Page 92 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

“Where is Sterling’s den?” Eros’ gaze roved the mountains of books surrounding the bed as if he’d find the priest’s private spot stashed between the three centuries’ worth of encyclopedias.

“Dunno,” I lied as my eyes drifted shut. Everything in me ached to see Sterling, but I needed to be strong and ignore those instincts. It was the primal side of me, frightened, eager for the relief her strongest mate could bring her.

I had to ignore it.

The blind prince didn’t want me for his mate. He’d been so resistant to give me his mark and wouldn’t accept it just because he felt sorry for me.

I felt myself being lowered into the cool sheets of Sterling’s bed. I knew he didn’t sleep here often, but they still carried his scent. Clean, but faintly salty, like the ocean. I did my best to fend off sleep, but my strength waned. The darkness swaddled me. Maybe if I stopped fighting it for just a couple of minutes…

“Ruby!”

My eyes flung open to see Eros crouched over me, his hands digging into the pillow on either side of my head. The sneer he wore was straight-up demonic. It roused something in me, siphoning a familiar sensation between my legs.

He pulled a Vincent move and necklaced my throat with his hand, applying enough pressure to keep my focus glued to him. His fingernails scraped against his mark on my shoulder. It sent a bolt of electric heat through my frame, jolting my nerves awake.

“Don’t lie to me, doll. As another male, I’m not meant to know the location of Sterling’s den. Not everyone is as transparent with their intimate business as I am. But I’m well aware of the plain and simple fact that you know exactly where it is.”

“He wouldn’t want me telling you,” I choked out, using the only pathetic ammo I had left to fire. Lying to Eros didn’t sit well with me, but it was a small price to pay to keep Sterling from claiming a mate he didn’t want.

“Bullshit.” His grip tightened around my windpipe.

There it was again.

Sensation.

Man, my monster really was twisted if this was what got her over Vincent, another man choking her out.

“Sterling would tell the entire world where he sleeps and screws and host a fucking masquerade there if it would help you.”

My eyes narrowed into slits, and I grinned wickedly up at the male who pinned me down onto his brother’s bed. “Choke me harder. I can almost feel it.”

Eros blinked at me, caught off guard by my request, then his mouth formed a slow and sinful smile. His fingers twitched around my throat and squeezed a little tighter. Not as tight as I’d like, but it was enough to squeeze a sigh from me.

Nudging my thighs apart with his knee, he settled his weight down on me, and I found the solid mass of him comforting. As he pulled his hand from my throat, I gulped for air, but it hitched in my chest when he cupped my face and searched my eyes with bewildering tenderness.

“Why won’t you go to Sterling?”

“Why are you so eager for me to fuck another man?” I countered lamely, regretting the words the moment they left my mouth.

He shook his head. “Don’t start that human monogamy bullshit now, Ruby. I don’t own you. No male with any sense would try to keep a woman like you all to himself. He loves you as much as the rest of us do. You two are meant to be bonded.”

“Maybe I don’t want to feel again if it means having to carry the guilt of a mark that wasn’t given out of love. I refuse to be pitied. When Sterling marks me, it’s got to be because he comes to me. Not the other way around. It’s my choice if I want to suffer through this alone.”

The vampire’s lips curled into a terrifying snarl. “Actually, no, it’s not your choice. Because when you’re in pain, I’m in pain.”

“I thought you got off on shit like that,” I snapped.

“Not this kind. This is just empty. It feels like death, Ruby. Like nothing. It’s like I’ve lost a mate, and I haven’t. I’m looking right at her, and I want her tofeelsomething, goddamn it! I know how much you hunger for Sterling’s mark. But if you say you want him crawling to you for it, fine. I’ll do it then.I’llmake you forget Feral.”

He leaned down and shoved his nose into the juncture of my shoulder. His tongue licked a path over his mark that marred my skin while his hand slithered under the hem of Corry’s shirt and over my thigh to land on my hip.

“How are you going to make me forget?”

“Depends. Do you feel this?”

By the tent his hand created under the shirt, he’d repositioned his hand to a more sensitive part of my body. My mouth slashed with a frown. “No.”

“Fine. Then something a little less vanilla.”

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