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"I won't stop being bothered by it until you are my wife, my love. I fear your father is going to marry you off one day to one of these ambassadors you worry so little about," he teased, tapping me on the nose.
"It will never happen," I responded fervently. "We're not only a love match, but we have been fated by the Gods. Not even my father can argue with that. We just need to wait a bit longer, my birthday will be here soon."
Beckham looked down at me intently, seeming to be memorizing my promise.
"Forgive me for worrying my angel. Shall we go for the walk I promised you?" Beckham asked sweetly.
I gave him a peck on the lips and took his hand. As we began to walk I looked behind me, feeling like I had forgotten something. When I looked back, I noticed that a small portion of the roses just past where I had been standing seemed to have withered, something I had never seen in our land. I made a note to tell mother about it.
I jerked forward, stepping away from Beckham's touch, blindsided by the image I had just seen. Now was not the time for me to be daydreaming, although it had seemed more than that. Like what I had experienced before the show when I had fainted, and what I had just experienced while I had been on the dance floor with Mason and Beckham, the images I had just seen seemed more like a memory than anything else. I was confident though that I had never been to wherever I was in my dream, and I certainly had never met Beckham before today. Curious.
"Everything all right, Eva?" asked Beckham, sounding concerned at the abrupt way I had pulled away from him.
"Yes, sorry, I thought I felt something on my leg," I said lamely.
I still did not want to look at him. I felt overwhelmed at what I had just seen, and the feelings it had brought to the surface. In whatever I had been seeing, Beckham had been mine, as familiar to me as one could ever be. I touched my lips, almost surprised that they weren't swollen from the kiss he had given me. My cheeks flushed involuntarily.
"Eva," Beckham said softly, stepping beside me so that he was in my line of sight. "Why do I feel like I have known you my whole existence? Tell me you feel this…this whatever it is between us. I feel like you've returned to me, although I don't know where you went. I…"
Whatever he had been about to say was stopped by a voice calling out my name. Mason was walking towards us from the mansion, strands of his long hair whipping in the breeze, his shirt sticking to his chest, outlining his perfect pecs and six pack. He had taken off his suit. I knew that he hated being dressed up, he had complained enough in the limo about the "monkey suit" he was wearing. He was looking delicious in a fitted white v-neck tee and black jeans.
I looked back at Beckham, so beautiful in his own right. More silver than gold under the light of the moon, he was still wearing the slim fitted grey suit he had worn to the show. Both would inspire any woman to immediate devotion. My heart fluttered in my chest. I really was falling for both of them. And then there was Damon…
"You two okay?" Mason asked, looking between Beckham and myself. "Vanessa is looking for you Beck, she seems in a mood so I would approach cautiously," he joked.
Beckham gave a small grin.
"Yes, I should be getting back to the party. You are going to stay at my place tonight right? I know you don't want to drive all the way back to your place tonight since it's already so late."
"I had rented a hotel room right near the show, but I guess I wasn't thinking about how far away the after-parties would be," Mason answered sheepishly. "I guess it makes sense to go to your place."
"Good," answered Beckham, pleased. "Let's leave soon, these people are exhausting," he said, walking backwards back towards the party, looking somewhat longingly at me before turning away.
Mason was quiet, staring out at the black waves, deep in thought.
"Beckham's been one of my best friends since almost before I can remember existing," he said quietly, still not looking at me. "I would give him almost anything. But if he wants you, I'm not going down without a fight."
He finally turned to look at me, a question in his eyes. I didn't say anything. Instead I took his hand and kissed it softly, laying his palm against my cheek and savoring its warmth. Mason dropped the subject and pulled me into his arms. We stood there quietly for several minutes, both staring out into the water, each lost in our thoughts.
Chapter 5
(Beckham)
My stomach was in knots. More of the strange images featuring Eva had floated through my head throughout the night. I was old enough, had experienced enough, not to believe in coincidences anymore. I knew these images meant something, that they possibly could be real memories, I just didn't know when they were coming from. Unlike Mason and Damon, I didn't know what I was, only that I seemed to be immortal since I had been hanging out with them for a few hundred years now. The only power I had seemed to exhibit was one of persuasion. It differed from person to person, but for the most part I could convince anyone to do anything I wanted. It even worked on Mason and Damon, although I had made a vow to never use it on them after they had been furious at me after I made them pretend to be chickens once in front of some beautiful nymphs.
I tried to search my memory for any point in time that seemed to be missing, but there didn't seem to be any gaping moments absent that I could find. I knew I could never voluntarily forget someone like Eva so there had to be something more at play. She already felt indispensable to me, like she was a part of my body that I could not live without. I sighed as I walked up the back deck stairs, up to the party. My head ached…and so did my heart. Of course Mason and I would fall in love for the first time in our existence, and it would be with the same woman. We usually didn't even have the same tastes in women. I had never contemplated this being an actual problem. I felt guilty. I already knew that Eva would be worth throwing away eons of friendship to have her, but I hoped that wouldn't be the price.
Vanessa was waiting for me by the back entrance into the party.
"Where were you?" she asked. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
I sighed and pulled a hand through my hair. "Just taking a breather from the party," I answered with what I hoped looked like a nonchalant shrug. "You know how I am about these things."
She nodded. She did know. I had been taking her to these events off and on for at least three years, and she knew I never enjoyed myself. Vanessa looked past me, out to the water. I knew she would see Mason and Eva still out there. She frowned when she did.
"Beckham…you had said you wanted to have a talk with me tonight about us," she said slowly.
I let out a sigh. I had wanted to avoid this conversation. I'm just glad we hadn't had the original talk I had planned at the beginning of the night, before I had met Eva, because then this would have been even worse. "Vanessa…I care about you…" I began.
