Eternal Moon

Chapter 23: Falling Down

Jamie watched the mist roll off of the forest hills, gilded by the sunrise. The sky was a patchwork of large white clouds and light blue and a crisp breeze wafted through the calm trees. They stirred gently, allowing the breeze to pass through them without much fanfare. Birds greeted the sunrise and their songs joined with the wind that swept the land.

Wrapped in a fur-lined blanket, Jamie stood on the dewy grass. Although she and Kane had stayed up relatively late, she'd awoken early. They'd slept wrapped in each other's arms and it had been the best night's sleep she had had in over a decade. When the first rays of early light hit the room, she turned and saw his beautiful face behind her. He was so peaceful that she couldn't wake him. Instead, she tiptoed out of the bedroom and outside.

Catrina and Effie were already up from the sound of pots and pans banging around in the kitchen and the smell of coffee. But the rest of the castle was quiet, devoid of any breath as her bare feet walked across the carpeted runners of the halls.

Her chest was heavy. She could feel it like a weight on top of her. Grabbing her attention. Amidst the peace of the early morning, it demanded that she listen, impossible to ignore.

She was falling for Kane.

Just the thought was almost too much. Yet even voicing it to herself relieved some of the enormous pressure that threatened to drown her. You're falling for him, it whispered. You don't want to go back. You want to stay and be with him.

It was so foolish. The beauty surrounding her was tempting but couldn't hide the fact that she was in a cursed place, somewhere too far removed from reality. How could she ever stay here and maintain any of her relationships? Gealach Lán didn't exist in the outside world. There was no bringing the family to come to visit and meet Kane. What currently felt like a vacation from reality would soon turn into isolation, and eventually, Jamie knew she would start to resent the man she currently wanted.

God, she wanted him so bad though. It had taken every ounce of strength not to give in and have sex with him last night. Especially after the way he had looked at her.

Did he feel the same way? She thought so, and it had called to her, seducing her to just surrender fully. It would feel so good, she knew. Her mouth had practically watered as she watched him erupt from her touch, both in her hand and her mouth. The sound of his deep guttural groans and the feel of his muscled chest heaving in her hands... If the foreplay was this good, the sex would be cataclysmic.

More reason not to do it...

Jamie had never been promiscuous but she hadn't been a nun either. One mistaken hook-up had been all she needed to stay discriminating - a TA for her sophomore-year colonial history class. Whereas Kane could be taciturn and brooding, her Francophile TA had been charming and sophisticated. He knew wine and read Foucault for fun. All it had taken was a few late-night conversations about philosophy and the French Revolution for Jamie to fall for his game and jump into bed with him. A bed that several of her peers had jumped into as well, it turned out.

The humiliation had been enough to put Jamie off of seduction ploys. Her own professor had known about his TA's proclivities, making the humiliation that much worse. She still shuddered in embarrassment at the memory.

One and done, Jamie had decided after that. She had made out with a few guys at the bar, but she would never have sex again until she knew she was in an exclusive relationship. Then she met her ex and it worked out for a few years. He had been a nice guy, if not a little boring.

Definitely nothing like Laird Kane Murdock.

When she went back to the bedroom, Kane was still asleep. Silently, she quickly got dressed. Then after a visit downstairs to Catrina and Effie, she left the castle and headed towards the center of the village.