Page 62 of Touch of Death
She hesitates a moment longer before crawling into bed, pulling the covers up over her frame. As if she has already forgotten about me, her thoughts so preoccupied with Death.
I want nothing more than to join her, to slip beneath the sheets and show her pleasure unlike anything she has ever imagined. To hear my name on her lips as she unspools around me. To ruin every other man for her, showing her things no other would be able to give her.
Though, I suppose it would not be that difficult, seeing how no one has yet lain with her.
I clear my throat as it suddenly dawns on me how undeserving I am of her, and it terrifies me. She terrifies me.
For the first time in my life, I do not fully understand myself. Not when I am around her. The hunger I feel in her presence, the all-consuming hold she has on my body and mind.
I turn my head toward the girl, relishing the soft rise and fall of her chest as sleep takes her. I could spend an eternity sitting here, watching her sleep, and never once bore of it. Never want or desire for another’s companionship.
Death’s feelings suddenly make sense.
Could this be what my brother means when he speaks of love?
No.
I shake the thought from my head with a snort of incredulity.
Love is not for me; I am the God of Lust.
She is nothing more than another conquest. A challenge unlike any before her that I fully intend to see through.
I will win her to my bed, and then, I can return to my duties. To the pleasures of life that I knew before her.
Soon, she will be nothing more than a faint memory. A distant recollection of a time that a mortal came close to bringing the God of Lust to his knees, nothing more and nothing less.
The night begins to drag on, and still, Death does not return.
I find it harder and harder to remain in the chair as I had promised. With each passing minute the temptation to join the mortal in bed grows stronger. My desire to have her in my arms burns through me with ever-increasing intensity.
And yet, I can do nothing but wait.
This is by far the longest I have ever gone without giving in to my own desires. The longest I have ever had to. I am not one to deny myself pleasure, and I have never been denied … but since the mortal’s arrival, I have found that no one else will do.
No one else has been able to hold my attention since our kiss.
I have tried, nonetheless, but found myself unwilling or unable to perform with any but her. My cravings are slowly evolving into unrelenting hunger, and she the only one who can sustain me.
Finally, unable to bear the torment of my hunger any longer, I stand. Stretching, I turn to leave the room, not trusting myself to be alone with her as the hour grows too late and my desires burn their hottest. I will not allow myself to break my promise to her.
Opening the door, I step into the hall before coming to an abrupt stop as I take in the shadows lurking there. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I pull the door closed behind me.
It seems that Death was not far off this whole time.
“Where the hell have you been?” I hiss.
“I never left,” he answers. “I promised to protect Hazel, no matter what the cost was to myself. She may have stayed my hand against you, but that does not mean she will not need my assistance again.”
“You mean you were eavesdropping.”
“No, I did not listen to your private conversation.”
“Then how would you know if she needed your help?”
“Similar to you, I would have felt it,” he says coldly, his shadows spilling out around me in an icy wave.
“Well, obviously, you need more practice,” I bite back. “Otherwise, you would have realized she was waiting for you to return for the better part of an hour.”
