Page 77 of Lust

I stare at the spot in bewilderment. My mouth falls open as I look closer at the lined patterns that I tattooed on him a month ago. Suddenly, his tattoo becomes clear.

“It’s a map!” I gasp.

“It is.”

I step back from his back and marvel that from just two or three feet away I still see the beautiful intricate lines that make up the skyline of Eighteenth century London. As I look closer, I see intersections and corridors amongst all the wavy lines that I thought were abstract.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I say

“I was going to, but then Remy spoiled that, if you remember?”

I blush as I remember what it was that Remy actually stopped us doing, and it wasn’t talking about a map.

“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this now.” My voice is a whisper. “I thought you were a murderer. I ran from you.”

“But you aren’t running from me anymore.” He reaches up and runs his hand through my hair. The gesture pins me to the floor with shock. Heat floods through me as his fingers stroke the soft skin beneath my ear. My breathing deepens as his eyes fall to my lips.

“What’s happening?” I murmur.

The memory of past kisses heats me up to my core. It’s like a sweet torture.

“What do you want to happen, Valentine?”

We’re in a demon infested hellhole, running from an unknown assailant who showered concrete down on us twelve hours ago. I should want safety. I should want a million things over the one thing I do want. There’s nothing safe about Dade’s kiss, and yet I want that. This is not the time nor the place, but I want the danger, the exhilaration of feeling his lips on mine. I don’t answer with words. He groans as I bring myself to my tip toes and press my lips to his, and it’s like it’s exactly what he’s been waiting for. He kisses back, and it’s everything I remembered. Exhilarating, terrifying, beautiful. Everything.

“I thought we were just friends?” I remind him, breathlessly.

“This feels very friendly to me,” he jests, parting my lips with his tongue.

I’d forgotten that he’d taken his top off to show me the map tattoo, but I remember it all too well as my hands graze down his hard chest, feeling the dips and curves of his muscle, the beat of his heart under the skin. He pulls me to him, claiming me recklessly. Because this is reckless and dangerous and glorious and so fucking hot. His hands move down to my ass, pulling me into him until we’re practically dry fucking standing up. My back crashes into the wall behind me, sending a shockwave both through me and down the corridor.

“Fuck!” He leaps back.

“I wanted it,” I whisper.

He gives me a grim smile. “I could tell, but we can’t make that much noise without expecting demons to appear. I think most of them are upstairs dealing with the Earthery, but it only takes one of them with a portal and they’ll all be down here. This will have to wait.” He plants another short kiss on my lips, shocking me back into reality. My world is spinning and my body is buzzing, so it takes a few seconds to remember the danger we’re in.

“We’ll take the right-hand path,” he says, grabbing my hand, sending a shiver of electricity up it and right to my core. I don’t know how he can be so composed after sending me into utterly glorious madness, but it seems he’s a pro. I’m the one constantly one glorious step behind.

“I want you to draw the route we take because you will be tattooing it on my back later.” Even though we’re in great danger, my heart skips a beat at the thought of once again touching his back, following the valleys and hills with inked lines. We walk… well, I walk and he hobbles, for what feels like another twenty minutes, twisting and turning. Each time we come to an intersection I painstakingly draw it out on Dade’s skin to ink on his back later. Finally, the walls change color and the corridor we are running down opens up into a large vestibule. In front of us is a huge set of doors with gold edging. Above the doors is a set of numbers and above that, in gold lettering, the words SECOND CIRCLE.

“It’s an elevator,” I breathe out in heady excitement.

“This is it!” Dade says excitedly. We just need to take this elevator to the very depths of Hell. Then we can get out of here.”

I shake my head as terror consumes me. “We can’t.”

His gaze darkens. “What do you mean, we can’t? We need to. This is the only way out of here.” His expression softens as he sees the panic in mine. “We’ll get her out first.”

I almost cry in relief at his words.

He pulls me to him and kisses my forehead lightly. “I wouldn’t dream of leaving Hell without Jenny.” He presses his hand to the call button. Excitement mingles with fear as the numbers above us light up. We are seconds away from getting out of Lust.

Suddenly my heart drops. “What about Juliette and Rowena?”

He turns to me and runs his hand through my hair. “I cannot take everyone. I’m sorry, Valentine. They will have to find their own way out.”

Devastation sweeps through me at leaving my friends behind, but he’s right. Rowena is unconscious in hospital and Juliette wouldn’t come without her.

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