Page 25 of Reine's Salvation

Chapter Eleven

Reine walked across town. For the first time since his arrival, he was starting to notice things. Lance was not a town at peace. Darkness was around every corner.

People went about their business, unaware of the Inferums running behind their backs here and there. They were everywhere, constantly trying to take possession of their souls and minds and bring evil to life.

Fortunately, humans were tough creatures. Many of them were capable of resisting the onslaught of evil. Sadly, others failed miserably and became slaves to the Sins’ dark power. And yet, there was a third group. In that group were the men and women who became infected by the Sins’ malevolent power, but looked into themselves and fought back to escape it and succeeded. Mystique belonged to this crowd.

Reine stopped at a zebra crossing. A car with a group of rowdy teenagers zoomed by. He looked up. The sky was turning gray, a thunderstorm clearly forming. He sniffed. Trouble was brewing. Something in the air was not right. He hurried across the street. He wanted to spread his wings and look about. These humans and their delicate balance were in danger. He felt it in his bones. The urge to fight made his blood sing. The Sins were up to something.

He was crossing the street, when he caught sight of a shadow darting across the sidewalk. His eyes narrowed. The tiny creature was red, its webbed feet sticking to the ground like a duck’s. It was nothing more than flesh and bones, and it came from Oak Road.

That place had given him bad vibes. Evil was almost palpable in its broken buildings. Darkness embedded deep into the structures. He had stood close to Mystique, afraid something would come out at them.

Reine frowned. Perhaps he should follow the creature. His sense of responsibility kicked in. He had a mission: to observe and report. That was all he was supposed to do. He glanced at his arm. He could not fight. Aslan had told him his emotions were out of control. He was too irritable. Reine snorted. Very well then, he would report tomorrow. Tonight, he had a date.

Ignoring his gut, he made his way in the direction of the restaurants he’d seen with Mystique earlier during the day. He caught sight of her, nervously teetering on her feet looking at the menu displayed at the door. She was dressed differently in a little black dress that hugged her generous curves and matching strappy sandals.

Quietly, he approached her from behind and wrapped his arm around her. She jumped slightly, but immediately relaxed when she realized it was him. Reine sighed. Would he ever get used to the fact he only had one arm to hold her?

“I want to fuck you from behind,” he told her, in an attempt to push away his negative thoughts.

He pressed against her back. The contours of her ass hugged his rapidly rising cock. “Just one glance at you and look how you have me.”

Mystique’s fingers dug into his arm as she pushed back against him.

“Do you want to go to my place?” she whispered.

“I want nothing more than to be pumping inside you, but I need to feed you first or you won’t last a round.”

Reine turned her around in his arm and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss. She held onto his shoulders, her body molding into his. Finally, they pulled back. Reine gazed into her chocolate eyes, hazy with desire. His phantom arm wanted to reach out to her to touch her face, caress the smoothness of her cheek and tuck her hair behind her ear. Anger slammed into him. He stepped back. He would never be able to do any of that.

“What’s wrong?” Mystique whispered.

Reine shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s go inside and eat.”

Dinner was what he expected a date to be. They spoke, they laughed, they played footsies, and they stared into each other’s eyes with longing and lust. Reine squeezed Mystique’s hand as they made their way to her house. She made him forget he was missing an arm. She made him forget he was broken.

He jumped as he felt her poke him in the ribs.

“What?”

Mystique smiled. “I lost you. You grew all serious and put on that frowny face where your lips go downwards and almost disappear into your beard.”

Reine laughed as she attempted to show him what she meant.

“What were you thinking about?” she asked.

“You.”

“Liar.”

Reine stopped and pulled her into him. Her arms wrapped around him and she lifted her head so he could kiss her.

“That’s better.” She traced his lips with the tip of her finger. Reine tried to suck it into his mouth, but she playfully swatted him on the arm.

“You’re very good at reading people,” Reine said as they resumed walking.

“Yes, my teachers were always bugging me about studying psychology or something similar.”

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