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“Sounds like a plan,” Don states as he wraps his arms around me. The ease with which he touches me is bewildering. Not that I’m complaining. There’s something addictive about his touch; I can’t get enough of it. “I think Kali has had enough for tonight, though.”
Despite the fact the night has been interesting, it’s been a lot of new information, so I’m drained and thankful for the excuse to leave. Dara says she will pick me up tomorrow afternoon and I wish her good night before Don pulls me away, draping a possessive arm over my shoulder as he directs me through the crowd.
“I liked watching you dance with my sister. You looked like you were having fun.”
I glance up at Don, losing myself momentarily in the dark depths of his eyes. They’re like tunnels that lead to his twisted soul, and I want to climb in and follow them all the way to the end just so I can see what’s at the core of this man. What is he made of? What pivotal moments in his life made him who he is today?
“I did. I’ve never… done anything like that before.”
Don leads me through the crypt and up the stairs, unlocking the door that leads into his house before stopping outside my bedroom door. He turns me to face him, his fingers stroking along my jaw. “I want to show you so many other things you haven’t done before,” he says in a low, husky voice that makes me both nervous and excited. “But you’ve been through a lot tonight, and I want to make sure you have no doubts whenever I make you completely mine.”
“Completely yours,” I repeat, surprisingly liking the sheer possession of his statement. I’ve never been anybody’s. Despite being my parents' only child, I never felt like theirs. Never felt like I belonged with them. And I never had any siblings or friends. I’ve always just been… alone. So alone.
I like the thought of being somebody’s.
“Yes, as I am completely yours.”
As if Don’s words weren’t enough to make me weak-kneed, he slants his lips over mine in a kiss that can only be described as claiming. With every sweep of his tongue, he demonstrates the truth of his words. His soft touches confirm his affection, and the way his body molds to mine verifies that we are two halves of a whole—opposite sides of the same coin. I am the sun to his moon, the flame to his match, the light to his darkness.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Knock knock,” Dara calls out when she walks into Don’s house the next day.
“In here,” I call from the living room, where I’ve been curled up on the sofa, nursing a cup of tea and staring out the large floor-to-ceiling windows at the surrounding mountainside. It’s beautiful here. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I feel so far removed from the real world that my old life feels like nothing more than a distant memory.
“Hey! How are you today?”
I look up at Dara as she enters the room. “I’m good, you?”
“Fantastic. Ready to go shopping?”
“Ehh, yeah. I’m, uh, not really sure what I need.”
“Just your fine self.” Dara beams. “Don messaged me earlier and told me to buy you whatever you wanted, on him.”
I stare at her with wide eyes. “I can’t let him do that.”
Dara snorts. “Of course you can. He wants to take care of you and make sure you have everything you need.”
“Why, though? I don’t understand, and this all seems too good to be true.”
Dara gives me an understanding smile. “Because when we find the missing parts of our soul, we will give them the world if it makes them happy.”
“I’m the missing piece of your brother’s soul?”
Dara nods. “He felt it the moment he saw you.” She smiles softly. “He even called me to tell me so himself.” Reaching out, she clasps my free hand in hers. “My brother is a lost soul. He bears so much responsibility, and sometimes it takes a toll on him. He needs someone strong to stand beside him.”
“I-I’m not strong.”
Dara’s eyebrows lift. “Of course you are. Look at everything you endured. You have suffered a lifetime of oppression and bullying, yet you’re still here, still fighting. The very fact you chose to leave your hometown with my brother proves that you are worthy of him.” She glances down at my outfit—the only one I have—and her nose wrinkles. “However, those clothes have got to go. They belong to the old Kali, but she is dead now, and from her ashes is a newer, stronger, more ferocious one.” She smirks. “A Kali who doesn’t wear granny skirts.”
Not long later, we’re out of the house and in her car on our way to the mall. On the drive, I find out that Dara is an actuary—a job I don’t fully understand—and lives in the city where she has her own apartment and everything. Apparently, everyone in Don’s congregation has a career of some sort and has their own lives. Except for Don. The Church of Satan is a full-time responsibility for him, although Dara doesn’t get into the specifics of what he does.
“Let’s hit up a few shops first, then we can grab a drink and a bite to eat,” Dara says once we’ve parked the car and are riding the elevator up to the main shopping floor.
We spend the next couple of hours traipsing from shop to shop. Dara makes me try on so many outfits that I lose count, and if she likes the look on me, she purchases it. By the time I collapse into a chair in the food court, my head is spinning and my feet are aching.
Dara grins broadly as she slides with far more grace than I into the chair opposite. She’s always so happy looking, but she really seems to be enjoying herself. “Having fun?” she asks as she sips on her milkshake.
