AN ETERNAL LOVE

CHAPTER: 36

And as he remained there, fixed, he heard a female voice call Adira's name from another room. Adira's

head turned toward its summons. She briefly glanced toward the window again, and perhaps had a

slight smile on her lips. And then she rose from the water like a goddess, and Damien felt himself burn.

Rivulets streamed down her body. She gleamed in the golden light of the candles. She gleamed and

shone as she delicately stepped from the tub onto the folded rug beside it. She showed no shyness as

she dried herself with a small cloth. Nor should she feel shy, for she was truly magnificent to behold.

Sensuality surrounded her like a halo, her every movement graceful. And he was aroused, tempted as

he had never been before. His loins were on fire as he watched her. She was, at that moment, the very

temptress he had been warned against.

But unwittingly she was innocent. She couldn't know he was watching. And in fact, it was he who was

to blame for the fire burning in his soul right then. For he had no business peering through the woman's

window. And yet it was as if he had been drawn there by some power beyond his will. And then held

there by the force of her gaze.

She moved like a seductress, every inch of her body exposed to him as she turned and reached for a

robe. And then she pulled it on, covering her feminine curves and her full, ripe breasts. And finally, she

moved out of the room, toward the sound of her aunt, calling her name once again.

"Is she as beautiful as you thought she would be?"

Damien went rigid as the feminine voice came from behind him, and he whirled to face a small, fair

woman he had never seen before. "I... that is, I was only..."

"You are the preacher, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yeah. Damien Walter, mistress." He fought to regain his control.

"Well, Damien Walter, if I thought she would mind your snooping, I would kill you right here. Lucky for

you I happen to know she would not mind. Not at all."

He felt his face heating and lowered his head. "I was not snooping as you put it, mistress. My attention

was drawn to her singing, and..."

"Like a songbird," the women interrupted. Then she turned toward the door and pulled it open. "Well,

come on inside. You may as well let her know you are here."

Damien uncomfortable at being caught looking at Adira, and yet sensing somehow the small woman

beside him held no judgment over him, stepped inside.

"Adira," the woman called. "You have a guest."

"Oh?" She stepped from the small bedroom, then went still as she met Damien's eyes. "Oh," she

whispered.

Was she embarrassed? Did she realize he might have heard the words of her song? His name floating

from her lips with such longing? At that moment he battled the urge to sweep her into his arms, even

though knowing how inappropriate that would be. They barely knew each other. And yet it felt very

much as if they did.

"I see you have met Allison," Adira said as if searching for something to say.

"She did not tell me her name," Damien replied.

"I got the distinct impression you could not care less about my name, Reverend," Allison said. "Adira,

take the man out for a moonlight walk. Show him the gardens, introduce him to Onyx, for heaven's

sake."

"I... all right. If you want to, Damien."

He nodded. "Yeah, I would like very much to walk with you, Adira. We have much to talk about."

Nodding, she took a dark cloak lined with fur from a peg on the wall, and Damien immediately stepped

forward, taking it from her hands. Moving behind her, he gently draped it over her shoulders. His fingers

brushed the flesh of her neck before moving away. God, how he wanted to touch her.

"Th-thank you," Adira whispered.

His hands settled there on her shoulders for a moment. He did not want to take them away. But he had

to, or she would surely know the direction his thoughts were taking.

He opened the door and let her lead him outside. Her hair was still wet, and as he walked close behind

her he could smell the scent of honeysuckle clinging to her skin.

She did not show him the gardens or introduce him to anyone named 'Onyx.' Instead, she led him out

to the very edge of the cliffs. The wind gusted there, lifting her wet hair from her shoulders and

snapping it like a whip. She faced the sea, staring out over the churning water, glancing down at the

sheer drop to the rocks below.

"This is my favorite place," she said. "I love the sea."

It struck Damien that he was also thinking the same thing, as he had been walking out here. That he

loved the sea.

"There is a small island out there, not far from the shore. It sits all alone. No one ever seems to go

near. I have felt like that... alone. Isolated from the rest of the land and surrounded by an element very

different from me," Adira said. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

"I have often felt that way myself," he told her. "As if I do not quite fit in with the rest of mankind. I do not

know the way their minds work. I cannot make sense of them."

She nodded and was still for a moment. "Why did you come?" She asked the question of him, but she

did not face him.

He stood beside her, staring out over the water just as she did. "I do not know," he told her. "I was

compelled to come, Adira."

She nodded.

"I have not been able to forget you after that cold dawn in the square. But I have told you that," he said.

"Yes." She turned to face him. "I believe a bond was formed between us on the gallows, Damien. Easy

enough to understand, really. You were the only man there who seemed to care."

"I did care," he said. And he clasped her shoulders now, stepping closer to her, staring down into her

eyes.

A/N: To be continued...