Page 56 of Written In Flesh

Madden shakes his head. “Your mind and your mouth may say one thing, Skully, but your body knows differently. Just like when you train at the Gate. It’s not fast learning; it’s instinct. Muscle memory. You don’t need to remember the past.”

Fire ignites in my stomach and spreads up my chest. Awareness tugs in my chest, and my magic goes haywire with his nearness with the way his voice wraps around me. “I don’t want to remember.”

His face tightens, and we’re swept back around the floor to the farthest edge. My breath catches when Madden pulls me with him through the edges of the crowd, tugging me out of the room and down a candle lit hallway.

“Where are you taking me?”

I yank my hand in his, but his grip is strong, and he isn’t letting me get away. Voices carry from the other direction, and my eyes widen. Soon we won’t be alone and maybe I’ll have the opportunity to escape. No sooner do I have that thought before I’m shoved into a hidden alcove. The voices draw nearer, my lips part, only to have Madden’s huge hand land over my mouth silencing me. Even in the dark shadows, I can see the way his silver eyes shine, the way they narrow as he studies me. I glare right back at him. Once the voices pass by us and his hand doesn’t move, I sink my teeth into the skin of his palm.

With a grunt, he pulls his hand away and cages my body against the wall with his own. “That wasn’t very nice, Skully.”

“Neither is trapping me, Madden,” I grit out, attempting to shove at him. His body is like trying to move a boulder, and he goes nowhere. His lips tip up in a cocky smirk.

“I’ll let you go, once you answer my questions.”

My eyes roll, and my body deflates, sagging against the stone wall. “What if I can’t?”

Madden tips his head, eyes assessing me in the way he always does, as if he can see through me, like he knows my thoughts better than I do. “Why was Killian talking to you?”

A laugh escapes, and I bite my lips to stifle another. “Sorry.” I shake my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re going on about this again. I have no idea why Killian does anything he does. I was trying to find Baylee and he stepped right into my path.”

“What did he say to you?” Madden questions again, a slight frown creasing his forehead.

My hands land on his chest, pushing him back enough so it feels like I can think, so I can breathe more than just his scent again. “I don’t know. He said something about my memories and I asked him why he cares. He said he was concerned for an old friend. I asked if we even were friends because, in all honesty, Madden, I think he talks with me just to mess with you.”

Madden’s body tenses. “Why would he want to mess with me?”

This time anger flares in my chest, and my heart pinches painfully. “Oh, I don’t know because you go around calling me your girl and accosting me in dark hallways. You tell me, Madden.”

Heat rolls off of him in waves, his jaw tightens to the point it looks painful, causing every angle of his face to look sharper, capable of cutting diamonds. His eyes turn liquid metal and darken around the edges, his reaper side fighting to get out. Interesting.

“Why does Killian keep bothering me, Madden?” I push, and his gaze sharpens on me.

His hand lifts and curls around my throat, pinning me in place. “Why did you tell him to leave, Skully?”

My gaze bounces back and forth, searching for a hint or any sort of feeling in his eyes, but he’s giving me nothing. My heart races, and I feel almost nauseous about deciding to just tell him the truth. “He was upsetting you. I wanted him to leave us alone.”

Madden’s lips part, and he inhales loudly. For a moment neither of us moves. My confession hangs heavily in the air. His grip on me tightens, almost like he can’t bear to let me go after what I just told him. “Why don’t you want to remember?”

Holding his gaze, I lean in. “It doesn’t feel like any of those memories were good.”

His lips mash together, and he looks away before turning back to face me. This time there’s an anguish in the way he looks at me. A pain behind his tormented gaze that makes my stomach swoop and my breath stutter in my chest. “He wants you to remember the chaos. He is fucking with me and he knows the best way is to go through you.”

“Why, me?” My lips part, and his gaze dips down to them before snapping back to me.

“He knows you were my undoing. But, tonight you sent him away. You chose me, whether you realize it or not.”

I shake my head in denial. I didn’t choose Madden; I just didn’t want them to fight over me at this party. I didn’t want there to be speculation over something that isn’t even happening. “I didn’t choose you.”

Madden’s grip on my neck tightens, and I’m forced to look up at him. His eyes are almost black now, the shadow magic that lives within him is spilling into the space with us. “You did, Skully. You might not remember the past, but somewhere inside you knew to send him away before I could get my hands on him.”

“I don’t remember.” My voice falters, my mind searching achingly for something, anything to explain the feelings pouring into me. I want more of him around me. I want to bury my head in his chest and inhale his scent, a smell that instantly relaxes me. I want my skin to touch his, to feel the spark of my magic against his, and I don’t know why. I don’t understand, when all Madden has done since I woke up in that bed is push me away with his hate and sharp words.

“I know you don’t. You forgot me, Angel. And that fucking hurts my feelings.”

Madden’s lips crash down on mine, right after he says words that devastated me down to my core. His kiss isn’t nice: it isn’t soft or slow. It’s a collision of lips, tongues, and teeth. It’s deep, raw, and hungry. Madden kisses me with pent-up longing and frustration that has been pushed to the edge after depriving us for too long.

I kiss him back just as hard, my hands winding around his neck, my fingers digging into the skin and scratching across his neck tattoo. He groans from the contact, his hands automatically moving from my waist to my hips, where he grabs me so hard, I might have bruises tomorrow before pulling my body harder into his. My heart beats wildly in my chest, and my stomach feels as if a million butterflies have been set free. This kiss feels different. It feels like it’s meant to happen. My magic brushes against his, almost frolicking along my skin everywhere I touch him. I’ve never felt this way before. I can’t even remember if this is my first kiss or if I’ve been kissed a thousand times, yet it feels like it’s the most important one in my life.

All too soon, Madden pulls away, his chest heaving, his ruby lips swollen and glossy from kissing me and from the gloss I had been wearing. My fingers touch my lips, and they’re sensitive from the attack. Our eyes meet in the partial darkness, both of us speechless.

“Madd—”

“Don’t.” He shakes his head, pulling himself back together and taking a step away from me. I can almost hear my heart crack in my chest, feel the blood start draining from my face. “I don’t know what this means yet. I hate everything you stand for. I hate what you did to me. But for some fucked-up reason, I can’t make myself stay away from you.”

My eyes drop and every good feeling I just had sinks low in my gut, making my body want to curl in on itself. I can’t speak. I can’t reassure him. I can’t even make promises to fix what is broken because I don’t know how. “It’s probably best if we just give each other space.”

Madden lifts his fingers to his lips, swiping them across the bottom one slowly, and chuckles. The sound is dark and intimate. “I couldn’t give you space if I tried, Skully. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

My mouth drops open, and he slips away, back into the hall. I know I should go back to the ball. My dad would probably demand it of me. It would be another slight to him if I didn’t. I just can’t bring myself to care. Quietly, I sneak along the hall, staying in the shadows until I’m out of the house and on my way back to campus. The whole time I tell myself leaving had nothing to do with Madden and everything with just needing these heels off my feet and slipping into comfy pajamas. That’s all it is.