Page 36 of Infernal

12. FIGHTING TEMPTATION

The rain tapped its fingernails endlessly against the glass windows as I watched Gabriel leave the room, leaving me and Dominic and our bloodbond to our own devices. There were still so many unanswered questions between us, so many words that had yet to be spoken, but I couldn’t summon the courage to speak them now. I could barely summon the courage to look at him. It was too distracting, and I couldn’t afford any distractions. Not when the clock was ticking so furiously for all of us.

“Drink with me,” he said from somewhere over my shoulder.

I shook my head, still not willing to face him—to allow myself to be distracted by him. One look and I knew I’d be done for. “I think I’ve had enough for the night.”

I started to walk away, following the same path Gabriel had taken, but he quickly snagged my hand.

“One drink.”

My hand tingled from the contact. I looked down at our clasped hands and then back up at him.

“Humor me,” he said, smiling coyly. While his tone was all sweet and innocent, the look in his eyes told me another story entirely. He was hungry—for blood, for me…for God knows what else.

I noticed the awful crawling feeling on my skin had eased now that he was touching me. As much as I wanted the feeling to stay away, I wasn’t willing to pay my pound of flesh for it.

“I…can’t.”

“Why not?” He titled his head to the side and studied me.

“Because I have work to do.” Well, research to be exact. I needed to dig up everything I could find on the Dark Legion and the Ritual they performed the night of Lucifer’s unearthing, and I couldn’t do that if I was busy getting high off Dominic’s blood. “I have to stay focused.”

“We both know you’re not going to be able to focus on anything but this,” he said, using our clasped hands to draw me in closer to him. To lure me in.

I hadn’t even realized we were still holding hands. Horrified, I pulled my hand away, and the scratchy feeling under my skin immediately returned.

Irritation flickered in his eyes as he straightened to his full height. “How long are we going to do this?” he asked as he walked around me, frowning down at me as he circled me like his prey.

I shadowed his move and turned right along with him. “Do what?”

“Anger the bloodbond.”

I didn’t answer, because I knew exactly what he meant. The trembling hands, the vivid dreams, the incessant anxiety clawing just beneath my skin. It was the bloodbond calling for its offering, over and over again, and the more I tried to stay away from Dominic, the louder the calls became. My body was a mess, and my mind was in even worse shape, and even though Dominic could easily make me feel better again, I couldn’t help but fear the cost of it.

“Why do you insist on making me suffer so?” he asked, his voice soft now—almost pained.

I looked up at him and saw that the edges to his eyes had been replaced with a sort of softness that made me want to move closer to him. Like a moth, I always seemed to want to get closer to that flame.

I dug my heels into the ground and forced myself to stay put.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Isn’t it?” he challenged, his eyes dropping briefly to my mouth.

My pulse spiked, and then I was retreating from him, using every ounce of strength I had to back away from the flame, but he was right there with me, following me until my back hit the wall.

“Then stop fighting me, angel.” Wiping out the remaining space between us, he pressed his body against mine and casually tucked a loose piece of my hair behind my ear.

My skin prickled with heat as he brought his face to my cheek and took in the scent of my hair.

“Let mehaveyou,” he lilted, his voice a seductive whisper against my ear.

My cheek instinctively turned towards his face and nuzzled itself against the soft curve of his jaw. It wasn’t what I had intended to do, but my body seemed to have a mind of its own. Pushing the rest of my hair over my shoulder, he cleared the way to my neck. His hands slid down my arms, caressing my skin as his eyes filled with enticement—with want. A shudder rippled through my body as I allowed myself to breath in his scent.

Big mistake.

I swayed towards him recklessly and without abandon, my body desperate for him to give me some way to survive the night—to survive the smothering darkness that was my life. I knew what giving into him would yield, what the bloodbond wanted, and the longer I stayed this close, the harder it was to resist it.

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