Page 7 of Anathema
There was only one person I knew who could tell me what—or who—Anathema was, and I was about to wake his ass up.
Twentyminuteslater,myfist hammered his door as hard as possible. When he didn’t answer immediately, I pounded my fist even harder and added a kick for good measure.
Hurry the fuck up.
I could hear the sounds of empty cans rustling on the floor before the door was ripped open, and a half-naked man stood before me. With an angry sneer, he narrowed his eyes on me. Who would have guessed that Eli wasn’t a morning person?
A smug smile pulled at my lips as I stepped through the doorway and shoved myself past him to stand in the kitchen. His apartment looked like a bachelor pad. It was littered with beer cans, dirty laundry, and empty takeout containers. Gross.
“Do you ever clean up after yourself?” I wrinkled my nose and grimaced as the smell of stale food and beer crossed my senses. Thisplace was beyond filthy. It was hard to imagine that the man who lived here was even remotely attractive by the mere sight of it.
“I’m sorry; if I knew you were coming, I would have cleaned up sooner, princess.” He goaded, scratching the back of his head. I cringed at the nickname he had for me. Several times, I threatened him to stop calling me that, but he never stopped.
His light blonde hair was mussed from sleep, and he was naked from the waist up, a lithe figure with defined muscles and abs that begged to be traced by greedy fingers.
I huffed and rolled my eyes before they landed at the carved V peeking out of his—ridiculously—low-hanging gray sweatpants. This man had absolutely no right to look this good in the morning.
“Oh please, as if you’ve ever cleaned this shit hole up for anyone, Eli.” I crossed my arms over my chest and peered around the rest of the room. It was a simple studio apartment, with everything in full view from his makeshift bed, which was just a mattress raised on pallets, a desk holding a laptop with two additional monitors, and a tiny kitchenette with no available counter space, considering it was all covered in junk. I didn’t even want to think about what was hiding inside his refrigerator—most likely mold and excessively expired food.
Eli snorted as he crossed the room to where I stood and stepped into me. He towered over my short five-five height, but I was never intimidated by him. His hands rested on the edge of the counter behind me, caging me in as he leaned down, his mouth close to mine. I could feel his warm breath trailing along my skin as he spoke.
“I’d do anything for you, princess. All you have to do is ask.” He winked, and a shiver trailed down my spine as my lips parted and my throat turned dry.
I was never sexually attracted to Eli, but Derek had left me in a state of desperation after he had his fingers inside of me. My mind was clouded by lust, drunk on desire.
I swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of my throat and looked up at Eli through my long lashes, catching his blue-green eyes with mine.
Come on, say something, Alexis…
“Anathema,” I rasped before clearing my throat, and he pulled his face away from mine with a frown.
The cold air that rushed between us was a welcome break from his warm breath gliding along my scorching skin. It had suddenly become way too hot in this tiny space.
“Anathema? What about them?” He asked, raising a brow in question.
“So you know who they are?” I straightened. I knew he would have the answers I sought. If anyone had information about unknown and secretive groups, it was him.
“I do, but what do I get for giving you the information, and what do you want with them?” Eli leaned further into me, pressing my lower back into the counter’s edge.
My breath hitched, and I was growing uncomfortable with how close he was. For this specific reason, I rarely interacted with him face-to-face. Eli was intense when he wanted to be, and the man rarely took ‘no’ for an answer. There were times when I felt hewould have his way with me, throwing consent out the window, but he never did.
Our bodies were flush against each other, my chest rising to meet his with every heavy breath I took.
I fisted my hands at my sides, knuckles turning white with the strain. I refused to let him get to me. Attractive as he was, I had no sexual interest in him at all, and if anything, he was starting to piss me off.Fucking Derek and winding me up so tight I was ready to explode.
Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out the red envelope and held it between us. Eli’s eyes went wide, and he backed away from me as soon as he saw the black and white wax seal.
Well… that was easy.
“Where… where did you get that?” he breathed, his face turning pale as he swallowed.
My brows furrowed in curiosity at his reaction. Did he fear Anathema?—whoever they were? Interesting…
I tilted my head at his hesitation, curious as to why he was reacting like this. A man who spent the majority of his time practically living inside the dark web, committing multiple felonies daily. He feared nothing—or so I thought.
“It was left with a vase of black roses on my coffee table this morning. Who are they? I’ve never heard of them before today, but it appears you are familiar with them.” I rested a hand on my hip, the other still holding the envelope between us.
Who would have thought that something as simple as red paper would get him to back off of me for once? Maybe I should keep this in my pocket from now on as permanent ‘Eli repellent.’
