“The fire gave us cover,” I say instead. “Smoke. Screams. Confusion. We ran into the woods barefoot, bleeding, half-starved. Some of us didn’t make it.”
The tunnel begins to brighten again.
“Those who did…” I glance at her. “We became something else.”
The boat slows near the exit again, then jerks as it’s sent back into the dark for a third pass.
Jules swallows. “And the Prophets?”
I smile without humor.
“They scattered,” I say. “Changed names. Bought houses like Ezekiel’s. Grew lawns and families and reputations.”
My hand closes around the edge of the boat.
“And we decided,” I finish softly, “that if God wasn’t coming for them… we would.”
The ride hums around us, cheerful and obscene.
Jules exhales shakily. “You don’t see yourselves as killers.”
“No,” I agree. “We see ourselves as consequences.”
The boat glides forward as I give her a moment to process.
“And you?” I ask, turning to her now. “What do you see when you look at me, Jules?”
She doesn’t answer immediately. When she does, her voice is quiet—but steady.
“I see someone who survived something that should have destroyed him,” she says. “And who doesn’t know how to stop surviving.”
The boat drifts on, the music low and romantic.
For a moment, neither of us moves. Then Jules’s hands go to the button of my pants.
“Little Sapphire… what are you doing?” I ask with a surprised, delighted purr.
“I want to make you feel good, Elias,” she admits, opening my pants enough to let my cock spring out. “Let me make you feel good.”
I know she hasn’t said if she’ll stay by my side yet. And I know I shouldn’t be swayed by more sex before we set those boundaries. But damn it, I want her so fucking bad, I’m twitching in her hands.
“Do it, baby. Take my cock in that pretty, smartass mouth. Let me feel your throat,” I growl.
The answering glint of challenge in her eyes brings my dick to a full salute.
“Yes, Ringmaster.”
19
JULES
Elias’s dick is ridiculously pretty, just like the rest of him. The rosy, pierced head is already glistening with precum, making my mouth water for a taste. I lean over his lap and extend my tongue, eager for it.
Right now, I’m not thinking about everything he’s suffered—that his brothers suffered too. I’m thinking about the growing desire I feel for this complicated, mercurial man. And the respect that’s beginning to grow, the odd need to protect him, even though he probably doesn’t need me to do it. Most of all, I’m thinking of how I want to satisfy him as much as he satisfied me on the Carousel.
I wrap my hand around the root, squeezing firmly. Elias throws his head back with a hiss that sends a spike of lust between my thighs. God, I’m insatiable around him.
“Stop teasing me, Jewel. Open that pretty mouth,” he urges in a low voice.
