Page 46 of Touched By Sin
The loud sounds around me fade into the distance as his words sink in. Beside us, the girl cries quietly. My heart breaks for her. Never have I seen such cruelty before. Hunger didn’t exist behind the gates. In that world, we ate for pleasure, not sustenance. We were always fulfilled. But things are different here.
“You’ve let Dari feed on you twice. You need to rebuild your strength and fruit isn’t going to cut it. Not anymore.”
Confused, I shove him off and say, “You can’t live on angel blood, so why does your kind feed on angels?”
Ronan and Alaric laugh behind me; my naivety is refreshing to them.
Meanwhile, Daemon levels Dariana with a glare. “Want to explain to our clueless little angel here why you’ve fed on her twice?”
Dariana looks sheepish but covers it well by raising her chin. “You’re too serious, Daemon. Lighten up. I was only playing with her.”
With a snort, he brings his attention to me and grabs me by the throat. “Dominance, sweet angel. Power. She gets off on asserting her power over you. Even more so because her wings are smaller than yours. And you let her play with you like a cat plays with a mouse.”
“You do it too,” I sneer.
He gets in my face. “Iammore powerful than you.”
My smile is sugary, laced with poison. I enjoy these games as much as he does. “No, pretty boy,Iam more powerful than you.”
“Yeah?” he breathes. “Prove it. Drain the girl.”
I pale, my eyes flicking between his. Do I have it within me to kill a human girl? Sex may be a sin in my world, but killing someone? Taking a life?
His other hand shoots out to grab my chin, his fingers sliding between my lips. He prods my incisor. “Let them out to play.”
It’s instinct to snarl at him. There’s a she-wolf inside me who doesn’t like it when the alpha forces her to submit.
“Don’t touch me,” I growl, batting him away, but he wraps his fingers around the back of my neck. Then he dives down and sinks his teeth into the pulse point at my throat. The sharp sting steals my breath. Daemon isn’t gentle as he tears into me, holding me immobile with his tight grip. There’s nothing sweet or romantic about it. He steals my life essence with deep pulls that leave me weak and trembling. Blood pours down my front, staining my dress. His big hand slides through the warm liquid when he moves his fingers to the front of my throat.
He laps at the incisor wounds before biting down again, causing me to cry out in pain and shame. Daemon was right; this is dominance play. Everyone in here is witness to his power over me. I don’t stand a chance against him.
“Now,” he says, smiling at me through bloodied teeth, chin smeared with scarlet, “drink her dry, or I’ll continue feeding on you for everyone to see.”
“Then you’ll have to kill me,” I hiss, feeling lightheaded. “I refuse to hurt a human girl.”
“The thing is,” he whispers, hooking his finger in the collar of my dress and pulling it away from my skin to peer down at my naked breasts and hard nipples, “I wouldn’t kill you quickly. I’d drag it out, make you beg for death.”
My skin tingles beneath his gaze. I want him to touch me. How fucked up is that?
“I’m not scared of you, Daemon,” I whisper back. I’m so fucking weak.
He hums, steadying me with his hands. “You should be. How about this? I’ll make you a deal. If you feed on her so you can regain your strength, I’ll let her live. If you refuse, I’ll have Dari here kill her. How does that sound?”
“I thought you traveled to the human world to feed.”
“We do,” he confirms, his thumb stroking the side of my throat. “But it’s not always possible to feed that way. The humans here don’t taste as nice because they’re scared and anemic, but they suffice when we can’t get away to hunt. Besides, some angels don’t like to visit the human world to feed. They prefer to do it here.”
“I want to go home,” I whisper. The horror I’ve witnessed here today is a slap in the face. Pain doesn’t exist in Eden. We don’t shackle humans to wooden poles and feed on them. We don’t hurt others.
“That’s a fucking shame,” he growls, grabbing my hair. “You’re not going home, so you better stop that thought.”
“I hate you!” I hiss with the last of my strength. “I wish I had never left Eden.”
He grinds his teeth before stepping back and lifting his chin at Alaric behind me in a silent command. Then he walks away without a backward glance. There’s a weird pang in my chest, which I snuff out as soon as it makes itself known. I refuse to feel bad for spewing poison at him.
I’m too weak, my knees buckling beneath me. Alaric is there to catch me in his arms as the darkness overtakes me.
The last thing I hear is Dariana’s voice. “I told you she wasn’t strong enough.”
