Page 84 of Sinful Mates

The insecure part of me writhed. Fuck. This was why I avoided those three words. Declaring it left you bruised, cold, and empty.

I wanted to hear those words on his lips but knew I couldn’t push him. He was the kind of man to say it only when he meant it. Maybe he wasn’t there yet. The waiting destroyed me, and I hated being the one to say it first. The one left awkward and silent and pining.

Zethan’s hand moved from my waist up to my heart, chasing away the doubt. “Don’t ever question my love. I killed the man who beat you.”

Hearing that filled me with a sick, dark sense of satisfaction that alarmed me when it was at odds with my oath to heal and do no harm.

“I wouldn’t have gone to the depths of hell with you to rescue Mia and risk my position if I didn’t feel the same fucking way.” At his fierce words, my body vibrated with something new and intense. “I would walk through fire for you. Let my god tear my flesh and scar me all over if it meant you lived. I was broken by my past and the ghosts that haunt it until you came along and healed me.”

Goddess, this man read to the very heart of me. He was my everything. My darkness. My moon. My soul. His feelings wrapped around me like a warm blanket. Protective, strong, comforting.

I buried my head in his bulky chest, brushing my lips on his scars and inhaling his metal and citrus scent to orient myself.

“Fuck, baby.” He dragged the backs of his nails on the inside of my elbows. “Want to skip the visitors and go to dinner?”

I slapped his muscled forearm. “Tempting, but I want to meet these visitors.”

Zethan groaned with displeasure, caught my hand and led me across a courtyard, toward a large, rectangular building engraved with reeds, flowers, animals, and people.

Memories of Isis came to me of the architecture’s construction. High walls topped with towers, decorated cornices, djed pillars, obelisks, gardens, and water features, everything ornate, carved, painted or engraved to precision. The ancient Egyptians really loved their science and math, thanks to Thoth, and barely got a calculation wrong.

Inside the structure, brightly painted columns tipped with lotuses supported tall ceilings. Statues of the Gods loomed over us. Servants of the Underworld flittered between the rooms.

Zethan followed a long pond with lotus flowers floating on the surface that made my goddess sigh and smile. An archway gave way to a hall where reliefs covered every wall. The head of Osiris, seated at his throne with his cross and flail over his chest. Another with the winged sun of Horus. One for my goddess kneeling, arms outstretched, wings unfurled. Isis shifted inside me, warm, glowing, pleased by her acknowledgment. The final relief of Anubis tending to the dead, mummifying a corpse in a tomb. All of it took my breath away.

“This is the receiving hall where I meet the dead,” Zethan announced.

“It’s beautiful.” Architecture in ancient Egypt was incredible.

He climbed a set of stairs and sat at his throne. A matching seat appeared beside his, gold laden with jewels.

“Sit, my queen.” He gestured with the crook in his palm.

I followed him up the dais. Cold metal met my touch as I stroked the gold, solid and hard, unlike the soft metal of ancient jewelry.

Before I got to enjoy my new position, a tall man, about Zethan’s height but less bulky build, strolled in. His three-piece suit gave way to the dark skirt that replaced it.

A word that left my mind instantly, my survival instinct kicking in.

Sticky fear trickled down my back. I didn’t like the impression I picked up from this man. Cold and dark. Malignant and sharp like a blade.

Colton fucking Raine.

CHAPTER29

Aaliyah

Tension consumed allmy enthusiasm to be alone with Zethan like a fire consuming the last molecule of air.

Fists clenched, he rose from his throne and I clasped his wrist, remembering the warning for Colton’s penchant for cutting up his victims and sending their organs in canopic jars.

“Finally showed up to your duties, you coward,” Zethan growled, telling me their working relationship was as friendly as a tiger and bear. “Been in hiding like the snake you are?”

Cold tingles on my neck warned me of more than danger. Death. Darkness. Pure evil. Lethal, yet as efficient as a surgeon’s blade.

“Had business to take care of. I’m sure you understand.” Sinister, and cruel, Colton had a cold beauty about him. Chiseled perfection like an ice sculpture. One touch and he would freeze you. Hell, just staring at him a moment too long made me fear I’d turn to ice or stone.

I got the same malevolent, twisted energy from partners of domestic violence victims. Aggressive and uncooperative, they hovered possessively over the victim to the detriment of the medical team. Refused to let doctors examine the victim sometimes. Bullied the victim to the point of clamping up if questioned by doctors or the police.

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