Page 91 of Spit

“I can almost hear what you are thinking, Alexis,” Legion murmured, growing closer. “You want to say no. You want to push me away and continue to wallow in the same loneliness you recognized in me, but you can’t. Why is that?”

I knew why. I had pushed everyone away, scared that my curse would claim them. Legion was the only male I had kissed that had come out unscathed on the other side. Was he immune to Beezleub’s curse, or was the first time a fluke? Did I really want to find out?

Yes. So badly that it hurt.

But I was not a spontaneous person. I was a cautious one.

I held up a hand, placing it on Legion’s chest and exerting enough force that I got his attention. “I can’t do that to you,” I said.

Legion exhaled. “I’d take whatever you wanted to do to me, Ms. Boudaire. I’d take it with a smile.”

“My curse,” I argued.

“I know about your curse, and I assume because I kissed you yesterday, I am either unaffected or utterly condemned and haven’t realized it yet.” Legion chuckled as he pushed his hand through his hair again, disturbing it even more. A little bit wilder. A little bit less pristine.

“You should go to bed, Ms. Boudaire. Lest I am tempted to do something that would make me less of a man and more of a monster.” Legion looked away.

I didn’t know what to say, so I left.

Sev found me in a dream I wasn’t aware I was having.

One moment, I was running through a dead forest with skeletal hounds at my feet. Baying and snarling as they snapped at my heels, the shadow of the Glutton King looking down on me.

The next moment, I collided with Sev. Taking him to the ground with a hard thump, as the lust demon cursed with colorful words.

He rubbed his head, sprawled on his butt in the bracken. I pushed down on the undergrowth, but instead of many dead leaves, my hands sunk into a blanket of feathers. The edges smoldered, leaving trails of smoke and ash.

“You were angels,” I whispered, remembering my last dream.

Sev ignored my comment. “I’m used to women throwing themselves at me, but not quite like that.”

I looked around, expecting the hounds to pounce on us any moment, but they were gone. Even the forest had changed. The bare fingers of the branches had budded pink blossoms, and a ray of sunlight slid through the trees.

I frowned. “You’re controlling my dream.”

“It seemed more like a nightmare to me.” Sev shuddered.

I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed.

“I heard your little argument with Legion.” Sev waggled his brows.

“You were spying on us?”

Sev tapped his forehead. “We’re bonded. I can hear his thoughts.”

“Everything?” I frowned.

Sev shrugged. “What the others choose to share. Or what they are obsessing over.” Sev’s golden eyes flicked to the leaves around us. “Why did you reject him?” He wondered, ignoring my gaze as I studied his profile.

I shrugged. Sev knew about my curse. He knew more than most. He had seen my reaction when I had first encountered his magic when I’d received the whole she-bang in one hit. I had broken down, falling to my knees, lost in my own trauma.

I had allowed Trey to touch me, but somehow it had felt like I was in control. Trey had not pushed me in any way that didn’t feel safe. I needed that from him.

Legion was an entirely different beast. Legion might have been restrained and dominant, but I did not feel in control around him. Not only because he was the master of our interactions—but because we both seemed powerless in the face of what was growing between us.

I kept telling myself it was nothing but my imagination, but that excuse was wearing thin. There was something that I couldn’t quantify. Something beyond.

“He scares me,” I admitted.

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