Page 25 of Between Soul and Vessel
“Zahra?” I jerked my head up, trying to understand where it had come from. My body went rigid. “Did you hear that?” I asked Sage, looking back down at her, mortified to find that hairline cracks were beginning to form all over her body. “No!” I yelled, my hands moving to each one, desperately trying to heal her.
“It’s okay,” she said, her fingers reaching for my face, tears brimming. “You have to let go of this dream so that you can save me.” Her hand fell over her abdomen. “Saveus.”
Crisp, white light burst through the cracks that had formed in her skin. When she shattered, the flash of light emitted was so bright it blinded me. Desperately, I felt for her, but I could no longer feel the velvety softness of her skin; all I could feel was rock-hard soil.
Slowly, my vision returned.
I was kneeling . . . on the ground.
The Lost Soul was on the run, heading back toward the bog. A flaming serpent, conjured by Zahra, swirled around us, the head latching on to the tail and cutting her off.
I shot to my feet.
Wasting no time, Dameon forged a lariat made of flame. Over his head, he circled the rope in a smooth motion before he let it go. The loop soared into the air, toward the female. It fell over top of her and Dameon pulled it tight, jerking her backwards. She stumbled, hissing and screaming as she tried to fight her way out of the rope. Despite it being forged from fire, the flames did not burn her, but they did restrain her.
“Welcome back,” Dameon grunted at me.
I could have told him I was happy to be back, but frankly, that would have been a lie.
Was I so desperate for Sage that I would willfully hand myself over to a fake vision of her? As I walked up to the Lost Soul, the answer stared me in the face.
I grabbed the flaming rope, cinched around her concave waist, jerking her toward me. “Here is how this is going to go. I have questions—questions you are going to answer. The sooner you do, the sooner you can go back to your cozy little bog life. Pretty simple, yes?”
“What about me?” squeaked the creature, still strapped to the rock. I had all but forgotten about him.
I turned to Dameon, a toying smirk on my lips. “What should we do with him?”
Dameon gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Make him suffer for being such bad bait.”
“Please, no, no!” he began to plead.
“Relax, we’re only fucking with you. You can go free.” Fulfilling my end of the bargain, I conjured the hand from before, tossed it at his feet, and dissolved the chains. Theman-rabbit lunged at the hand and began to chow down.
Zahra gagged.
I turned back to the Lost Soul, who was snarling at me. “Now, about those questions. Oh, and—” I fished out the glass vial that Ezra had given me from my pocket. “I’m going to need one morething.”
Sage
“That is the sweetest sound,” Von murmured, his eyes meeting mine. They were the color of lush, vibrant leaves and mossy ground. His eyes were a forest, one I could stay lost in for the rest of my life.
My breath caught in my throat. “What?”
He smiled. “My name on your lips.”
“Then I will say it over and over and over again until you are sick of it.”
“That is a day, my love, that will never come,” he vowed, and my heart nearly burst as his rapturous mouth met mine.
I sank into that moment of pure bliss, our bodies joined as one, as Von and I gave ourselves to one another.
In that moment, there was only love and passion and something so heartbreakingly beautiful. The way Von loved me was beyond compare. There was no limit to it. Noboundaries. Only open, strong arms, all the forehead kisses a good girl could want, and one Spirit Realm of a hard, steely cock.
Speaking of . . .
With that lethal weapon of his, he thrust inside of me, the strokes long and deep and sensual. They set every nerve ending within me on fire, taking me to oblivion.
Von’s body grew still. His muscles turned even harder, and he jerked his head up. “Did you hear that?” he asked.
