Blue Moon by Alyson Noël Read Free Book Online Page B

dying nor reincarnating—holds the key.
    â€œWhat’re you thinking?” he asks, his fingers smoothing the curve of my cheek, leaving a trail of warmth in their path.
    I take a deep breath, knowing how committed he is to staying in the present, but determined to know more of my history—
our
history. “I was thinking about when we first met,” I say, watching his brow lift as he shakes his head.
    â€œWere you? And what exactly do you remember from that time?”
    â€œNothing.” I shrug. “Absolutely nothing. Which is why I’m hoping you’ll fill me in. You don’t have to tell me everything—I mean, I know how you hate looking back. I’m just really curious about how it all started—how we first met.”
    He pulls away and rolls onto his back, his body still, his lips unmoving, and I fear this is the only response that I’ll get.
    â€œPlease?” I murmur, inching toward him and curling my body around his. “It’s not fair that you get all the details while I’m left outhere in the dark. Just give me something to go on. Where did we live? What did I look like? How did we meet? Was it love at first sight?”
    He shifts ever so slightly, then rolls onto his side, burying his hand in my hair as he says, “It was France, 1608.”
    I gulp, taking a quick intake of breath as I wait to hear more.
    â€œParis, actually.”
    Paris!
I immediately picture elaborate gowns, stolen kisses on the Pont Neuf, gossiping with Marie Antoinette . . .
    â€œI attended a dinner at a friend’s house—” He pauses, his gaze moving past mine, centuries away now. “And you were working as a servant.”
    A servant?
    â€œOne of their servants. They were very wealthy. They had many.”
    I lie there, stunned. This is
not
what I expected.
    â€œYou weren’t like the others,” he says, his voice lowered to almost a whisper. “You were beautiful. Extraordinarily beautiful. You looked a lot like you do now.” He smiles, gathering a chunk of my hair and rubbing it between his two fingers. “And also like now, you were orphaned, having lost your family in a fire. And so, left penniless, with no one to support you, you were employed by my friends.”
    I swallow hard, not sure how I feel about this. I mean, what’s the point of reincarnating if you’re forced to relive the same kind of painful moments all over again?
    â€œAnd yes, just so you know, it
was
love at first sight. I fell completely and irreversibly in love with you. The very moment I saw you I knew that my life would never be the same.”
    He looks at me, his fingers on my temples, his gaze luring me in, presenting the moment in all its intensity, unfolding the scene as though I’m right there.
    My blond hair is hidden under a cap, my blue eyes are shy and afraid tomake contact, and with clothes so drab and fingers so calloused, my beauty is wasted, easily missed.
    But Damen sees it. The moment I enter the room his eyes find mine. Looking past my scruffy exterior to the soul that refuses to hide. And he’s so dark, so striking, so refined, so handsome—I turn away. Knowing the buttons on his coat alone are worth more than I’ll make in a year. Knowing without looking twice that he’s out of my league . . .
    â€œStill, I had to move cautiously because—”
    â€œBecause you were already married to Drina!” I whisper, watching the scene in my head and overhearing one of the dinner guests inquire about her, our eyes meeting briefly as Damen says:
    â€œDrina is in Hungary. We have gone our separate ways.” Knowing he’ll be the source of scandal, but wanting me to hear it more than caring what they’ll think . . .
    â€œShe and I were already living apart, so it wasn’t an issue. The reason I had to tread cautiously is because fraternizing outside of one’s class was severely frowned upon back