AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Lira,” I whispered against her lips.
“Yes?”
“Do you… Do you want this to go further?”
She trembled, and I pulled back. I would never pressure her—or any being—for sex. Even if I felt like my body might burst into flames if we didn’t finish this. She grabbed my shoulders to stall my retreat. “I do.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll hold you tonight even if we do nothing else.”
“I want to.”
I stared into her eyes that the fire illuminated to make sure she meant it. She clenched her hands into my hair and directed my face towards her neck. Damn, I appreciated a partner who knew what they wanted. I kissed along her flesh there, lingered over her collarbone, and traced a finger down the middle of her chest before stopping at the edge of the kurta.
Lira’s breath raised her chest against my hand, and every inch of my body ached with desire. All the hells, if we were going here, I was taking my time and I didn’t want to be constrained. I grabbed my zevar, pulled it off—the stone pulsing with a beat of light—and hung it on the bedpost. My magic surged through me, a wave of chaos and shadows, but the scrape of Lira’s fingers along my shoulder also intensified, and I groaned.
“Why did you remove your necklace?” Lira’s eyes darted to it, where it swung against the bedframe behind us.
A sour feeling quelled in my stomach. I stared at the zevar I so rarely removed—certainly not for sex with anyone else. This was different, though. It was Lira. I wondered if Shaan had found himself in a situation like this, trusting and desiring and thinking it was safe for this moment to remove it, to feel and be alive.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
LIRA
The question was a mistake.Sai’s grip on me loosened, and his gaze remained stuck on the necklace. I shouldn’t have asked. God, feeling his mouth on mine, his fingers tracing whisper-light trails along my neck, had me hungry for more.
I hadn’t planned to instigate anything, but the comfort of his touch soothed me when I’d woken from that nightmare, the one I could never avoid. The most fearsome part was that it wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. In it, thunder crashed, and I woke up next to Margo in a rented room. She took a deep breath and rolled over.
The storm roared outside, but I swore I heard a scream somewhere. I stood, pulled a robe on, and tiptoed down the stairs.
The floors shimmered, dark puddles that reflected the fire’s flames. There must have been a leak in the roof.
“Kill him too,” Mother sang in a sickly, sweet voice that didn’t match the words. A man grabbed another human and stabbed a knife into his throat. Blood spilled down the white shirt, soaking into it until the fabric turned ruby dark.
I clattered down the steps. “Mother. What are you doing?”
She looked up at me, her eyes bright with magic, and then she waved a hand dismissively at me. “Go back to bed, Lira.”
“Are you killing these men?”
“They’re killing each other.”
I took another step and the hem of my nightgown dipped into a puddle so crimson bloomed into the ivory fabric. “Because you’re compelling them. You’re murdering them!”
She stormed over to me and grabbed my arm tight enough that it hurt. “Thesementhought they could threaten me. They won’t do so again.”
I stared in horror at the man who fell to the floor with a thump and gaped, gasping for air before his body stilled. “This is wrong.”
“Oh, Lira,” Mother spat. “It's past time for you to grow up.”
“But—”
“Go back to bed.”
I stared at her. Everything in me screamed to say no, to put a stop to whatever she was doing. Her gaze grew steely. She already knew what took me a moment to remember. I had no backbone, and I wouldn’t stop her. Couldn’t. I swallowed and returned up the stairs, a trail of scarlet staining the wood with my steps.
I’d lain in bed that night, listening to the thunderstorm and silently weeping as I remembered the gasping breaths of the dying man. The next morning I’d woken to find blood crusted under my toenails. I scraped it, but the stain remained until the nail grew out. It was a reminder that this was who I was; this was my destiny.
So, I knew about shameful secrets and haunting memories. The way Sai stared at the zevar made me think he must have his own. “You don’t have to tell me.”
