The Power of One (The Forever series Book Two) (26 page)

“Mellowed with age have you, my sire?” He snorts at my
question.

“Oh no my love. I still have my… proclivities.”

“Well as long as I don’t come across any pets in the
dungeons,” I say wryly, straightening and turning back around.

He stills.

Oh fuck. There are pets in the dungeons.

He quickly recovers his composure and grabs a fistful of my hair
to pull me into a kiss to distract me. It works, as he knew it would and I
forget all about the dungeons.

“I can’t punish you because I am just so in love with you, I
can’t bear to hurt you,” he murmurs.

His declaration of love, while not a complete surprise after
my eavesdropping, is completely unexpected. I didn’t think I would hear him say
it. At least not now. And certainly not in the way he said it.

He is staring at me expecting a response of some kind but I
just have no idea what to say.

“Constantine. I… why now?” I ask in desperation.

“I have always been in love with you Aefre. You have made it
clear that you don’t love me in that way anymore. I tried for so many years to
push it away but these last few weeks, seeing you become the woman you were
meant to be, in contrast to the girl I met and the woman you became, I can’t
deny my feelings anymore. I won’t.”

Stunned into silence by his sincerity and honesty I shake my
head to clear it. “I’m married,” I blurt out. “And not just to anyone but a man
I turned to be with him because I love him, because he loves me.”

He closes his eyes. “I know. The timing of this couldn’t be
worse,” he says sardonically. “But I am willing to wait for you.”

Gaining now some of the information into his conversation
with Cole, I probe further wanting the whole truth out him. “Wait?”

“Do you love me Aefre? Are you in love with me?” he asks
instead.

“Yes,” I don’t hesitate. “I too have always been in love
with you. I just couldn’t stand being hurt by you again. I had to force myself
to move on and then…”

“And then you met Devon and then Fraser and everything went
to hell in a hand basket. I get it, my love. I do. Would you have me now if you
weren’t already taken?” he asks, quietly leaning his forehead on mine.

“In a heartbeat,” I whisper and he breathes a sigh of
relief.

“Then I will wait. I will respect your marriage to Cole, as
long as I get you these two days to myself. As soon as he leaves you, or you
see fit to leave him. A hundred years from now, two hundred, it doesn’t matter.
I will wait. I want you. I want to marry you.”

“For real this time?” I half joke as the tears start to well
up.

He laughs, “Yes for real this time. And to show you I mean
it…” He leans over to the bedside table and opens the drawer. He pulls out a
small box and my heart nearly stops. He opens it and I have to sit on the bed
as my knees give out. Putting my hand to my mouth I am speechless. He drops to
his knees. “It’s not an engagement ring,” he says. “Even I have more sense than
that. Think of it as a promise to me, that you will be my wife. One day.” I
stare at him, unable to form words.

“Accept the ring and wear it on your right hand if you can
make this promise to me. But let me make this very clear, Aefre, if you don’t
accept it then I will fight for you. I will fight for you, and I will rip your
marriage apart at the seams to win you and you know that I can. One way or the
other, I will make you mine, how I go about it is up to you.”

I smile inwardly. Even in the face of declarations of love he
has to show his dominance. I knew all along that I would accept it. It is all I
ever wanted from him. I just wanted to see how much he would tell me if I
stayed silent. Although how I am going to explain this to Cole is another thing
entirely.

“I accept it,” I say with a shy smile and he returns my
smile with that heart stopping made-just-for-me smile. He slips it onto my
finger, at least $7 million worth of a nine-carat square cut blue diamond with
two emerald-cut clear diamonds nestled either side in a platinum setting. Not
usually one to shower anyone with gifts he has dropped about $10 million worth
of jewelry on me in the last week. Oh yes, a girl is definitely used to this
now.

 

Epilogue

 

Pevensey, England, 1066 – Aefre

 

I learnt of my sire’s proclivities soon after I met
Eloise and she mentioned it. I didn’t understand what she meant and it was
playing on my mind, so I asked him. He was furious with me for stowing away on
William’s ship and putting myself in danger but he accepted it when I told him I
couldn’t bear to be apart from him and showed him how happy I could make him by
being around. William was more than delighted to have me aboard, much to
Constantine’s ire, although he told me in no uncertain terms to stay aboard
once we reached the coast. Which I didn’t.

After pleasing my sire that night I asked him about these
proclivities as I lay on top of him.

He studied me closely for a few moments, “It is nothing
for you to worry about, my love.”

“Tell me. I want to know,” I demanded.

“Always so curious.” He smiled and kissed me to distract
me but I was burning with curiosity about something that horrible woman knew
and I didn’t about my sire, my love.

Pulling away I said, “Constantine, tell me. What did she
mean?”

He sighed, “Oh Aefre, you are not ready to hear about
such things.”

“I am,” I insisted. “I want to know, everything about
you.”

“I like certain things,” he said eventually. “From the
women I am with.”

I started at the use of the plural. “Women?” I choked
out.

He rubbed his face with his hand, “Yes Aefre. I have told
you about a Vampire’s nature.”

I flinched, yes he has told me, but I didn’t like hearing
about it.

“What things?” I whispered.

“I like to be in complete control of them, like slaves.”
He said then, I thought to shock me.

“Slaves?”

“Yes, slaves. To do as I wish, when I wish, only as I
wish. To do with as I please.”

I must have look shocked as he closed his eyes briefly.
“I told you, you weren’t ready to hear of this.”

“You hurt them?” I asked horrified.

“Sometimes, yes.”

“You beat them?”

“Yes,” he said shortly, “but not in the way you think, my
love. It is all a game.”

“A game?”

“Aefre, that man who does those things, is the worst part
of me. I have seen and done things, evil things. You have changed me Aefre, you
have made me see that life can be bright again. I am a better man for being
with you. But I… I cannot change this.”

“Do you want to do those things to me?” I asked willing
to do anything for him even something as horrifying as letting him beat me.

He looked shocked and hurt that I should ask him such a
thing. “No Aefre! No, my love. I would never inflict any pain on you. I love
you. Those women mean nothing to me, they are like pets, chained up in the
dungeon. You are the light of life. My sweet Aefre. The girl who saved me from
walking this earth in despair. I know when I look into your eyes that the
reason I became what I am is so that I could live long enough to meet you.”
After hearing those words, I forgot everything he said about the pets in the
dungeons and I kissed him deeply and with such longing which he returned before
he pulled my hips down onto him and he took me again and again until I was
spent and I fell asleep in his arms.

 

 

THE END

Begin Book Three of the Forever series now:

Revelation

Other Books by Eve Newton

Forever (The
Forever Series Book One)

The Power of One
(The Forever Series Book Two)

Revelation (The
Forever Series Book Three)

Choices (The Forever Series Book Four)

The Ties That Bind (The Forever Series Book Five)

Trials (The Forever Series Book Six)

If you liked this Paranormal Erotic Romance Try:

Beyond The Mask

If you want to try another Best-selling Erotic Romance
Try:

Hidden Depths

Strictly Business

You Can’t Go Home
Again

About the Author

I was born in
England and grew up in South Africa. I moved back to England in 1997 and met my
husband, now separated, but we have two beautiful children: a girl and a boy.

I am currently
studying towards a BA in English Language & Literature, which is something
I have always wanted to do and never had the time before. I enjoy the finer
things in life. I love Louboutins and fast cars & my beloved Manchester
United. A perfect evening in, is good wine, candles and a good book!

I have always
loved to read, anything Paranormal catches my interest, and writing has always
been a passion of mine so I decided to take the plunge and combine the two into
a series novels. I have many more ideas churning around in my head and can’t
wait to get them down on paper!

I hope you enjoy
reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them!

Check out my website at

www.evenewton.co.uk

Twitter Updates at

@AuthorEve

You can
also find me on Goodreads

www.goodreads.com/Eve_Newton

&
Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/evenewtonforever

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