Page 114 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

He presses his lips together.

“Anyotherfemale.”

“Other than who?”

“You, you silly creature. Other than you.”

I frown.

“But that’s impossible,” I whisper.

“I assure you it is quite possible,” he mutters drily.

“You cannot be interested in me. You’re mortal! I amimmortal. Impossible, see?”

“Minnie…”

“All this time… I was right, wasn’t I? You’re a shovel and you were trying to steal my virtue,” I grit out and push against his chest in an attempt to get him off me.

He remains steadfast.

“Get off me!”

“You are once more misunderstanding me,” he adds with a sigh, grabbing my flailing arms and restraining me. “I am not trying to steal your virtue, Minnie. I am trying to steal your heart, damn it!”

I stop moving. “You…what?”

“Haven’t I managed it? Just a little?”

“You aren’t serious, are you?” I whisper.

For some reason, his savage expression and the way he’s holding me, so close yet too far, makes my heart skip a beat. It’s cold outside, but with him on top of me, the cold fades away untilthere’s only a deep sense of comfort as if I’d like nothing more than snuggle in his embrace.

My eyes widen at my train of thought.

I didn’t just… I didn’t think of him like that, did I?

“Oh, trust me, Minnie. I amveryserious. You are the only female I’veeverwanted. No other. Not here, not now, and not for an eternity to come.”

“I…” I lick my lips. “I don’t know what you want me to say to that.”

“The truth would be nice.” He smiles, showcasing his perfect teeth.

“The truth is that I am an ice deity and you are a human soldier,” I start tentatively. His features tense. “Even if I, hypothetically, returned your regard, it’s impossible between us. It’s forbidden for my kind to get involved with your kind. It’s forbidden for me to even be alone with a male, never mind like this, touching, and?—”

“And?”

A shiver goes down my back.

“It’s impossible, Lucien.”

He seems surprised at my using his first name. It must be the first time I have done so. It feels foreign on my tongue, odd… For some reason, I cannot reconcile that name with the man before me.

“Yet here we are. Theoretically impossible but made possible by our own hands,” he murmurs. He brings his hand to my cheek, caressing me lightly. The calluses on his palm are abrasive against my skin, but it’s the type of pain that reminds me I’m alive—the type of touch that awakens something within me. Something that should have forever lain dormant.

“And this moment might end up costing me my entire future.”

I cover his hand with mine and pull it aside. He stops me.

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