Page 138 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“What’s this?” I ask as I half turn.

Mine’s hands are on my shoulders, keeping me in place.

“There’s something there, Mine. I think I hit your stick,” I add, panicking.

“My…stick?” he croaks.

“Yes, the car stick.”

I push his hands away and rotate so I can get a better look. But then I spot theactualcar stick, a distance away, not at all so close to me I would feel it poking me in the back.

I slowly turn to Mine.

His cheeks are scarlet as he mumbles, “It’s my stick all right.”

“What?”

He clears his throat, but the silence stretches as he refuses to answer my question.

“Mine! What’s wrong?”

“You…know,” he adds in a low, bashful voice.

Frowning, I shake my head.

“I don’t.”

He lowers his hands to my waist and moves me a bit further as he adjusts himself in the seat. Still frowning, I’m trying to grasp what’s happening when I happen to glance down at his pants.

Mine follows my gaze and he curses under his breath.

“Uhm…”

Before I can scramble for the proper words, he kicks the door open and deposits me outside the car. He doesn’t join me out immediately, though, and when he does, the rather large outline in his pants from before is gone.

I want to ask more questions, but for some reason, my cheeks redden to a shade to match his own. Our gazes collide and we both swiftly look away.

“So…” He’s the first to start. “We should leave the car here since we won’t be able to drive through the forest.”

He grabs my hand and steers me toward the forest. The trees are so tall, they create a dome above our heads, barely allowing any light to come through.

I hate to admit it, but the fact that he’s holding on to me makes me feel better. More…protected. Which is ludicrous sinceIam the one who should be protecting him. I suppose it’s still nice to have someone next to me, lending me his strength. And despite being human, Mine has quite the strength.

I eye him up and down surreptitiously. Oh, yes. His body is hard with muscle. I blush as I remember feeling that hardness under the tips of my fingers. Seeing that he’s officially courting me, perhaps he’ll let me touch his muscles again. AndmaybeI will show him my own too—after all, I did not spend so much time training in the army not to feel proud of my toned muscles.

“So what’s the plan?” I ask in an attempt to steer myself away from those thoughts. I need to think about killing demons, not feeling hard, hot muscles…

“We’re going around the forest to find the entrance to the castle ourselves.” He pauses and clicks his tongue against his teeth. “I don’t understand how anyone would refuse that type of money. Especially during wartime,” he grumbles under his breath.

“Some people have principles,” I tell him with a shrug.

“It’s alotof money,” he emphasizes.

“So? There are some things I would never do for all the money in the universe.”

He narrows his eyes at me, but I swear I spot a smile creeping up his face.

“Is that so?”

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