Page 156 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“You need to let go. This is unseemly. Improper. Please,” I croak.

“What is improper about me saving you?” he asks as he angles one brow.

“What? Everything! This.” I attempt to push him off, but then I realize we’re still standing in the middle of the lake where the water is too deep.

“Stop fidgeting, Minnie.”

“Help me get over there.” I motion to the edge. “Then let go.”

“No one will see us.” He tsks.

“So? I am an unmarried lady. A respectable unmarried lady. I cannot be this close to a naked man. Especially a shovel like you.”

He tightens his hold over me and draws me closer. So close that my hard nipples bush against his warm chest. Oh my, I’m going to faint. Right here.

“Why are you still going on with that? How many times do I have to tell you I am not a rake?” His voice is different now, tighter. No longer playful like before, he’s staring at me with a dangerous intensity.

The sun shines against his tanned pallor, intensifying the green hue of his eyes. If before I’d thought he was beautiful, like this, with droplets of water clinging to his lashes and some dripping down his skin, he is…mesmerizing.

I cannot take my eyes off him, though I’m painfully aware I must.

“I—” The shift in his countenance swallows my words.

“How can I be a rake when you’re the only female I’ve ever looked at in all of my existence? Past, present, future. How?” The wind carries the last question, echoing in the valley and in my mind.

“I… That is to say… You may not be a rake, but that doesn’t mean females don’t desire you. I saw how the faery looked at you. There’s also the women at the base and…”

“And? It is out of my control if other females look at me. But what is in my control is to never acknowledge them, never look at them.”

I blink at the vehemence in his voice.

“Would you like me to be more disfigured than I already am? Say the word and I’ll do it.” He grabs my hand and brings it to his face, placing my fingers on his scar. “I can add another scar. And another. Until I’m so badly deformed no one will ever look at me. Would you like that?”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“I will do it. For you, I will do it. Just so you never think of another woman looking at me or desiring me.”

“Are you mad?” I whisper.

“Yes, Minnie, I am raving mad,” he grits out in a low voice. “If my words cannot assure you, then my actions should.” Hepauses, a sardonic smile pulling at his lips. “But then the question is… would you still look at me?”

“Of course,” I blurt out without thinking what I’m admitting. “You’d be handsome to me anyway, just because you’re you.”

His lips curl up in a smile. “So you think I’m handsome?”

Damn it! I fell into his trap.

“Uhm, that is to say…”

“Your blush is confirmation enough,” he says playfully. “That pleases me.”

He leans forward and my mind blanks on me.

Is he going to…is he…

“Let go!” I shout, sliding out of his grip.

But seeing as how I’m still in deep waters, I immediately sink to the bottom.

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