Page 48 of Hell on Earth
The scent of mildew wafted out to me, but I didn’t detect the odor of anything else as I stared inside the house. Another flash of lightning pierced the darkness to illuminate our shadows on the floor before me, but little else of the house was revealed. I searched for a predator before the light vanishedoncemore.
Wren’s shiver drew my attention to her. Her lips were taking on a bluish tint. Her wet hair straggled around her shoulders and her clothes stuck to her skin. The idea of being inside one of these houses again wasn’t one I relished. After the macharah’s attack, I was too wound up to be stuck inside again, but there was no other choice, she’d freeze if she stayed out in thisstorm.
Wren’s hands rested on my chest when I lifted her again, stepped inside, and closed the door behind us. With the door shut against the tempest, darkness descended on the house. I stiffened, my nostrils flaring and my ears twitching as I searched for any hint of something approaching us. The storm masked most noise, but my hearing was sensitive enough that I should be able to detect something approaching before itreachedus.
“Give me the sack. I’ll get the candles out,” Wren said through her chatteringteeth.
Reluctantly, I set her down and handed her the cover. Her fingers brushed mine as she took it from me and set it on the wooden floor with a small thud. Jars clinked together as Wren dug through it, and then the scratch of a match sounded. A small flame flickered to life before me. Wren extended a shaking hand to the wick and lit acandle.
“Stay here,” Itoldher.
She glanced at me and then froze. I don’t know what she saw on my face, but instead of protesting my command, she handed me thecandle.
Turning away from her, I prowled into the kitchen, living room, and bedroom in search of anything that could be hiding in the house. Adrenaline continued to pulse through my veins in waves that had me on the verge of shredding the furniture in the rooms I stalked through. I almost hoped something was hiding in here so I could unleash some of my lingering tensiononit.
I discovered Wren in the kitchen when I returned. She’d lit more candles and set them on the counter as she unpacked the jars and placed them in the cabinets next to more containers of food andwater.
“It's safe down here,” I told her. “I’m goingupstairs.”
So focused on her task, she didn’t look at me as sheresponded, “Okay.”
I heard the click of the cabinets closing before I bounded upstairs to search through the bedrooms and bathroom there. Wren had clothes in her hand and was coming from the lower bedroom when I returned to the top of the stairs. She’d wrapped a towel around her and held it against her chest. Beneath the towel, the straps of her bra were visible across her shoulders. She set the clothes on the back of the couch along with another towel. Her boots were turned upside down by thefrontdoor.
“I found us some more clothes,” she called to me. “We should both get dry before wefreeze.”
I stood and stared at her as she gazed up at me. The dim light of the candles danced over her pale skin. Her wet hair had curled at the ends and waved around her face. In that instant, I knew only one thing could calm meagain—her.
Water dripped from me as I descended the stairs toward her, closing the distance between us in less than a heartbeat. My rapid descent made her gasp and step back, but she didn’t try to pull away when my hand slid around her nape and I drew her flushagainstme.
Her hand tightened on the towel. I waited for her to tell me no, but she stared breathlessly up at me, her chest rising and falling against mine. I stared at her for a second more before crushing her against me and claiming hermouth.
ChapterTwenty-Five
Wren
I tried to process what was happening, but then what was there to process? Corson was kissing me, and not justanykiss, but one that would consume me. And I wanted to be devoured by him, I decided, as the fiery scent of him mingled with the November rain in an intoxicating combination thatensnaredme.
His hand entangled in my hair, and he pulled my head back to deepen the kiss. Dimly, I realized I’d never truly been kissed before, or at least I’d never been kissed as if I were everything to someone. Corson kissed me as if the most important thing to him washavingme.
My hand loosened its grip on the towel, and before I knew what was happening, it fell with a whisper to pool around my feet. I still wore my bra and underwear, but his clothes pressed against most of my flesh. Instead of his wet body chilling me further, it heated mine more than any firecouldhave.
He moved me back a step and then another until my back was against the door. The heady evidence of his arousal rested against my belly while he continued to kiss me as if his life depended on it. I eagerly met his tongue as our breaths fell into rhythm with eachother.
“If you decide to experiment on me, I might not let you go afterward.”His words from earlier drifted acrossmymind.
Pull away!Yet, I found myself being dragged further and further under by his kiss. I’d never experienced something like this before and I wanted himso badly that my entire body achedforhim.
I went to reach for his shoulders, but he seized my wrists. With one swift move, he bound my wrists together with his hand and pinned them over my head. I realized he had me trapped and vulnerable, something I’d vowed never to be with a demon. Being at the mercy of a demon equaleddeath.
However, I didn’t experience any trepidation, and instead of fighting his hold, I arched into him until my breasts flattened against his chest. My mind spun, but it was impossible to grasp any thoughts when Corson had complete control ofmybody.
He’d let me go if I asked it of him, but I didn’t feel dirty, tired, and unattractive with Corson as I so often did. Instead, I felt the complete opposite of those things and alive in a way I never knew I could be. For the past fourteen years, my heart had beat, my lungs inhaled, but I’d only done those things because my body required me todothem.
Now, I did them because Iwantedtodothem.
I hadn’t realized I was mostly dead until he made me come alive. This could never go anywhere between us. He’d said he might not let me go, but he would. I wasn’t his Chosen. He desired me, there was no doubt about that, but he would find a demon to have demon babies with,andI….
I could be dead tomorrow, and it was time I started living fortoday.
