“Then why didn’t you just wake me up?”
“Because I wanted to see if I could command you. It seems to have worked. This time, at least.”
“And the next?” she asked apprehensively.
“Hopefully there won’t be a next time. Then again . . .” He walked forward and touched the outline of her locket through her gown. The material between them lit on fire and disintegrated into ash. “This presence is more powerful than I.”
Cosette glanced down at the space between her breasts that was now exposed, but her skin was completely unchanged, the locket cool to the touch. But when she glanced at Davien, she gasped at the red blister on the tip of his finger. “I don’t remember any of it.”
“I believe you.” He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “I suppose if nothing else can convince me to keep my distance, then this is a good way of ensuring that I keep my hands to myself.”
Cosette sighed. “How can you make light of the fact I nearly pierced your heart with the tip of a metal blade?”
“Because I know it wasn’t really you,” he whispered. “But something else entirely that wishes to harm me. It’s my mission to find out what.”
She could feel her eyes fill with moisture. “But what if—”
He kissed her lightly on the lips. “Don’t worry about what might happen. Just live in the moment. Right now.”
So she did.
Cosette pulled Davien back to her, moaning lightly when he deepened the embrace. His arms came around her waist to pull her closer, and she could feel the slight scratch of a beast’s claws as he did so. But it didn’t frighten her as it might have before. This time, she relished the fact that he was alive. That he was holding her in his arms and caressing her. Whether it was the beast, or the man, she was growing to care for them both. In such a short amount of time, they had effectively stolen her heart.
After today, the tragedy that had nearly transpired, they had become one.
Cosette pulled Davien’s shirt out of his trousers. “I want to feel you against me. Your skin against mine.”
Davien’s grip tightened around her waist. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Her dark eyes held his. “I’m ready to be your mistress.” She amended, “Iwantto be your mistress.”
His eyes instantly lit with that unholy glow, and for the first time, Cosette relished in the sight. She did this to him. She was the one who brought the beast to life.
She could control the beast.
Abruptly, something clicked in Cosette’s memory. It was the first time she had ever recalled anything from one of her blackouts. She stumbled out of Davien’s grasp. “It said I could control the beast.”
He stilled. “What?”
“The voice.” She waved her hand in the air. “It said I could control the beast, and that I would be free to join it.” She looked at him, feeling her blood drain out of her face. “In Paris.”
“Then to Paris,” Davien said grimly, “we shall go.”
