Chapter Three

SStrong arms held me, and for a moment in time, I was happy. The bubble burst as realisation came flooding back and my body tensed. Had he? Did we? Oh god, please, please don't let it have happened.

            “Reece?”

            “Uhuh,” He murmured, against my neck.  

            “You didn’t, we didn’t... have sex did we?”

            “Uu uu.”

            “Reece wake up,” My voice was louder than intended and laced with worry. “Did we have sex?”

            He tightened his arms, pulling me closer.

            “No mystery lady,” His voice was slow and sleepy, as his breath lifted the sensitive hairs on my neck.

            “Then why am I in your arms?”

            “You were in pain last night and although I acted like a dickhead, even I can't see a woman crying and not respond. I didn’t want to leave you alone. Holding you seemed to calm you, so here we are.”

            I turned to face him and sure enough his was dressed. His eyes were still closed and without thinking I reached for his face and kissed his parted lips.

            “That was for me,” I told him when his eyes shot open, glaring down at me.

            “Do you never give up?” He said moving away.

            “For one hour in the morning I get to be me. No sex, no seduction, just me, and this is me saying thank you, not trying to seduce you,” I said, propping myself up on one elbow.

            “For what?”

            “For everything! But mostly for not naming me, had you done that, I wouldn’t be me. You would have banished me for good. This is the only time I'm not in pain, the only time you can trust me.”

            He studied me, his eyes thoughtful.

            “So that’s what happened to you last night. The first time I left, you almost killed me with pain and I had to come back. I thought that it would be like that until we.. or I..”

            “No Reece, I didn’t do that to you, I'm not sure why it happened. I'm the only one the curse punishes with pain, until now that is. But I'm glad you were ok last night. I think you should leave me here. Go and only come back in five days... that way you will be safe from me,” I could feel the tears pooling, the hurt gathering like a storm, the pain would be immeasurable. If I were human it would kill me but I wasn't that lucky.

            “What will happen to you if I'm not here?”

            “Nothing.”

            “I thought you said you wouldn’t lie to me.”

            “I'm not, nothing will happen to me. I will still be alive when you come to set me free.”

            “Alive maybe, but will you be like... will you be in pain?”

            “Yes.”

            “Then I'm staying,” he said, taking my hand in his. “What’s your name?”

            “Isla,” Why was he so calm? Didn’t he realise that by staying he would die?  

            “Isla! Damn why didn’t I remember that yesterday? That's a lovely name. What do I call you when you’re not like this? When you’re ... well, a pain in the ass,” he chuckled.       

            “You must call me Isla even then.”

            “So it seems I'm stuck with you, why don't you fill me in on what’s happening here.”

            “No Reece. It's better if you don't know. You must not let yourself feel anything for me or you will die. Promise me; promise that you will do what you have to, to save yourself this time.”

            “What do you mean this time?”

            “We have met before, not in this life time but a long time ago. You are my soul mate Reece,” I said studying his face, needed to know if he would remember.

            “I'm your... wouldn’t I know that? Aren’t I meant to feel... I don't know like a lightning bolt or something?”

“I took your memories so you wouldn’t remember me. Your soul should remember mine but I hope it doesn’t, for your sake.”

 “If I hadn’t seen you reappear in my bed, I wouldn’t believe any of this. It's like I am living a nightmare, unable to wake up, and your telling me that it's not important. Are you crazy?”

“Maybe I am. Three thousand years will do that, you know, not to mention the degradation of doing unspeakable things and having no control over your own body.”

“How did you end up like this?”

“It's not important, not anymore.”

“Why won’t you tell me anything?”

“Because it won’t help, nothing I can tell you will help, it will only hurt you.”

“So your protecting me, is that what you want me to believe, because right now, I’d say you’re protecting yourself, not me.”

            “Believe what you will. It makes no difference.”

He seemed to be thinking, His brow creased with the effort, as distractedly his thumb drew soft circles on my palm. Energy sizzled from his touch up my arm and cracked open my heart. It was such a Rale thing to do, for hours we would lay together, plotting and planning, and when he was debating something, this is what he’d do. Touching me helped him think logically, he’d said. Two thousand years away from him hadn’t dulled my love and three hundred years in solitude was coursing through me. I needed to be touched, held, loved and that definitely wasn't fair. A lump the size of the underworld rose in my throat and my heart ached. I would never get him back.

            Finally he broke the silence.

            “This pain, tell me about it, what stops it?” He asked.

            “Sex.”

            “Is that why... is that you gave me a blow job yesterday, because you were in pain?”

            “Yes. Last night was just the start Reece; I will push you and push you, until the only thing you can think of is having sex with me. I’ve been here before, so you have to trust me, its best if you leave.”

            Thoughtful again he stayed silent. Memories of him kept flooding in. His deep laugh, his gentle touch, the way he felt inside me. Why couldn’t I just forget? This was hard enough without loving him. This version of Rale was opening something inside me that had been closed for eternity, if it had ever really been there to start with. I loved Rale he was my soul mate but this was even stronger.

            “I trust that you think you know me, but you don't. Nothing you do will make me betray the woman I love. And if I do, then I deserve to die. I think you should give me back my memory and let me help you. Then once we have beaten this, you can take it back. I don't want or need to remember all my lifetimes, but I think it best if I know how to fight this and what has been going wrong in the past. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.”

            “I can't Reece. I took your memory for a reason and that reason still exists,” How I wish I could tell him, give him back what I took but it will kill him, that much I know.

He let go my hand and got up. Pacing back and forth, his eyes occasionally looking my way, his hands deep in his pockets, I wish I knew what he was thinking.

            “Isla, you’re asking a lot of me and you’re giving me very little in return, how can I help you if I don't understand what I'm fighting?”

            “All you have to do is stay away from me for five days and then come back and kill me; you don't have to understand.”

            His jaw tensed and twitched. “Kill you. Are you fucking mad? I'm not going to kill you.”

“It's the only way to break this curse Reece and you are the only one that can truly end this.”

“There has to be another way,” He stared at me, searching for a lie no doubt.

“There was another way but I don't want to live anymore. I want to die and be reborn with no memory of my life,” I hoped he understood.

He was silent for so long I began to worry that he would never speak again.

“Ok, then at least tell me how to avoid having sex with you because I can tell you now, I didn’t want a blow job yet I let you do it. How am I meant to stop you seducing me?”

            “You must leave me.”

“That's not going to happen. You’re keeping something from me. What is it?”

“There is no way to avoid having sex with me then. But I can stop you from dying this time. It will change you back to who you were and leave me locked in the curse for eternity.”

“Do I want to know?”

“You were always a good... man. You could do so many great things if I give you back what I took from you. It will change you but it won’t change who you are,” I swallowed and even though it hurt. Even though in doing this I would never see him again. Even though his mother would have finally achieved her goal, If he wanted it I would do it.

“I think you are going to have to tell me more about this change,” He said sitting back on the bed.

I would tell him everything. He had the right to chose for himself.

“You are a God Reece. You were immortal until this curse on me. The only way to break it and have me at your side was to spend a month with me and not have sex,” He was staring into space, brows creased, stroking my hand again. The sensation almost made me stop, love churned into nausea, but he had to know.

“If I was a God as you say, why are you still cursed. Surely I would have been able to break it?” He said, his eyes drawing my soul from me and stilling my breath. I had to look away.

“You can't break a curse set by another just because you want to. The terms were set and you accepted them.”

“Ok, I'm not saying I believe in all this but tell me the rest.”

“We failed, you gave me your powers and became mortal so you would die and be reborn to try again. I can give you those powers back but with it comes immortality. You will remain this age forever.”

“And what will happen to you?”

“You are the only one that can break this curse Reece. When we failed the first time you couldn’t live without me and the only way to try again was to be reborn, with that option taken away the only other way to break it is to kill me. Set me free to be reborn without my memories,” I couldn’t tell him everything.

“Why didn’t I kill you before. It would have broken the curse and then I could have found you again. Seems to me there is something you are not telling me.”

He was smarted than I gave him credit for. Damn.

“You couldn’t kill... me, you tried but in the end you sacrificed yourself.”

“That doesn’t sound right, even then I would have known that I could find you if I was a God. Tell me the truth Isla.”

“I’ve told you everything you need to know. The only thing left to tell you is that once I die you will never get those powers back. You either take them before or you lose then to the ethos.”

“You’re not going to tell me anything else are you?”

“No.”

Standing, he paced the room again.

            “to stop the pain you need to have sex right? Does it have to be me or can I bring someone else in here for you?”

            “You want to share me?” That hurt more than I could say.

“It's not that,” He looked at me sharply. “And I think you could tell that I liked it very much, too much. I just don't want to betray Mary; she doesn’t deserve this anymore than I do.”

            “Then you must leave me. I don't want to be with someone else to stop the pain. I will not die from it but I can't have sex with someone else and have you watching me. If you bring someone in this evening when the curse is active I will have sex with them but know that I don't want to and will be helpless to stop it,” Why couldn’t he see this was the only option.

            “No. I started this and I will see it through. I will not let you go through this alone, It's only a month right? and...”

            “It's only five days. You only have to last five days then you can be rid of me.”

            “By killing you?”

            “No, by setting me free.”

            “By killing you!”

            “I have lived long enough Reece, I'm tired. Tired of being this way. Tired of living without you. I hate myself more than anything else for all the things I have done. My dreams are filled with nothing but pain and sorry. Even the good memories hold nothing but pain now because that’s all they are, memories of a time and person that no longer exist.”

He seemed to be ignoring me, his pacing continued.

            “And the only way I can set you free without killing you, is to make sure I don't have sex with you, right! So, you know what my dark desire is, would me bringing someone else into this mess help you? I can guarantee I won’t touch you Isla. I won’t die in your arms this time, but I can't have you in pain either. I guess what I'm asking is, will anyone do?”

            “I don't know, no one has ever wanted to share me before,” more to the point, could I go through with it and come out the other side without being heartbroken. I would have to do it, I’d have no choice but all the time I would know, know that Reece gave me away.

“Even if you bring someone else in, you will have to be part of it. Can you watch someone else have their desire... with me? Will you be able to stand watching and not join in? I give them whatever they desire Reece, it's not always nice, in fact it's always dark, just look at what yours is and imagine what other men want. And in the end, it will still come back to you, you read the words, you freed me, it's you the curse wants. You cannot resist me Reece, you’ve never been able too.”

“You really do rate yourself don't you?”

            “Yes, because I have the past to back what I'm telling you.”

            “I don't know about the past, but I do know that I can resist you.”

            “Then you will try the blow job thing?” Hope filled me, if he would agree to that then he might last the five days. If not, he would become more and more wound up until he snapped.

            “No. I can't do that either. I'm getting married Isla, I can't do that to Mary.”

            Deflated, heartbroken and just plain tiered of living I told him. “Bring in another man then, your desire is for two men so let’s see if it will work. Keep the knife; you’re going to need it.” I couldn’t have been in more pain right now. I would never be able to watch him with another woman and not be heartbroken. More and more, I'm reminded of what I have lost. “You should leave now; my time is almost up,” This would be a fitting end to my existence, to have the man who caused this, watch his soul mate being intimate with another. Of course he wouldn’t feel the pain, he doesn’t love me and it’s only me that remembers. Only me that has to live with the betrayal.

All the men I have been with over the centuries and all the things I have been made to do, this is the worst. After this I would make him kill me, there was no way to live with such rejection even if I could live with the past haunting me.

            *

            The moment he stepped in the house I felt it; the pain subsided to a hum, allowing me to think. He didn’t see the sheen on my skin or notice the irregular breathing or the fact that I was sitting on the floor with my knees to my chest. The curse shot desire through me, it wanted him.

            “Isla, this is Ben, Ben, Isla.”

It hurt, hurt more than I thought it would, him just announcing the man as if it meant nothing. As if I was nothing more than a sex toy, he could pass around. Why couldn’t he just let me give him blow jobs for the remaining time? Or leave me alone? I could feel the heavy lump in my throat as heat prickled against my eyelids but I knew I wouldn’t cry.

 “You’re gorgeous! Why would you want to share her dude?” Ben asked, not hiding his shock or arousal.

Reece didn’t flinch or show any emotion.

“We want to spice things up, not that it's any of your business. Now, do you want to play with her or not?” Reece shrugged, before turning to me. “This is a friend of mine I want you to give him his desire so I can watch.”

I told you I would make you pay and now you will... and my son will once again be the darkness he was meant to be. Did you think I would leave him to his life without having my people watching over him.

No,no,no, I don't want you to do this Reece. Walking up to him while taking my borrowed clothes off, until I stood before him naked, my fingers found his penis and stroked it through his pants. Our eyes locked and I saw his desire flare in their depths, standing on tip toes, my other hand wound round his neck and brought his lips to mine as his penis hardened under my hand. Reece groaned, as my tongue swept against his. His hips moved, pushing his erection harder against my hand as his arms held me to him. Unbuttoning his pants, my hand found his silken skin and wound around it thickness. Reece groaned again, digging his nails into my hips. My hand milked his shaft in a slow methodical rhythm as my tongue controlled him. Withdrawing my hand and lips, I stepped back, breathing hard.

“Hey! You said I was here to fuck her not watch you, I'm so hard I could hammer in nails with it,” Ben said.

Ignoring the substitute, all my attention on the one who brought me here.

“I will not let you cum until you are inside me Reece. Will you be joining us?” I asked.

“Not this time Isla, not this time,” He seemed to gather himself, his voice only slightly betraying him as his arms tightened around me.

“Then why have you brought him?” I asked, “If you are not going to join us.”

Ben had undone his pants and was rubbing his shaft watching us. 

            “This is one of my desires Isla,” he kissed along my jaw. “I want to watch you having sex, as I pleasure myself,” he breathed in my ear. “You want me to fuck you, and it's driving you wild,” His lips moved back to mine. “Show me what you can do, and maybe I’ll give you what you want,” He released me and stepped back, his sensual smile and desire fill eyes held my attention. I had never been this aroused, not even with Rale, he never held himself back from me, always gave me what I wanted when I wanted it, but Reece wasn't going to give in so easily and it made me want him more.

            His lips on my skin, his arms around me drove me insane with need, I wanted him with a devastating need. I don't know if this is the curse or me. He was so strong, so sexy and the fact that he hadn’t given in and was playing me at this sensual seduction, was an extreme turn on.

            Ben had stepped behind me kissed me neck and rolled my nipple between his fingers as Reece watched.

            “You will want me, you always do, it's just a matter of time.” I said.