Page 142 of Shifting Hearts 1
This situation feels different, and since it is so intimate, I do feel like I need to take some things into consideration.
“That is if you want to. I have heard others talk about consent, and even though I need you, you must want it too. So, answer me honestly, do you want to fuck me? Because it will come at a price.”
My breathing hitches for the millisecond it takes me to break the spell and allow the man before me to make his own decision.
I look down at the oversized T-shirt and my faithful shorts and wonder what he would do when he sees my mark up close.
That is why I need to compel him to take me. He will never help me unless he is compelled, and this just gives me extra leverage.
Silence surrounds us, and I look up to see his searching gaze on me.
“What is this really about? Tell me what you really want, and we can discuss the conditions.”
Can I trust this man?
In my gut, I know I can, but experience has taught me that can’t be true. The only way to get what I want is to take it from him.
Staring into his eyes, I say, “I need to find someone, and you are going to help me.”
Surprisingly, he asks, “And why would I do that? What is in it for me?”
I focus on my stare and will him to agree, but he leaves me no choice but to bargain when he stays quiet. “What do you want?”
“It isn’t what I want, it is what I want to give you.”
A snicker escapes from my lips before I can stop it. “And what do you want to give me?”
He sits back and crosses his one leg over the other before he nonchalantly says, “The power that you so desperately crave.”
I am stricken silent, and at the edges of my mind, doubt filters in as to the effect of my power on him.
He continues without pause, “You see, if you cared to open your mind, you would have connected the dots by now. This power of hypnosis you have isn’t natural, and that mark on your hip is further proof that you are like me. And when two of our kind mates, it makes us incredibly strong. Stronger than you can ever imagine. Wouldn’t that come in handy on your quest to look for Alexi?”
I can feel that he is telling me the truth but it is too fantastical to believe. What are the odds that forgotten and rejected Maddy Smith could be a real-life basilisk, as he suggests, descended from higher beings? It does seem more likely that my mother would have thrown me away if she couldn’t understand what I really was. And it would clear up quite a few lingering questions I have. Alexi would have loved this story.
That brings me out of my stupor. “Where did you hear that name?”
“You used it in your interrogation earlier. Now, I don’t know what kind of man you are involved with, but if he can abandon you to steal and sell women and children, he doesn’t seem like a real man to me. Luckily, I can offer you an alternative to putting yourself in harm’s way to get closer to him.”
He thinks Alexi is my boyfriend.
I could actually use this to my advantage if I play it right.
“What do you need from me then?”
Without a word, he gets up and starts unbuttoning his shirt.
The caramel-brown skin pulls taut over rippling muscles, stealing my composure. Not that I had any to begin with. My body is thrumming at the thought of what could happen next, and although I try to play it cool, there is just something about this man that erases every notion I have ever held dear about the male species.
He takes his time unbuckling his belt and pulls it slowly out of the loops, folding it in half and snapping it right before my eyes.
“If I take you, things might become rough. Is that really what you want,mi pequeña vibora?”
I don’t know what it means, but at this moment, I want it more than I can say. I nod quickly and have to remind myself that I am making him act this way when he unbuttons his pants and drops them to the floor.
His muscular thighs walk closer, and my hands involuntarily reach out to let my fingers graze over his skin. I have never taken in such a sight and not been filled with repulsion and regret over what almost happened, all those years ago. The only feeling coursing through my body, right now, is to claim this incredible being as my own.
No matter that he is under the illusion that it will change me. A Basilisk, imagine that.
