Page 13 of We The Depraved
I offer her a shrug and then go back to what I was doing before she interrupted. Once again, I get caught up in chopping the vegetables. I nearly forget this woman is occupying my space.
Before I know it, I’m searing chicken in a pan, watching as it turns golden. She’s suddenly there, looking over my shoulder.
“Are you hungry?” I ask her.
Before she can speak her stomach speaks for her; there’s a loud grumbling coming from her.
Abashedly she gives a nod.
“Good, we can talk like two civilized human beings then,” I tell her. “There’s wine there.”
Jerking my head towards a closet, she goes in search of the wine. She’s taken the leather jacket off revealing a spaghetti strapped top.
Turning back, I take note that the rue that I’d added the mushrooms to has thickened. With a pair of blue silicone tongs, I add in the chicken and the pasta I boiled earlier.
I hear the cabinets crack open and see she’s pulled the wine glasses down and found a wine opener.
Once we’re eating, she tells me how good it is.
My soul feels strange at the touch of her words. I’ve never really cooked for anyone but my brother’s before.
“Do you really have someone trained on Khrystina?” she pulls the wine glass to her mouth and takes a sip.
“Yes,” I tell her.
Her brown eyes regard me, and I know she’s annoyed.
She takes another drink, and sweeps her hair over her shoulder.
“She’s a good kid,” Sage remarks.
“I’m aware.”
“Innocent,” she offers.
It’s my turn to drink. She wants to feel like this is her idea but the truth is, we both know better.
“She is,” I nod.
“If…if I do this,” she bites her full bottom lip.
I hold up my hand. “Say it, Kitten. Say the words out loud.”
“If I become yourwife,” she hisses the last bit. “You’ll leave my sister alone.”
“Drink up,” I tell her. “Be merry…”
“For tomorrow we shall die,” she picks the wine up and drains the glass.
I smile and it feels foreign but I do it none the less.
“You’ll regret it,” I tell her. “But your sister will be safe.”
For long moments she doesn’t speak. I stand, and walk behind her. Her entire body goes still as my hands touch her shoulder. Very slowly, I apply pressure, massaging her shoulders. It’s not an intimate touch, and Sage relaxes just enough that she allows the side of her neck to be bared to me.
I stare at it, the side of her neck. Almost sure I can see her pulse beating beneath her rich tawny flesh. My tongue darts out to lick at my lips and I lean down slightly, and whisper into the shell of her ear.
“How’s that feel, Kitten?”
