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His eyes scan up and down my body before he laughs. The sound makes my core clench. His perfect teeth flash as a side of him that’s rarely visible slips free.
“What on earth are you wearing?” he asks.
I fight a smirk. “Business on the top, casual on the bottom. It’s all the rage!”
Faking a pout, I head toward my room, knowing he’ll follow.
“What is it you need to tell me?” I ask, stepping into my closet and changing my top into a hoodie.
A light touch grazes my neck as I tug my hoodie down over my hips. A small breath escapes me.
“You’ll want to change these pants,” he grumbles, touch dropping to the fuzzy pajama pants I’m wearing, a finger slipping under the waist and toying back and forth.
“Wh—why?” I finally get out past the need to lean into him. Something about him is dangerous, and yet my body wants more. Wants everything he has to give me. I’ve been weak and afraid for too long, and now I want to dance with the devil and feel his evil upon my flesh.
“I need you to come with me. We’re going to get your revenge, my little phoenix.”
I turn, eyeing him as he looks down at me with admiration peppering his stare.
“Phoenix?”
He nods, reaching up and curling my hair behind one ear. The lightest brush of his fingers causes my insides to boil like lava. The air in my closet grows thick with anticipation.
“They rise from the ashes, becoming even stronger from what burned them. That’s you.” He leans down, and I pull toward him, into his orbit.
“You don’t know me,” I whisper.
“I will, little one. I will. I see more than you realize.”
His lips tease mine, the outer confines skimming over mine as his breath plays on my flesh.
“What do you know?” I ask, voice cracking. His closeness, his aura, is intoxicating. It’s as if I’m drunk off his very presence.
“I know that you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. You’ve dealt with all the darkness life offers and kept ongoing despite it. I know you sleep harder than you have a right to with your past. I know that someone hurt you, and that you’re going to rise like the empress you are and return the favor. I also know that you keep the Apothic wine company in business single-handedly.”
My lips quirk upward at his last statement. But the rest of his words have my heart galloping in my chest like a stampede of wild horses.
“Maybe I’m not all those things. Maybe I’m a broken girl, smiling through the pain,” I tell him, eyes drifting up slowly to meet his.
“Maybe, little phoenix, maybe. But if so, I’ll teach you how to rise. I’ll be by your side as you do, too.”
My breathing wavers as a tear leaves my eyes. He captures it.
“You’ve done this life alone, but you’re not alone anymore. You haven’t been for a while.”
My chest cinches. “How long have you been watching me?”
He smirks. “In truth? Over a year, now.”
His admission shocks me to my core, but I try to remain steadfast with my reaction. How had he been stealthy enough to elude me this entire time? I’ve only been here a little over a year.
“Where are we going?” I ask as he backs away. Air floods my lungs as I heave it into them. His presence is so intense that I feel like I don’t have the room to breathe, as if it’s pressing down on me. Imposing on me.
“Like I said, to get your revenge. We’re going to get vengeance,” he replies, turning around and finding a pair of jeans and handing them to me. Bending, he grabs my black boots and takes them out of the closet into the bedroom. Drawers open as I slip into my jeans and by the time I get into the room, he’s got socks laid out for me.
“You have Emery?”
He nods.
