Page 11 of Stegian: Project Exorcism 4

“Where exactly is here?” He knew the planet well and couldn't recall ever seeing caverns such as these.

“Where do you wish it to be?”

He huffed and blew out a long breath. “I dare say you speak in more riddles than myself, woman.”

She grinned. “I’m working on my evil mastermind techniques. How am I doing?” She nudged him slightly and he couldn’t help but laugh.

The feeling was foreign to him. It had been so long since he’d laughed from truly being happy that the sound of his own voice caught him off guard. The female before him beamed as she cupped his cheek.

“You're so incredibly handsome, and when you smile, I want to give you anything you want. Why is that?”

Stegian didn’t have an answer for her, nor did he think she truly wanted one. Instead, he took her hand in his and placed his free hand on her hip. “Dance with me, beautiful one.”

She nodded and moved gracefully with him around the cavern. Stegian couldn’t remember the last time he’d danced.

The ball, long ago.

Waltzing with her shaved years off him, making him remember a time when he wasn’t restricted to the darkness—a time when he was as human as he’d ever been, considering he’d been born a sorcerer.

He spun her in a circle and smiled as a tiny laugh erupted from her. Stegian laughed as well as he missed a step. “It has been a while.”

Her blue gaze fixed on him. “I think you’re doing a marvelous job. The person who taught me to dance wasn’t nearly as graceful as you.”

They continued, dancing and laughing softly as they went. For one hundred and fifty years, the only pleasure he’d had came at the expense of someone else’s pain. To laugh freely and have someone near who didn’t fear him was beyond refreshing. For a brief moment, Stegian actually forgot what he carried within him. The ultimate evil.

He drew her in close and pressed his mouth to her ear. “Tell me your name.”

She stiffened. “Stegian, please.” From the sound of her voice, he knew she was on the verge of tears. Normally, that would have pleased him. It didn’t. “I don’t want our time together to end yet. Pick a name. Any name at all, and call me it. But please don’t ask me to end something as wonderful as what we’ve shared so far.”

“Solnihshka mayo,” he whispered.

She drew back and gave him a puzzled look. “What does it mean?”

Tracing a finger over her cheek, he marveled over how smooth her skin was. “It means my sunshine.”

She returned to his embrace, putting her head against his chest and allowing Stegian to lead her in a slower dance. “Mmm, I never want this to end.”

“All good things come to an end,” Stegian said, the words hitting closer to home than he’d have liked.

Jacquelyn sighed, pressing her cheek to Stegian’s steely chest. The absence of a heartbeat was unnerving, but she kept her head against him all the same, needing the contact more than she cared to admit. She ran her hand up his back and let it settle on the nape of his neck. His dark hair was bound with a tie at the base of his neck. She started to undo the tie and he jerked.

“What are you doing?”

“Freeing your hair. I'd like very much to see it down.”

Tension filled his body and Jacquelyn knew he teetered on the edge with his demon. The snarl that rippled through him told her Stegian was fast losing the battle within himself.

He took hold of the top of her gown and in an instant, his fingernails had lengthened and sliced through the fabric, baring a breast to him.

She drew in a sharp breath and clasped her torn gown to her chest as she struggled out of his hold.

“Do not give me that look,” he said. Something in his voice was off. “I would like very much to see you naked before me.” The snide tone warned that the demon was in control. He crouched and Jacquelyn knew she should run.

It didn’t matter. Stegian was on her in a flash, slamming her into the cavern wall. Her head hit first, and then her upper back. Pain radiated throughout her body.

He seized hold of her throat and dug his nails into her skin. Jacquelyn closed her eyes, refusing to have the image of Stegian in full vampire mode be the last thing she ever saw. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as he pinned her to the wall.

“Beg for your life,” he said, his voice still off.

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