Page 118 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

Wild was waiting as I joined him again.

He sent me a querying pulse, but I shook my head against leaving the eating chamber, instead opting to sit down and go through the motions of eating. Being here would be difficult until the culprit was caught. I couldn’t starve myself in the meantime, nor hide away.

“Mmm,” Wild said suddenly.

Sven glanced at him. “Yes, Wild?”

Wild blinked at him. “What?”

“You’re looking at Tempest like she’s food.”

His lips curved, and I dared him with my eyes to make some comment about eating me. Wild’s lips curved further as he met my challenging look.

“You are looking at her like she’s delectable,” Rooke said.

Wild looped an arm around my shoulders. “Because she is. And she bared her soul for all to see.”

“That turns you on?” I sipped at a mango smoothie he’d procured for me during my chat with the coven.

“Yes, but I’m happier now it’s tucked away. No one else should get to see your soul but me.”

Corey murmured, “Sounds healthy.”

Huxley looked between us. “Next step in the mating ritual?”

Oh. I looked at Wild. “What’s the urge?”

“To peel back your metaphorical skin and magic and see what’s underneath so I can trap it to enjoy at my leisure and for my pleasure,” he purred the last words.

I pursed my lips, then nodded. “That has a mating ritual ring to it. Must be the last step.”

“Last?” Wild was staring at my stomach—at the area under my ribs.

“Yeah, apparently. And the most important.” If the peeling of skin was involved, then things had escalated slightly. “What do you think is under there?”

“Your soul?” Huxley offered.

Sven shook his head. “She and Wild don’t have those.”

The others laughed.

Did the last step of the ritual involve souls, though? “Well, keep the skin peeling under control,” I told Wild, who was now staring at the middle of my forehead. Mother be, did my soul move around my body like a worm?

The way this worked, I was sure to feel some of what Wild felt by tomorrow or the next day. Now he’d voiced his urge, I could connect that I’d felt a surge of lust every time he spoke his emotions and desires and fears aloud. I wanted to possess them in a different way to how I’d chomped up his magic. I wanted to wrap his soul to mine in chains. What did Wild say about enjoying it at his leisure and for his pleasure?

Same here.

Super healthy. Nothing toxic about this situation.

I tucked my hand into Wild’s. “My soul’s in my ass now?”

He blinked twice. “I can’t quite tell.”

“Bet it is,” Huxley muttered. “That would explain her shitty attitude.” The others laughed again, and I rolled my eyes. But I was happy that Huxley felt okay enough to have some fun, even if his heart wasn’t in it.

“That’s my cue to leave,” I said. “I have letters to answer and battles to prepare for.”

Wild’s gaze shot up to my boobs, then between my thighs. He was like a cat tracking a red laser. “I’ll come,” Wild said breathlessly.

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