Page 11 of Rising Out of the Darkness
He continued his tortuous path higher and higher until I felt him pull away just a breath, pulling my lip between his teeth before releasing. The loss of his lips made a small whimper of frustration escape.
With a husky laugh, he pressed his nose into mine until we were eye to eye. The only sounds were our heavy breaths. The rest of the world had already faded away.
“Lena,” he rasped, “that was better than anything I’ve ever imagined.”
Shocked, my teeth slid against my bottom lip. “You’ve imagined us?—?”
A wicked smirk tugged at his lips. “Several times.”
My eyes widened, and he devoured my lips once more.
The clatter of armor rattled next to us, followed by a familiar booming voice. My out-of-body experience ended, and I was slammed back into reality.
Guards.
Ascension.
Chapter 5
Elena
“Isee you’ve found who you were looking for.”
The guard’s glare flickered between the two of us as Will lowered me back to the ground then stepped in front of me.
A dark chuckle rolled through the guard’s chest as he shifted his gaze towards mine. “If I’d known that was all you wanted sweetheart, I could have helped you out. All you needed to do was ask.”
Laughter rang out from the two other guards behind him, and Will’s body jolted towards them. I wrapped my hand around his biceps, tugging him back towards me. A frustrated growl rumbled inside of him. I shook my head, motioning that the fight wasn’t worth it.
“I’d listen to her if I were you.” The first guard snickered. “You haven’t even received your dynamis, you’d be no challenge to us, boy.”
This time, the guard was met with both our seething glares, causing them all to laugh again.
“Move it. It’s time for your Ascension. We wouldn’t want to you to miss getting your sympathy gifts from the gods.” The guard tilted his head towards the temple behind him.
As we passed, he gripped my wrist, causing me to turn back. The guard tugged me closer, the other two placing their hands on Will’s shoulders holding him back from me. A snarl rang out from Will.
“Take your hands off of her!”
Anger swelled within me as the guard inched closer to my face. “If you change your mind, sweetheart, I wouldn’t mind slumming it for you. Maybe then you could find out what real power feels like.”
Nausea rose within me as I tugged out of his grip and leapt towards Will. Laughter surrounded us. We pushed past them all and made our way to the front of the temple.
Fury raged within me. Sometimes, I truly wondered how Elysians like that were even blessed with dynamis in the first place. Wrapping my arms tightly around myself, I paced back and forth in the dirt in front of the temple.
Will pulled me back towards him, jarring me free from my spiraling thoughts. He twirled me around to face him. “You alright?” He brushed his palms up and down over my arms in a calming motion.
My shoulders sagged along with my fury. “No.” I sighed deeply. “But I will be.”
He pulled me into him and rubbed my back tenderly. The brass bell on top of the temple began to thrum, but I wanted nothing but to lose myself in this moment with Will. Reluctantly, I peeled myself away. A few others passed around us, making their way into the temple through the now open navy-blue doors.
“Come on, Lena, let’s get inside.” Will brushed his palm against my cheek one more time. “The sooner we get in, the faster we can get out, right?”
I nodded slowly. “Right.”
As we walked into the temple, I trailed my fingertips over the cold stone wall of the hallway that led towards the main gathering hall, trying to ease the wave of nerves.
We approached the wide archway of the great room, and I marveled over the view as we stepped inside. Curtains covered the windows, creating a dim, but intimate mood.
