Haunted Nights ✅ Completed

Chapter Nineteen: True Love in the French Quarter

True Love in the French Quarter

The door opened and Maya stepped inside. She was immediately pulled into a kiss that turned her insides into molten fire. Forgetting Des and everything he’d said to her for the moment, Maya lost herself in the deliciousness of Daniel’s embrace. When he was done conquering her mouth he moved to plant kisses along her jaw and down her neck, biting and kissing in equal parts, pressing her closer to his chest. He seemed intent on branding himself onto her very skin, marking every inch of her until there was no doubt she belonged to him.

Daniel had sensed Maya the second she’d stepped inside the building. He’d wanted to rip the door off the bloody hinges to get to her, but he couldn’t. According to Des, if he wanted to be with Maya he had to wait for her to step inside the room. It was a leap of faith only she could make. His decision to put her life above his own long-sought after freedom was his sacrifice and his bond.

It was now Maya’s turn.

Would she walk away from her old life and everything she knew in order to be with him? Could she love everything he was: the beast and the man?

As she ran towards his door the beast fought to break free. It wanted to possess and claim. The man wanted her love and devotion. The heady mix set his dual soul ablaze, a sensation that was consuming as it was painful. His skin felt like it would split open as Daniel waited for Maya to open the door and step inside. When she crossed the doorway, he’d pounced, swearing to himself that he would never again let her go.

Maya was his to love for as long as he lived.  

Daniel kissed her lips hard once more before grabbing Maya by her arms and pulling her away. He searched her face to make sure she was truly unharmed. While he’d been healing, Des had assured him she was fine but he needed to know it for himself.

“Did Isadora hurt you?” he asked a little winded.  

“What?” Maya breathed. It was a little hard to think beyond the overpowering need she had to bond with him. Des told her she’d feel the pull on her soul once she was in the same room with him, but she hadn’t really known what to expect. It was not a feeling she could easily describe – it was as if there was a deep, elemental need for Daniel inside her very core. It felt like she was holding her breath underwater and desperately needed air, only more intense. 

She’d had a moment of doubt as she stepped off the elevator, which had only ratcheted up her stress level. What if it was all just some kind of cruel joke, or worse? She’d stepped inside the room praying she wasn’t having a mental break. The moment he touched her, Maya knew Daniel was really there, alive and waiting in such perfect flesh and blood she could’ve passed out from sheer happiness.

“Isadora…did she hurt you?” he repeated, searching her eyes. She was his soulmate, he would know if she lied to him.

“Not as much as you dying did,” she replied truthfully. “Or almost dying…whatever.”   

Daniel’s black eyes gleamed with a dangerous intensity, “I am never leaving you, Maya. You are mine. Now and forever. I swear it on my soul.”

At his words something inside of Maya expanded and welcomed him into her heart. When she spoke it came out a little breathless. “I love you Daniel.” She felt something inside her settle into place – something long lost and now found.

“And I love you, chère,” he smiled feeling Maya’s bond inside his beast’s soul. The man and the beast had never known such joy. “And tomorrow I will make you my wife,” he announced with finality.