Page 73 of Sacrifice

“Yes,” she said, “Yes. Take me.” Every inch of her pulsed with desire, the sexual tension building unbearably inside her.

He reached for her thighs to glide his oiled hands over them, then eased them apart so that she lay open for his gaze. And she gazed back at him. The muscles of his naked torso rippled as he moved and Eve glimpsed a shadow cast behind him, a sweep of darkness like the memory of wings, each the size of a man, powerful and feathered. They beat rhythmically at his back, the rhythm she wanted to feel pulsing against her.

Eve felt the heat of the sun on her skin, the light that flowed through Venus itself, and she knew that her very purpose was to save Lucien, to save Elham from the fate the Celestial Council had imposed upon him.

The glint of the knife seemed like an illusion at first. The blood pumping through her veins and the tide of desire clouding her vision. Lucien held it in front of his own chest and the scar of the eight-pointed star Eve had scored there. It rose in welts, the presence of the knife calling it back.

With his free hand, he reached to stroke her clit once more and then slide inside.

Eve moaned, and he slipped another finger inside to join the first, gliding back and forth. He eased her open to take another. Her body delighted at the struggle to take him in. Slick with desire, she wanted all of him inside her, every last cell. The Goddess of Love purred with joy. Her body arched to meet him and moved to make the most of every pulse.

“Yes,” Lucien hissed. His fingers slipping alternately over the aching knot of need and inside, gliding on the anointing oil. “My queen. My goddess.”

Eve’s heartbeat pounded, and she ground against him, desperate for the pressure of Lucien against her, wanting him so badly she could barely keep contact with the floor. His fingers danced and thrust inside. She wanted more—so much more.

“It's time for us to become one, Eve,” Lucien hissed, and his eyes darkened.

He withdrew his hand, and Eve's body shuddered at the withdrawal. “No, I want you inside me,” she moaned, and Lucien laughed.

“Soon, my darling, your rune must be carved before that can happen.”

“Do it. Do it now.”

The blade was cold and when Lucien dragged its tip across her chest, the shock of its sting brought Eve back a little from the heady realms of passion.

“Lucien–”

His eyes remained focused on the star he was scoring into the flesh between her breasts. Words rumbled from his mouth.

“Per potestatem solis evocamus te

Ex profundis abyssi, surge et veni ad nos

Veni cum sua potestate, afferte ad ligandum voluptatem

Apponae signum tuum super corpus nostri electi

Afferte potentia tenebrarum, alligando hanc mulierem in voluptate”

Blood welled and ran down her ribs toward the floor. The next swipe ran deeper and a bitter pain seared into her flesh.

“Lucien, that's too much–” she made to pull herself up onto her elbows, but Lucien pressed a flat palm to one shoulder and pressed her down to hold her there. Solid and unmovable.

Eve’s heart pounded even harder in her chest. Pleasure and pain. Love and fear.

“Venite et accipe oblationem meam

Tolle corpus illius et fac ipsum tuum proprium

Per potestatem solis alliga eam tibi.

Solutionem meam a domo terrestri.”

He leaned into her, the tip of his cock pressing at her entrance, threatening to breach her.

Eve opened herself up to him, the need for him inside her overtaking everything else.

With a last swipe, the star was complete.

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