Page 124 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“And I am yours, of course. I am all about equality, you see. I am yours and you are mine.”

“There is nothing equal between us, human,” I grit out. I decide to ignore the rest of his statement because I find it rather charming and it makes me feel better about still calling him Mine. Though it’s not because heismine, of course. It’s only because…well, hefeelsmine. My temples throb. This is more complicated than I expected. I cannot believe that I am having such difficulty with one paltry pronoun.

“You’re right,” he adds with a nod. “You are far superior.”

An unwitting smile pulls at my lips. At least he knows that.

“As a mere mortal, it is my duty to worship you. From that perspective, you are right. We are not equal.”

My lashes flutter in surprise.

“Worship…me?” I whisper.

He smirks.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never thought about it. You’re a goddess, after all. Wouldn’t you want to have a male at yourfeet”—and to prove his point, he slides off the bed and onto his knees in front of me—“worshipping and adoring you?”

“What are you—” My words are cut off abruptly as he places his head in my lap, nuzzling his face against me.

“I can do that and so much more, Minnie,” he rasps. His breath travels through the material of my dress until it reaches my skin. It makes its way inside of me, warming me in a way that makes me shudder with pleasure.

“This isn’t appropriate,” I croak. “We should?—”

“But it wouldn’t bejustyour body that I would worship,” he continues. “I would worship your soul, too.”

My eyes widen.

“I would pleasure you day and night, until your body is a bastion of pleasure, until your soul?—”

“Stop.” I place my fingers against his lips. “Please don’t say any more.”

He grabs my hand and kisses the inside of my palm before turning it and kissing the back of my hand.

“As you wish, my goddess,” he murmurs.

He gets up, dusts his suit, and walks around the room as if nothing happened. As if he didn’t just make my heart stop in my chest with his nearness and his honeyed words. Low tremors that I’m having a hard time controlling rack my body.

“Back to the issue of the demon,” Mine says. His voice and demeanor are both steady and calm—as if he’s completely unaffected by what just happened while I’m barely hanging on by a thread.

“Yes,” I croak. “The demon…” I take a deep breath and try to settle my nerves. “In order to get to Aperion, we must find the portal first.”

At my mention of the wordwe, he gives me a dazzling smile.

My breath hitches.

“You need spiritual energy for that, no?”

I nod. “My own energy flow is blocked. But that doesn’t mean I cannot siphon some. The only issue is that there isn’t much I can siphon energy from in your world.”

“The demon?” He offers.

I shake my head.

“With how strong he is now, I will never get close enough.”

He makes a tsk sound.

“What about souls? You said they’re the purest form of energy. Would absorbing a soul work?”

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