Page 94 of Burn With Me

“Aurora.” Isaac’s voice jerks me out of the old nightmare that passes through my head and I realize we’ve stopped moving and are now in a quiet, study of some kind.

The lights are off, but the vast floor-to-ceiling windows behind a massive desk on the other side of the room face out towards the front of the house, where I can see the distant fountains and their odd statues. From here, they look like monsters, even the man with wings. The light from the outside glows, spilling into the otherwise darkened room.

“Why did you bring me here, Isaac?” I ask. “I hope it’s not to apologize. What’s the point anymore? You’re never going to tell me the truth.”

“If I did, would you stop fighting me?” I blink at his question, shocked by the insinuation that he’d even give me the slightest bit of hope for the truth.

“I…” Would I? If Isaac tells me the truth does that mean I’m finally giving in to whatever is going on between us? That I’m going to follow him and trust him?

“You can’t even give me an answer,” he says, sounding more tired than anything else. “That’s why I can’t give you what you want, Aurora. Sunshine...” His hands land on my shoulders and I finally look up at him. His expression is twisted. His brows practically meet the crease forming between them. His fingers are cold on my skin. There’s a visible war going on inside of him. It’s strange. A heavy weight settles in my chest.

“I’m mad at you.” It’s a confession.

In the dark, his lips twist into a weary grin. “I know.”

My heart picks up pace. Speeding through my chest until I swear it’s going to rip itself free and escape through my ribcage.

“Isaac…” His head dips. I shouldn’t. Fuck me, but I know I shouldn’t. I just can’t help it. I tilt my face towards his and when his lips touch mine, pure, liquid lightning fills me. It spills through my system. Alive. Spreading. Latching onto every blood cell to be carried through the rest of my body until I’m entirely consumed by the feeling.

His lips move over mine, light at first and then firmer as he grows impassioned. His hands move over me, cupping my back, sliding down. My mouth opens and his tongue invades. Warm metal clicks against my own tongue and I jerk. I’d forgotten entirely about the piercing.

Isaac pulls away but keeps me near, his hands refusing to give me any room. “Do you like that, goddess?” he asks. “The sign of your marking?”

I’m panting. Hot. Dizzy. I swear Isaac Icari makes me feel like I’m in an eternal descent. I’m falling. Dying. Grasping at the air with nothing to hold onto. He’s like a sickness I can’t escape. A drug.

Several heartbeats pass without an answer. I extract myself from him, removing his hands from my skin when they become too much to bear and it’s clear he won’t do it himself. Being so close makes it hard to think.Hemakes it hard to think.

“You need to tell your mother to leave him.”

My heart drops at those words and I look up at him quickly. His face has fallen back into that mask, though. Unreadable. “Did you…” A wash of cold air falls over my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Did you bring me here—did you kiss me just to ask me that?”

He doesn’t say anything immediately, but that’s all the answer I need. I laugh. It’s just too fucking funny. It really is.

“Oh, you almost fucking had me, you asshole.”

“Aurora—”

“No!” I snap, jerking away from him when he reaches for me again. “Don’t fucking touch me.” I’m a damn idiot. I should’ve known better. This was all just another manipulation. “You don’t fucking care about me,” I accuse. “You just wanted me to think you did, so I’d do whatever you want.”

“No.” He growls out the word and advances on me. I stumble back, my heels catching on the area rug beneath our feet. A gasp escapes my lips, but hard, broad hands grab onto my hips, stopping my fall before it even completes. “I’ve never faked what I feel about you,” he murmurs, lowering his head. “I do fucking care, Aurora—Rori … please.”

“Fuck you!” I snap. “Where the fuck do you think you get the right to tell me what to do?”

“You want her to anyway,” Isaac continues, ignoring my question. “Now is the time. Before it’s too late.”

“Are you going to tell me why?” I press.

He looks away.No, of course not.

I shove against his chest, wanting his hands off of me. “I am not one of your goddamn lackeys, Isaac!” The anger takes over and I shove him again. All of it fills me, pouring into my veins. “You don’t get to order me around without giving me answers. You don’t get loyalty without loyalty. You probably couldn’t even manage to be loyal to one woman if you tried.”

I push and push until his back hits one of the bookshelves along the side of the room. The second his spine hits it, he suddenly grabs me and spins the two of us. The room tilts and my own back hits the shelves as we switch positions and he presses into me, his face shadowed by the lack of light as he leans down against me.

“I am loyal,” he hisses in my ear. “The second I knew you were mine, my loyalty became unquestionable—don’t you ever fucking question that. Ever since I fucked this sweet pussy”—My breath catches and I arch up onto my toes as his hand moves down the front of my dress to cup me right through the fabric—“it became the only thing I wanted.”

Damn him. “Well, you can’t fucking have it.”

“Oh, I can, baby.” Isaac covers me entirely, my chest to his. My hands snap down to his wrist as I try to shove his fingers away from that place. He doesn’t let me. Instead, he captures both of my hands, crossing them over at the wrist, and pins me back against the shelves. Once he’s sure I’m immobile, his fingers return to my body.

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