Page 53 of Deadmen's Captive

I heard the sharp intake of breath, as I closed my eyes, and I smiled. There was silence for a few moments, and then he spoke again, his tone almost warm.

“Sleep, Persephone. No one will disturb you. You’re safe here.”

I closed my eyes, hearing the soft click of the door as he left the room. My mind turned over and over, trying to make sense of what I'd done, but exhaustion overtook me, and within minutes, I was sinking down into oblivion.

Chapter Twenty Three

TRISTAN

Iwas screwed. Completely and utterly fucked. I knew that now, and to be honest, I’d had a fair idea of it a couple of weeks ago, but now I knew for sure. I was completely obsessed with Paige Matthews, and so were my best friends.

It had been a couple of weeks since her induction into the club, and since then we’d taken turns spending time with Paige outside of classes when we could. Bast had taken her out to dinner a couple of times, and Nate was meeting her every other day in the gym. I’d been surprised to find out Paige already liked to work out, as she hadn’t done much since she’d got here, but she’d confided to Nate that she found the university gym a little intimidating, so he’d organised sessions for them where there was no one else there. I wasn’t sure if Paige realised Nate had essentially told the university to close the gym for Paige’s sessions, or if she just thought he was getting them in after hours, but either way they’d been spending the time together.

I'd removed the cameras from her room just before the ball, and Bast no longer followed her around, but I’d taken to walking her home from class every night. At first, I'd insisted it was for her safety, but really it was just a ruse to get her to talk to me again. She'd been understandably upset at my involvement, and I was struggling to convince her that the time we'd spent together had been genuine, even though I'd known about her so-called application. I'd worn her down eventually, and now we chatted as we walked. I used the time to get to know her more, and I stored up the information she gave me like gold bars. Her favourite colour, her favourite band, her favourite drink. I hadn't tried to kiss her again though. Bast had warned us to play it a little cooler, to give her time to agree to being ours, and I needed her to agree so badly. There was something about this girl that drew me in, and I needed more. She was like a drug, and I was already an addict.

This was my favourite part of the day. Getting here early and standing in the doorway to watch her paint. She always stayed a good hour later than the other students, and it meant I got to watch her in peace. She never even knew I was here. I loved the way she just got completely lost in her paintings, absorbed in the colours, her ear pods cutting her off from the outside world and keeping her safe in her own world of sound and colour. At the club she’d been afraid, outside she was timid, but here she was completely herself, and I was the only one who got to see it. I grinned as she swayed to the music in her ears, humming along as she leaned in to study an area of her painting closely. She was so focused, she didn’t even notice the brush she was holding leave a trail of pink across her cheekbone. She pulled back, and turned to study the palette on the table next to her.

"Paige."

She jerked at her name, then spun around on her stool. Her eyes wide, fixed on me. I leaned against the doorframe and smiled at her.

"Tristan? It can’t be six already…” she glanced up at the clock and bit her lip as she noticed it was ten after. “You should have said something.”

I smiled and pushed off the wall, walking over to her. “I didn’t want to interrupt. You were concentrating. Do you have much to clean up?”

She shook her head. “No, these are oils, I’ll just quickly cover them up and rinse out the pot with the…” her voice trailed off as she scurried about, getting ready to leave.

“No rush,” I said. “I thought I’d walk you back to your dorm and then maybe if you aren’t doing anything, we could go out for something to eat?”

“Oh, oh, I er…”

“My treat,” I said firmly. “And I wasn’t thinking anything fancy, just pizza, if that’s ok with you?”

Paige gave me a genuine smile and my stomach fluttered at the sight of it. She always seemed so on edge with us all, but considering how we’d all met, I couldn't blame her.

“Okay, that sounds nice. I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?” I grinned. I stepped forward and began to undo the buttons on the painting shirt she was wearing. It was just a large man’s shirt from the charity shop. Paige had told me she’d bought a bunch of them as the aprons provided by the university didn’t cover enough and she still kept managing to get paint on her clothes. She didn’t stop me, just stood there quietly looking up at me as I undid each button.

I could feel my heart start to speed up as I moved downwards, even though I knew she was fully dressed underneath, it still felt like a very intimate thing to do. Since the night of her induction, we had made an agreement to take things slowly with her. She’d had no idea what she was getting into, and by now Nate and I were certain she was telling the truth. Bast wasn’t completely convinced, but he had me researching her life and any other possible connections to the club to see if we could find someone who might want to hurt us, and her. It was entirely possible that the person simply wanted to damage our reputation and cause scandal, but at the same time, it was also possible it had nothing to do with us and Paige was the target.

As I looked down into those clear blue eyes, I swore again to myself that no one was going to touch her or hurt her ever again. Except me and my friends of course. My fingers found the last button, hanging just over the junction of her legs. Her eyes dropped to my lips, and I heard her breathing pick up as I leaned in closer.

"Tristan..." She murmured.

“Yes?” I moved closer. She sucked her breath in, and her eyes fluttered closed. I didnt move. I desperately wanted to kiss her but we’d all agreed for now, no sex unless she initiated it. At least, not until the next trial.

“I… I’m not sure…”

I pulled back, ignoring the tight feeling of disappointment. “I’m not going to do anything right now that you’re not sure about, Paige. I… we… all want you to feel safe with us, and we know that everything kind of got off on the wrong foot between us.” I stepped back, and she turned away, sliding the paint shirt off her shoulders and turning to hang it on the hook on the side of her easel. It was warm in the art room and underneath, she was wearing a simple white tank top. Her arms and shoulders were bare, and beautifully sculpted. I moved forward, sliding my arms around her waist. She stiffened at first, but when I pulled her back against my chest, she relaxed against me. I leaned down, brushing my lips down the side of her neck.

“I want to take this slow, Paige. I want you to feel good, and I want to find out what makes you feel good.”

“I don’t really know,” she confessed, braver now she was facing away from me. Her hands settled on my forearms as I kissed along her shoulder. “That feels good.”

“Does it?” I asked. I did it again. “How about this?” I kissed the side of her neck again, this time, sucking at her smooth skin, my teeth grazing over it. She shuddered.

“Yes, I do like that,” she whispered.

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