Page 16 of A Spark in the Ash

Bless the dark, what is this man doing to me? I’ve never even had sex and I’m nearly two hundred years old, but this man is provoking all kinds of fantasies in me.

“What you thinking about, Serena?” he asks. Jaxon’s voice is low and rough, and from the tone of it, I have a feeling he knows exactly what I’m thinking about.

“I’m thinking it might be worth the risk of getting killed if I come in that vault and show you what I’m thinking about,” I confess in a husky voice.

I watch as Jaxon’s eyes rise up over my body as well, and it isn’t too hard to imagine what he’s thinking about either.

“What areyouthinking about?” I ask, and I can’t fight the sultry smile that pulls on my lips.

“I’m thinking about those little black shorts you were wearing yesterday,” he says. His eyes trail over my legs and he licks his lower lip before biting it.

I can’t help it. I can’t stop the smile that he brings out of me. “How much longer, Jaxon?”

His eyes rise to meet mine. There’s still hunger there, but also serious contemplation. “The urge is still there. I can’t really explain it, I just want…” He shakes his head as if he doesn’t want to admit what he’s feeling. But we have to be honest with each other. We have already been robbed of so many normal things, so this is one thing we can lay claim to: honesty. “I want to tear you to pieces, and it’s real and visceral, but also…” His eyes rise to meet mine once more, and I like the look in them. “Sexual. Which kind of disturbs the hell out of me.”

It should scare me. It should freak me out. What he just confessed is…carnal.

Instead, it sparks every bit of my blood to life.

I need him.

I need him right now.

I nod. “I get that. And I’m not afraid, Jaxon. Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready to take the risk.”

He places his hands on the glass, so I align my hands with his. “I can’t make any promises, Serena. It might get ugly.”

I shake my head. “I’ve survived this long. I can take ugly. I’m ready to risk it all if it means we can be together again.”

I see hope on his face. And a small smile pulls on his lips. “I have a feeling the others won’t approve of how this might go down.”

My eyes fall away from his for a moment. He’s right. There’s no way anyone else will want to risk how this might happen. “I’ll get them all out of here. We might only get an hour or two. But I’ll think of something. I’ll get them out so they won’t have to witness or deal with whatever might happen.”

His eyes are slightly wider. I can tell, he’s scared. He doesn’t want to hurt me. But if he’s feeling even a fraction of what I’m feeling, he’s desperate enough to take the risk. “I’m in.”

I nod once, a smile curling on my lips, as a plan begins to form in my head.

Chapter Seven

It's a stupid plan,but what's even more stupid is that it works so easily.

Really though, I just get lucky at the timing.

Half of us don't remember when our birthdays are. Once you're more than a hundred years old, and you haven't aged one day in such a long time, birthdays aren't exactly important anymore.

But every now and then, we remember to celebrate. Because every now and then, we need something to break up the monotony of such a long, long life.

So I get lucky that I remember that the next day is Davorian's birthday.

I plant the reminder in Renwick's ear. I mention it casually to Philomena. I started up a casual, though forced, conversation with a few other darklings who have yet to move out of the compound.

They plan a surprise birthday party. Considering they don't want the day to go by without actually celebrating it, they pull it all together in a matter of hours.

I never get an official invitation. I wasn't expecting one, and I'm relieved when it doesn't come.

But the compound gets quieter throughout the day. Some of the darklings go off to get party supplies. Renwick takes on the task of scouting out a place in the desert where they can host the party in the middle of the night without being heard. We are darklings after all. The nighttime is when we thrive.

As the hour grows later, the compound becomes more and more empty.

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