Page 113 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I’m still confused.

“You wanted to doit. It being…”

“Fight it out, of course,” I answer immediately.

And the laughter ensues again.

FIFTEEN

Anger drums in my veins.How dare he laugh at me? It wasn’t enough that he fooled me fordays? Now he has to throw it into my face that not only am I entirely gullible but also a laughingstock?

“Stop. Laughing,” I grit out.

He’s on his back, rolling around almost naked. And no matter how many times I tell him to cease, he does no such thing.

Perhaps my punch did not do much, despite the blood. No worries. I shall remedy that.

Striding to him, I gather momentum to hit him again. But just as my fist is about to connect with his face, he grabs it with surprising ease. He encases my fist in his palm, and with his other hand, he pulls me toward him. Losing my balance, I topple forward and land on top of him. As if that’s not enough of an ignominy, he rolls us over until I am on my back and he is atop me, looming over me.

My breath is knocked out of my lungs, but it is not a result of an external force, rather an internal one. One I am trying my hardest to ignore that it exists.

His features are no longer full of amusement. They’re tense. Or, rather,intense.

“What do you think—” I don’t get a chance to make my outrage known because he shushes me by placing his hand over my mouth.

My words are muffled, and soon I realize it is in vain to even speak since he clearly does not want to listen to me.

Yet the position we currently find ourselves in is not lost on me. His body is nestled snugly between my legs. I am wearing a flimsy shirt for a dress. He’s wearing next to nothing. I may not have too much knowledge of carnal matters, but even I can tell this is how everything starts—whether I want it or not.

He is aware of this conundrum, too. A drop of sweat mars his brow as he pulls himself back so he’s not touching me so intimately, but he’s not completely off me either.

“You will listen to me now, Minnie.”

I glare at him. As if I have a choice in the matter.

“I did not deceive you. Mine is the only name I wish to hear from your lips where I’m concerned.”

As if I’m ever going to call him that again.

“I do not have a female, as you wrongly assumed. I don’t know what you think you heard, but there is no other female in my life aside from you.”

I blink. What am I supposed to do with that information?

“I have no interest in any other female. Never had before, and I will never have in the future. Not even when my mortal mind fails to remember the past. Not even then,” he continues, an odd cadence to his tone.

Slowly, he removes his hand from my mouth.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” he asks, his eyes boring into mine.

I stare at him.

“You like males?”

His eyes widen for a moment before he releases a loud sigh.

“Is that all you understood from what I said?” he asks in a hopeless tone.

“You want me to call you Mine, which I will not, of course, since it isnotyour name. And you’re assuring me you have no female and that you are not interested in any female.”

---