Page 75 of Female Fantasy
My forehead.
My lips.
“You keep talking about looking for love outside of yourself,” he whispers. “But I think youarelove, Joonie. Unrelenting, all-encompassing, pain-in-the-ass love in its purest form.”
“Love, huh?”
“A great love, one that can bring the gods to their knees and spin the Earth off its axis.”
Holy shit. Did he just…?
Did he just quote my favorite line from my favorite book?
“But you don’t believe in love.” I blink up at him.
He stares at me, a myriad of emotions coming and going, passing through his eyes like the debris of the dying stars overhead, hidden by the New York smog.
“I don’t believe in love,” he finally says. “But I do believe in you.”
And then he kisses me.
Ryke’s body tenses in my arms, his head falling back as if I have struck him across the face.
“I cannot believe,” his says, looking grievously offended, “that you would dare ask me to do such a thing. That you believe I would even consider risking your life, let alone taking it.”
I take a breath, then lean forward.
He flinches in response.
“My prince, listen to me,” I explain. “I have a theory.”
Even in his weakened state, he looks intrigued, his eyebrow rising. “A theory.”
“Yes,” I continue. “You told me once that the way sirens gain their additional power, their dark magic, is by seducing men, then drawing out their energy while they are joined together as one. Dimming life as they create it. Gaining strength through sacrifice.”
“Takinglife, Merriah,” he spits. “Not dimming. Taking. In order for me to heal my body using that kind of sorcery, I would have to drain you of your life force while you were at the precipice.”
“A human,” I correct him. “You would have to drain a human.”
He pauses for a second. Considers my choice of words. “Yes.”
I hold my breath for a moment, then continue. “But I am not purely human. I am the descendant of Amphitrite, goddess of the sea. I command the treasure trove. Who knows what lies beneath my skin, inside my bones?”
Ryke studies my face as if it holds the secrets to the eighth wonder of our worlds.
“That may be true,” he admits. “But your power is untested.”
“Perhaps even a sprinkle of my life force would be enough,” I say, “for you to quickly grow strong again. Perhaps I need only visit the entrance to the underworld, then return of my own accord.”
He takes my face in both hands. His thumbs stroke my temples, tender and reverent. “I will not take that risk.”
A flame flickers in my chest, angry and indignant. “It is not your risk to take.”
“There is one thing you have not yet considered, little minnow.” His lips brush my ear, his breath tickling the sensitive skin with each syllable. “What if, once I find myself unraveled in your warmth, I am rendered mindless?”
I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. “Mindless?”
He nods. “The sirens crave human life for a reason. When I have your very life at my fingertips, what if I am unable to stop?”
