Page 154 of A Sin So Pure

“I started thinking about it after what happened with Silas,” I say. “But with everything that’s happened since… it’s too much for me. It made me realize I don’tenjoybeing a Sin. Some of it, sure. But the constant posturing, the threats and deceit?” I shake my head, nose brushing against the silky camisole Nora wears. “I don’t live for it like my mother and brother did. Like you do.”

“But you’re their leader,” Nora says. “You can’t abandon your House.”

“Being a leader out of necessity is different from being one out of passion,” I say, shaking my head. “And I’m not abandoning them. I’m leaving them in more than capable hands.”

Nora’s brows are knit, a divot of confusion forms between them.

“Leo wants it more than me, Nor. That’s enough of a reason to pass on the title. But if you need more, then please understand when I say this: I’ve lived my life for other people for so long. First my mother while she was alive. Then my brother after he died. He’s the reason I became a Sin. He wanted to bring ourHouse to the level it’s at now. But that was his dream, and I need to start living my life for me. And I don’t want to live it as Lust.”

“You just want to be Imogen.”

Nora says it as a statement, not a question, my name sounding decadent on her tongue. I tilt my head back to meet her eyes, our noses grazing in the process.

“Yeah. Just Imogen. The kick-ass empath who runs the best bars in all of Anwynn.”

“I can’t say I understand fully. I would never give this up willingly,” she says, eyes flicking to the fire.

“It’s okay if you need time to process it. Took me long enough to realize for myself,” I say.

“Does this mean I can finally steal you away to House Pride?”

Her hands trail mindless patterns on my back, sending shivers down my spine.

“No,” I giggle.

“Give me a few weeks, and I’ll change your mind.”

Her arms band tighter around me and I shift, sitting up taller. Nora and I are nose to nose, flirty smiles on both our lips.

“Leo won’t let you poach me to the dark side,” I say.

“I can handle Leo,” she huffs.

I tilt my head, allowing myself one moment to simply look at her. My fingers trail over the sharp lines of her cheekbones and down the tip of her nose. When I graze over her bottom lip, she nips my finger. Her actions are playful and carefree, but the gleam behind her eyes is the opposite. A dark seriousness lines her irises, lashes hanging low as she regards me as deeply as I do her.

Nails dig into the flesh at my hip, pulling me flush against Nora.

“Can I give you an interim present?”

“Yeah?” I say. “And what would that be?”

“Lots and lots of orgasms.”

“Lots and lots?” I tease.

Nora’s hum of confirmation is a deep rumble in her chest. Then, she claims my lips like she’s the desert and I’m the last drop of water on earth.

Hours later, my fingers run over the textured gold sequins on my dress as I wait in the hall.

The sprites had burst into our rooms two hours ago in a fury, primping and prodding at us until we were ready for the Solstice Ball. I had put up a fight—I can get ready myself—but ultimately succumbed to their strange little hands.

They were surprisingly good at taming my hair into glamorous waves that cascade over one shoulder,andthey even painted on the perfect arched brow.

I play with the gold rings that line my fingers, twisting Josie’s gift that sits at the center of them, around and around until my knuckles ache.

I jerk when the bare, light ocher skin of Josie’s shoulder bumps into mine. Her normally straight hair is styled into waves that end below the jaw.

“You okay?” she asks, observant eyes boring into mine.

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