Page 29 of The Labyrinth

“Watch out!” Ten grabbed my wrist and yanked me back.

I fell back against his broad chest, eyes wide. My heart beat wildly in my chest, looking for danger my eyes couldn’t see. “What the hell?”

He pointed right in front of my feet, right where I had been about to step. The floor had given way, and the crumbling building housed a perfect-sized hole for me to fall through to the basement. “I know it’s difficult for you, but you need to be careful here. It’s condemned, and for good reason.”

I ignored the comment and shook myself out of his grasp. But this time, I made my way to the shattered window with my eyes on the floor. I could only make out half of the picture, but I could see a long cape, and an infant cradled in someone’s arms. A mother holding a child. I looked around at the expansive room. Each window held a different picture, a different story.

I could feel rather than hear Ten behind me. I didn’t know why my body was so attuned to his. I told myself it was a protective response of my mind, making sure I knew where the danger was at all times, but the explanation tasted sour on my tongue. A lie I couldn’t figure out.

“It tells the story of the chosen one’s life. The man people used to worship, before the Fall,” he explained. “This was his mother, holding him as an infant.”

“They used to worship a man? Like just an ordinary man?” Ten’s body drew closer to mine. Every cell on my skin reached out to touch his, a whisper of breath separating us. I hated the way my body betrayed me, calling out to his. I hated how weak I was. “Doesn’t seem very smart to me.”

Ten laughed, the quiet sound echoing in the cavernous room. “He was more than a man, but yes, I’m not sure it was the wisest choice.” His elbow brushed against my shoulder, and for the first time, I didn’t pull away from the sudden touch. “When the world began to burn, many people took refuge in places like this. They hoped he would come back and save them all, the true believers.”

“What happened?” I whispered.

“They burned. But they burned together. They burned with hope, until their very last moments.” A quiet sigh punctuated the words. “Sometimes I think there’s a special type of beauty in that kind of hope. The kind that keeps people believing, even when everything they’ve ever known is rubble and ash.”

I whirled around, tipping my chin to look up at Ten. He was staring out the window, but he looked down at me, eyes soft. “Why did you bring me here?”

He shrugged, an utterly disarming move for the massive beast. “I think…I think I wanted to show you how beautiful all the broken pieces can be.”

Ten wasn’t just talking about the windows, the shattered bits of glass making up the pretty pictures. He was talking about the broken hope held by those who’d come before. The decrepit building, where new life rebuilt itself every day over the bones of the old. The bits of our lives, jagged and sharp to the touch.

“I’m not a good man, Rissa.” He didn’t take his eyes off me.

I couldn’t breathe. If I did, I would shatter into a million pieces like the windows in front of us. The only difference would be it wouldn’t be as pretty to look at.

“I’m not sure what good means,” I breathed. “Are any of usgoodanymore? Or are we just trying to survive?”

Ten shook his head. “You’re good. I know you are.”

“What makes you think I am?” I wanted to close the gap between us. One step, and our bodies would be pressed against each other, his massive frame engulfing mine. “I’ve done things to survive. If we’re looking at things through such a black and white lens, they’d tip the scales to bad.”

“Because, Rissa. I seeyou. This place is a ruin, little more than a bunch of rocks held together with string. But you don’t see that, do you? You see what it used to be. The beauty hidden inside the decay. Only good people can do that—look past the monster on the outside.” A secret was hiding amongst his words, a story just for me.

My body moved without a second thought, my hand pressing against the rough skin of his face. He leaned into my touch, his eyes compelling me to understand him. To dig through the mystery that was Ten.

“Do you want me to see you?” I whispered.

A soft shake of the head, but his eyes didn’t leave my face. “No,” he murmured. “I want you to understand there are two sides of me. The monster who wants to utterly consume you, and the part that wants to worship at your feet. They both can’t exist at the same time, but they’re there just the same.”

A warning. That’s what this was. My last chance to turn and run. But where would I go? I wasn’t sure what kind of life was left for me outside the walls of the Labyrinth, and what would happen to Ten if I left? I had a feeling I would return to find him a reflection of this church, broken down pieces of something that was once beautiful. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“You should be.” He wrapped his hand around my wrist, squeezing tightly. His mouth was a whisper away from mine, the air between us shared. “If you knew the things I wanted to do to you, Rissa, you’d run far, far away from me. And you’d be right to do so. I want to hurt you, to bruise you with my hands. To mark you with my nails. I want to fuck you until you cry, tears streaming down your face. I want to make you beg for salvation, like those people did in here waiting for their death all those years ago. I want you to beg, and scream, and cry, and know there’s nothing you can do because you’re mine, and I’m never fucking letting you go.”

He was right. I should’ve run, and run far. I should’ve done a thousand things. Instead I did the one thing I shouldn’t. I closed the gap between us, leaned up on my tiptoes, and pressed my lips against Ten’s mouth.

For a moment, there was nothing else in the room. There was just his mouth kissing me back, and the silence of all the souls who lingered here watching us. Judging me, for what I was sacrificing. What I was surrendering willingly.

Ten pulled back, wrapping his hands in my hair with a groan. “You’re the sweetest fucking temptation, deliciae. You’ll lead me right to my doom.” He slid his hands to my shoulders, pressing me down into the ground. “Kneel for me, Rissa.”

This place, thischurch, it felt sacred. And yet being on my knees for Ten had never felt so right. He undid his pants, freeing his massive, hard cock. It was beautiful, in its own way. A dark kind of beauty, just like Ten. Deep purple, with ridges I felt when he was inside me. And those barbs warning me to stay away. I licked my lips, already anticipating what he was going to do with it. I wanted more. I wanted everything. I wanted to lap at his cock, taking whatever he was willing to give me. I ran my hands down my throat with a quiet groan.

“Show me how badly you want to be holy for me, deliciae,” he murmured. “Take my cock into that luscious mouth of yours. Suck me dry. Worship me.”

I leaned forward, wrapping my lips around the broad head of his cock, barely fitting all of it inside my mouth at once. Ten groaned above me, tightening his grip in my hair, pushing me down deeper onto him. The barbs scraped past my mouth, not hurting me. Just a light tickle as they scratched their way inside. I had a feeling they would only hurt if he wanted them to. I pressed my hands on either side of his thighs, taking as much of his thick length as I could. More and more, until my mouth was full and Ten’s quiet curses above me turned into pleasure. I paused for a moment, allowing my mouth to adjust to his size.

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