Page 125 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

She pulls back, her eyes full of lust and satisfaction.

“We need to stop,” she breathes.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“You’ve had a harrowing experience. A newbie witch nearly banished you. I wouldn’t want to take advantage of you in your vulnerable state.Ask mewhen you’re feeling better,” she utters, placing a chaste kiss on my forehead.

Climbing off me, she redresses. She’s scrambling for control, a way to take the reins, and revenge, which is punishing the both of us. I rub my hands over my face then reach out and grab her arms. “You’ve made your point. Take your clothes off.”

“No, honey, you need time.” She pats my arm.

I sit up and drag her between my legs. “I’m not claiming to be a nice man. I’m not. But I will protect you and I do want you. I want to do wicked and sinful things to you. I will give your fantasies life, and give life to fantasies you never knew you wanted. If you trust me with your desires, I will make you forget your name, but scream mine. Every inch of your body will crave my touch. You will come on my cock more times than you can take, and when you’re lying on my bed, a beautiful, quivering mess, I will make you take more. I can be that darkness you crave and the oblivion you need. I won’t hurt you, Natia. You just need to surrender to everything I can give you.”

She freezes and stares at me with an unreadable expression. I’m almost holding my breath waiting for her answer. When she doesn’t speak, I add one more thing, which I immediately realize is a mistake. “You only need ask, Natia.”

She narrows her eyes and pushes back from me, fastening her jeans and banishing any chance of me having her here tonight. “Is there anything else you came for?”

I want to kick my own balls. Defeated, I dress and allow her change in conversation. Because there is something we came here for, except I don’t know what—Jed’s garbled instructions led us here for a reason. “Jed suggested I visit you and we should make it a group reunion. I’m assuming by his strange request you have bound him to a promise he is trying to get around.”

“We’ve both bound him. He’s struggling with some sort of dilemma. Since he won’t share your intentions, I assume you have locked him in a similar deal.”

Tying my shoes, I bristle. “My men are not bound—they’re loyal.”

She hands me a hairbrush. “So are mine, but Jed works for you. Let him tell me what’s bothering him so much.”

I look at myself in the mirror, smiling at my mussed hair. I toss the brush on the bed without using it. “No, you release him.”

“Not a chance.” She grins at me. “Guess we’re at an impasse.”

“I guess we are… with the information, anyway. Whether you realize it or not, you have brought me to my knees.”

She pulls back and avoids my gaze. Staring at the floor, she redoes her braid.

“I don’t have time for this now,” she whispers.

“Avoiding your feelings, Natia?” She stumbles as I pull her back and kiss her. Surprising me, she wraps her hands around my nape and deepens the kiss, pouring every emotion she feels into me: passion, hurt, excitement, loss, lust, devastation, grief, and hope. It’s like riding a storm on the rolling sea: breathtaking, uplifting, devastating. It doesn’t just chase the lingering numbness of time, it decimates it. Panting, she breaks the kiss, leaving me bereft and starving for the light she just forced into my soul. I squeeze her waist and rest my forehead against hers.

“What was that?” I mutter, locking eyes with her hypnotic gaze.

She blinks up at me and runs a thumb over my jaw. “That is what you’re missing out on. That is what you refuse to acknowledge as magnificent. That is just a taste of what having my love feels like.” She swivels and stalks out of the bedroom, then tosses over her shoulder, “Avoiding your feelings, Archan?”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Natia

You win a Taurus’s trust through actions, not words.

Six hulking male specimens perch in various spots around my compact living space. “I hope you were suitably entertained,” I drawl, fisting my shaking hands at my sides. I just revealed how I felt to the unknown creature lurking in my bedroom. It’s either a colossal mistake or an ingenious move; only time will tell.

Barney jumps to his feet and heads toward Archan, who’s followed me from the bedroom, fully dressed, thank god. But he’s left his hair uncombed, announcing to the world what we’d been doing, or what we’d been about to do. I’m human, not a saint—it took every bit of my willpower to back away from him.

“They have more information on the symbols,” Barney informs him.

Archan raises an eyebrow. “I see. And when were you going to share this information?”

I lean back against the kitchen counter. “I wasn’t.”

“We agreed you would share any information—”

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