Page 59 of Ruby Red Sky

Two of my fingers tapped my chin. “Is that so?”

“Supposedly.”

The two fingers pointed to the ground. “Crawl to me.”

CHAPTER 19

Cassia

My mouth dropped open. Crawl?

A waver of uncertainty flickered in his gaze, so quick it was gone before I could fully process it. But the impression remained. He waited to see what I would do, if I would listen to him.

My thoughts warred in my head, one side wanting to yell at him for asking me to bow but the other, that side that found his request hot even though maybe I shouldn’t have, was jumping up and down asking to see what would happen.

That side won.

I lowered myself, gingerly placing my palms on the soft rug. My feet got caught in my skirt, the garment having more sense than I, apparently. I yanked on it and held it out of the way with my fist. Infuriatingly, I swear Lukas smothered a laugh. If the twitch in the corner of his lip was any indication.

The closer I got to him, the darker his gaze turned. He walked over to the bed and glanced over his shoulder, expecting me to follow on my hands and knees. My heart started thumping behind my ribs, knowing exactly what he had planned.

Flashes of our kiss sparked in my mind, reminding me of what it felt like to be the subject of his affection. The ghost of his hand on my waist, the press of his palm on my lower back. The memories of these not-so-small moments sent flashes of heat swirling through my body.

It didn’t help, the way he was staring at me. It was as if I was the sexiest and most sacred creature he’d ever seen, combined with a dark and delicious desire to consume me.

Every part of me.

I didn’t know if I should get up and run screaming from the room or will my sliding knees to move faster.

Once I reached his feet, he loomed over me, staring straight down. “Good girl.”

Air slammed into my lungs while my blood rushed southward. I sat back on my legs and waited, not knowing what to do.

Whichever action I took, be it running away or throwing myself into his arms, it would likely change everything.

“Stand up,” he ordered, keeping his voice low. I did.

My skin seemed like it was vibrating, straining, reaching for the man in front of me while my rational self had something else entirely in mind.

“Look at me,” he said.

Lifting my gaze, my breath caught in the middle of my throat again. None of this felt real. This was more than simple, terrible lust. There was something else between us, dragging us toward the other like colliding planets. We were either set for mutual destruction, or something completely new would be built.

It terrified me as much as it excited me. What if he went out one day and never came back, some crazy tragedy having taken him away from me? What if he got bored and tired of me, treating me like one of the overlooked candlesticks on top of the dresser? I wouldn’t be able to bear it.

But what if he was as constant and faithful to me as he was with everything else in his life. Maybe if I just gave him...

He cupped my cheek with one hand and brought my face to his with the other, tearing me away from my thoughts. He pressed his mouth to mine, gently prodding my lips with his tongue. The edge of the mattress hit the back of my legs, and I held his waist, my fingers pressing into his warmth through his shirt.

For the so-called “undead”, he was very hot. In every way.

“I’m going to taste every inch of you,” he said, his mouth just a millimeter away from my own. “All of you, every cell of your precious body, is mine.”

Before I knew what happened, my head was on the edge of the pillow. Leaning up on my elbows, I watched as the mattress dipped under his weight. The candles snuffed out all around us, leaving only two with gently wavering flames on the table. They shed a soft, amber light while he moved toward me.

His arms caged me, and he trailed his nose down the side of my face while his hair tumbled like a curtain around my head. “I’m going to find every spot that makes you sigh, every corner that makes you tremble, and every vein that makes you gasp.”

My head fell back on the pillow as the word “vein” echoed in my head. He leaned backward, allowing me a close-up view of his nails as they grew. They looked like glass—just as shiny and almost as clear. They had a quartz-like quality I couldn’t describe with words other than to say they were lethally beautiful.