Page 42 of Of Daggers and Deceit

My head lifted to the ghostly tower, my home, the centre from which the Haven spread. It was a puzzle I hadn’t yet cracked, simply because he hadn’t granted it. He didn’t trust me. I supposed, in some ways, he was right not to. I intended to wield whatever I could to see my dreams unfold.

Still, it hurt.

A splotch of water hit my nose, causing me to blink rapidly as water flicked up into my eye. More drops splatted down onto me and into my hair, beating down in rapid succession, slowly seeping through my clothes. I flung my arms up over my head, a temporary barrier to the onslaught as I took off in a run to find shelter.

Water dripped down my skin, falling off the tip of my nose, flattening my curled hair. Thunder rumbled low and long in the distance, a zing of joy shooting through me in response.

Ducking down a side street and choosing to stop under an eave, I allowed my arms to sag at my side, my clothing now sticking to my skin, utterly ruined. I looked down at my white ballet flats and beamed at the sight of the mud stains on them—evidence that the Inner Ring was not so pure, not so clean. My eyes caught on my now visible bra and panties beneath my white cotton dress. Such a stupid colour for this kind of weather.

Wiping a finger beneath my eyes, the line of my black mascara that marked my finger was an indicator I likely looked like shit.

I was glad to be out of Zander’s sight.

A sudden laugh escaped me as I wondered how he would react if he saw me. For some reason, it made me burst with happiness to be so improper. So impure.

“Oh goddess, there you are.” A soft, relieved voice interrupted my moment of delight.

I cast my still-beaming gaze to Sly, who now stood in front of me, the rain running off his uniform, leaving it dry. His midnight hair was plastered to his face, and his ocean eyes lined by his furrowed charcoal brows bore into my own.

Rain continued to pelt down around us, my nose scrunching as the cold began to sweep in, causing goosebumps to lift against my skin. I wrinkled my nose, inhaling deeply. I loved the smell of rain. It was an opportunity for renewal.

Perhaps a sign from Omni.

Sly’s eyes swept my drenched state, pausing briefly on my chest, where my hardened nipples were visible through the soaked, now-transparent material.

My chest rose and fell beneath his attention as something dangerous, something akin to desire, fluttered within me. I waited silently beneath his perusal.

His eyes raised again to meet my own, lust alive within them, igniting a molten want deep inside me for an Omega who was entirely forbidden.

He took a tentative step forward.

Still, I didn’t move. My communication was clear enough: lips hanging slightly apart, my body exposed, his to peruse.

Another step closer.

I was desperate to feel, even if it was for a single moment, where someone cared enough about me, Riley, not the Rose. The part of me that was always suppressed, always lingering and begging to be seen. To be accepted. To be loved.

He breached the distance between us, and still, I didn’t move. I was too scared to ruin the hypnotic moment, both of us puppets caught in its draw. It was the closest I had ever dared to be to another male, the toes of his boots butting up against the ruined silk of my ballet flats. With every short, sharp breath we shared, my chest caressed his, my attention laser-focused on the fleeting warmth the touch offered.

His eyes dipped lower to my lips as he slowly lifted his hand and moved a piece of my soaked hair, tucking it behind my ear. His hand indolently ran down and underneath my chin, lifting it ever so slightly. Not in the way that Zander did, possessive and commanding, but more tender, like I was the most priceless treasure, something to treat with absolute reverence.

I shivered beneath his touch.

The tension tightened between us the longer we stood there, a gentle throb low in my belly urging me to act, to take what I had been deprived of for far too long under Zander’s watchful eye.

Sly leaned in a fraction closer, and I held my breath, awaiting the gentle touch of lips meeting my own.

“Supreme!”

A voice called out on the back road, and I panicked as we frantically dove deeper into the shadows, my heart picking up speed as we watched Omegas pass.

It was a quick spike, over as quickly as it had begun, until only silence remained.

I knew the moment had been lost when I looked back at Sly, his expression again composed, the guard returning to his role. My chest tightened. This shouldn’t have happened anyway. I had a job to do, people to serve.

Sly was a distraction, one I couldn’t afford no matter what he stirred inside me.

I knew now that not even Zander could set me on fire the way he had, hardly having even touched me. I could acknowledge there was some kind of pull between us, like two comets moving through space, destined to collide.

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