Page 80 of House of Lilith

“What do you say?” he finally asks.

The question snaps me out of it. “Thank you,” I finally say as I throw him a wide smile, suddenly knowing exactly what to do to fixeverything.

I turn around and I kiss him, passionately. And I slide my hand down his crotch, making him let out a groan and grab me by the waist. I tease him a little, before I turn around again, press my palms against the surface of the mirror and watch him eagerly unzipping his pants, lifting my dress up and getting inside me.

As soon as he does, I start touching myself, locking eyes with him in the mirror, determined to get him turned on by it instead of upset.

It doesn’t work. I almost instantly see him frowning. He tries to pry my hand away, but I don’t let him.

It’s just that the look he’s giving me is like a cold shower, so I get him out of me and I turn to face him, flustered and hurt, but desperate to make him understand me.

He’s still frowning, but I put my arms around his shoulders and lean to whisper in his ear, “What? Don’t you want it to be nice for me?”

“Nice for you?” he asks as he pulls away. “Isn’t it nice for you already?”

“I just want us to be even closer, Max.”

“You’rethe one refusing to givemethe kiss, not the other way around.”

“It’s closeness first, then the kiss.”

“And you have to use your fingers to feel closer to me? I’m not enough for you?”

The statement renders me speechless.

There’s a second of silence.

Then, pulling away and throwing his hands up, he lets out an angry scoff. “Why can’t you be like all the other women, Nyx?”

My mind buzzing and this shame flooding my entire being, I find myself unable to react in any way.

For a second, he just looks at me.

Then he comes to give me a hug. “Hey, it’s fine, cupcake,” he says.

And I don’t push him away, but I don’t snuggle up either, my mind buzzing.

“You’re still a little out of it. It’s that fucking Blood Magic messing with your brain.” He pauses to let out a frustrated breath, then gives me a warm smile. “But we’ll have the entire winter break, including the honeymoon, to pick up where we left off.” He gives me a little wink. “And you know I’ll be taking you someplace real nice, don’t you?”

“I do,” I say, trying not to sound too flat.

My mind still buzzing, I give him another kiss, on the cheek this time, and I move to finally get us out of my room and to the Ball.

But before I can even open the door, he appears next to me, his eyes darting to my wrist as he asks, “Won’t you be covering that up?”

For a second, I just blink at him. Then I rush to do as he says.

But as I let him lead me out of my room, through the Common Room and across the Entrance Hall, all in the direction of the music, there’s this coldness growing in the depths of my stomach.

And the sense of something different existing out there, calling out to me in a way that’ll be hard to resist.

Chapter 16 - Dahrian

“Dahrian,”IhearRicky’svoice from my right, drowning out all the chatter and the music. I don’t stop, but I turn my head to look at him just as we walk past the Brothers Grimm statue. He’s squinting at me. “People are saying hi and you’re not saying hi back.”

“Right right,” I rush to say, still feeling as if I’m waking from some kind of dream. “Thanks, Ricky.”

The Entrance Hall is buzzing and now that I’m forcing myself to focus, I can see a lot of students trying to catch my eye as we walk. “Hi, how’s it going?” I nod to one I think I’ve met before the First Game, out in some hallway when I was looking for a bathroom. Smiling from ear to ear, he nods back.

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