AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of grey lounge pants that hung a just low enough to see his well-defined V. On his feet were the customary black boots most of the guys sported around here. I made a conscious effort not to look at anything below his waist.
“You trained today?” he asked.
“Is the sky blue? You know my dad doesn’t let me skip class, no matter how pointless it is,” I tacked on quietly.
“I’m looking forward to the day you realize you’ve severely underestimated yourself.”
I rolled my lips into a pout. Leave it to him to hit the nail on the head without needing an explanation. It didn’t matter what he or Bella said to reassure me, I knew I wasn’t on the same level as the other Savages our age.
If it were only Belladonna I had to compare myself to, I wouldn’t feel so bad. She shined brighter than all our peers. The problem was that it wasn’t just her.
It wasn’t like I didn’t try. I really did my best, but nothing changed. I felt depressingly inadequate.
Samael sat on the arm of the leather sectional. I went straight to the fridge in the back corner. As always, his mom had stocked it with some of her juice-filled mason jars. It had to be a form of art to get the taste right every single time. She did this specially for me and Bella.
Samael didn’t drink it, which was a crime he should’ve been punished for. I grabbed one and popped the lid off, taking a generous swig. Drinking the cool liquid in this heat was one of the best feelings on earth.
“You don’t know what you’re missing out on.” I sighed dramatically, savoring the different flavors.
He stared at me with the same annoyingly obscured expression as always.
“When’s Bella going to be here?” I cleared my throat and asked.
We were supposed to be discussing how to sneak off the compound today. See, stuff like this I was good at. Need someone to make a mess of something and thoroughly screw things up? I was your girl.
“Whenever she gets here.”
I took another sip, unbothered by his bluntness. I’d been friends with him way too long for it to get to me anymore.
Samael came off like an impenetrable wall of ice, but that was just his surface. Beneath that solid barrier were so many layers I’d stopped keeping count. I was lucky to know the sides of him he never showed anyone else. His mysterious aura had all the girls on the compound marrying him inside their heads.
Samael was sinful. His eyes were the deepest shade of brown—closer to black. Sometimes when I looked at them, I felt as if I were staring into an endless stretch of midnight. His hair was just the same. He kept the obsidian locks long on top with a mid-fade. And since he was stuck in his house the majority of the time, he’d made good use of the exercise room.
So, going off looks alone, I completely understood where they were coming from. Thank Satanas my other best friend was his cousin. We knew he was more than something nice to look at.
Since he was still staring me down, I focused on the Baphomet tapestry hanging on the back wall.
“Were you crying?”
“No...”
Crap. How could he tell? I’d delayed coming here for this very reason. Normally I wouldn’t care if he knew or not. At my best or at my very worst, Samael stood by me without judgement. I couldn’t tell him about this, though. It was too embarrassing. Plus, if I told him then I’d have to tell Bella, and there was no way she’d let it go.
“Lilith,” he pressed.
“I didn’t cry. You know it’s hot outside.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.” He stood up and began walking towards me.
“What are you doing?” I eyed him suspiciously.
“Seeing if you’ll lie to my face.”
He stopped directly in front of me. With the fridge at my back, I couldn’t retreat unless I shoved him away. Much shorter than he was, I tilted my head back and looked at him.
Did he really have to be this close? I could see every one of his irritatingly long lashes. And I noticed how nice his lips were. I blinked in surprise when he took hold of my face. His deft fingers wrapped around my jaw, forcing me to stay focused on nothing but him.
“You showed up late because you were crying. Who did it?”
“Are you…are you trying to use your charm to interrogate me?”
“My charm?” He laughed and immediately stepped away.
I loved his laugh, but I’d never tell him that. I clutched the mason jar tightly, feeling heat explode in my face. “Stop laughing, you know what I meant.”
“So, you have been paying attention to me.”
“Why does that sound like a fact?”
