Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
YORICK
Past
My fingers are red with blood as I sit on the floor of the cabin.
This one was just a woman who had opened her home to me. A young widow with a family who forbade her to remarry, she lived alone until she snuck me into her life.
And now she lies before me, soon to become a distant memory of a time when I was happy.
Who could have killed her and why? She was such a lovely woman. So sweet. She had nothing to steal, and such a humble home wouldn’t draw the attention of a thief. Why did they take her from me?
People move around me, having been called by my frantic pleas for a doctor… but we all know it’s too late.
I can hear their cruel words, wanting to blame me. Telling me that it’s because I was pulling her away from the path she was set to walk on.
Could it really be my fault? Am I truly cursed to always be alone?
No… not alone.
I have him.
I always have him, no matter how many years pass.
When I find myself in front of Atticus’s manor, I feel numb, so when he stops me at the gate, I just stare at him.
“I told you to never come back,” he barks.
“Morpheus can behead me for all I care; I’m coming inside.”
He freezes and snatches up my hands, examining what’s left of her blood. The village I’d settled in wasn’t too far from him, after all. “Are you hurt?”
“Will you take care of me if I am?”
“I will be digging your grave if you set a foot past that gate,” he snaps. I know he tries to sound rough in the hope it will keep me away, but it hasn’t yet. When will he learn that I’m not going anywhere?
“Then start digging it,” I say, pushing past him.
He stands at that gate for a long time before trailing after me. He follows me to the bathing room and calls some servants to wash me. I notice there aren’t as many servants here as the last time I visited.
Did he dismiss them to protect them? Or are they already dead?
Once I’m clean, I head to the same room I stay in every time I’m here. Even if I’m gone for years, it always remains empty for me. I sink down on the bed and curl up while my sorrow overwhelms me.
There’s a soft knock on the door, and when I don’t answer, Atticus pushes the door open and steps inside.
“What happened?”
“Everyone I love and care for dies,” I whisper. “Every time.”
He stands over me, and I feel his gaze on me for a long moment before he says, “I understand the pain. Sometimes it’s best to just not love anyone at all.”
I glance up at him. “Do you love me?”
“No.”
“So quick to answer. What would you say if I told you that I love you?”
“I love no one. Sleep tonight. Leave tomorrow.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“You’re going to leave through that gate or in a casket. Choose which one,” he snaps before storming out of the room.
I watch him go as my heart pounds wildly in my chest. My emotions are a wreck, but I find so much comfort in him. And it reminds me how much I long for him. How can I be forced to love a man who won’t even look my way? There definitely has to be someone better out there for me…
But I’ll just get them killed as well.
For hours, I lie in my bed before getting up and walking down the long hallway. The manor is large, but his bedroom is only a few doors from mine.
I don’t bother knocking, I simply push the door open and slip inside. He’s lying in bed and I know he already knows I’m here, but he says nothing. I push my shirt up and toss it to the ground before I slide my trousers and undergarments down, stepping out of them.
Still, he’s silent as I yank the blanket back and climb onto the bed, swinging my leg over his waist.
Atticus lifts his hand, and I know it’s to push me off, but I pin it down.
He sleeps naked, something I’d learned when I’d busted into his room on more than one occasion over the years.
I lean forward, rocking my hips so my cock rubs against him while he watches me closely.
We both know he could throw me off with ease if he wanted.
Hell, he could probably throw me through the wall with a flick of his wrist, but instead, he allows this.
I bend down, and when my lips find his, his hand sinks into my hair.
I’m sure it’s to tug me back, but he draws me in until his lips meet mine.
My lips part and his tongue traces over them before dipping into my mouth and tangling with my own.
I free his hand that I’ve pinned down, surprised as it slides down my waist before cupping my ass cheek.
He flips me onto my back, leaning over me while my legs are spread around him. His lips find my neck before he nips the skin with his fangs and I moan, wanting so much more.
His hands explore down my body, stroking and caressing until they reach my dick.
His kisses are fevered, like he’s yearned for this as long as I have.
I want to tell him to fuck me, but I’m afraid words will break the spell.
I’m afraid he’ll draw back, pull away from me.
His hand slides down my cock then drifts past my balls to my hole.
His finger ghosts over it, but it makes me ache for more.
And then he freezes and I can feel his body go rigid.
Atticus grabs my wrist and yanks me off the bed, throwing me toward my clothes.
“Get out!” he barks.
I’m so startled that I stagger and fall to my knees. “W-What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You know what’s wrong. Now get out! Leave! You’re not staying here. I gave you the option to sleep for the night, and you just keep pushing and pushing. Get out!”
“I… no… Atticus—” It’s almost like my heart stops as the euphoria I’d just felt is ripped from me. I want to fight Atticus, but when I catch his eyes, I don’t see a cruel man, I see a terrified one.
He has begged me for years to stay away, and yet I just keep pushing him and pushing him.
Pain lances through me while I gather my clothes and quickly pull them on. I feel like I’m in a haze, like none of this is real.
“Please just let me stay the night?”
“No. Leave. And don’t ever come back. Leave.”
Hands wrap around my body, dragging me back as a chill settles deep inside of me. “Why are you kicking this precious thing out, Atticus? You’re really so cruel,” an icy voice I recognize says.
Fear tears through me and I try to jerk back, but I have nowhere to go.
“He’s so pretty. So very pretty.”
“You can have him,” Atticus says. His voice is cold but I can see the tension in his body. “Why are you here, Morpheus, and why have you broken into my home?”
“It’s simple, really. I have a job for you. Come, Yorick. You can keep me company,” Morpheus offers as he finishes dressing me like I’m a doll for him to play with.
He drags me down to the kitchen and finds some food before leading me over to a chair.
He pulls me onto his lap and I discover that I have no strength to pull away.
He truly could kill me so easily. My heart is pounding wildly in my chest. I feel like I can’t breathe, like he’s suffocating me, and wherever his hands rest, it feels like acid eating into my skin.
I want to push him off. I want Atticus to come save me, but I know that if he even acts like he’s concerned about me, Morpheus will kill me.
He’s feeding me fruit when Atticus comes down. And while I know he can’t do anything to protect me, just seeing him there fills me with relief.
“I told him to leave. Why is he still here?” Atticus asks, sounding casual.
“You’re always so fussy, Atticus. At least let him eat before we send him on his way,” Morpheus chides as he kisses my cheek.
I’m terrified, but Atticus merely agrees to everything Morpheus says like he doesn’t care about me enough to do anything else.
Morpheus tugs at my hair that’s fallen messily into my face.
“Well, I’m tired. I’ll sleep here. It is getting sunny out, after all,” he says as he drops me onto the chair and heads for the stairs.
“Yorick, I sure hope you’re here when I wake up.
If you’d like some company, my door is always open.
” He gives us a smug look before walking off.
I’m shaking when Atticus steps in front of me.
He doesn’t touch me, but just having him standing there washes away the panic and terror I’d felt while held in Morpheus’s hands.
All Atticus has done for years is try to keep me safe from that horrible man who haunts him.
And I wanted to act so fearless, like I thought I was untouchable.
But it’s apparent that I’m not. Tonight was a warning.
It was Morpheus telling Atticus that he can do absolutely nothing to save me.
Atticus gazes at me silently while the minutes stretch on before I nod and stand up. “I’m leaving.”
He watches me go, and just as I reach the door, he finally speaks. “Don’t come back.”
I nod, upset that those are his final words to me, but I know that he wants to make sure I never do. He wants to act cruel toward me, even though he’s my rock. He’s the one I’ve always wanted.
I pass through that door and out into the sunlight where he can’t follow.
I don’t even make it two days before Morpheus finds me.
I’m sitting in a tavern looking down at the bag of coins and gems I’d found in my pack.
I guess Atticus thought that I couldn’t leave the place without taking something and had slipped them inside—this probably was the first time I’d left without stealing anything.
The arm that wraps around me causes chills to race through me.
“I thought I told you to stay,” Morpheus says.
“I can only handle so many days of Atticus. He’s the grumpiest man I’ve ever met.
Really gets the mood down. I just stop by whenever I’m in need of a bit of money, you know?
” I jingle the bag before slipping it back into the pouch at my waist. There’s no one near me to see what I’m doing with it besides Morpheus.