Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 123065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“So…” I try to calm the shakin,g in my hands. “Who are you then? Where was your home?”
He stands quickly. “My home is here now.”
“Did people die?”
He turns around and faces me, then leans close and cups my chin between his elegant fingers. “People always die, Cleo, just like you will.”
Tears burn behind my eyelids. “I’m not eating your sandwiches.”
“They’ll help you forget,” he whispers and draws close again. His lips graze my neck before he presses a soft kiss near my collar bone then pulls my loose T-shirt over my shoulder. His mouth opens, it’s warm and soft, and then he scrapes his teeth along my skin. “Do you really want to remember your own death? I can make it easy, I do it often. Why do you think the elderly follow me everywhere? They don’t want to remember their own deaths, so I give them one final gift, they’ll dream of me, they’ll sleep eternally.” He keeps kissing up my neck while talking. “Wouldn’t you rather remember my mouth than the fact that you have to write your own name in a damning book? Remember the brush of my lips, the trace of my tongue, the feel of my body against yours?”
I gasp as he grips my knees and spreads my legs apart. “Wouldn’t you rather feel me between your legs than remember your death and impending doom? It will be only pleasure and then blessed sleep. How nice would that be? To spend the rest of the week like you’re dreaming, and then closing your eyes.”
I gasp when he reaches for me and scoot away.
“Don’t you want to save your brother?” He tilts his head.
My eyes burn with unshed tears. “What?”
“It’s either you or him, Cleo. You decide, Cyrus only has to kill one twin, not both. It’s kind of one of those weird whoops rules. You die, he lives, and you can go out however you choose.” He pushes me back against the bed and hovers over me, his eyes flash white. “I would rather go out having sex but that’s just me… And I know how hungry you probably are, the same as me. Let me satisfy you the way Cyrus never will. He refuses to touch you, you know. He won’t touch any of the sacrifices.”
“Wh-why?” I find I must ask.
Enki grins and then grips my chin again. His mouth comes down on mine as he whispers against my lips, “Because you’re dirty.”
I can’t pull away.
I can’t move.
His tongue trails my lower lip and then invades my mouth. I taste fury and lust. His kiss is punishing and aggressive; it isn’t soft and it isn’t kind. He presses his body against mine, down into the silk sheets, and grabs at my hair, trapping me beneath him. His obvious arousal presses against me, and though we are both still clothed, I feel naked and vulnerable. When he pulls back it feels like it’s been an eternity.
“Have you made your choice?”
“I didn’t know I had one,” I rasp. I can’t stop trembling.
He pins my gaze with his. “You can let the monster outside break you down until the eclipse or you can lick down my body, eat my food, and forget it all. Everything that’s already happened…everything that’s about to—after all, it’s for the sake of your brother. Are you so heartless to let him suffer?” He tilts his head to the side. “Well, are you?”
“No.” My voice feels stronger now. “But I’m also not going to sleep with you.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” He traces a finger down my cheek, leaving a trail of tingling heat in its wake. “We sure as hell will not be sleeping. How cute that you thought so.”
“You’d be using me.” My accusation.
“I like using things.” His answer.
“Does Cyrus know about this?”
Enki sits back. “He doesn’t need to know.”
“Prove it.” I sit up. “Prove you’re a god and I’m not hallucinating. Prove it right now.”
“Is that the cost of your body, Cleo? I’m almost disappointed.” He laughs and gets to his feet. He puts a hand in front of his face then snaps his fingers. I’m so stunned I think I might be having an actual stroke.
Bast jumps up and starts to yowl at him.
The color of Enki’s clothing goes completely black, a cape rests across his shoulders, tattoos spread down his chest and arms, leather pants appear along with daggers in each hand. His eyes are feral, white.
His hair runs down his back. He has on black boots that look like actual weapons, the sides have lethal spikes on them.
I scramble back against the headboard.
He holds out his arms. “Satisfied?”
His voice echoes in the cave, it’s deeper than the one I’m used to, more menacing.
And I’m terrified.
I snatch up a pillow and put it between us.
His laugh sounds like it came from the deepest pit of hell. “Do you think that would save you?”