Page 8 of A Kiss From a Revenant
His hand returns to my face, skimming over my cheek. The breath in my lungs still, and I’m left reeling. Shockingly enough, I find myself leaning into his touch. Whatever magic he wields, he is surely using it on me now. I cannot control my body or the response he elicits from it. This must be some sort of trick.
Mustn't it?
The waxy softness of his skin envelopes my cheek. The slight touch makes me hot and aching all over.
“Your warmth calls to me,” he sighs. “If you wish for my help, you must give yourself to me—freely and willingly.”
“Are you,” I pause, biting my lower lip. “That is to say, are you not using magic on me now?”
The revevant’s eyes burn, and his hand on my cheek tightens.
“No.”
Shock renders me silent for a few moments. He could be lying, but he has no reason to. It is a dizzying revelation that my body is acting this way towards him because I want it to. There is some part of me that wants him in a way I never had another. My mind whirls, the world beneath my feet tilts.
“What—what does that mean entirely? I’ve never been with a man.” Fire erupts in my cheeks, and I drop his gaze. “Let alone a?—”
“A monster,” he offers.
His hand drops from my face, and his gaze cools. There is suddenly a wall between us, and I don’t like it. My hand itches to take hold of his, but I resist the urge. It seems my mind and heart conflict with one another.
“I already knew this about you,” he sighs. “Countless men of this town have met their end between my lips, and more than a fair share of them had had thoughts about you—lecherous ones. I tasted the desire flowing in their putrid blood. None of them more so than the worm I drank from last night.”
His confession makes my blood run cold. Sure, I’ve caught the wandering eye of a few men in town, but I never thought they would have designs on me. Let alone such deplorable thoughts—bile races up my throat.
“When the news of that foul lord’s death spreads, they will come searching for you now that his claim is gone. Each one with their own agendas.” His eyes blaze a searing white light. “I will protect you from them, so long as you agree to be mine.”
Agree to be his.
The declaration settles into the marrow of my bones. I’m not ignorant of what some of the men in town think of me. In some ways, Lord Gunnar was protecting me, and his claim on me had kept the vultures away. With him gone, there is no suchsafeguard, and some will not take my refusals as he had. I am very much in danger.
Unless I accept the revenant’s proposal.
“I will not force myself upon you,” he says, relieving some of my worries. “I merely want closeness. Warmth. To share a bed with you. To hold you while you sleep and to dine at the same table.”
It sounds simple enough—there are parts of me that desire the same thing even if my mind cannot make sense of it. I would be a fool to deny his protection and his aid in helping Isabelle’s situation. Still, I can’t help but question him.
“Why is this what you desire? You could demand anything from me.”
The revevant shrugs, his cloak flowing in the soft breeze.
“My time in this world is drawing shorter—each day is a battle to stay tethered here. I want to experience true companionship before it’s too late.”
My heart squeezes painfully in my chest.
“Why?” I whisper. “Why with me?”
The creature’s eyes blaze scarlet, and his hand reaches for me again. I hold my breath at the contact. His gaze turns gentle as it traces over my face.
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. With the most delicious blood I have ever tasted. Never in all my centuries have I wanted anything as much as I want you.”
I suck in a breath. Confusion swirls within me at his earnest declaration. I do not fear him—not as I did last night. He will not harm me in the way Lord Gunnar had planned, or many of the men in the Snowlands would surely do given the chance. If it is companionship he wants, then that’s what I’ll provide.
Have I not been feeling lonely as well? Are we really so different him and I?
Without giving myself time to reconsider, I nod into his hand.
“I will agree to your terms, revevant,” I say. His hand on my face flexes. “If you agree to aid me in my plan and keep me safe, I will give myself to you freely and willingly.”
