Prologue
I couldn't bring myself to look at her after her pleas. "Marcus, please. Just listen to me. I didn't mean it. I promise. I didn't even know what was happening. Marcus, dear…listen to me. Please!" Her voice broke. It was so beautiful I couldn't help but feel angrier.
"Marcus, she's a temptress. She isn't in love with you. As soon as someone else comes along she'll go off with them, and then beg your forgiveness. Marcus, don't fall for her, the only love she'll give you is from a heart of stone. I beg of you. See reason," was Aro's advice a month earlier. It appears he was right.
Her sweet scent traveled through my senses as she weaseled herself between me and the book I was pretending to study. "Marcus, I love you. I'm sorry. I wasn't…he just…I.." I couldn't help but watch her struggle with the right way to break it to me that she had been cheating on me ever since Carlisle Cullen had arrived in Volterra.
Temptress, Marcus. She's a temptress…
"Leave me be, Esme," I said turning to leave the room.
"Marcus! No!" She cried grabbing my arm. I looked back at her, her deep red eyes. They really were just as beautiful as they were when she first opened them. I gently rested my papery hand on her smooth cheek. Her lovely eyes shut as she rested her face against it. I watched her rose colored lips part as she took in a deep sorrowful breath which caused her chest to shudder with sobs. Her voice was soft, yet broken as she whispered to me, "Marcus, I love you too. I just…I don't know who I love more."
Even I knew she was telling the truth. The one small blessing I still had due to my gift. Otherwise all this "gift" had done was increasing my pain. "I don't know what to do, Esme. Your bond with Carlisle had increased way beyond what I thought it ever would. Beyond what you had with me…"
"Marcus, that's not true!" She sobbed, but I knew she felt the same way. Her eyes poured with a sadness I wished I could wipe away as she turned around and flipped over the old wooden table in anguish collapsing to the ground in heart-wrenching sobs. "I wish…..I wish I'd…never...never met him!" She choked out between her sobs. I looked away keeping my own sorrowful cries at bay. There was no recovery. She would be heartbroken no matter who she chose. I knew that much of her.
But, I couldn't live without her. There was no way I would be able to find the strength to continue without her pure heart by my side, showing me the right path to go. Gently I knelt beside her and rubbed her back as she shook. It broke my heart to watch hers shatter in my grasp. "I 'm so sorry, Esme...I'm so sorry," I begged her forgiveness as kissed her head. She looked up at me. Her eyes enchanting me once again, her soul looking at me though it's beautiful cage.
"I'm sorry too…" she whispered before gently pressing her lips to mine.
Temptress, Marcus. She's a temptress.
Author's Note: Special thanks to CaramellaSwirl for sending me this story idea. :)