Page 17 of Fire Kissed
But most horrifying of all, it isn’t a snake’s face that looks down on us from the lengthy, scaley body. It’s the pale face of a terrifying man. A man I know.
“Serpan,” Torben says on a steady breath, his hand lifting out to keep me back, shielding me behind his big body as he stares unflinchingly up at the man’s face smiling down at us.
“Rhyssss,” the monster hisses, his pink tongue slithering familiarly over my name in a way that makes my skin crawl. “What a surprissssse to see you here.”
“Rhys,” Torben says on a careful, but quiet tone.
My fingers brush against the strong veins of his arm, wanting to touch him in some way, wanting to feel safe just from the feel of his skin against mine.
But it isn’t enough. Especially when he speaks again in a rushing bark of a voice.
“Run!”
Torben shoves me away, his chest colliding into mine as he takes my hand and leads me back the way we came.
And then I’m moving. I’m flinging my feet one after the other as fast as my legs will allow. The energy inside me builds like it’s been dying to get out since the moment we stepped foot into this depressing, oppressing realm.
Buildings sky-fall around me. One scrapes down my shoulder, and I barely avoid the crushing of its bricks as I skid around its corner. A string of lights flings down, breaking across my head in a spray of glass. I can’t see the changes fast enough. I’m moving too rapidly for my vision to keep up.
A wall comes down. I see the bricks, but my mind doesn’t process it quick enough. Torben flings himself ahead of me, his shoulder blasting through the building like a red ribbon at the end of a finish line. My body slams into his, my teeth rattling as we crash through the mess. We land in a heap of dust clouding around us.
Sparking electrical wires singe across an old beam. It’s just feet away, and I smell the faint smoke of the flame that ignites against the broken piece of lumber.
It’s just close enough to be a concern but far enough away not to matter when I realize I landed on my tormentor. My protector.
The warmth of his big hand is cradled around my hip, his arm wrapping sweetly around me as I lie against his solid chest. The haze of the room is thick, but I see the light in his eyes as he looks up at me. It’s an intense look, like he’s stunned to be alive.
My hand shakes as I steady it against him, feeling the pounding beat of his heart just beneath my fingertips. Why? Why does he keep throwing himself out there to help me?
And why do I constantly find myself leaning into him, when for days I’ve just wanted to get away?
I do just that, my head dipping low. His thick lashes turn hooded as his hand on my back lowers before tense fingers find the curve of my ass. Then he, too, leans into me as if he’s been leaning on me just as much as I’ve been leaning on him all this time.
“Rhys,” he growls my name on a rumbling tone of torment against my parted lips.
But he doesn’t stop. Not even a pause. Because he presses a gentle kiss softly against my mouth.
For a fleeting moment, I taste every ounce of his passion and pain. It’s just a second. A beautiful, fiery second among the ashes of Hell.
I should have known it couldn’t last...
Tight, constricting muscles wind around our feet. That sensation slithers over us little by little. I jerk against Torben, and his body instantly shoves me aside to protect me.
Always my protector.
Always.
Strong hands grapple with the thick body of the snake. Its fluid twists and turns are unbothered by the warrior’s strength though.
“You’re weakkkkk,” Serpan says, his face slowly lifting from the dusty shadows of the room.
The snake’s body is too large. Too connivingly resistant.
But Serpan’s face...
That’s all boney edges, isn’t it?
Hot lumber stings against my palm, but I keep going. With too much pent-up power, I swing the broken beam up hard and fast. The crunch of bone and a wailing scream is all I hear as I swing once more, catching the jagged edge of the building and bringing it all down with the force of my might.
