“We don’t ask those questions,” he said, reaching for her hand. “We have our purpose, just like the trees, like the apples. We have our will. But we do not ask what we should not know, Lilith. Come.”
He pulled her back against another tree and started kissing her, but the minute she tried to take control, he wouldn’t allow it. He wanted to cater to her, serve her, but I felt her thoughts.
What about what I want? What about me catering to you? Why can we not be equals? Why are we created differently?
“I hear your thoughts.” He shook his head. “They are not necessary.”
Rage filled her. She didn’t understand what it was until it was too late. Until she walked away from him and hid in the shadows. Then she looked up and said, “I think you made me wrong.”
A whisper descended from the air. “I made you right, and you always have a choice in whether you stay or go. Know I will never keep you where you do not want to be. I love my Creations too much.”
A tear slid down her cheek. “I’m broken. I want things I should not want.”
“So, you will leave him? The first of them? You will leave perfection because you want?” the voice asked.
“What other choice do I really have?” She sighed and stood. “I’m not good enough for this. I question too much.” She walked over to the tree, grabbed an apple, and took a bite. It was gold and massive. And then she saw too much.
“They forbade it.” A man walked up to her. He was in golden armor and had a sword in his hand, ready to strike. “Take it with you. Take your curse and roam the Earth created so freely for you. When the time comes, you’ll be given a choice again. This time, I hope it isn’t a curse you choose…but life. And a future.
“Two days every year, you’ll awaken. The rest of the time, you’ll think things are normal. I see Discord in you, Lilith. And because you are the first to choose, you owe what is due and must pay for it in blood.”
He sliced a symbol into her skin with his fingernail. “Now. Walk.”
Panting, I look up at her. I’m still stuck in a sex-starved fever dream as she moves wildly over me, the pain of no release hitting me deeply, down to the bone.
“I saw—”
“Ignore that,” she rasps and digs her fingernails into my chest. “And serve me.”
So, I do.
I ignore it all.
And I fully give in to the feeling of being inside her, of truly knowing her. And in that moment...my future is even more clear.
It’s her.
My mate.
And I will die before I ever get to claim her.
I scream as my release hits, over and over again. She jumps off me, high off immortal blood, then comes back, chest heaving. Her breasts are so perfect I jerk against the handcuffs, but I’m too weak and about to get weaker.
She climbs back onto me again and lowers herself. “Now, I’ll take you rougher.”
My eyes roll to the back of my head as I stupidly think to myself,so much for a break for round two.
The rest of the day flies by in a flash.
I lose track of how many times she says, “again.” I’m bleeding everywhere, but all I can think is,wow, she’s really pretty.
Chapter Nine
Cassius
I hated the thoughts that haunted me, the memories.
“Any word?” My wife, Stephanie, wraps her arms around me and pulls me close. She’s no longer afraid of the sharp edges of my wings if they come out—she’s powerful in her own right—and it’s nice to be held.