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  ETERNALLY BOUND

  By

  T.A. DeMellet

  Copyright© 2016 by T.A. DeMellet

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Published in the United States of America.

  ISBN 9781521782705

  Published by Kindle Book Publishing

  www.tademellet.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental.

  CHAPTER 1

  MADELYN

  I wandered. Not the aimless wandering one does when they are lost. It was the wandering a person does subconsciously, as if they are not wholly in this world. As if one’s mind has separated from its body, transforming into something else entirely. I wandered knowing my being, my soul, was searching for someone… searching for him. It was always that way in this place. I was always looking for him. I could sense that I was getting closer to reaching my goal. His energy was everywhere, surrounding me. I could feel the vibrations of this in-between place drawing us closer to one another. And yet, my soul wandered…

  It was either the fabrications of my own mind or the ones of this dream realm that brought me to a beautiful wooded park. Lush greenery and blossoming flowers covered the ground; the faint scent of jasmine lingered pleasantly in the air. I came upon a clearing and noticed an old park bench and without hesitation decided to sit and look out onto a lovely, shimmering pond in the distance. It was such a peaceful moment that I closed my eyes and smiled, enjoying the earthy smell of the forest around me and the sunlight’s warmth upon my skin. I kept smiling because I sensed his approach. He was somewhere close, but I remained where I sat, with my eyes shut, anticipating his arrival. Electricity was coursing through the air, lifting the little hairs on my arms and making me shiver. Suddenly, two large, warm hands covered my already closed eyes.

  “It’s me,” he said. His voice was deep and sultry.

  “I know. It’s always you,” I responded.

  He took his hands away from my eyes and lightly ran his finger against my cheek; his touch leaving a tingling trail upon my skin. I opened my eyes to see his familiar face inches from my own. His beauty was too much. His hazel eyes locked onto mine, his gaze telling me he saw in me everything he ever wanted. He smiled, and it was so stunning it caused a pang deep in the pit of my stomach. I tried to keep him there, to stay with him, but I could feel myself being pulled away. It was always this way. The wandering, the anticipation, then when we finally find one another, it all breaks apart. His image began shifting, becoming more blurred and unfocused with each passing second. I desperately began replaying bits and pieces of his face over and over in my mind, trying to memorize every detail, but I could feel myself slipping away…

  I was waking up.

  I lay in bed savoring the delicious dream-like state I was in, trying to delay the inevitable time when reality would finally hit me. I smiled to myself, feeling a sense of peace at finding him for the briefest of moments. These dreams were becoming increasingly vivid, and they were occurring with more frequency. They began like most dreams do, where one knows they are dreaming and upon waking, most of the minute details are lost. But lately, I felt as though my body was actually being transported to the places that I was dreaming of. The dreams felt so real, and now there was this constant, unrelenting urge to search and find him. I could still feel his breath on the back of my neck and the phantom tingle of his touch lingered on my cheek. But now that my mind had finally registered I was awake, I felt so foolish. It was embarrassing really, having dreams about a person that I know I have no chance of ever meeting.

  I know who he is of course…

  Everyone does.

  CHAPTER 2

  DAMIEN

  It was Monday. Monday morning at that. Not the easiest day, or time of day for anyone. I fiddled with the tasseled ends of the overly-stuffed pillows covering the monstrosity of a leather couch in the most stereotypical executive’s office ever. Who the heck needs this many pillows on a couch? It’s unnecessary, and frankly, uncomfortable. I piled all the pillows onto one side of the couch, then laid back and rested my feet on them. That was better. I tried desperately to stifle a yawn, but failed. My agent, Nick (whose office I was now comfortably lounging in), was going on and on about something, but I couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying. I hadn’t been sleeping well lately because of these strange dreams that had started to plague me night after night.

  “Are you listening, Damien? Dude, are you sleeping? Get your feet off my pillows, man!” Nick was beginning to lose his patience with me.

  “I’m listening,” I said sitting back up and obediently placing all the pillows back as they were.

  “Sorry Nick, my mind wandered. What was the last thing you said?”

  “Really? At what point did you stop hearing me? Damien, this is important. I need you firing on all cylinders today,” Nick said angrily as he ran his fingers through his dark, perfectly coiffed hair in frustration.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to zone out. I’m just exhausted. I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” I said, yawning again.

  “Why the hell not? Are you staying out late?” He asked accusingly.

  “No, it’s not that. I’ve been having these bizarre dreams recently and for some reason this woman I’ve never seen before keeps popping up every time,” I explained. I wasn’t sure how much to tell Nick. He and I were close in the sense that we’ve spoken almost every day for the last three years, but Nick was all business. I decided to take a chance and open up to him about something other than work and continued telling him about the dreams.

  “I have no idea who she is, and I keep racking my brain trying to figure out where I’ve seen her or if we’ve ever met. It’s always the same girl, even though the dreams and their settings vary. But the girl… she’s always there. Or rather, we always find each other. Isn’t that strange?”

  “Well Damien, you do meet a lot of people. Think about all the different events and parties you’ve been to these last few years. I’m sure this is probably some girl you’ve met in the past, and by coincidence, she just keeps ‘popping up’, as you say,” Nick said dismissively, shuffling through the stack of papers on his desk.

  “Okay, but night after night? And always the same girl but in different scenarios? I would totally agree with you Nick, except for that it’s been three or four weeks of this. I’m not complaining, I mean the dreams are… nice,” I hesitated, not sure how to explain the nature of these dreams. I often awoke feeling sublimely happy at finding her again and, well, aroused. “I don’t mind the dreams, it’s just I find it odd that I only dream of this one girl,” I said, slightly annoyed with Nick for not understanding the frustration this was causing me. There was something abnormal going on, and as much as I wanted to figure it out, I realized this wasn’t the right time. And Nick was probably not the right person. He and I were getting ready to leave for an interview, so I dropped the subject of my strange dreams.

  Nick urged me (or rather, forced me) to accept this interview in hopes that it would give me a chance to clear up some of the rumors circulating about me on all the tabloids. I told him I didn’t care what people thought, but being like most agents, Nick’s focus was on keeping my image in pristine condition. The rumor going around about me cheating on my girlfriend with another woman was definitely causing me unneeded stress. She was a co-worker and the only thing we did was have lunch together, but of course, the paparazzi only see what they want to see. I told Nick I wasn’t conce
rned about what was being printed, but he insisted we needed to focus on clearing up the rumors.

  Lately, all I was concerned with was this woman who visited my dreams every night. Maybe the sleep deprivation was making me crazy. And Nick was probably right - I’m sure I must have met her somewhere…

  ***

  Nick and I had barely exited the building before he started congratulating me. “Everything went perfectly, man. I am so proud of the way you handled yourself in there,” he said, reaching up on his toes to put his arm around my shoulder. Nick stood a good head shorter than me. “You pulled it off, Damien. That’s why you are who you are. If anything, I think that once this interview airs, your popularity will sky rocket even more.” We walked toward the waiting Lincoln Town Car parked in front of the building. Nick’s driver was already out, holding the door open for us.

  “Yeah, I’m stoked too,” I said, trying to match his excitement. The whole ride back to my house, Nick went on and on about how positive he was that everything revolving around the “incident” as he called it, would finally be behind us.

  The car drove through the gate, stopping right in front of my house and I opened the door before Nick’s driver could even get to me. I waved him off, letting him know I could manage. I closed the door as Nick rolled down the window and called out: “I’ll touch base with you in the morning. We need to discuss next week’s schedule.”

  “Sure, sounds great,” I answered, though my heart wasn’t really in it. I was eager to get inside and finally be alone. That’s one of the things that sucks about being in the public eye; you barely have any time to yourself.

  “Hey, you’re the one that says you don’t need another assistant,” Nick casually reminded me.

  “Yeah, yeah,” I laughed. I loved my career and knew I was lucky to be so successful, but I couldn’t quite get used to the idea of having a group of people wait on me all the time. It just didn’t seem natural to have an entourage following me everywhere I went. It was hard enough to steal a few moments to myself.

  I walked into the house and shut the massive Indian teak door behind me, breathing a sigh of relief. All I wanted was to sit and relax a bit before I had to leave to meet Ava for lunch. My head was pounding and the sound of my footsteps reverberated loudly in my head with each thud against the wooden floor. My thoughts drifted to the day I first met Ava two years ago. We had an instant connection upon meeting. She was fun and carefree, and things between us were effortless and natural. However, when the rumors began circulating about the two of us being a couple, Nick capitalized on it and pushed us further together, as any agent worth their salt would. It worked of course, and now we were considered the ultimate power couple. The problem now is that Ava is constantly dropping hints about how she’s ready to take our relationship to the next level. She’s definitely not as ready as she thinks she is for that kind of commitment, and frankly, I was tired of that being the topic of every conversation over the last three months.

  I grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and twisted off the cap. I took a long, gratifying swig, enjoying the bubbly feeling in my throat. I stood against the kitchen island, contemplating how much my attitude had been changing over the past few weeks. I ran my finger along the silvery veins running through the marble countertop, hoping they would lead me to an answer.

  I finished my drink and headed for the leather arm chair in the living room, hoping to unwind, but instead, I ended up reading and answering emails on my phone. I finally forced myself to put the damn thing down and closed my eyes for a moment, rubbing my temples in an attempt to quiet the anxiety within…

  She was all around me; her scent, her voice, the deep emerald of her eyes. I couldn’t quite make out my surroundings, but my body could sense her. It was dim and warm, and I could feel something smooth and velvety beneath my feet, which reminded me of how seductive and velvety her voice was on the occasions she and I spoke in this place. The air was filled with her scent, that of cinnamon and something else tangled with citrus blossoms, but it was her scent, that much I was sure of. The longer I inhaled the sweet smell, the clearer my surroundings became.

  As my eyes adjusted, I noticed colorful pillows were strewn about the floor, all of them in sumptuous, jewel-toned fabrics. The floor itself was covered in a dark green velvet, and the walls appeared to be draped in silks of various colors. Small sconces were hung between the panels, each of them with a burning candle, lending a small amount of light to the otherwise dark room. A little table in the far corner had a pillar of incense burning, filling the space with its sweet perfume. It was a place I could envision a sultan spending his time in, surrounded by his many concubines.

  I scanned the room now, looking for her. She had never taken this long to appear before. I realized something about this place was different and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this time I wasn’t actually dreaming. I was some place else… some place in between.

  I looked down into the sea of pillows, and there she was, lying upon them; her eyes closed and a hint of a smile playing on her lips - like she had a secret she couldn’t wait to divulge. I carefully walked over to her, not sure how best to navigate through all the pillows and fabrics. I bent down near her head, slowly brushing her dark hair away from her face, my fingertips grazing the edge of her jaw. She let a soft moan escape before the playful smile returned. I bent down closer intending to kiss her. I wanted to taste whatever secret she was keeping. As soon as my lips brushed against hers, her eyes burst open in surprise. She quickly scrambled to her feet, swaying unsteadily on all the pillows beneath her. I reached out to steady her, gently placing my hands on her waist. A dizzying array of emotions played across her face. Her surprise and confusion was quickly replaced with recognition of where she was and who she was with.

  “Oh!” she gasped. “Was I asleep? How long have we been here?” she asked, sounding far off and disoriented.

  “Not long,” I answered. “I’ve only just arrived myself, and noticed you here, sleeping.”

  “But that’s never happened before…” she whispered.

  Suddenly, a sharp ringing sounded all around us. She and I looked at one another, holding each other’s gaze for as long as possible. The heavy silk curtains which draped the walls shred to pieces with every ring. Her form began to fade and quiver, then everything before me shattered like broken glass…

  The ringing was coming from my cell phone, which had fallen off the arm of the chair and was now vibrating noisily against the floorboards. I quickly retrieved it and answered:

  “Hello,” I said, clearing my throat.

  “Where are you, Damien?” Ava screamed. “I’ve been at the restaurant waiting for more than twenty minutes now!”

  “Oh man, I’m sorry Ava. I sat down for a minute and must have dozed off. I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I explained as I grabbed my keys and hurried toward the garage.

  “Fine. I guess I’ll wait. Just hurry up,” she said angrily.

  “Relax, Ava. Order yourself another martini,” I said, knowing she typically ordered one at lunch and had probably finished it by now. “I’ll get there as fast as I can,” I added loudly over the sound of the engine starting up. Satisfied that I was already in my car, she changed her tune.

  “Okay, babe. I’ll see you soon. Drive safe,” she said before hanging up.

  I threw the phone onto the passenger seat as I pulled out of the garage, the images of my dream replaying over and over in my head. I couldn’t shake this gnawing feeling that this experience had not been a dream at all, but a memory of some sort. A visit to some place in between.

  As I drove, all I could think of was the nameless beauty that now starred in my dreams night after night. A sudden wave of guilt washed over me. Here I was, about to meet my girlfriend for lunch, and my mind was filled with images of another woman. Wispy, unfocused images of the most beautiful face I had ever seen.

  CHAPTER 3

  MADELYN

  I stayed
in bed much longer than usual, relishing the fact that I didn’t have anywhere to be this morning. It was my hard-earned day off, but being the morning person that I am, I couldn’t lay idly much longer. I sat up and neatly folded down my colorful paisley-patterned duvet as I climbed out of bed, trying desperately to get the images of another strange, yet titillating dream out of my mind. I decided a shower would help. I took short quick steps across the cold bathroom tiles and jumped into the shower, turning the water on as hot as I could stand. Although Florida winters were mild by comparison, for someone who had grown up here, a cold-front boasting a fifty degree morning was enough to have me covered in goosebumps. I let the hot water run down my back and neck, trying to concentrate on the day ahead, but the only thing I could think of was the all-too-real feeling of Damien’s breath against my skin. Why were these dreams so vivid, so sensory? I always awoke unsettled and somewhat disoriented by how life-like they were.

  I pushed the dream from my mind as best I could and showered quickly, eager to get on with my day. It was Monday, but since I worked practically seven days a week, my boss forced me to take a day off. I was meeting my best friend Emily for a day of shopping, and then we were going out for Happy Hour. It was a much needed get-together for the two of us. Both of us have been so busy with work, that we’ve barely had any time to spend together.

  I first met Emily in high school, where we ended up sitting next to each other in a sophomore chemistry class - both of us hopelessly lost. She had the brilliant idea of becoming study partners in hopes of bringing our grades up. Our study sessions did absolutely nothing to help our grades, but we were practically inseparable from that time on. We shared a mutual love for all things artistic (although Emily was more of the messy, always covered in paint type of artist, and my talents were more along the lines of graphic and architectural design).