Eldritch (The Eating Woods, #2)

by Keri Lake

“It is who I am!” he snapped, raking his hand over his head. “You are getting generous glimpses of what lives inside of me. What I have dedicated my existence to never setting free. Years, I’ve had to learn to rein this in, and I’m losing control of it!” “And in spite of what I’ve seen, I still love you.” “If you knew what writhes inside of me. In my head.” He thumped the heel of his hand against his temple. “I would still love you.”

“I’ve grown quite used to seeing corpses, and yours don’t frighten me. I still choose you.” “I give you nothing in return. Nothing but pain and the threat of death. I am suffering in the flesh.” “And I am no stranger to pain, nor the threat of death. What you give me is so much more than that. I love you. And I don’t need you to feel the same.”

“You are my first and only love.”

he stared back at me, brows pulled tight. “I loved you before I even knew your name.” I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Tell me again.” “I love you. I fucking love you.” Again, his lips crashed into mine, and as his body held me pressed into the wall, his hand slipped beneath the hem of my dress to the opened cammyck beneath.

“I’ll go slow, A’miszhla,” he whispered across my lips. “A’miszhla,” I echoed, my accent nowhere near as smooth as his. “What does it mean?” “It’s Primyrian. It means my love.” The words slipped between us, a promise sealed by his kiss, and my stomach fluttered at the endearment.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.” “You couldn’t …” It was in that moment I realized how silly a notion it’d been, to imagine that I was capable of distracting him from decades of abuse and torment. How ridiculous to think that a man who’d suffered unfathomable pain could be healed in one intimate moment.

“My obsession knows no bounds, moon witch. I’d tear apart the heavens and sacrifice my own soul for you.”