Page 51 of Corvus and the Broken God

Bed play? I would’ve jumped up from the sand if his arm hadn’t tightened, holding me firmly in place.

Why is that offensive? We are attracted to each other, and we are playing a couple in love. Why not take advantage of that?

No one ever accused you of being romantic.

No, they have not. Which is why this disguise of yours is so perfect. My old enemies would never believe it was me.

And so, why not have sex?

Exactly.

I froze, testing out how I felt about his proposition. He felt so good and masculine around me, and I had been fighting a strong attraction to him from the beginning. But then what? How did I keep from getting mixed-up feelings or wanting more?

There would be no need to use a condom… He was tempting me, but that was a strange approach. Then again, what did I expect from him?

Why not? I couldn’t help but ask.

Because, Corvus, I am sterile and unable to pass on any sort of disease.

He was sterile? My brain struggled with that one. How could he possibly transform another being down to their most cellular level and yet not be able to reproduce?

Don’t tell me you have sex only in order to reproduce?

Get out of my head. And no, I was just wondering if maybe you were sterile because you believed yourself to be sterile in the first place.

Now who is not being romantic?

Good grief. I leaned forward, and he released me. I turned in front of him, pulling up on my knees. The truth was, I was dying to kiss him again, to feel his heat around me.

Fine, let’s copulate if that’s a good enough word for you.

He chuckled and kissed me. Excellent, Corvus, but maybe back in our hotel room? I’m fairly certain we would attract a little too much attention if we did it here.

He stood and offered me his hand. You’re right, plus we’d have to worry about getting sand everywhere.

He pulled me to my feet and grabbed my hand, leading me down the beach in a way that put lie to his previous claims of not being romantic. This isn’t romance, Freya, just scratching an itch, I reminded myself. Only I had never been good at casual sex. And why did I think that sleeping with an ancient being could ever be a good idea? I dropped his hand and immediately scratched my arm, doing my best to look at ease. He didn’t react, just matched my slow pace. We should have been talking and flirting, but I was too busy freaking out to play any games.

He led me in through the back entrance of the hotel to the lobby. The jungle atrium had exotic birds screeching, the overgrown plants lit from below made it just dark enough for romance. A large group entered the atrium from the opposite end, small groups surrounding us while we waited for the elevator.

Normally, so many strangers around me would have sent me searching for the stairs, but they made me feel safer somehow. I would be alone with my Monster soon enough, but not yet. When a few people pushed between us as the elevator doors opened, I didn’t fight them, looking over at him while we crowded inside. He winked at me before glancing away.

Our room was near the top floor, but it looked like we would be stopping at every other floor first. If only I could get my heart and head aligned in the meantime.

An old Prince song played as the elevator made its slow way up, a song my parents had loved. One night I had woken up from a nightmare, but they weren’t in their bedroom. I had crept out to the living room, tiptoeing so they wouldn’t catch me, when I saw them dancing. The song had been strange, but they were enjoying themselves, both singing their hearts out. After my father died, I found a collection of mixtapes he had made for my mother in one of his boxes, along with an old Walkman. I played those tapes over and over again at my uncle’s house, until missing my father hurt a little less.

This song played over our heads, blurring the lines between the past and the mistake I was about to make in the near future.

We stopped at yet another floor. The elevator had emptied out except for two other couples. My Monster glanced over at me and mouthed along to the song a body like yours oughta be in jail, ‘cause it’s on the verge of being obscene…

Heat rushed through me; I had to be blushing.

How could you possibly know the words to this song? I asked him, doing my best not to react when one of the people in the elevator caught what he was doing.

Believe it or not, Corvus, but the radio was invented a long time ago.

I shook my head, laughing with relief as the elevator emptied out.

But how do you know this song, Corvus? It was popular long before you were born.