Page 56 of Elas

He doesn’t take it further, though, separating us as my breathing gets heavier. He won’t be distracted from what he needs to say. “We have to be careful in the future. No more sneaking around and stealing stuff. If you were caught…”

“I know I would be in trouble.”

His eyes are harsh as they meet mine. “You wouldn’t be in trouble, August, you’d bedead. You’re already under their magnifying glass, and if they found you poking around, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill you on the spot.”

“No one saw me,” I say defiantly, shuffling under the scrutiny of his stare, but he grips my chin and forces my eyes to stay on his.

“These aren’t humans we’re talking about, August, and we aren’t bound by your same limited senses. They might not have seen you, but did theyhearyou?” Anxiety clamps across my chest as I bite my bottom lip, remembering the quiet hallway.

Was it possible someone heard my footsteps? The swing of the hinges? The near-silent flutter of paper?

My racing heart, even locked inside that room?

“No, I… I don’t think so,” I stammer, but Elas’s lip lifts in a snarl.

“Could theysmell youafter you left?”

“I don’t… I don’t know,” I choke out, and to my absolute horror, fresh tears burn in my eyes.

Elas doesn’t seem to notice as he pushes out a frustrated sigh. “You got away with it today, but next time you might not be so lucky. No more sleuthing, alright? No more snooping or sneaking around, because you’ll end up getting caught. What am I supposed to do then?” His voice raises as his frustration comes to a head, and those tears are precariously close to slipping free.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, and his eyes lock on mine as my voice cracks. I can’t stop the tremble in my lip as I consider everything that could’ve gone wrong today.

“Fuck, August, no… I made you cry. Don’t do that. Don’t cry, baby. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Elas’s tone is infinitely softer as another of those pained whines leaves his throat.

“I thought I was doing something good,” I say, and the words are unsteady as I stare at the ceiling, trying to contain the pool of tears in my eyes. “I just… I just wanted to dosomething, you know? Ever since I was brought here, I’ve felt so useless. Back home, I was always helping people. Yeah, it was chaotic sometimes, and messy, but I was making a difference. People don’t want my help here. They want to shove me into a closet and forget I exist for no other reason than how I was born. I saw them leave that door unlocked, and it was a chance todosomething.”

“Never apologize for this heart, okay?” Elas reaches for me, but hesitates and seems to change his mind. Disappointment floods my already fragile emotional bank, because I just want him to pull me into his arms again. A tear overflows and slips down my cheek.

Elas’s face twists, and it’s heartbreaking to watch his frustrated uncertainty. “August, baby, I’m sorry. I keep doing this all wrong. Don’t cry. Please? You’re breaking my heart here, doc.” He tears his gloves off so his palm shines freely, then pulls my shirts over my head. The white gold creates a stunning contrast against his blue skin, and he presses his mark over mine.

Pure light and energy swirl in my chest, a serene tranquility blooming and radiating from his touch. “I’m not upset with you,” I finally manage to say through my constricted windpipe. “We’re still learning each other, and we’re bound to get some things wrong.”

“So Ididdo something wrong?” he asks, weaving his fingers through my hair while those enormous eyes lock on mine.

“Life wasn’t always this complicated. It’s just a lot.”

“No, I upset you. Tell me what you wanted me to do. Tell me where I messed up, so I don’t do it again.” Gods, he really is seven feet of pure sweetness, and my heart pinches at how distraught he looks.

I reach up and run my fingertips over his cheek, grazing the scar that slices through his lip. “I’m not great at relationships, Elas. Eventually, people figure out that I can’t be what they need me to be. When you didn’t touch me, I… I worried you might’ve been having second thoughts.”

“You weren’t what they needed you to be because you weren’ttheirs. They were just placeholders while you found your way to me.”

“Elas…” I wrap my hands around his neck and tug him closer.

“I should hunt them down for making you feel less than perfect,” he says, his lip twitching in a snarl. His fingers tighten in my hair, and my breath catches at the sting. “Anyone who’s ever hurt you deserves to suffer.” The air charges, a shift in the atmosphere as those shimmering flecks in his eyes darken into deep pits of solid, bottomless black.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I say. “Theydon’t matter. Besides, they’re so far from here.” He doesn’t even blink as his head tilts to the side.

“Do you think distance matters when it comes to you? You believe I couldn’t track them to the very ends of the earth? If I want something, Ifindit.” That hand in my hair tugs me forward until there’s no space between us, his breath hot on my skin. “And if I want it, I take it.”

“And you want me?” I whisper, and a predatorial smile spreads across his lips as he uses my hair to tilt my chin up. I shudder as he licks along the column of my throat, scraping his teeth over my Adam’s apple.

“Yes,” he growls, the vibrations rolling over my skin. That deep-rooted instinctual awareness of being hunted sends my senses into overdrive. My body goes on full alert, the tiny hairs on my arms standing up on end as his eyes slowly roam my face. My feet itch torun, but he grips my hip and holds me in place.

“What’s wrong, doc?” His nostrils flare as he takes a deep breath, and a smirk tugs over his lips. “Scared?”

“Yes,” I whisper, refusing to lie to him.

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