Page 29 of A Bond in Flames

He continued to massage my scalp, and I was trapped by his sorcery, frozen in place.

“What did you see?”

I didn’t know what these visions meant, but there was no use hiding this one, I’m sure he’d figured out what it was about for himself. Was the female I saw in bed with him here in the tower the same one I’d seen in the tree house? Did he call all his consorts Stella? “You were with a female.” It came out a whisper. “She was on top of you.”

“Like you are now?” he asked in a velvety tone.

“Yes.”

The space between us felt electric, the room closing in, as if the world around us had vanished and he and I were the only two beings who existed.

“What else?”

“She was kissing your chest, and you were fisting her hair.”

His fingers twisted, then curled, tugging lightly, and humiliatingly, a moan slipped past my lips. “Then what happened?”

Get off him. Move.“She was… being playful and offered payment for your protection.”

His nostrils flared. “How?”

“She, um… she kissed your chest again…” His eyes narrowed, and he licked his perfectly formed lower lip. “And then I… I woke up.”

A heaviness fell between us, and the tension grew, kept growing until I had to fight not to squirm on top of him. His gaze was on me, moving over my face, and the urge to lift higher, to slide up his body and suck that lower lip into my mouth was almost overwhelming.

His chest was rising and falling faster while he watched me, waiting. He knew what I was thinking, and he was waiting for me to make the first move.

Don’t. Don’t do it. Kiss of Death, remember?

I shouldn’t, but still, I pressed my hand into the mattress, about to slide up his body, to risk everything to get to that mouth—

A loud knock had me jolting and shoving away from him.

Death’s lips peeled back with a low snarl before he shoved back the covers and strode to the door. The muscles in his back shifted, flexing, his biceps bulging when he clenched his fists before yanking the door open.

Horace stood there, and his eyes widened when he looked up at Death.

“What?” Death snarled.

“Your ship is ready and equipped with enough provisions for your journey,” Horace said, a slight tremble to his voice. The demon definitely wasn’t as brave this morning in the face of Death’s fury.

“We’ll be down when we’re ready.”

Horace bowed as he backed up. “Of course, my lord.”

Death slammed the door and turned back to me as I slid out of bed.

“Get back in the bed, wife,” he said, his tone fierce.

Goddess, I felt that in my belly and lower. I was about to laugh at his arrogance, but the hunger in his eyes, the power of a god demanding he be obeyed, gave me pause. My go-to of escaping awkward situations with humor or being a straight up smart-ass definitely wasn’t the way to go in this instance.

Easing away from the bed, I shook my head. “No, I won’t be doing that.”

His head tilted to the side, his glittering blue gaze tracking me. “What did you say?”

Death was like two different beings—the new, more human side of him had been dominating, but then the other, the scarier version of Death, would make a surprise reappearance, like now. This was the Death I’d met when I first entered Limbo. The rage-filled, demanding god.

“Take a breath,” I said, probably unwisely. “Think about what you’re saying.”

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