Eternity The Beginning (4 page)

muslin dress covered breasts. His gaze lingered there, 27

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

tracing the subtle curves of her body beneath the thin material.

“Is it me that you fear?”

He shook his head, almost laughing at her question. “No, it is myself. I am not the same man. I am changed.”

She sighed quietly and then took another step forwards.

He matched it with a backwards one.

“I see.” A frown flickered on her brows as she looked at him. “The man was not a good man. You need not

leave.”

“I must,” he said, resolute. If she wanted to presume he was leaving solely because of the dead man, she could.

He wasn’t going to tell her any different. In a matter of minutes, he would leave his old life behind completely, taking nothing with him but his sister. It was best this way. This world was not theirs now.

“When will you return?” she said. Her voice trembled and he could sense something when he focused on her.

It was fear, but she wasn’t frightened of him. She was scared of something.

She took another step towards him and the torchlight illuminated her face more clearly. In her eyes, he could see what she feared, and although he wished his answer to her question was a different one, it wasn’t.

“I will not.”

Her gaze lowered to the floor and she was still for a few moments. He said nothing, not because he didn’t know what to say, but because he couldn’t say what she

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Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

wanted him to. He had to leave, and he had no plans to return.

She moved closer to him, her eyes coming up to meet his again. He shook his head, holding his hands up as the back of his foot touched the water and he realised he couldn’t keep the distance between them. He steeled his jaw when the first tempting waves of the delicate scent of her blood washed over him. His stomach turned over and twisted tightly. Hunger returned, fierce and

demanding.

“Leave,” he said in a tortured whisper, unable to speak any louder while he battled with his hunger.

It begged him to kill her.

It begged him to take her sweet blood like he wanted to.

She shook her head, and moved closer. His fists

clenched and his nails dug into his palms. He felt the cool stickiness of blood against his fingertips. The distraction it gave him from the smell of her blood and sound of her heart was momentary. His senses seemed to fix on it, even against his own will, and the need to have her blood was overwhelming.

He swallowed hard when she stepped right up to him, her body so close to his that he could feel the heat radiating off her. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to run a single finger lightly down her arm and feel her shudder. He wanted to tangle his fingers in her hair, and crush her lips under a passionate kiss.

He wanted her.

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Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

He didn’t know what to do when she leaned towards

him, her breasts pressing against his bare chest and heating his skin through. Her hands were against his shoulders, grasping them, steadying her. His eyes

dropped to her mouth and he watched as it neared his.

“Leave,” he whispered again, offering her one last chance to see that this could only end in disaster.

“I want to remember you,” she said, her mouth so close to his that her breath washed over his lips.

He could taste her in his mouth.

His whole body tensed when her lips touched his, barely brushing against them but growing bolder by the

second. His hands moved, hovering on either side of her waist as he battled with himself. He had to push her away, but he knew that if touched her, it would be over—he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

He was surprised when her tongue ran along the crack of his lips, parting them. It brushed against his teeth, sending a shiver through him and making his fangs itch.

He could taste her warmth, and her desire. He could taste her need for him.

Grabbing her waist, he pulled her flush against him, moulding her body against hers and letting her feel just what she was doing to him. He pressed into her, kissing her hard as his tongue plundered her mouth, but holding himself back so he wouldn’t go too far.

When she let slip a quiet moan and her fingertips dug into his bare shoulders, fiery heat burned through him—

desire mixed with hunger, tainted with need. His canines began to extend and he desperately tried to hold them 30

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

back, to stop them, but it was too late. They caught on his tongue, and then on hers as she kissed him, and the combined taste of their blood was too much.

His claws grew again, cutting through her muslin dress.

His canines fully extended and she gasped as she caught her tongue on them again. Holding her tightly, he

sneered against her mouth, kissing her deeply as he tried to get a better taste of her blood. She struggled slightly, her palms pressing into his chest as she tried to push him off her. He growled, low and guttural, and kissed along her jaw. His arms wrapped tight around her, immobilising her and crushing her against his chest.

His lips coursed over her skin, travelling down her neck and tasting the saltiness of her sweat. It was mixed with the soft hint of her scent and the sweetness of her blood. His mouth latched onto a spot where he could feel her pulse and he suckled on it, focused on the feeling of her heartbeat against his tongue.

She stilled in his arms, her breathing fast and harsh in his ear. Her heartbeat thundered through his body, encouraging him to take what he wanted. He smiled

against her throat and then bit down hard. She started to scream but he covered her mouth, stifling her cry.

Blood flooded his mouth, hot and delicious, sating his hunger. It flowed into him without him having to pull on it, filling his senses as he gulped it down. Intense pleasure like he’d never felt before swept through him, making him dizzy. He slowed his drinking as the feeling ebbed and flowed through him, warming every inch of him and sedating him.

It was only when he heard her heart slowing that he realised what he’d done.

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Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

He dropped her, stumbling backwards into the water and knocking into the boat as cold chased away all the warmth he’d been feeling.

She fell to her knees and he stared at her, wide eyed and horrified at what he’d done. He’d told her to leave.

Why hadn’t she listened to him? Why had she had to kiss him?

He shook his head to clear his senses and went to her.

Her face was ashen, her eyelids heavy, almost closed.

He cradled her in his arms, his fingers dancing across her cheek, his whispered words of sorrow and apology doing nothing to rouse her.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then wrapped her up in his embrace, holding her head against his chest.

He rocked with her, struggling to come to terms with what he’d done. She shifted slightly. He could hear her heartbeat faltering and when he looked at her, he wasn’t surprised to see fear in her eyes. She knew what was coming.

She raised her hand and touched his face, her lips managing a smile that broke his heart.

How could she look at him with such forgiving eyes when she knew what he had done?

He caught her hand and held it against her cheek when she no longer had the strength to.

She sucked in a breath and the fear returned to her eyes. Her heart missed a beat. His fingers grasped hers more tightly.

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Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

“We will meet again…my love…” she whispered, her

eyelids drooping and her body going limp in his arms,

“…in the afterlife.”

He pressed his forehead against hers as he heard her heart stop. Closing his eyes, he cursed himself and this life he’d been given. He felt destined to kill everything he cared about. Happiness was never to be his. Love was never to be his. A creature like himself didn’t deserve such things. He deserved a life in the shadows, a

tortured life of watching others live.

“What have you done, brother?”

He dropped the body and looked up at Ineru. She was staring at him with eyes that reflected the disbelief that had been in her voice. He looked down at the body when her gaze moved there. He stared at the woman, feeling the full force of what he’d done hit him. He’d killed her.

He could have offered her an afterlife with him, but he’d let her die instead.

Getting to his feet when Ineru approached, he kept his eyes fixed on the body.

He’d vowed not to make someone like him just to get himself someone to love. He hadn’t even wanted to give her a choice. It was better she had a good afterlife than become the living dead.

Taking hold of Ineru’s hand, he led her towards the boat.

She went onboard, leaving him standing on the bank. He stepped onto the boat and pushed off while Ineru raised the sails.

Looking back at the woman he loved, he thought about his future and what she’d said.

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Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

“We shall meet again,” he whispered as she disappeared into the distance, the flickering torch marking her place.

“Even if it is in the afterlife.”

He took control of the boat and Ineru sat down near the bow, hugging her knees to her chest.

He glanced back at the distant bank.

His old life was behind him now. He had to watch out for Ineru and protect her from this world he’d brought her into, all the while trying to deal with it himself. He got the feeling there were still many things they had to learn about the creatures they’d become, but during their journey, they might find the man who had changed him.

It wouldn’t be long until they reached the next town.

Beyond that lay the northern country.

And a new world they could make their own.

Little did I know that it would not be until the age of
Cleopatra that we would leave our beloved homeland
behind and venture forth into a new world, a world
where Rome dominated.

A world where I would finally learn the feared name of
what it was I had become.

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Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

About the Author:

Felicity Heaton, who writes under both her real name and F E

Heaton, has been interested in all things preternatural since she was just a child. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of vampires, werewolves and witches, and used to while away evenings watching movies about them or reading gothic horror stories and romances.

Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her passion back on the paranormal. She loves to write vampires, werewolves and witches, and makes no excuses for how brutal they can be. She writes them as they are: merciless hunters—seductive, sexy and strong. They're vicious, dark and dangerous, but, at the same time, they love, they laugh and they feel every emotion as strongly as anyone. She says that this is their world; she’s just honoured to write down their adventures.

Enjoyed the story? Send her an email:

[email protected]

Visit the series website: www.vampiresrealm.com
Other novels in the Vampires Realm series:

Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1]

A girl unlike any other girl, a vampire unlike any other vampire, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she breaks the rules.

Leaving the family mansion to hunt for the first time, she encounters Valentine, a vampire from her family's enemy and a man who will change her life forever.

Suddenly at the centre of a prophecy, she is kidnapped by Valentine, the man who should have been her executioner, and forced to run with him in order to save herself. Required to work together, the tension between them builds as a dark evil threatens to destroy the world, their families and the Law Keepers attempt hunt them down, and Prophecy discovers that her feelings for Valentine control her new found power.

When the truth about her is revealed, will Prophecy be strong enough? Will they discover a way to save the world from Hell? And 35

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

will they finally see past the hatred bred into them by their families and surrender to their love?

The first of the Vampires Realm novels being written by five star author F E Heaton,
Prophecy: Child of Light
, is part one in an epic tale of love and war that is sure to capture your heart and leave you craving more.

Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea [book 2]

The final battle draws closer. Prophecy's world becomes darker and more dangerous, pushing her to the limit and testing her strength and her heart, almost breaking her. Old friends turn their backs, leaving her to fight with the help of an unlikely ally and forcing her to call on the devastatingly seductive and powerful Lord Hyperion for assistance.

Struggling to rescue Valentine from the malicious hands of her blood brother, Arkalus and the lord of Aurorea, Kalinor, Prophecy discovers just how powerful she is and how far people will go to stop her from fulfilling her destiny. Lives are lost, battles are won, and the scroll foretelling the prophecy is finally completed, but nothing can prepare them for what lies ahead.

When her visions show her the path that must be taken, will Prophecy be able to do what is necessary? Are Prophecy and Valentine ready to command the power they'd never thought would be theirs? And are they strong enough to fight the evil of their true enemy?

Following on from
Prophecy: Child of Light
, the tension rises and love grows in
Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea
, a thrilling second part to this story that draws you into a dark, dangerous world of vampires, magic and the war to end all wars.

Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising [book 3]

An enemy with unimaginable power and bloodlines with centuries of hatred bred into them, two things that threaten to tear Prophecy and Valentine apart as they fight for their lives and their future 36