Page 7 of The Aether

Placing her hand in his, she audibly sighed as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

“I’m not interested in games, Damian,” she said as she studied his inscrutable visage. “This is me telling you that I’m drawn to you on a deeper level. It’s more than sex or curiosity. It’s a feeling I can’t account for and one I’ve never experienced.”

“Would you believe me if I told you I feel the same?”

Raw vulnerability shone in his eyes, and oddly, she did.

“Yes.”

“What should we do about this unexpected attraction?”

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. This was a deciding moment for their future. “Can we explore it? Is that an option?” she asked, daring to hope.

“It would be a travesty if we didn’t.”

Her smile came from her blindingly happy soul, but he didn’t glance at her mouth like most men would. Didn’t kiss her as she’d expected. Instead, he grinned and twirled her away from him, then guided her back and dipped her.

When he drew her up, he released her and bowed. A gentleman of another time, with courtly manners appealing to her romantic daydreams.

“I intend to marry you, Vivian Stephens,” he said, determination and promise in his eyes. “If that isn’t what you want, walk away now.”

“I’m not sure walking away is an option,” she replied in all honesty.

CHAPTER3

5 YEARS LATER

“Don’t do this, Viv. Please, don’t leave me.”

Damian hated the begging quality to his voice, but if she left, he’d lose everything. His wife, his daughter—his humanity.

“I can’t be here anymore. I just can’t,” she cried.

As he reached for her, intending to calm, she flinched, and his fucking heart broke all over again. Like it had the moment she began pulling away. The moment she stopped loving him.

Dropping his arms, he stepped back.

“What have I done to make you believe I’m such a monster?” he asked in a moderately neutral tone, pleased he hadn’t given away his inner turmoil.

“I’m not saying you are, Damian. Not in the least. But you have the potential to be, and you know it. Your mother went crazy. What’s to stop it from happening to you, too?”

Coldness invaded his soul, and in a detached manner, he watched her pack her things. A search of his memory couldn’t produce a single episode in their past to spook her. Yes, the possibility was always there for him to lose his mind, to become a danger to those around him, but he would never hurt her or his perfect child.Couldnever. He didn’t have it in him, and the fact she believed he might absolutely killed him.

“If you leave, you risk Sabrina. There are those who would seek to take her power.” He was pathetic, reaching for any excuse to keep her with him, and not above using their daughter’s safety as leverage.

“She has no magic for anyone to steal, Damian. Not yet.”

“But shewill, and then they’ll come.”

“There is no guarantee she’ll be the next Aether, and no one knows she exists. You’ve made sure of it by keeping us hidden here at Ravenswood.”

Her accusing tone stung, and it felt as if he were seeing her for the first time. Where had his loving wife gone? The woman who had sought him out to form a relationship. The one who had stood before the Goddess and promised him all her tomorrows. The one who had agreed keeping the birth of their daughter a secret from everyone, friends included, was what was best for her safety.

“You said you understood the need for secrecy, Viv.”

“I thought I did. But you’re the fucking Aether, and if you can’t protect her whenever we go out, who can?”

After slamming the lid on her suitcase, she skirted his frozen form. She left him blindly staring at nothing and wishing he could find the words to make her see what was in his heart. Yet it sounded as if she was scrounging around for any excuse to leave him, and nothing he could say would make a difference.

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