Page 78 of Stone Seduction
“Why don’t you just give in?” she roared, her footsteps heavy.
I rolled, dodging her stomp, kicking her in the shin. She grunted, staggering back, leaving me enough time to get vertical again.
Panting, I watched her correct herself, the stink of patchouli fermenting my insides.
“I won’t allow you to keep slipping away,” she hissed, pointing a charred finger at me. “This time, you will come to me.”
My anger burned as hot as the lava, my face flushed with indignation. “What did you do?”
She scraped her right foot across the ground like a bull. “I want my key.”
“Never.”
She didn’t charge. “Soon, Luke. Soon I’ll break you.”
“Meaning your latest attempt is already doomed to fail?” I laughed. “Good to know.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Still no charging. “There’s something I’m missing.” She hunched her shoulders, jutting her head out. “A secret to bring into the light. I feel it. I want it. It’s the key within the key.”
My fury wavered along with any confidence I possessed. “What?”
“Secrets, Luke. There are secrets within you.”
Holes in my memory. Things not quite right, things too blurry. The potion. The damn potion.
I took a step forward. “What is it?”
“A secret, obviously.”
“Can you…” Crap. Suddenly, the heat of his place enveloped me. “Can you…”
Finn. Crab Cove. Monsters. Blurring together, him becoming a terror, everything confused.
“Oh, God…” I held my head, pain pounding like the chimes of an enormous clock.
Ember stomped, kicking me between the legs. Wow. Definitely the best way to bring me down. I collapsed to my knees, the pain unbelievably cruel. For someone so crispy, there was plenty of force behind her attack.
“Fuck…” I wheezed, seeing stars within stars within stars.
Ouch.
“Show me!” she bellowed, grabbing my head, digging her fingers into my skull.
“No!” I cried, furious over this whole now-we-can-hurt-each-other twist.
Ember pressed harder, the cracks in her charred skin oozing clear liquid. I reached for one, about to peel a piece off. But she kicked me in the cock again.
Those stars became fireworks layered on top of sickening swirls.
Holy. Fuck. I’d have no joystick left at this rate.
“Show me the secret,” Ember murmured, the pressure on my head too much.
I clawed at her with one hand, the other holding my privates. My fingertips slid down her warm body, snaring in a crack. A piece of skin broke off, yielding zero reaction.
