Page 56 of Possession

She shook her head and her stare took on the edge I’d admired when she first walked into Bellows earlier. It charged my pulse. She hesitated at the mouth of the hallway.

“Did you want to work on something? I’d love to see more of what you’ve been up to all this time.” She fidgeted with the hem of her sweater and I wondered if she could feel that charge too.

“Sure, head on back.”

I followed her to my room. The light of the hallway illuminated a path along the floor of my bedroom as we walked in. Paige stood inside the cast of yellow light as she dropped her arms to her side, her back to me. She paused and stared at one of my paintings on the wall. She’d already seen it, but she tilted her head as she considered it. Her sleeve fell again and that perfect slope of skin was visible. I thought about walking up behind her, pulling her body against me, and pressing my lips to the bare flesh. I liked her without make-up and artifice, but the dark power she wielded tonight, I was weak for it. My legs moved me forward until my hands found her hips. She exhaled and leaned back as I slid my arms around her waist.

“It’s so gruesome, the way you used the red like you did. She looks like she’s bleeding.” The painting was a black and white silhouette of a woman’s form with one bright red splatter of paint cutting across her body.

It wasn’t a critical review, it was just her observations, her thoughts. I smiled before I kissed the top of her head and then lowered my lips to her ear. She trembled as I spoke, “It wasn’t supposed to look like blood. It was supposed to be a burst of feeling.” I raised my right hand and pulled the waves of her hair away from her neck.

She lay the back of her head against my chest and I could feel her struggle to breathe, feel each intake and exhale as I brought my mouth to the hollow just below her ear. The heat of her body absorbed into my lips and ignited the empty space with pressure and pulse.

My heart raced and my mouth watered.

“I’m nervous.”

I lifted my lips from her neck and set my hands back on her hips. “Don’t be. Nothing has to happen, Paige. I just get carried away when I kiss you.”

Her breath hitched. “What if I… I mean, is it wrong if I want something to happen?”

I dropped my hold on her and stepped away enough so that she could turn and face me, but she didn’t. Her head tilted down, and her fingers shook at her side.

“Will you look at me?” She finally turned, reluctantly, insecurity written in the crease of her brow. “Is it because you’re still married? I can respect that.”

I didn’t have to like it, but she was still legally bound to him.

Her eyes searched mine. “No… and yes.” Her bottom lip quivered as the color drained from her cheeks. She dropped her eyes to the floor. “When I was with him, it wasn’t like me and you, Declan. My body… it was a vessel for birth, not for pleasure.” Her stance became submissive as if she was trying to crawl inside herself.

“Paige–”

“It hurt, most of the time. I hated every second I was with him. I tried to think my way through it, nights with Clark… but even thoughts of you never made it better, so instead I’d chosen to fade. I’d become numb. I’d vanish inside myself until he had… finished. Until I couldn’t remember who I’d been or what it was like to feel.”

I felt sick. She was withering, right here in front of me, falling back into the hell she’d been imprisoned in with him. My anger flared, and my molars threatened to crack as I grit my teeth. But, Paige didn’t need a warrior. She needed to be comforted, and my concern for her cooled my rage temporarily as I took a few steps toward her. I steeled my expression, breathed deeply before I lifted her chin. She didn’t resist the gentle command. If I could I would erase her past, rip the self-righteous flesh from his bones, watch as his blood pooled at his feet. I’d find the color to match it and paint his death a thousand times in victory.

The demon inside my head was on the verge of awakening, but I closed my eyes and reigned myself in before I said, “A vessel…” The words strained through tight teeth. “He hurt you.”

Her eyes were wide, her history unable to pollute the innocence of the crystal wave of blue and she shook her head. “He couldn’t really hurt me, because I had you the entire time.” Her smile was timid as she placed her hands on my biceps. “Your whole body is shaking.”

I hadn’t realized it, but once I let myself fall into her gaze, every muscle in my body relaxed. She raised her hands and placed them on either side of my neck, the tips of her nails slightly grazing my skin.

“I want to kill him.” The real threat had evaporated under her touch.

“He’s not worth it… I don’t want to think about him anymore… I want… I want—”

Her cheeks filled with blush.

“Tell me,” I said in a low whisper.

“I want you to show me, Declan. Show me I can still feel. Show me I’m more than just flesh and bone. Show me I still have a soul.” Her cheeks turned that final shade of need, crimson, and hot.

The sound of the oncoming train rumbled outside my window. I leaned in as her lips parted, taking her mouth slowly, letting the feeling overwhelm her until all the tension evaporated, and until her mouth moved against mine with eager strokes. She was alive against my body, her breasts pushing against my chest, her arms around my neck.

“Shut the door,” she whispered against my mouth.

I kissed her one more time before I broke away to close the door. The train began to pass, and as I turned back to Paige, she was lifting her sweater over her head. Black, white, black, white, the light through the blinds blurred and flashed. It was as if someone was flipping the pages of a comic book. She was drawn out with graceful lines. She wasn’t wearing a bra and the teardrop contour of her breasts made my mouth go dry. Her nipples were pink and stood out in a sea of colorless light. Her eyes were veiled with shadows, hooded, and the blood in my veins begged to be warmed by her, mixed and close, calling out to the other. My lungs burned as I held my breath. None of this seemed real. She was too still. Was this my nightmare all over again? I needed to wake up before the pink of her nipples turned the color of—

Paige shifted, moved toward me, and grabbed the hem of my white thermal shirt, lifting it with her fingers. I helped and removed it over my head, tossing it to the floor with her sweater. She placed her hot hands on my waist, pulling me in, bringing our naked flesh together. Her soft breasts gave way to the steel of my chest, and I pressed myself into her stomach. She gasped as she felt the hard length. My hands gripped her hips with a surge of need, holding her still, denying myself the overdue friction.

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