Page 64 of House of Serpents and Slaves

"Look at me," she whispered. When I did, her eyes were dark with something that wasn't pity at all. "I see how you hold yourself apart. How you flinch from casual contact. But you don't flinch from me."

"Because you're not afraid." The words came out harsher than I intended. "But you should be. The things I think about... the ways I want..." I broke off, jaw clenching.

"The way you want to touch me?" Her voice had dropped lower, sending heat pooling in my belly. "The way I think about touching you?"

"Livia..." Her name was a warning, though I wasn't sure if it was meant for her or myself. Every muscle in my body was taut with the effort of holding still.

"Tell me to stop," she breathed, her lips barely inches from mine. "Tell me you don't want this."

"It's forbidden." My voice was hoarse, though I still hadn't moved away from her. "A human and a Talfen... even half-blood. If they catch us-"

"They'll kill you," she finished. "And I'll be flogged. Ostracized. Maybe worse." Her hand slid to my chest, resting over my thundering heart. "I know the laws, Tarshi. I know the risks."

"Then why?" I caught her hand again, torn between pulling it away and pressing it closer. "Why would you risk everything?"

"Because I've wanted you since the day you arrived." The raw honesty in her voice made me ache. "Because something in me recognizes something in you. When I'm near you, it's like..." She struggled for words. "Like a pull. Like gravity. Tell me you don't. Tell me I'm imagining the way your body responds when I'm close. The way your eyes follow me in the yard."

I couldn't lie to her. Not about this. "I feel it," I admitted roughly. "Like a hook behind my ribs, drawing me to you. But Livia, wanting isn't enough. I won't be responsible for your destruction."

"My destruction?" A fierce light entered her eyes. "I choose my own fate. As you choose yours. We're not slaves to their laws or their prejudices."

"No," I agreed, my resolve weakening as she pressed closer. "We're just slaves to everything else."

"Then let us have this." Her lips brushed my jaw, and I had to bite back a groan. "Let us have something that's ours. Something they can't take away."

"If they find out..."

"Then we don't let them find out," she whispered against my skin. "I'm tired of being afraid. Tired of denying what I feel."

“The guards-"

"Won't patrol this section again for hours."

Her words sent a shiver through me. The last of my resistance crumbled as her lips found mine, soft at first, then with increasing urgency. I groaned into her mouth, my hands coming up to tangle in her hair, pulling her closer. She matched my hunger, her tongue seeking entrance, and I opened to her willingly, following her lead. My heart thudded against my ribcage as her hands spread over the expanse of my chest, warm and curious. I pulled back, gasping for breath that seemed to have left my body at her command.

Her eyes never left mine as she reached up and ran her fingertips over my lips.

"Livia..." I breathed her name, torn between desire and fear. "If we do this, there's no going back."

“Do you want me to leave?” she asked. “Or to stop? I will, if it’s what you want.”

I should have said yes, should have made her leave right then. I knew the penalties if we were caught, knew what we were risking. I was wrong to risk her life just to feel her touch on my skin, I knew that. My demon half could damn her, but the human half of me just wasn’t strong enough to form the words. I had craved human touch for so many years, I didn't have the strength to send her away. Livia might think me a strong man, a good man, but I wasn’t. I was weak and selfish, and I reached for her again.

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Iwas being reckless, I told myself. I was putting everything I’d worked for at risk. If the guards came by early, or someone heard us, it would be over for both of us. Tarshi would be killed and I wasn’t sure if I’d even be allowed to live either, and yet I hadn’t been lying when I’d told Tarshi there was something about him that seemed to pull me closer. These last few nights tending his wounds, I’d felt it even stronger than before. Before, I’d been able to ignore it. It was forbidden and I couldn’t risk my chance at revenge over an attraction, however strong. Aside from that, I had enough with Marcus and Septimus going on thatwas enough to fill my mind with confusion, but the feel of his skin under my hands had sent shivers through my body, even as I’d tried my best to heal him. I’d pushed the thoughts away, trying not to think about this beautiful, sad man in front of me, who’s soul seemed to call to mine in a way I’d never felt before. Trying not to remember he wore little more than a loincloth, and we were very much alone. Tonight though, the pull between us had been impossible to ignore. I hadn't been able to fight the urge to touch him, to kiss him. His kiss had set me aflame, and my body burned for him like a wildfire that raged, driving me onwards, and Inferi be damned to the consequences.

The second kiss was harder, more urgent, and I felt his hands around my waist pulling me closer. I leaned in, conscious not to rest my hands on his shoulders where the lighter wounds lay exposed to the air. After a moment, I pulled back, breathing hard.

I cupped his face, brushing my thumbs across his cheekbones, feeling the roughness of stubble beneath my fingertips.

"Are you sure?" I whispered, searching his eyes for any hint of doubt.

Tarshi nodded, his breath hitching. "I've never been more certain of anything in my life."

My eyes dropped down his body, over that dark expanse of skin over tight muscles, to the loincloth he wore. His own desire was now extremely obvious, and I reached down to pull the cloth up. His breath hitched as I did so, and my lips parted at the sight of him, smooth, thick and long, and so ready for me. I’d heard the slave women talk of Talfen men, of how they were larger than human men, but it had been all talk. No one we knew had ever slept with one - it was as forbidden as lying with an animal - but there had always been rumours. Now I knew the truth of it. I licked my lips slightly unnerved by his size, but leaned down to take the head of his cock into my mouth.

Tarshi gasped, his hips jerking involuntarily as my lips closed around him. I swirled my tongue, tasting the salt of his skin, feeling him pulse against my mouth. His hands tangled in my hair, not pushing, just holding on as if I were his anchor in a storm.

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