She grants me a nearly imperceptible nod, her bottom lip wavering, then her eyes fall shut.
“That’s my girl. Now squeeze those tits like I would.”
She tucks her fingers under her ass, probably to keep them from doing as I say. My rebel. She wants to see what happens if she misbehaves. If I could just put my hands on her. But this is the only way.
“Go on,” I say. “It’s only you and me here.”
And me.
I swear I’ll end you, Kelter.
You’d think you’d be a little less of a jerk toward me,he says.
I would not think that.
I’m you, Eli. I have every memory from every one of your lives. I loved every son like you did. I see—
Do.I cut short his rant.Like I do. That is only one of the many things that set us apart. It was real for me. And still is. Now fuck off.
But he continues.I see every new memory of yours as it forms, like you see and think and feel what I do. What else defines someone besides their past and memories?
Never’s fingers sneak up the sides of her tits, nervous breaths rolling through her chest. Damn, I want my mouth on her.
So much more,I answer, pushing the words into his mind.We’renotthe same. I don’t have any of your old memories. I know who I am. It’s you who’s mixed up in me.
Because I’m the best of both of us. I know Ever better than you.
A nearly naked woman is wiggling under her own touch on the bed next to me. I can’t put my hands on her, but I’m still a lot closer than him.
Nipples too. Tell her,he says.
I know what I’m doing. And get your eyes off her before I find you and gouge them out.
You realize I’d still see what you see, right?His amusement hits me along with the words. Then he flashes the scene before him at me to make his point—Milo posing next to a naked statue on a street corner and Sypher trying to drag him away. I hear Kaleida’s laugh, even feel the slap of her hand on Kelter’s shoulder.
Godsdammit. I ignore him and focus on Never as I wrap my hand around myself again, pushing against the inside of my pants.
“That’s nipple neglect,” I say, watching her rub the soft pillows of her breasts, squeezing and massaging with hesitant hands.
A smile cracks open her mouth. “What is?”
“Touching everywhere but your hard nipples, not giving them what they need. I want them between my teeth, and you won’t even touch them?”
“I have a question first.”
“What?” I try not to sound impatient.
Her eyes open painfully wide. “Are you going to kill me?”
My breath slips from my lungs. I halt the steady rhythm of my hand. “What?”
“To get my essence. After you’re bored of me.”
“No. Fuck, Never. What part of ‘never let you go’ makes you think I’d kill you?” How could she think that? I push her away to keep her from loving me in case my hold on her heart falters, but I thought she knew I’d never hurt her. What I said to Kelter was only to piss him off.
“It’s not like I can trust you,” she says quietly.
“You don’t trust anyone.”
