Page 103 of The Deathless One
She raced through the dark streets. Alive. Having faced death multiple times, she now knew there was no fear of the end. She would fight for this kingdom, for her people, and no one was going to stop her.
Sprinting past shop owners who had woken early to open their stores,Jessamine felt more alive than she had before she’d died the first time. Power crackled at her fingertips. Strength flowed through her veins, all because she was connected to him.
A god.
A deathless god who had not only saved her life again, but shed a tear when she died. What did that mean? She had no idea. She only knew that he had told her to fight for him, and if the beating rhythm of drums in her chest wasn’t a warning, she didn’t know what it was.
It was impossible to ever truly love a god. He wasn’t a creature who would be satisfied with something so mundane. She loved her mother. She had even loved Callum once.
What she felt for Elric was beyond that. It blended obsession and need and the greatest surge of want that she had ever felt in her life. Just as she had summoned him, now she wanted him to summon her.
She was ready to kneel before her god. She wanted to worship him as only she could.
Elric had gifted her with more than life. He’d given her knowledge and power so unlimited, it was almost unfathomable. He was the end and beginning of all things in her life.
She couldn’t imagine why she’d been fighting this for such a long time.
It took hours for her to get out of the Factory District, then another day to get through the Water District without anyone seeing her. Jessamine didn’t stop once, even as she backtracked and moved into different parts of the districts that she’d never been in before. She didn’t feel like she had to. She wasn’t breathless or tired, nor did her body need food or water. She was full of magic and power, and every time the moon came out, she swore something in her cast silvery tendrils out into the world.
Magic sang at the tips of her fingers and burst out of her chest. Shewasmagic. Power was in the very core of her.
Now she understood. She realized why so many witches were willing to do whatever it took to get more of this. But oh, there was power in him, too. Power in having a partner who wanted her, needed her,had mourned her.
Finally, she stopped at a cliff’s edge, overlooking the sea. Just to herright was the shadowy outline of her former home. The castle stood at the edge of the sea, open to the elements there and surrounded by stone walls.
Was the king still there? The foolish man who thought he could overthrow her with a coup rooted so deeply in her court it was hard to find its seed? The rat’s nest she had to untangle was firmly knotted. But now she had all the tools she needed.
“Soon,” she said, her voice carrying on the wind toward her home. “Soon you will be mine again.”
A hand coiled around her throat, strong, scarred fingers flexing against her skin. She knew exactly who it was the moment he touched her. How could she not? He was so deeply ingrained in her skin, she would know him from anyone else.
Leaning back into his grip, she trusted him to take her entire weight.
“Say it again,” he growled into her ear.
“That castle is mine, and soon we will take it back.”
A low hum rumbled against her back. His hand slid down her throat, gliding between her breasts and down her belly. That scarred hand caught on the fabric of her shirt, dragging it lower with him until he flattened his palm between her hips.
A swift tug was all it took for him to press her back against him. The hard bar of his cock ground into her back as he shifted her against him, slowly rocking them together as his fingers slipped lower between her legs. “You resurrected me, nightmare.”
“I did.” She kicked her legs a little wider, one slipping over the edge of the cliff and dangling over the waves. But he held her, and wouldn’t let her die anyway, even if she fell all that way to the crumbling rocks below. She’d plummeted into those waves once before and survived it.
Another low growl against the side of her neck had her pulse racing as he kicked her feet even wider. “You and I have unfinished business.”
“What’s that?”
His hand flexed around her throat, holding her almost too tightly to breathe. Stars sparkled at the edges of her vision.
“The last time I had you in my embrace, you made me get on my kneesfor you.” His lips pressed to her racing pulse as his fingers slid even lower. “Now I have questions for you.”
“What questions?”
“Are you willing to die for me?”
“Yes,” she moaned, and he finally cupped her between her legs. His pointer finger lazily traced circles around her clit, tiny little movements that sent lightning scattering through her body. “Because you’ll bring me back.”
“Will you destroy this kingdom for me, just as you promised when I gave you back your life?” His tongue traced a line up her neck, then he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. “Will you become a villain with me?”
