Page 35 of Buried Secret 295

Knox’s mother, Hadi, was the only person who showed up for me. She grew up with my mother. They were best friends. She was the only one who even bothered to show up when word got around about this little boy who was malnourished and terrified. Hadi looked at me, her face softening on me before she knelt beside the bed. Hadi told me I would come home with her. She held my little five-year-old hand and told me I would never be hungry again. Hadi didn’t complain when I couldn’t finish my food because my stomach wasn’t used to eating. She would only smile at me and reassure me before showing me where it would be when I got hungry again. The woman put a snack drawer in my room after she caught me hoarding food. I thought she would scream at me, but no. She only requested that the wrappers be thrown away and gave me a trash can in my room. She never wanted me to feel embarrassed by any part of it.

Hadi and her husband, Rain, took me in. They showed me love and how to deal with the fucked up shit that came with being me. Whatever happened to me in those first few years of life changed me. It changed how I looked at the world and interacted. Maybe that’s why I spend my time in the veil rather than in the living world. I would rather observe than be in the spotlight. They never wanted me to change, nor did they ever expect me to call them mom and dad, even though they legally adopted me. The only thing they wanted from me was for me to be the bestversion of myself, to hone my skills, and to flourish in this life. However, all I want to do is work and be in the Underworld of Hell’s Gate Casino.

I learned about my gift from living and being myself with my family. My kind calls me a Sin Eater, a form of incubus. Whoever fathered me was a powerful Demon fae. I do more than eat the dirty sins of others. I find the things nobody wants anyone to know about, and I’ll lock in on that while pulling that secret with me like an invisible string and weaving it into my web. They become stuck inside of it, and I am the spider. I wrap them up, and they cannot leave unless they let their secret out to see the light of day. That doesn’t happen. People go to their graves with their secrets, afraid of what will occur if they shed light on the secret. It feeds me. The person knew that someone knew their secret and all it entailed. They didn’t know who, which caused constant fear. Their fear feeds me because I hold the secret inside and consume the dark energy. People underestimate the power that a secret can hold.

Even though they never once made me feel like I was a burden, something in me can't help but feel like I owe them everything because I don’t know what would have become of me without them. I am lucky. I gained a brother and a sister. Then Leo joined Knox and me before bringing Gage into the fold. My guilt grew from there. How were we supposed to know the level of hatred that Leo and Gage’s parents had for us? If we did, then we would have stopped being stupid kids. That makes me snort a laugh like that was a possibility. We were kids, boys coming into our powers. We never thought they would send their son away.

Gage asked me to figure out what was happening and what his parents were planning, but not to do anything else, so I sat and waited. I spend most of my time watching from rooftops while also trying to see what is happening in Hell’s Gate and the Underworld. Then, when I can, I watch my new obsession.The obsession that makes me feel that I am betraying my family. Salem. I can still feel her throwing me against the wall. Fuck, I am so attuned to her. I don’t even mean to find her from the veil, but I am drawn to her. When I open my eyes half the time, I find myself where she is. This has never happened to me before. I didn’t mean for it all to happen, and I don’t know what it means.

I shake off those thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. There are triggers that I have set all around Gage and Leo’s parents’ house for movement. My kind reminds me of a spider: any movements to webs, we feel. Now, I am watching from the veil, waiting for any news. This place feels wrong. Their parents have always felt off to me. They are full of secrets, enough to make my skin vibrate. I’ve never told Gage that, though. I let him live with that hope that his parents weren’t pieces of shit. This house’s vast number of wards shows how powerful they are. That means that I can’t enter that way. I get to watch from the windows or sit outside in the veil. It wasn’t ideal, but I will take what I can get.

Time moves slowly. There has been no movement for the last hour while I’ve been perching myself on top of the entryway roof, waiting. Even though I stay hidden away in the veil, undetectable, I still want to be even more invisible if possible. “He is gone!” Rebecca, Gage’s mother, screams. I peer over the roof and see her slamming the door behind her.

Her bare feet slap across the blacktop driveway as she frantically runs with her cell phone to her ear. Her body twists around, looking everywhere. “He escaped. They told me to administer the tranquilizer shot.” She cries, panic overtaking her. It smells delicious. “They said he would be out for hours! I swear I only went upstairs to answer a few emails. When I returned, he was gone, almost like he vanished.” She pauses whoever she speaks to on the other end while talking. “No! Of course, I don’t know where he would have gone. Sometimes, Ithink maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t returned.” Once more, she pauses. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! It’s your fault! This whole thing is your fault!” She stomps back into the house, leaving me with more questions than answers.

Chapter twenty-five

She asked for aday, but she is slippery. I haven’t been able to track her down. Today is the day that she isn’t going to get by me anymore. I need to see her; it feels like my skin is crawling, and I need to be beside her. I’ve never felt like this before with anyone. She has gotten under my skin, and I want her there. I want her with me. There is no point in denying it anymore. Whatever was going on with her the last time I saw her, it has fucked with my head. All I wanted to do was to take her into my arms and try to help her forget her worries. She looked like she was a second from falling apart, and it made me want to kill whoever hurt her. I am not a violent person usually. This girl has me inside out and turned around.

My friends have always driven a wedge between my parents and me, but I’ve stood my ground, not ready to sever ties with them. Either of them. As I stand here, if Salem gives methe green light, I see myself throwing caution to the wind and following her, making her enemies mine. This will be a problem for my parents since they actually wanted to arrange a marriage between me and Lulu. They still haven’t given up on those pure-bred grandbaby dreams. Maybe Salem is my wake-up call that I don’t have to give up my dreams, and I think I am ready to fight for myself for the first time.

Today is when I will find out if she even wants me. I need to know where I stand. The thought of her rejecting me again makes me sick to my stomach. I wait in my usual spot for her, the spot that has become a place I dread, along with what I look forward to. When I see her walking my way, I smile and run her way like a complete dumbass. Black Cat meets Golden Retriever. They say the best relationships are based on that, and I’m hoping she will at least be willing to hang out with me more.

I want to make her smile. She looks like she hasn’t smiled often, and I want to be one of the reasons she smiles. “What’s wrong?” I ask her, straight forward. Somehow, I know she won’t want to talk about it. “You have been acting weirder than normal. On top of looking sexy as sin, you also look sick, maybe?”

“Will you stop acting like you care? Please?” She puts her hands over her ears. “It’s seriously for your safety. Just leave me alone.”

Her eyes change before me. No longer the aqua color I enjoy, they become pitch black, with red flicking around like a fire. “Oh, fuck.” I grab her arm and open a portal to move her to the forest’s edge. “You shift?” I didn’t know this about her. There is so much that I don’t know about her.

Her teeth clench as her knees buckle, and she folds in on herself. Her face grimaces in pain, but her eyes soften like she is about to beg me for something. Salem closes her eyes and looks back up at me, almost in defeat, as she reopens them as she gritsout. “My beast wants your blood, and it feels like she is about to kill me to get it.” My arms grip her, trying to hold her upright as if she can’t seem to pull herself away from me. “This is your last chance. Go away. I don’t know if she will let you go once she sinks her teeth in you. I need you to know this.”

Why am I so flattered that her animal wants me so badly? My chest warms, and a smile breaks out from that thought. “If she wants me, Salem, let her have me. I’m not going anywhere and am pretty tired of pretending there isn’t something here.” Something has to give, and I am ready. Mainly because now I know she feels it as well. Something is pulling her to me like I am being pulled towards her. Now that I know this, I’m all in. This feels like a victory for me.

Her eyes are black and fiery right now, and her shifter is watching me through those very eyes. Whatever the fuck she is, that part of her wants me. She can pretend all she wants, but this part of her won’t let her. It is equal parts terrifying and beautiful. I am strangely into it. “Not here.” She grabs me by the hand and teleports me. Well, that’s new. I don’t think Knox can teleport, and he is incredibly powerful. I look around the room that we are in and try to figure out where we are. Are we still on campus?

My mouth opens to question her, but when her mouth lands on mine, all questions fade away and are replaced with desire. I place my hands under her ass, and she takes the opportunity to wrap her legs around me. A moan escapes as my tongue meets hers. Fuck. I’m obsessed with this girl, and now she will have difficulty keeping me away. Technically, she already had a hard time keeping me away.

I want to feel her skin against mine. My hands fumble as I try to pull her shirt off. Salem growls against my mouth, and I smile into our kiss. She pulls back and pushes me into the bed before her hands grip the edge of her t-shirt. She is throwing it to the ground before her bra joins.

Her nipples are a dusty pink and look to be begging me to pull them into my mouth. “Come here and get me.” I am aware she is in predator mode, and I am using this to my advantage.

She bites her lower lip and looks me up and down. “Take your clothes off for me.” I obey her command, pulling my shirt off and throwing it into the corner. She looks at me like I am a snack and I am here for it. “More.” I feel like her personal stripper, and I decide to put a small show on. There have not been too many times when a woman has taken such charge of me in the bedroom.

“As you wish.” I stand before kicking my shoes off, my hands scramble down to my shorts, pulling them and underwear down in one swift move. My dick stands proudly at attention, and I palm it before stroking it. If I hadn’t thought I was prey before, I would have been positive about that fact at this moment.

“Keep stroking it for me.” She looks at me with heat in her eyes as she licks her lips. Salem stalks towards me, but her eyes still haven’t changed back to the eyes I enjoy most. However, all rational thought leaves my brain as she pulls her pants down. She stands before me, confident in herself, naked and stunning. “You’re mine, aren’t you, baby?” Her eyebrows raise with the question as she waits for my answer.

I feel as if I swallowed my tongue; all I can do is watch as she walks towards me. Fuck, she is beautiful, and it makes my breath catch watching her. Her tattoos of roses and thorns almost look like they are moving with her skin. She kneels before me, removing my hand with her own as she strokes my cock from root to tip. My head flies backward, and I let a hiss out between my teeth as she licks me. Salem eyes darken giving me a hooded “fuck me” gaze before she runs her tongue up my cock, tracing a vein, circles my tip before swallowing me down her throat without warning. I am not a small man by any means, but we usually have to work up to this moment. “Fuck, baby.” I groanout while I slide my hands in her hair, letting her do whatever she wants to me.

She pulls off and pushes me down onto the bed once more. Salem crawls up my body, taking my mouth once more. “Tell me.” She pouts as she pulls back gripping my chin, looking like she wants to devour me.

Tell her what? Whatever she wants, she can have. It’s hers. “Anything.” I rasp out, and I genuinely mean it. It could be the lust talking, but this woman owns me at this moment.

“That you’re mine. Only mine.” She pulls back and looks into my eyes, running her pussy along my cock. I can feel how wet she is for me. That's all for me. It’s all hot and wet for me.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want. Just let me lick this pussy first.” She grins down at me and moves up my body. Every move seems like she knows she is in charge here. “Yes, sit on my face, baby.”

“As you wish.” My hands grip onto her ass, and I dive in like a man starved. I lick her before sucking her clit into my mouth. Adjusting her slightly so I can finger her tight pussy while licking and sucking on her clit. She is full of surprises as she rides me, using me for her pleasure. Most girls seem to be self-conscious, but not my girl. Grinding her pretty pink pussy exactly where she wants me, using me.

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