Page 98 of Fallen Omega

“Liz?”

I push away. “I’m okay.”

“I didn’t ask you to move. You feel good.”

But I look at him. Those eyes of his are chameleon. Right now, they’re like shadows in the woods, muted green-brown,hazel. But when he kissed me, touched me, bit me, a flash of emerald hits. I remember.

Breathing gets hard again. “But you won’t touch me.”

“I am.”

“No, I mean…” I suck in air. Then I shake my head. “Dante said no…no men.”

“Dante isn’t the boss of me.” He takes back his arm and pushes his hair back. “Fuck, he’s an ass, but there’s more to him. And there’s more to feelings, closeness, than sex. I like you.You.I like the rest, too, but…I marked you. Shit.”

He stands.

“Everything isn’t just sex, no matter how much I want you.”

Then he picks something up and my heart sinks.

“Oh.”

He unwraps the apron. “Oh, indeed. Dante gave it to me, said you left it?”

The tears are gone now. Rage and heat streak through me as I snatch it and throw it.

“No, he gave it to me to taunt me.”

“Taunt?”

I nod. “He told me not to jump any of you.”

Knight looks at the vibrator then back at me. “And he gave you that?” He pauses. “Well.”

That wasn’t what he was going to say.

“He’s horrible.”

“Right now, he’s up there dealing with the Council,” he finally says. “Dante’s a lot of things, but you wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t going to protect you. We all will.”

“The Council found me?” The world shifts.

“The Council are doing their rounds. Why are you so important to them? They don’t usually venture into Unholy Trinity territory.”

“I’m nothing. No one. I should go.” I start looking for my backpack. I spy my case that wasn’t there that morning. “Dante doesn’t want me here, and…I wouldn’t even mind his nasty little rule. I know he can’t possibly force me to not have any orgasms, not really.”

“I’m not sure. Dante is… Well, he’s insane in a different way than the rest of us.” He comes up, brushes a kiss of such tenderness, a kiss full of promises, across my lips that I almost cry. Again. “He can try.”

Then he lets me go.

“Knight, I…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Your life is all upside down. Thing is, I’m betting he’s got a fucking hard on for you. And he hates it.”

“He does, but not like that. Not out of want and need and lust that’s based in any real emotion. And Dante hates it and me.”

“But, Liz, he’s out there right now fucking doing something dangerous, risking a full-on sanction on us. They won’t, because I know how to retaliate, but the Council? They’re powerful cowards hiding under the guise of order and civility. Fuck them.”

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