Chapter 3
Cain
Unseen tendrils offear slid from the girl, still plastered to the wall.
Intense pleasure tingled its way through my veins. I wanted to inhale every drop of their sweetness from the air, yet I held back, enjoying the prolonged contact with her skin.
It’s been so long since I’ve willingly touched another.Letting my eyes roll back, I smiled with pleasure. The flesh of her inner arm, warm and soft, a rich velvet begging me to trace it with my fingers.
Touch was a luxury I rarely indulged in. When not on an assignment, I remained hidden and out of sight because people went mad or died within minutes of staring into my face, or more specifically, upon seeing the curse marked forever around my eye.
Low, throaty whimpers escaped her lips, bringing me back to the moment and ramping up my excitement as I imagined claiming her life and soul. But it was more than the normal ecstasy from recharging the dark ether running through my veins. A different kind of pleasure slithered along my skin to settle between my legs.
Desire.
Lust.
Hunger.
And oh, how I hungered.
The rawness of the emotions startled me. With a strangled cry, I released her throat and arm as if she burned with Heaven’s fire.
Never, in the untold millennia I’d lived, had I experienced such an urgent, desperate craving to capture someone’s soul for Lucian.
No, that’s not quite right.I wanted her soul, but there was something else I longed for, yet I couldn’t put it into words. It pulled at me like a hungry bear stalking tender prey.
She drew a ragged breath, her body spread eagle against the cave’s wall. Defenseless and alone.
Mine.
My curiosity got the better of me, and, with a flick of power, I released the dark bonds holding her in place. I wanted to delve deeper into her mind to discover who Phoebe Blutengel was, but I hesitated, unwilling to chance damage to the delicate tissues of her brain.
But once I sate my curiosity, it won’t matter.
Dropping to her knees, she coughed and grabbed her neck, rubbing it with one hand and bracing herself with the other. Her eyes flickered everywhere, as if trying to pierce the darkness engulfing this part of my home. Did she understand the true threat was not the absence of light, but the essence of me?
With a gentle turn of my wrist, I cast a shadow over the opening and blocked out the sunshine.
With my enhanced vision—thank you, Lucian—I had no trouble getting a good look at her face.
Her cheeks angled outward slightly. A faint dusting of purple powder shimmered across her eyelids. Her nostrils flared with rapid breaths, and a delicate line formed between her eyebrows. Long, red hair—mostly colored pink from highlights—fell on either side of her cheeks. Heart-shaped lips tightened as if in concentration.
I wanted to dip my tongue into her mouth and find out if she tasted as sweet as she looked.
No reason why I can’t.Right. BecauseIhad the control. Always.With my gifts, I could do anything.
Except blend in with humans, speak with humans,livewith humans.
