Stalked by Seduction and Shadows (Eternal Obsession, #1)

by Maggie Sunseri

“There are many people in this world who would love nothing more than to clip your wings. Stop doing it for them. Soar instead.”

The human side of me knew that Scarlett was mine, and he wanted to claim her in this life and every one of her lives after, for all of eternity.

My dagger was strapped to my leg under my bulky black sweater dress. I would unfortunately need to drop my ice cream to reach it, which had me considerably annoyed.

Me lol

“Don’t you dare give up, Little Flame. Or I swear I will fight Helia herself to drag you right back down here to live in hell with me.”

Because when I thought she’d died in my arms, I felt my soul reach for hers, and I swore to the gods that hers had reached right back.

But Little Flame had always been a fucking fighter. Given the choice between life and death, my Scarlett fought for life every damn time, no matter how hard she’d been knocked on her ass.

Her attention and trust were the light of the sun, and I couldn’t help but scramble toward it.

Her faith in me was miraculous, and I cherished it more than anything else before her.

When she lifted her gaze, her blue eyes stunned me for a moment, as they often did. In them I saw oceans, multitudes, and the fire that refused to die.

“You are here, in this room, with me. And there’s no safer place in this world for you.”

“There is no competition in trauma. None of it is ever better or worse than any other. Trauma is not what happens to you. It’s what happens inside of you as a result of what happens to you.”

Rune may have insisted I wear another dress that was somehow tailored to my exact measurements. No, not somehow. It was my size because he was an unhinged stalker who’d rummaged through my wardrobe.

Hehehehe

I cursed my mortality just as much as I thanked Helia for my humanity, one impossible without the other. It was only because it was all fleeting that these moments meant so much to me. It was only because of my humanity that I could feel all of this so deeply, so viscerally.

She rose and fell like ocean waves. Powerful, sublime, impossible to capture through language. If she were a siren, I’d be her helpless sailor already dead and sinking to the bottom of the sea.

“I told you that I’d bring your every dream to fruition. In your eyes, I see galaxies and oceans, and a deep darkness too. You should always be surrounded by the rawness of life. The lofty beauty and the harsh bite of pain. I want you to experience it all.”

“Do you think everyone wears a mask with their family?”

“I cannot fathom not wanting to see you, all of you. Your voice is my new favorite sound.”

“Obey me, and I’ll let you come on my tongue while we listen to music,”

This has to be because im ovulating

“I love that about you, Scarlett. Let them watch. Let them crave. It is my greatest pleasure knowing how ravenously my Little Flame is desired by all, while I’m the only one who holds the keys to her heart and her maddeningly perfect body.”

“I love it when you fucking tremble. You should always tremble with fear and respect when you’re on your knees before your God.”

I tried to remember my own power in the face of his, but it was a losing battle. The twisted parts of me loved the helplessness, the submission. While every other man was a slave to his desire for me, it was the thrill of being in service to Rune’s perfect control that had me unraveling.

“You did so well for me. I cherish your trust and obedience, Scarlett. I adore it, just as much as I adore all the rest of you.”

First, I never want to hear you say you’re not good enough ever again. It’s insulting to my impeccable taste,”

Lol

I wanted to believe that every word he said was straight from his soul—the soul he didn’t believe he had anymore yet I felt flirting with mine so shamelessly.

I was falling, hard and fast, and just like singing, it felt like soaring.

“I won’t ever be angry. I won’t ever blame you for anything that happens because of your relationship with him. I want you to know that you can trust me, because the worst thing for you now would be isolation. Let me be there for you, okay? I worry for you out of love, never anger.”

“No. We’re not allowed to feel anything but powerful looking this fucking sexy. It’s a rule.”

Slay

I did enjoy what I did to him. I loved when Rune unraveled, when I coaxed out parts of himself he’d hidden away—parts he thought he’d lost forever. I loved when I tested his perfect control, when his desire flooded through me in waves of shadowy darkness. He was a fixture of the divine dark masculine, a powerful force of destruction that rivaled hurricanes, volcanic explosions, and earthquakes that split the world wide open.

“You deserve so much more than what life has handed you, Scarlett. Don’t accept the half-love that you’ve grown accustomed to. Only accept the full, staggering devotion that you deserve. It’s what we all deserve. To feel wholeheartedly chosen, desired, secure, and nurtured. Anything less is theft.”

But it turned out that I enjoyed doing things that scared me. Things that hurt. Uncomfortable, humiliating, sinful things.

“I told you I would require all of you, even and especially the pieces of yourself you’ve learned to bury. Fall and I will catch you.”

“I want you to taste a kind of freedom you’ve never thought possible. Freedom from all of your fears, your wounds, your unmet needs and desires. I’ve always told you that you deserve nothing less than it all.” I

In Crescent Haven, I’d been different in a way that made me close myself up and go inward, make myself smaller. In Odessa, my uniqueness felt like a secret power, an asset, a weapon. I was not helpless. I was not powerless. I was the game master, not a pawn on someone else’s board.

Rune loved the parts of me I’d hated for so long. If he was only vulnerably human with me, then I was only unapologetically wicked for him.

“I knew you would, pet. You love to be reminded that you will never be able to escape me, that I’m always watching you. That your every breath belongs to me, your every ounce of pleasure mine to allow.”

What. The. Fucketh

I cared for Scarlett tenderly, devotedly. She was now my most prized possession—my partner and my soul—the woman I wanted at my side when war finally washed up on Valentin’s gods-blessed shores.

As he’d said, it was only because of my magick that he’d taken such an interest in me to begin with.

I’m not crying ur crying 😭

Even then, being used was different from being loved or even liked. I knew that well.

“Anything you need. I just want you to eat. You still deserve to be here with us, alive and happy and loved. So much has changed, but your worth has not. You mean something to people, and you add something remarkable to this world.”

“There is no deserve when it comes to love. There are no conditions or stipulations. You just love.”

All my life, love was something I reached for. It was a scarcity, an unknown. Sometimes it was there, and other times it wasn’t. Sometimes it felt in my control—like if I behaved a certain way, it would be given. Other times it was unpredictable, doled out in a system of intermittent reinforcement.

“What you do is intense. It’s a magick that cuts to the very core of us. Desire is the key to our survival. Without desire for food and water, we perish. Without desire for companionship, we grow isolated and our souls and minds decay. Desire is amoral. It’s the trajectory of our intentions and actions that determine our goodness.”

If our love was a lie, why then did I still feel it buried deep, spilling out of me like a gaping wound?

“I want to turn it off. I want to cut it out of me,” I pleaded. “Please cut it all out of me.”

“This wasn’t the outcome I’d hoped for. You give all of yourself to the clan. To Aristelle and Valentin, too. We wanted to protect you, but I personally wanted you to have this. To have her. I saw a fire in you I haven’t seen in decades, and it brought me no pleasure to watch those flames die out.”

I had nothing to give him. All I had was this love bleeding out of me uncontrollably.

I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe in me and Scarlett and love written in the stars.

Scarlett, my frightened and heartbroken Little Flame who believed I had forsaken her, was now inside Durian’s palace.

Fckkkkkk

You are the only thing that feels different in a world that never changes.