Page 54 of To Crave Deeply
He tipped my chin up with his warm fingers and I melted a little under the softness in his gaze. How could people think he was the stuff of nightmares when he looked at me like that? Like he wanted to worship at my feet and protect me with his life. Like I was his everything.
Focus, Lori. I want feeding, not fucking. And just like that, Iveri’s crassness destroyed the moment.
I made to pull away from Torsten, but his ink-dipped fingertips refused to let me go.
“Of course, I will feed you. It will be my pleasure.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper, and I had to clench my thighs at the sound of it. “Take whatever you need.”
He wrapped his long fingers around my hands and pulled them towards him. The instant my skin touched his, I could feel Iveri’s demon unfurling.
“Make it peaceful, Iveri. Please.”
I heard her scoff, but she assented. I didn’t want her to unleash the darker side of her Sin Reaper when I knew she didn’t have to. In battle, when I had thought we were one, we had used the feasting as a weapon, rendering our enemies nothing more than a screaming pile of horrific memories. But when I had fed from Torsten last time, it had been something completely different. He’d been at peace, like he’d been absolved of his sins rather than made to relive them.
Warmth gathered in the pit of my belly as Iveri started to feed, and I felt her pull the dark energy from the depths of Torsten’s mind with a gentleness that I hadn’t believed she’d been capable of. It was moments like this that made me want to believe that she was a better person, that there was a goodness in her. Perhaps she just needed to help to see it?
The energy swirled through me, filling me with a delicious tingle that fizzed along my veins. My body became alive with sensations that had the hairs on my arms standing, and I stepped closer into Torsten’s embrace. I wanted to be surrounded by him, to breathe the same air as him. His hands settled on my hips as he pulled my body closer to his, closing the distance until I could feel him pressed completely against me. My breasts against his chest, my hips cradled against his. The shadow bite on the side of my neck burnt as my desire sky-rocketed, and my centre pulsed with aching need.
The dark energy careened around me, and I moaned at the pleasure it brought. My body hummed with it, and I wanted more. Needed more. I needed Torsten to touch me, to kiss me, to make my body scream with pleasure. My breath caught as another wave of dark energy flooded my system and I felt Torsten’s gasp along my cheeks. I ran my hands along his jaw and fisted them into the dark waves that crown his head. I was just about to press my lips to his when I was suddenly jolted away from him. Iveri slammed the connection down between us and my body jerked backwards a few paces.
I said no sex, Lori, she chided, but I could see she was as breathless as I was. I was glad to know this whole feeding thing being sexual was not just me. My pulse was racing, and I felt so full of energy that I could run a marathon. Wow, what a rush.
Torsten stared at me with his eyes teeming with hunger and a flush crept up my neck. He looked like he was restraining himself from striding over to me and devouring me on the spot.
Then I remembered. Iveri had commanded him that he couldn’t kiss me of his own free will, and my mood instantly soured.
“Undo the command,”I called inwardly, trying to hide the desperation that I felt. I wanted him to be able to make the choice whether he kissed me or not.
No, she sneered.
Tears of frustration blurred my vision.“Why do you have to be so fucking difficult?”
I’m not being difficult; it’s just how the commands work. Once issued they can’t be undone.
“No one likes you,”I snapped and instantly regretted it. I wasn’t petty. And deep down, I knew I wanted to help Iveri. She just made it so hard to even try to get through to her on a level that didn’t involve anger, battles, or harsh words.
“I apologise, that was mean. I just…”I rubbed the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath.“This whole situation just sucks.”
I know. And I’ve been living it for centuries.
“I wish you’d just talk to me. I do want to help.”
She turned away and faded into the background as sadness wrapped around her.No one can help me.
Then she blocked herself from me, and disappeared into her own thoughts.
“You shouldn’t humanise her.”
My head snapped up at Torsten’s words. The hunger had died in his eyes, and it had been replaced by a coldness that had my blood running like ice in my veins.
He strode towards me but stopped when he was close enough that I felt his breath on my cheek. “She’s a dark and twisted thing. A killer. The stuff of nightmares.”
I frowned. “Like you?”
He winced. Ouch. Maybe that was a little harsh, but I wasn’t naïve.
“Yes,” he grumbled, his mouth twisted in a grimace. “So believe me when I say, there’s nothing you can do to save her.”
Fuck, did that mean he didn’t think he was worth saving?
