Page 104 of Tortured Soul
“If I leave,” I continued, remembering his exact words, “I’m not breaking the binding promise. Becauseyouwon’t be here.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “If you’re leaving, I’m going with you.”
I groaned, bringing my hands to my head.
“I don’t want you to.”
“Why?”
“Because I make peoplemiserable. That’s what I do! Carter is right to hate me, it seems he’s the only sane person in this damned group! Being an insistent jerk like you’re being now, do you know what that makes you? A fucking masochist and sadist at the same time. Because you’re only going to get hurt, and I’m just so fucking tired of having things to lose!”
He was suddenly up and in my face, his hand grabbing my jaw to make me look at his thunderous face.
“Let’s stop the pity party, shall we? Whether you want to or not, you’re stuck with us. There’s no return policy. I’ll get your soul back. Carter and you will figure things out and make it work. We’ll become the strongest binded group that exists and live a carefree, unthreatened eternity. Get that into your thick skull, because I’m not giving you up.”
The tip of his fingers sent sparks through my skin, electricity zapping toward my brain, my heart.
His lips landed on mine, muffling my gasp. His teeth nibbled on my bottom lip, his tongue invading my mouth to dance with mine.
I bit back a moan as his arm circled my waist, pulling me flush against him, his hand sliding from my jaw to grab the back of my hair.
He pulled back, leaving me breathless.
“Got it?”
I held his gaze with defiance.
“You’re such a cliche. Too scared to go against fate even though it played you a bad hand, just because you refuse to ignore your primal instincts.”
He only smiled. “Why would I go against it? Just for the sake of it? Fate decided that our souls would fit together, and I have no reasons to doubt it. I am not scared to fight for it if I must.”
“What if I am?”
The soft laugh that escaped him made his chest rumble against mine.
“Then I’ll be confident enough for the both of us.”
Such a cheesy line would have made me laugh on a normal day. But right now? Now I was just trying to keep my mind clear. To resist the slight tug I started to feel in his presence. To resist his soul reaching for mine, only to find emptiness.
“Trust me,” he said, before kissing me again.
And I didn’t want to. I wanted to push him away and lock him in a room long enough so that I could escape. So that I could run away from them all and hide from the whole world. So that I could never hurt his soul like I’ve damaged Blake and Dimitri’s.
But that empty space inside me was weak, aching for them all.
Still hoping that, someday, I’d get the happy ending I was never supposed to have.
He groaned against my lips when I finally kissed him back, grabbing his head to pull him closer as he caged me against the island counter.
“Stop torturing the poor kitchen, I’m pretty sure it’s seen enough horrors already,” Carter grunted.
I jumped and pushed Arc away. He was looking at me with hazy eyes, ignoring his shirtless friend walking past us to reach a drawer.
“Don’t mind me,” he gritted out.
My eyes couldn’t help but follow his frame. He was walking slowly, a wince pulling at his face with every step. His wings were still out, hanging low and sweeping the floor behind him. He grabbed a small box and turned to leave the room from where he came from.
Why did he not retract them? Why were they soaked in golden blood?
