“As if I were to believe you weren’t watching me the whole time. Do you ever take a day off? Perhaps find someone new to play with?”
“We are far past that, my shadow.” He chuckled, hanging over me like a gallows. His fingers smoothed over the side of my face, and his other hand trailed down my arm toward my balled-up fist. “You’re lucky that you’re delicious. I don’t usually let prey suffer for this long.”
His finger trailed across my cheek, then his thumb pulled down on my bottom lip.
My teeth clamped down on his finger.
He shouted in pain while I made for the door, but his other hand grabbed me by the back of my neck, pinning my chest against the wood of the door.
“Alina.” He clicked his tongue in disapproval. “What have we learned about running?”
“Find another damsel.” I spat some of his blood from my mouth.
A burning festered in my throat, making me squirm under his grip. The pervasive sensation got stronger. It was like a hand was closing around my throat while I was forcibly fed hot embers.
My breath quickened, and I let out a cough. A whimper accompanied it when I failed to clear it. A bitter metallic taste took over my throat.
The Creature turned me around to face him. “What did I tell you?” He tilted his head to the side. “Did I not say I was made of poison? I thought you would have surely taken that part seriously.”
My eyes watered, and my fists had balled up in his shirt from pure desperation. Another labored gasp was taken in vain. The burning was unbearable, like trying to rid my throat of hot coals only for it to spread farther.
What is this?
Admittedly, as a poisoner myself, I had never thought I would be the one to be poisoned. The past few weeks had beenfull of many firsts. How poetic that I die the same way I reaped.
He lowered his face to mine, and my body protested the proximity.
“Do you trust me?” he whispered against my lips.
“No.” My voice came out as a weep. My sight was blurred from tears, and I gripped him tighter to steady my dizzy spell. The air was being cut off from my lungs, and they struggled to expand.
“Find it within you to do so, just this once,” he whispered.
He grabbed my face with one hand, jolting it toward him. His lips found mine, and I could feel his tongue slip inside my mouth. The kiss was soft, despite his voracity.
I refused to return any such gesture, but then the burning slowly dissipated. My body forced my mouth open to take in air, and he wasted no time seizing the opportunity. A gasp escaped me as my throat loosened, making our kiss deepen.
The Creature picked me up and pushed me onto the workbench, gardening tools clattering to the ground.
My breath hitched at the sharp movement, his lips hovered earnestly over mine. If the room had been dark, there would be static electricity trading flashes of light from the tension between us. My hands were riddled with tremors from shock.
He almost killed me.Again.And nobody would be left to blame but myself, as much as I would want it to be his fault entirely.The Poisoner Who Poisoned Herself.I could see it on the headstone now.
He was generous enough to let me catch my breath. How humiliating.
I did not have to look at him to know that an undoubtedly coy look would be present as he watched the color return to my face.
“You know, you’re quite cute when your lips turn blue.” His eyes glanced from my lips to my eyes. “I can understand why you prefer to execute people this way.”
There was that dreadful pang in my gut. The knot formed low in my abdomen as I entirely took in the position I was in.
This Creature was poised above me, hungry and waiting. His hips were pressed between my legs, his hands steadying my tremors.
It could have been the adrenaline, or it was a manifestation of my own hunger. I did not know how to explain it. It was like a jolt of lightning had shot through my body. Why did he make me feel sohot?
“What little thoughts are smacking against the inside of your skull?” His pupils were constricted. The air about him was as dangerous as the still air before a storm.
“No... thoughts,” I mumbled, refusing to look at him.
