Page 164 of Sinister

“I’m sorry for lying,” I tell him again. “I’m sorry for hiding this from you. I know it was bad of me to do so, but truthfully, I was terrified.”

“No, don’t apologize,” he murmurs softly. “I admit I was angry thinking you might be pregnant with someone else’s baby at first. But after you told me the truth . . . Ah, Petra, you have no idea how relieved I felt. But I also realized that it could not have been easy on you. You’ve been carrying this weight this entire time. My sweet, brave girl.”

“Thank you,” I whisper. “For not holding it against me. For being so sweet, so supportive. I—” I turn my face away so he doesn’t see the tears forming in my eyes. “I appreciate this. And you. I appreciate you,” I clarify as I clear my throat.

Though it’s the best word I can think of to use at this moment, it’s not the exact truth; I more than appreciate him. I . . . I suppose I haven’t fully come to terms with what I really feel for him. But it is so much more.

And for someone who’s been isolated her entire life, who’s never really dealt with these types of emotions, it’s overwhelming.

“Petra,” Sin says softly, his hand gently caressing mine. “I don’t regret anything that happened between us. But I do have one regret.”

My heart clenches. “What?”

“I know that night wasn’t very good for you,” Sin says in a soft tone. “I fumbled it quite badly, didn’t I?”

“What, no⁠—”

“Don’t bother denying it. I know it wasn’t as good for you as it should have been, and I can only blame it on my eagerness. I should have taken better care of you.”

“W-what are you saying?”

His fingers slide down my leg with the gentlest of pressures.

“I want to make it better.”

A flutter of nerves in my stomach. A wave of heat down my legs where he’s touching me.

His fingers slowly trail farther up my legs, and soon he’s hiking up my skirt, trailing kisses on the side of my knee.

I gulp down as I realize what he means.

“Sin, you don’t have to⁠—”

“I want to, Petra, so badly.” His voice is hoarse with desire.

His fingers gently stroke the delicate skin of my inner thighs. Anticipation builds inside me, made stronger by the feelings he inspires in me and the echo of those dreams: the way dream-Sin had made me feel with his fingers and mouth and . . .

“Please,” he whispers against my legs, and I feel a jolt of desire race through me. “Please let me show you how special you are.”

My body trembles uncontrollably at the sound of his voice, so needy, so hungry for me.

I stumble backward, falling on my back. He looms over me as he continues to hike up my skirt even higher, so that now it lies pooled around my waist.

His eyes are on me, watching, observing. My mouth parts on a soundless moan as he grabs the band of my panties and slides them slowly down my legs.

He leans in and swallows my gasps in a heart-stopping kiss.

“You’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispers against my lips before going lower, kissing my neck. Once he reaches my cleavage, he unbuttons my shirt and throws it to the side before snapping open my bra.

A shiver goes down my back as the cold air hits my naked skin.

His fingers trail over the top of my right breast, his gaze filled with longing. He traces lines over my skin before leaning down to kiss it. He continues downward until he reaches my nipples, now hard and puckered, and he sucks one into his mouth.

“Oh,” I gasp.

He nibbles at it, slowly, methodically. “Mine,” he whispers. “You’re all mine, aren’t you, Petra?”

I bite my lip as I nod.