Free Perigee Moon by Tara Fuller

now.” He smiled, his white teeth glistening through the dark.
    “Promise me you’ll be back,” I insisted as I rubbed my arms, hoping the friction would keep the cold at bay for just a few more minutes.
    “I promise,” he called out before disappearing behind the tree line.

Chapter 9
     
    Jealousy. It is an ugly emotion and tonight it ran through me like wild fire. To see another man leaning in to claim her that way. I wanted to cast a spell on him that would crush him into dust. It was more than I could bear. Rowan. God I want her so badly it drives me mad. The fact that my desire for her outweighs my will to survive is maddening. And now after tonight, my battle is lost. I won’t stay away now. There is no lying to myself. My only hope is that she can resist this. Because I cannot. I am a fool. I am in love. And I will die for it.
    ~ Alexander 1692

    ***
    I could barely see through the thick haze that was sifting through the trees. The forest floor was damp and the humidity was making it hard to breathe. I felt hot and sticky as I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead and trudged through the blanket of dark grey shadows that were blocking out the sun. I didn’t really know why I was there; I just knew that I had to find him. I was clutching Rebecca Foster’s leather bound grimoire to my chest, feeling its strange energy permeate into my bones. That’s when I saw him–through the trees just ahead there was a small clearing. Alex was standing silently, his hand outstretched, beckoning me forward. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. My eyes drifted over the perfect lines of his chest and it was almost more than I could take. It was like I was in a trance. My feet carried me swiftly to his awaiting arms where he smiled and pulled the book away from my chest. I grasped for it but he held it out of my reach and then dropped it onto the ground. I didn’t go after it. His electric blue eyes had already drawn me in and I couldn’t break away from his gaze. My heart hummed nervously as he lowered his face and brushed his lips along my jawline, making his way around to my mouth. His face was flushed as I placed my hand on his chest and pressed each one of my fingers into his bare skin. His heart pulsed wildly beneath my fingertips, each throb forcing a bolt of electricity to course through my veins. A warm, golden energy was churning in my chest like a tiny sun, bouncing around the walls of a cage, begging to be set free. And Alex was the key. I stared up at him wordlessly, confused and exhilarated.
    He smiled. “It’s magic, love.”
    “Alex,” I whispered. He softly brushed a few wayward strands of hair from my face and smiled. The warm look in his eyes was enough to silence me. My fingers crawled up to his neck and my eyes followed when they closed around a silver chain. He was wearing a necklace just like the one I had found in the grimoire. The same necklace that was around my neck. I pulled up the charm to inspect it but he wrapped his fingers around my chin before I could see it closely. He pulled my face up to meet his and pressed his lips to mine. The heat pulsed between us and I could feel it burning my lips, my tongue, my skin. I clutched at his bare back but he jerked away from my touch, breaking our fused lips. He took a pronounced step back and started to shake. I could still taste him on my lips and I wanted more, but when I started to move towards him he cried out in pain and I stopped.
    “Alex no!” I said, but it was too late. I was burning, the flames dancing across my skin, keeping me from reaching him. His body was withering before my very eyes. His face sagged and his beautiful features disappeared beneath a mound of wrinkled skin. I reached for him but he crawled away like a wounded animal flinching from my touch as if I had done this to him. As if the flames consuming me were burning him from the inside out. He crawled against a tree and within seconds his once beautiful body had collapsed into a