Page 60 of A Bond in Flames

Hot, rough-skinned fingers slid up my thigh, then over my hip before gripping the worn fabric of my shirt tight. He dragged it up, forcing me to lift my arms. He dropped it on top of the piano beside me, and my nipples puckered as soon as the cool air hit them. Without taking his eyes off me, Death lifted a hand, aiming it at the door behind him, and invisible hands swung it shut with a loud click.

Then his hands were back on me, gliding, massaging, moving over my bare skin. He watched where they traveled, as if what he was doing was the most enthralling thing he’d ever seen.

“I don’t think you realize how important you are to me, Zinnia. You don’t get it, and that’s not your fault. But believe me when I say, if something had happened to you today…” He looked up, darkness swirling. “I would have torn it all down. I would have burned so hot in my fury and grief that there would have been nothing left but stardust.”

I swallowed, trying to process what he was saying. I couldn’t. “You can’t say things like that… you can’t—”

“It’s the truth. Do you want me to lie to you?”

I was struggling to take it all in, to focus, because his hands were still moving over my body, making my skin warm and tingly, making my breasts ache and causing a deep throb between my thighs. He carefully but forcefully pushed me back so I was lying on the piano’s cool surface. His hands slid down my belly, and then he tugged my shorts and underwear down my body and tossed them onto the piano with my shirt.

“Spread your legs for me,” he demanded softly.

I did as he said, instantly obeying. I should stop this after what he’d just said, after that declaration, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wanted whatever he was offering with an intensity that made me quiver. Resting his hand low on my belly, he dragged his thumb through my slick pussy, sliding it up and back. I was fully exposed, naked, and sprawled out in front of him. Death seemed content to take his time touching me.

“You can’t imagine how good it feels buried deep inside you,” he said and pushed the tip of his thumb inside me. “You don’t know this, my precious consort, but I am your humble servant. Anything you desire, all you need to do is ask, and I will bend and twist, I will contort my world to make it yours as well.”

My hips rolled. “Mors…” I said, even though I had no idea what to say next. What could you say to that? I had a god in the palm of my hand, but not even he could save me from fate, from death, if that’s what was destined for me—just like the rest of them. But while I had him, while he was mine, he would worship me, and I would worship him.

If anyone deserved happiness, it was the male watching me like I was the brightest star in the sky.

“But it seems no matter what I say, you refuse to allow me to protect you.” He slid his thumb the rest of the way inside me and kissed the inside of my thigh. “Outside this castle, if you are not with me, if you are off the path that I already told you not to wander from, you are at risk… yet you left the safety of these walls and ventured into the forest.” He grazed his teeth along my skin, then nipped me. It wasn’t hard, not enough to really hurt, but I gasped. “How many times do I have to say it? How many times do I have to ask you to remain at my side or in the safety of these grounds?” He looked up at me. “Do I need to punish you to make you do as I say, is that it?”

I moaned as he slid his thumb from me and replaced it with two fingers. “Y-you needed me,” I said, quickly losing the ability to think or speak logically.

“Did I now? How do you know that, little witch?”

“B-because…” My hips rocked against his hand, trying to take more, to take those long, rough fingers deeper. “Because… I felt you. Your pain, your anger. I felt it here.” I pressed my hand to my chest. “I just… I just knew, and I had to find you.”

He stilled for a second, and I whimpered in protest. He started moving again, fucking me with his fingers, as shadows swirled around him, as his cloak manifested. “Then let me make something clear.” He leaned forward. “Unless I ask you to come with me, you will remain here.” Half of his face transformed, turning it into half a shadowed skull, half the male I was growing to care for more than I knew how to understand or process. “If you risk your safety again, your punishment will be a lot worse than the one I’m about to give you.”

“What are you…?”

He lifted me, flipping me over. The stool scraped against the floor as Death planted my knees on it, and then he grabbed the back of my neck and forced my upper body down. My hands slammed down against the keys, making a chaotic, tuneless sound. He shoved the stool farther in and changed my position so my forearms were on top of the glossy black grand piano.

Then, leaning over me, he pressed his bare chest against my back, his arms bracketing me. His cloak brushed against my bare skin, and the power flowing through it lifted sparks all over me. I was in sensation overload.

One of his hands left my view, and a moment later, it was on my ass, squeezing. “Are you ready?”

“W-what are you…?”

His hand came down, hard.

I cried out and tried to bolt upright, but he held me down. “Mors—”

“You refuse to listen to me, so now I have to punish you,” he said roughly, then spanked me again.

Humiliation burned my cheeks. “Don’t you dare do it aga—”He did it again.I hissed, outraged, as his hand came down on the other cheek.

“You will learn, and you will obey me,” he said against my ear as he massaged where he’d no doubt just left a massive handprint.

The burn sank in deep, and I squirmed.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure you’ve quite learned your lesson yet.”

“Don’t,” I said, but my protest was weak because, goddess, it felt… I squirmed again, and my inner muscles throbbed, clamping down. It felt good.

He shoved my thighs wider. “One more,” he growled.

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