Page 19 of Two Sides of Sin

The contact sent a shock wave through me. My skin felt like it was humming, the burn of his lips lingering long after he’d moved away.

“You ready to go?” he asked, his voice dropping into that low octave that made my toes curl.

“Yeah,” I managed, my voice sounding breathy and far away. “I’m ready.”

As we walked out to his car, the cool evening air hit my face, but it did nothing to dampen the fire he’d just ignited. My mind was already racing ahead, wondering if the carnival noise would be enough to distract me from the man walking just inches away. Or, if under the cover of the crowd, he might finally stop running from me.

Chapter 16

Julian

Ikept my eyes locked on the road, my hands anchored at ten and two. It was a desperate, hold, as if letting go meant losing my final grip on reality. I didn’t need to look at June to feel her presence beside me, stiff, distant, and a constant reminder of the rejection I’d dealt her yesterday.

The interior of the cabin felt too small. It smelled of her, that seductively sweet blend of vanilla and coconut that seemed to have fused its scent into the very fibres of my upholstery.

“You’re driving like you’re expecting an ambush, Julian,” June said. Her voice cut through the quiet like a blade through silk. She didn’t look at me, keeping her gaze fixed on the passing blur of dark trees and shadowed hills.

“Just focused on the road, June,” I replied. My voice was tighter than I intended, sounding like a string pulled to the point of snapping.

The guilt felt like a serrated blade twisting in my gut. Every time I glanced at her in my periphery, I saw the light in her eyes and felt a wave of nausea. She was sitting there, hopeful and hurt, not knowing that Cain and I had effectively dismantled the life she was supposed to have. Her dreams were currently ashes in our fireplace, and I was the one who had agreed to fan the inferno.

Suddenly, June shifted. She leaned across the centre console, her scent flaring until it filled my lungs. I felt her scrutiny before I heard her speak.

“What happened to your eye?”

I froze. I’d tried to cover the bruising with the shadows of the car, but the streetlights were unforgiving. The black eye from Cain’s fist was a dark, bruised violet that hadn’t yet begun to yellow.

“I… I tripped in the library,” I said, the lie tasting like ash on my tongue. “Caught the edge of a desk. That’s all.”

June didn’t pull back. Instead, she leaned closer, her eyes narrowing as she took in the rest of the damage. I felt the heat of her breath on my cheek.

“Tripped?” she echoed, her voice dripping with a dry, knowing skepticism. Her gaze dropped to my mouth. “And the split lip? Did the desk jump up and bite you too?”

“June—”

“And your knuckles, Julian?” She reached out, her cool fingers trailing over the bruised, split skin of my right hand as it rested on the wheel. The contact sent a jolt of electricity up my arm. “Did you try to punch the desk after it tripped you?”

She pulled back then, a small, dangerous smirk playing on her lips. She didn’t push it further, but the look she gave me said everything. She knew I was lying. She knew I’d fought with Cain. And for some reason, the violence seemed to fascinate her as much as it worried her.

“You’re a terrible liar, you know,” she murmured, turning back to the window. “But I’ll let you keep your secrets for tonight. Since we’re trying to be normal.”

We pulled into the gravel lot of the carnival a few minutes later. The air here was a thick, dizzying mix of fried food, spun sugar, and the metallic tang of machinery. The kaleidoscopic lights of the Ferris wheel cutting through the darkness, fracturing the shadows ahead.

“We’re here,” I said, stepping out to open her door.

The second she slid out of the seat, my breath caught hard in my throat. God, why did she have to wear that dress? It was a beautiful torture. Every single time a stray gust of wind swept across the ground, the lightweight fabric caught the air, blowing up just enough to test every ounce of my fraying sanity. It made me feel like I was genuinely going to pass out, my head spinning with the desperate urge to just pin her against the side of the car and devour her right then and there. I wanted to kiss her so badly it was driving me insane.

Steeling myself, I reached for her hand, my heart hammering a nervous beat. For a second, a cold flash of fear hit me that she’d pull away, but her fingers slid into mine with a firm, grounding weight.

“One day of normal,” June said, looking up at the flashing neon. “That’s a tall order for us, isn’t it?”

“I’m willing to try if you are,” I said, my voice dropping into that low rumble that always seemed to draw her in.

We wandered for an hour, the tension slowly fraying into something that resembled fun. Every time a man looked at her too long, I felt my grip on her hand tighten. Every time she laughed, I thought of the applications and the secrets I was keeping, and the possessiveness surged, hot and dark beneath the surface.

At the knife throwing stall, she watched with crossed arms as I balanced a blade.

“Show off,” she murmured, though a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.