Eternal Ever After Read Online Free PDF Page A

questions and I didn’t know what to ask first. He ended the call and we stared at one another. Steadying my breathing to keep from prattling off the string of questions that had been forming in my head, I focused instead on just one.
    “You were influencing me before, weren’t you?”
    Arie smiled. “Only a little.”
    “Are you going to feed from me?” Like you did to the redhead in my vision?
    “No.”
    “Then what do you want from me?”
    “I want to know more about you, Holly.”
    “Why?”
    Arie’s eyes darkened. “Because you remind me of someone I used to know.”
    I wanted to ask him who, but I thought better of it when I saw the same pained look on his face that I’d seen when he rejected me outside the Coffee Grind. Instead I thought it would be better to change the subject. Something normal. Something mundane. “Would you like some more coffee?”
    Arie smiled, handing me his empty mug. I retreated to pour him another cup and gather my thoughts, but he followed me into the kitchen. He watched me pour him another mug. He had that look again—like half of him wanted me but couldn’t figure out if it was a good idea. And now I could understand how maybe it wasn’t. My fingers brushed his as I handed him the steaming cup, sending delicious heat down to my stomach. There it was. The undeniable desire filled the air between us, but now I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, with the revelation that he was a vampire.
    “Arie, I—”
    I didn’t have time to figure it out. He put his mug down on the table behind him and pushed me against the counter. Yes. I wanted to soak up all his pain, whatever haunted him, with every part of me that ached to be filled. He kissed me—a hungry, desperate kiss—as I wrapped my arms around his neck and curled my fingers in his hair. My pulse accelerated and then his hands were drifting under the edge of my shirt, under my bra, plucking so that my nipple tightened in response. I nipped at his lower lip and he groaned. I had no idea how long we stood there kissing each other as if there were no tomorrow, with his hands exploring my curves.
    And then there was a knock at the door.
    “I better go answer that,” I said breathlessly.
    He groaned again as I went to get the door. Paying the delivery guy for our pizza, I thanked him before taking the warm box. I set it on the coffee table and turned to Arie, who had followed me into the living room.
    “Holly, has your last name always been Ellis? Have you ever been married?”
    “Yes. I mean no. Why do you ask?”
    “Because I’m curious.”
    It felt like there was more to it than curiosity but I didn’t think I’d get a straight answer out of him. “No, I’ve never been married, but my last name wasn’t always Ellis.”
    “I’m just going to grab us some paper plates,” I said as I left Arie.
    Dinner with a vampire. I could only wonder what would be for dessert.
     
    CHAPTER 3
     
    Stretched on my back under a towering birch, I soaked in the sunlight. The feel of the whispering breath of the breeze that billowed through the branches felt delightful on my skin. My curves were caught in the sunbeams that filtered through the canopy of leaves high above. The sun left trails of light that danced across my naked body. In the stillness I felt alone in the forest glade.
    A beautiful figure draped in white and surrounded by light appeared from deep within the forest. She walked slowly and deliberately toward me—our eyes met, each entranced by the other. Then she smiled, radiating a sacredness and serenity that seemed to make the earth vibrate with a primal force that felt like a hum.
    The woman continued to walk past me to the tree. She closed her eyes, placing her palm on the white bark. I sat watching the woman like I had been placed under an enchantment. The vibrating hum intensified before tapering off as the woman opened her eyes. She walked to me and traced her finger down my forehead. Turning back to the tree