Page 38 of Touched By Sin
“Good. Because I would find you.”
My throat is sore from his rough treatment earlier, and bruises litter my body from Alaric’s rough touch. I still can’t believe I begged for his cock and called him Master. It must have been a temporary lapse of judgment because I was drunk on dick and not thinking clearly. Daemon might be the sexiest asshole I’ve ever had the misfortune of stumbling across, but I refuse to be one of his regular groupies. Just because I begged once doesn’t mean I’ll do it again. Not willingly.
“Why are you out here?” he asks, his fingers trailing down my arm.
My skin swells with goosebumps that spread across my arms like a forest fire.
“I’m trying to learn how to fly.”
As he grabs my waist and pulls me to him, our chests collide, knocking the wind out of me. I try to take a breath, but his masculine, earthy scent is everywhere, weakening my resolve.
“Close your eyes.”
“I don’t trust you,” I whisper.
My hard nipples chafe against the thin fabric of my dress while his other hand slides over my hip to my lower back.
“Good. I’m not someone you should trust.”
Despite his warning, my eyes fall closed and my breath catches in my throat when his lips brush my ear.
“You need to believe.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I reply, hyperaware of his possessive touch and his heated breath on my lips.
“Spread your wings again.”
My shoulders strain as I feel the shift in the air behind me. Daemon is standing close, his heat seeping through my thin dress.
“Imagine yourself back in Eden. Your bare feet sink into the grass, and the sun warms your cheeks. Birds sing in the trees as the bushes rustle nearby. A rabbit jumps out, with its twitchy nose and long ears. Everything is peaceful. Tranquil. Up ahead are the tall, golden gates.”
“Daemon,” I whisper, gripping his strong upper arms. “Shut up!”
His chest vibrates against mine with a chuckle.
As I step closer to the gates, my eyes widen. I crane my neck, looking up, up, up into the clouds. “What’s on the other side?”
Freya drops her skipping rope to the grass and scrunches up her freckled nose as she follows my line of sight. “Bad things.”
I snap my eyes to hers. “Bad things? What bad things?”
Freya lost her front baby tooth the other day, and her adult one is peeking out, but it’ll be a while before the gap fills. If the elders knew we were out here, we would be in trouble, but Freya is a good friend. She follows me everywhere.
“I don’t know,” she says. “But the elders say we should stay in here where it’s safe so that no one can steal our light.”
I scan the nearby area until my eyes land on a tall tree with thick branches nearby. It disappears into the clouds. Running over to it, I heave myself up on the first branch.
“What are you doing?” Freya asks curiously.
The green leaves are in full bloom, like they always are here. In the human world, they have seasons. We don’t.
I pull myself up on the second branch, my small legs dangling in the air. “I want to see what’s on the other side.”
“But you’ll fall.”
The next branch is just out of reach. Jumping up and swinging my legs over, I smile down at her. “You’ll catch me.”
Freya shields her eyes from the sun with her hand. “They’ll come looking for us soon.”
