Page 29 of Red Ruin

My stomach twists in an agonizing knot. I gasp at Remy’s mouth, fighting waves of ice and pain that rake my throat.

But I’m so good at keeping the hurt out of my voice. It doesn’t even shake as I stare deep into Remy’s predatory eyes. “Work with me. You’ll feel better faster.”

I massage his energy until my aura bathes my skin in blue.

Eventually, his wings and claws retract.

His black veins fade, and my care shifts his skin from marbled to pale, white flesh. Remy’s human brows and cheekbones are just as deadly sharp. His eyes regain their original red.

I sense reason starting to flicker in that head.

“Show me what you need,” I murmur as I rub his throat.

I hope it’s a blowjob and a bag of blood.

Something easy to give.

Remy doesn’t offer an answer, and I don’t have to dig to find out why.

There are no lies between souls.

I’m holding back too much. Hurrying when I need to be patient. Frustrated instead of offering the real vulnerability that would signal it’s safe for him to open his soul to me.

I’ve never offered my real, unguarded self to anyone but Kevan.

Look how that turned out.

The deepest thing I’m ready to share with Remy is that last half triangle of a ham sandwich that I ate on the train.

I swallow a repeat of honey glaze.

This is going to suck.

With more force than actual submission, I invite his icy soul to peek inside my heart.

I don’t want to know what he sees in there. Maybe a basement full of cobwebs and trampled good intentions.

When I focus on him, I choke. This time, the pinch in my throat has nothing to do with blood.

Remington Azrid islonely.

His soul echoes deep, dark, and empty, with no light to be found and no hope that anything will change.

Honestly?Same.

I curl my fingers in Remy’s hair to stop the shake in my hands. “Remy. I need you to come back to me.”

Something flickers in his depths.

Remington tilts his face to mine like an underworld sunflower. I feel his wonder and disbelief. Then his silks spear in an all-too-familiar grab that melts my spine.

He wants me.

My blood, my body, my soul.

Everything.

All of me.

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