Page 10 of Fire Kissed
And now I want to protect him more than ever.
Mine
Rhys
The stone corridorwe trail through is more of the castle than I’ve seen in the entire three days that I’ve been here. Torben storms through the quiet passage on quick steps that I rush after to keep up with. The shirt he gave me skims around my thighs, and I’m not complaining that I’m not prancing around in one of Hela’s gowns, but we could really invest in pants at the moment. Mostly, I keep catching hints of his scent against my shoulders. The deep, drowning smell of a riptide is all around me. I don’t know why it’s a heartbreaking smell.Wild and free.
And yet, not.
Another lantern light flickers up ahead, but just like the last one, he claps his hand over the top until the wicker flame snuffs out. White smoke billows out a faint sent, a reminder of what Torben is hiding in plain sight:
Me.
I stride after him, his brooding features tossing over his shoulder to check on me every three to five seconds. Another anxious and frustrated huff shakes out of the enormous warrior until finally, a big hand clutches mine.
It seems sweet at first. Until...
My leather boots stumble across the smooth flooring as he jerks me along.
“We have to hurry,” he grumbles and pulls me along after him.
“Yeah, I got that!” I hiss at him.
“Shhh,” he says, and even that somehow comes out in an angry grunt of sound.
He keeps his seething, narrowed eyes on me, and I keep running my tail off to keep up until he stops glaring... And I keep running.
I swing around the corner, and only his hold on my hand rescues me as my wide eyes land on the long limbs of the thinnest man I have had the terrible misfortune to ever meet.
Serpan.
Torben boomerangs my ass back around the corner so hard that I’m thrust into his chest. My body aligns with his, and in a slamming second, he turns, pinning me against the wall and shadowing me out of sight beneath his enormous frame. Serious, green orbs stare down on me. His warm breath fans over my lips, my own breath coming in anxious heaves I can’t contain. Rough fingers push over my mouth. I swallow down the fear that’s bubbling up in my chest.
Torben’s weight covers me, and I don’t know why it calms me. His chest pressing to mine, his hand against my mouth, every single delicious part of us is aligned in this moment. It’s the strangest thing to find comfort in his body. He truly is a hellish warrior; made entirely of hard muscle and killer intent. Would he kill to protect me?
The tainted darkness in his eyes says yes.
“Well, well, well, the kitten is out to playyyy,” a voice like cold poison in my veins says suddenly.
My heart falters with too much fear.
Torben’s eyes widen in the shadows, and as he lifts his gaze to Serpan’s, I thrust my leg up high, my shirt riding up as my leg locking around his lean hip, and my sex pressing very,veryfirmly against Torben’s crotch.
If I thought his eyes couldn’t get wider, I was fucking wrong.
With his hand still covering my lips, his attention drifts down to how precarious I now look beneath his big body. My chin tips up high. A pleading look is all I give him.
He no longer appears to be protecting me. He appears to be using me. And I don’t know why this sensual closeness feels just as good with him. I have to stop myself from rolling my hips against his delicious body. My lashes flutter at the thought and the ache between my thighs is all too apparent.
“Care to sharrrrrre,” Serpan slithers, his sharp teeth showing a disgusting smile that not even a mother could love. Long fingers reach out to me, twisting a lock of my blonde hair. His tongue slips out, nearly grazing my cheek. Vomit rises at the back of my throat as I jerk my head away.
And then cold air fills the space around me where Torben’s body heat once was.
A scream lashes through the shadows as fire blazes bright, lighting up the dark with scorching intent. Torben’s fingers splay across Serpan’s face as he holds the man against the wall just to my right. Beady eyes strain to look my way. Torben’s strength flexes in his bulging biceps as he presses harder against the man’s skull.
Another cry of pain and another flicker of Torben’s hot, fiery magic illuminates against Serpan’s bone like features.
“Do notevertouch her. I’ll break your fucking slimy hand clean off before I share her. What’s mine is mine, Serpan.” When the slender man does nothing more than whimper beneath the warrior’s big palm, Torben slams his head into the wall even harder. “Do you understand?” he growls like a true creature of Hell.
