Page 109 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I shoot him an annoyed look.

“Seeing as how I’m stuck here for two more months, I will have no choice but to keep seeing you.”

“Indeed.”

“We should do it. Get rid of the tension once and for all,” I tell him confidently.

He opens his mouth and closes it. Clearing his throat, he averts his gaze.

“By doing it, you mean…”

“Let out the steam. Get whatever this is”—I wave between the two of us—“out of our systems once and for all.”

He swallows hard. His body is tense and he appears uncomfortable.

He’s not afraid, is he?

“You want to do it?” he repeats.

“That’s what I said.” Why is he so slow?

“Here? Now?”

“Of course not here.” I groan. Don’t tell me this is his first time? “We need a more private setting.”

“Private setting,” he mumbles, his cheeks slightly redder than before.

He rolls back his shoulders and seemingly infuses more confidence into his stance.

“Are you sure?” he asks, though he does not dare meet my eyes.

Aha! I was right. Heisafraid.

“Very,” I confirm. “Don’t tell me you’re scared.”

He wets his lips and the action draws my attention to his mouth. His lips are rather…nice. I find myself licking my own in response.

“I’m not scared,” he replies, though I can detect his fake bravado seeping through. “It’s just that…” He mumbles something under his breath. If only I had my normal hearingback, I would have been able to understand what he said. As it stands, I must get closer to him to hear.

“What was that?” I ask.

He gulps down. His Adam’s apple—that’s what humans call that apparatus, no?—bobs up and down, suggesting his uncertainty. He may maintain that he is not scared as much he wants, but his body language says otherwise.

I knew it! I might be powerless in my current form, but I am still a goddess, while he is a mere mortal. He is right to be afraid. He should be terrified.

Although I do not have my usual powers, I have not forgotten centuries of hand-to-hand combat. I am confident I can take him on—andwin.

“I’ve never done it before,” he says in a low voice, his gaze still focused someplace else.

“You’ve never…”

He nods.

That’s odd. At his age and level of experience, never mind rank, I would have expected him to be experienced.

“Then I will be your first,” I declare. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you well.” I pat him on the back and wink at him.

He whips his gaze to me. His entire body tenses, and it’s almost as if his eyes could see right through me.

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