Page 30 of Possess Me

“Of course I’m certain,” Damien snapped.

“It’s just that—” Franklin shook his head. “Never mind.”

Something cold and dangerous seemed to writhe in Damien’s gut. “Tell me.”

Silence lingered.

“Goddammit. Tell me.”

Franklin lifted his hands as if in surrender. “It’s just that at the gala, I saw her talking to a man. I spoke to him later. Greg was his name. But I know people, Damien. I’m trained to look at people and to truly see them. And Greg wasn’t there for the gala. He was there for her.”

Damien stared at him, the knot in his chest tightening. “What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”

“You need to talk to her. Bring this out into the open. Let her know you see the changes. That you’re aware. If it’s an affair, confronting her will force her to face it. If it’s something else, it might be enough to snap her out of it. But you can’t keep ignoring it.”

Damien’s stomach twisted. “And if you’re wrong?”

“Then you have ruled out one cause for this new distance between you. You talk, and you rebuild.”

Rebuild.

How was that word even in his vocabulary where Nikki was concerned?

Dammit, he wasn’t going to lose her. Not to a house, not to some asshole named Greg. Not to anything.

But as he walked back to the cottage an hour later, a whisper of doubt coiled through him, dark and insidious.

Was she even still his to bring back?

It’s late. The house is silent, except for the faint creaks of wood expanding and settling, as if the house itself is breathing. I sit curled up in the armchair near the window, the dim light of a single lamp casting long shadows across the room.

I pull my legs up to my chest, resting my chin on my knees. Craving. Needing.

Blood.

I think about the blood. The way we’d been last night.

Not last night. Days ago.

Time … time isn’t the same anymore.

I squeeze my eyes tight, forcing the thought away. All these strange thoughts in my head lately. I don’t want the thoughts. I only want the memory of Damien. Of how it had felt. Raw and unrestrained, as if something primal had taken over both of us. Something wild and wonderful.

Something terrifying.

No. Not terrifying. Primal. Necessary.

I crave it even now. It should have left me sated, fulfilled. Instead, I feel ... restless. Unsettled.

As if I’m not myself. As if my desire has a dangerous edge.

What is happening?

I close my eyes and breathe deeply, trying to calm the erratic thudding of my heart. But the calm doesn’t come. Instead, I feel a strange sense of heaviness, like dark fingers pressing against my skin, holding me down. I want to get up. I want Damien.

I want to curl into his arms, to feel the safety and love that only he can provide.

He doesn’t love you. He despises you. Despises what you’ve become.