Page 14 of Scent Of Obsession
“No, I just deliver.”
But he played tonight with me. All night we had played. “Why, then? What do you expect?”
In a thunderclap, I was pinned against the tree, caged between Radcliff’s arms. His soul trapped me—I was unable to escape. My heart seemed to have stopped, the blood running through my veins slowing down its course to freeze. His dark essence melted with my sweet one, intoxicating each other in a battle of power.
He felt it, that stirring combination.
Opposite forces, equally strong, befuddling us.
“This is what you expect, then?” My mouth shook when I felt his fingers skimming the length of my arm to descend to my palm in search of the ribbon.
As if he had the power to take or revive life, his touch on my bare skin resurrected my heartbeat, which was now hammering at full speed. Instinctively, I pulled both of my hands up. A pointless act since he was much taller than me.
“No. I don’t want your body… Witch.” He cuffed my hands with his, towering dangerously over me.
His grip was firm and cold as stone. An iron fist that could break me at any moment. I wanted to close my eyes to blind myself, but it’d only alert the rest of my senses. I searched for any sign of humanity and mercy, trying to get a glimpse of the man behind the Devil’s mask, but he gave me nothing.
Instead, he clutched my waist with his calloused hand with a dominant and directive touch. However, it wasn’t to merge our bodies together. The opposite—it was to keep our bodies apart. I was stuck against the tree while the veins and muscles of his hand and forearm tensed, acting like a shield between us.
His body betrayed him.
A dilemma was rising inside of him.
It was a devious test.
He expected my fear, repulsion, and weakness.
But I’d give him my strength. “What do you want, then?”
He let go of his hand on my waist before setting his palm on the tree trunk near my head. Some bark fell to the ground at his contact and in its descent transformed itself into particles of ashes. I craned my neck, our eyes boring into each other. He darted his tongue out and wet his full lips. I didn’t move. In nature, when prey debates with herself, it stirs up the predator even more.
“Your soul.”
I gasped. No men have ever chased after my soul. They chased after my appearance or the carnal pleasure. They had never been interested in digging deeper, to my thoughts or my drive.
But this man was the Devil.
He was undeniably more frightening than any other man I’d met, for a reason I completely ignored until now.
He wanted my soul.
Every piece, until devotion and ownership.
The horn sounded, and he stole the ribbon from my fingers. He pulled away from the tree, so I could find my breath again. Something was missing inside of me, as if he had stolen a piece of me or awakened a silent hole that needed to be fed.
He hid the ribbon inside his vest pocket in one swift move and tightened his costume. Sounds of laughter rang out, the crowd dispersing in the maze.
“Take three right turns. Then, turn to the left.” He slowly shifted his head toward the exit, then locked his eyes firmly on me. “You don’t want to stay for what happens next.”
That was an order I took gladly. “Thank you.”
I fled from the phantom, following his instructions. I escaped the maze and that somber night where people worshipped darkness rather than light.
But one thing was for sure. I would never be able to escape how I felt that night.
Nor that man.
I had to think fast. I wasn’t out of the woods. I didn’t have time to dwell on what had just happened as I searched for Adonis in the midst of the decaying air and stifling atmosphere. He was nowhere to be found. The wailing sounds ghosting through the trees tried to catch up to me. I thought strategically to avoid the guests and ran in the direction of the greenhouse, hoping to find my mask.
