Page 140 of Soul Forge

She turned his face so she could press her lips against his, hoping her kiss conveyed the things she couldn’t yet say aloud. He sighed and returned the embrace with a tenderness that set her heart racing. That same shivery feeling spread through her, right to the tips of her fingers, warming her until the kiss was over.

“How does Vel feel about all this?” she asked carefully when he released her face.

“I have no idea.” Sypher shrugged his uninjured shoulder. “Negatively, I assume. He rarely talks to me now. He just forces his way out when he loses his temper and shoves me back in control when he’s done.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Knowing he’s the one who decides whether I’m free or not? Sure. But what can I do about it? In order to have equal control,I have to shut him out completely. Part of me still hopes he can be reasoned with if I don’t treat him as poorly as I could.”

“I’m sure he’ll have plenty to say to me the next time he frees himself,” Elda decided. She still had her arms loosely around his neck. His closeness was as comforting as it was nerve-wracking.

“More than likely.” He turned properly to face her again, resting his folded arms on the side of the bath, keeping their faces close together.

“I’m ready to face him whenever he’s done hiding,” Elda shrugged. “If he wants to be a baby about it, that’s up to him.”

“I’ve warned you about goading him.”

“I don’t goad, I state facts. It’s not my fault he doesn’t like the truth. He’ll have to talk to me sooner or later.” She sat back and folded her arms across her chest.

“El, you know he hates it when you do this.”

“I’m not doing anything.” Her laugh was sharp, the anger quick to rise at the mere mention of the demon soul. “I’m having a conversation with my husband, a conversationheisn’t part of.” Her brow creased into a scowl. “I don’t like monitoring what I say just to please someone who won’t even speak to me. If he has a problem with my choices, he should tell me.” She cast her eyes down to her folded arms. “Part of me wishes he’d just come out here and get it over with.”

“Wish granted, Varro.” The voice was still deep and resonant, laced with the lilting hiss of the demon soul. Her heart lurched, though she wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement that set it thrumming.

“Vel.” Her brows crept upwards, her eyes rising involuntarily to meet his black hues. “I didn’t expect you to actually come out.”

“You know I can’t resist a challenge.” He cocked his head. “What makes you so desperate to speak to me alone in a bathtub?”

“I’m not in a bath–” Her words were cut off by the swell of jasmine-scented water when Vel grabbed her arm and yanked her into the basin. She broke the surface, coughing and spluttering.

“You were saying?” he grinned, revealing his sharpened teeth. The malice in the expression should have frightened her. Instead, her temper flared.

“I’m still wearing clothes!”

“I can remove them for you if you’d like,” he purred.

“Don’t you move another inch,” she warned, wiping water out of her eyes.

His gaze travelled down to the wet clothes clinging to her. Despite her protest, it weighed on her like a physical touch, trailing over her curves with enough focus to make her shiver. “That’s fine. The view from over here is exquisite.”

“Stop ogling me!”

“Stop pretending you hate it,” he shrugged. She glared at him, which only made him grin. “I find your anger amusing.”

“And I find your attitude irritating,” she snapped. “It’s not my fault you can’t address your feelings in a normal way like Sypher.”

“Then let’s talk about whatever it is you think I’m feeling andget this over with,” he mimicked, his smile dropping. “I’m certain you have your own conclusions drawn.”

“I think you’re refusing to speak to Sypher because he told me he loves me,” she asserted.

“Is that so?” He tapped his chin in mock thought. “So not because he’s the living soul of an angel? You know, the very creature a demon hates most?”

“I think that’s part of it,” she nodded. “But he can tell me he loves me, and you can’t tell me that.”

“Because it’s not true.”

“I don’t believe you,” she argued.

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