed that Eclipse had taken on the role of being the cheerleader now. “There’s no turning back now. I didn’t climb up the steps of Hell to not see the end of this shit-show. Let’s go, Teacup. We may be fat kids at heart, but you’re one of the Sources of Evil and I’m one of the Devil’s seven sons. There’s no reason why we can’t make it to the end when other humans have done it.”