Page 58 of Vicious Hearts

I still have my moments, when the darkness takes over and I let it run me. Mostly when I think about Ariadne. When I think about anyone hurting her or trying to take her from me. There’s an overwhelming fear boiling inside me; anyone that tries to break us apart will pay with their life. And I find that I’m unable to keep my thoughts straight with all the madness I feel for her.

I can’t imagine my life without her. Won’t imagine it. Instead, I choose to step out of the dark and imagine a future filled with light and happiness, and miniature versions of us in the form of children. I never gave having a family much thought, but now it’s all I can think about as I consider all the ways that I can own Ariadne. She doesn’t answer, and I understand it could be her voice trying to catch up with her mind. But I don’t really care. It wasn’t a question. It’s not up for debate. She will be mine in every way possible. Her body is already mine. I have her heart. And her soul will be mine eternally as we live out the rest of our days side by side in this paradise we have created for ourselves away from the rest of the world.

I brush her hair behind her ear, press my lips in a straight line as I watch her carefully. She didn’t run all this way only to turn away from me. She ran to me because she wants to be with me. It’s a given that she wants us to be together, and she’s willing to sacrifice her past and present to share her future with me.

There is no need for words. Nothing she says or does can convince me otherwise; we belong together, and she was mine from the moment she stepped onto my boat and decided to play with fire. I chuckle internally when I recall how she threw herself overboard when she believed that I was going to hurt her and muse at how far we’ve come.

“It may not always be rainbows and butterflies,” I tell her. “But I’m going to dedicate every last breath to possessing every last inch of you and making us one.”

She smiles up at me, her radiance battling for center stage with the fading sun. She has no doubts. Not even a flicker. She knows I mean what I say and she wants it all. She wants to play in this big boy’s playground, and she will. For the first time in my life, something – someone – takes priority in my life over work. Over everything I’ve built. It’s inconsequential when compared to Ariadne. Inadequate in terms of how I measure my life’s worth now.

Only death can tear us apart, and I mean to do everything in my power to live long enough to keep her by my side eternally.

EPILOGUE

CALEPH

“Ilove you.”

The words reverberate in my head. They trickle through my veins and set fire to my blood.

I’ve never been with anyone long enough to hear those words uttered. And I’ve never said them to a woman before, either. But I don’t need to think twice about my feelings for her when she says the words.

She loves me. And I love her. It’s a given. It may have taken us a while to get here, but we’re safe in the knowledge that for us, there could be no one else. If I can’t be with Ariadne, I don’t want to be with anyone else. And now I know that she feels the same way.

I look out at the great ocean, its blue ice washing over us as it cleanses the past and writes a new chapter in our lives. Ariadne is safely ensconced in my arms, wrapped in the cocoon of my love as I hold her close to me. We’ve only been on the water for a few days, and already she’s overcoming her fear of the water, her seasickness settling into a comfortable silence that only rears its head if we’re crossing abnormally violent seas.

“When will Attila come?” she asks.

“A few days. Let’s enjoy our time alone before his sorry ass lands here.”

* * *

Ariadne wrapsa hand around my neck and pulls me closer. She’s been insatiable since she came back to me, and I can’t seem to get enough of her any more than she can get enough of me.

“Are we really going to spend the rest of our lives on this boat?” she asks.

“We can do whatever we want, baby. Stay here or go on land. Sail anywhere you want.”

“I think I like the idea of never living on land again,” she tells me, as the yacht slips past the Gulf of California. It sounds like a great retirement plan, but I know eventually we’ll have to hit the shore again; there are some matters which simply cannot be handled while you’re rocking against a lurching sea-swell.

We hear the rotors of a chopper as it looms overhead, and I look up. Ariadne wraps her hair in a ponytail and prepares for our visitors. I don’t know how she’ll take it, but Attila has given me a heads up that The Jekyll is joining him on this trip. I know she understands the reasons that he did what he did, but I don’t know how she’ll react to the memory of seeing him again.

But she surprises me as she greets the men, stoic in her resolve, as though nothing ever happened. I watch as she nods towards them both. Attila moves forward and lifts her off the ground in a bear hug, causing a small giggle to escape her lips. I can’t help the growl that forms deep in the pits of my stomach then travels up my throat, threatening to erupt.

Attila shoots me a boyish grin, his intention clear. He wants to rile me up and he succeeds.

“Just testing my theory,” Attila smirks.

“What theory would that be?”

“That you’re absolutely pussy whipped.”

I aim but I don’t get to Attila in time before Ariadne slaps at his arm and fixes him with a look that tells him to watch his mouth. The Jekyll stands by watching, still a man of not so many words. I realize that I don’t even know his real name, and I wonder if there’s a need to know.

“We can’t stay long,” Attila says, as we walk to the salon after Ariadne takes her leave to do some writing.

“I thought you’d be staying a few days.” I frown; I know he didn’t come all this way to stay only a few hours.

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