Eternal Sin (Primal Sin #2) - Ariana Nash Page 0,52

wanting this.

By Haven, he didn’t know what was right anymore.

Mikhail gripped Severn’s jaw, holding him still. Whatever the feelings were, he couldn’t navigate them, not alone. For all the betrayal and lies and heartache, Mikhail needed Severn. And if Severn was Konstantin, so be it.

He kissed his soft lips, tasting their familiar tingle. Lust and need surged through his veins, making him want to throw open his wings and consume Severn in all ways, but the cottage hallway was too small and Severn so still, that the sudden rush of need had Mikhail pulling back before anything had really begun. A kiss, a brush of the lips—that was all, but it almost brought Mikhail to his knees. His body raged, demanding everything Severn could give, but they were strangers now, and Mikhail no longer knew how they fit together. If they fit at all.

Severn’s hand clamped down on the back of Mikhail’s neck, and Severn’s mouth smothered his, tongue thrusting. The savage kiss ripped Mikhail’s indecision and uncertainty aside, taking all of his thoughts with them. By Haven, he needed to touch—to taste—Severn, like some kind of madness had hijacked his soul.

Was that what incubi did? Was Severn manipulating him?

Mikhail jerked back, shoving so hard against Severn that the little cottage door behind him rattled its hinges.

Severn reached for him, the fear back in his face. “Mikhail?”

Breathless, he staggered back, bumping into the stair banister. This tiny house was too small, and Severn stood between him and the exit.

“Mikhail…” he said, softer now, approaching slowly, his hand out and head dipped, as though approaching a vicious animal.

The heels of Mikhail’s boots struck the bottom step, and he dropped to the stairs, slumping over to bury his face in his hands. He couldn’t hide from this, but all he really wanted to do was wrap his wings around himself and pretend he didn’t exist, pretend Severn hadn’t stolen his heart and Remiel hadn’t stabbed him in the back.

He sensed Severn sit beside him but kept his face down and covered, and his eyes closed. “I don’t understand anything,” he whispered, mostly to himself, but then the words wouldn’t stop. They gushed out of him like an open wound. “I don’t understand why this happened. I don’t understand why I still feel the way I do…” He looked up at the closed cottage door. “Without Aerie, I don’t understand my purpose. Nothing makes any sense.”

Severn didn’t answer. Maybe he agreed. Or maybe he thought Mikhail insane too. He wanted to sob but bit the inside of his cheek instead, like he used to as a fledgling and he’d failed in training. He was coming undone here on this step, next to his enemy, and he did not know what should happen next.

Warm fingers slipped between Mikhail’s, then Severn leaned against his arm, and the brittle tension he’d been feeling all day began to fade beneath Severn’s warmth. He closed his eyes. His heart beat steadily, his body slowly back under control.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t understand any of it either,” Severn finally said. “I just know that even with everything that’s happened between us, even when I see the hate in your eyes, I’d still die for you.”

Mikhail’s heart hiccupped. “Why?”

“You’re different. I mean… you have your moments of being a stubborn, self-centered prick, but then I see how much you’ve changed and how you could change everything, not just us, but the war too, and I know it has to be you. Destiny brought me here, to you, for a reason.”

Mikhail looked down at their hands. Severn’s were slightly smaller but no less capable. “Destiny?”

Severn’s little smile seemed suddenly shy. “How else can an angel and a demon fall in love?”

His golden hair lay tossed about his shoulders, and the ridiculous shirt sat askew. Severn didn’t look dangerous, but therein lay the danger.

“I can’t ever trust you.”

“I know,” Severn sighed, “and I’ll forever be sorry for that.”

“I burned your wings.” Shame made Mikhail want to turn his face away, but Severn reached up and caught his cheek again. “How do you not despise me?” He’d been beside himself with cold rage, and the wings had been an easy target, like all the other demons he’d destroyed in his search for vengeance. He’d been a monster. Was a worse monster now.

“The wings were part of the old me. I don’t think I’m him anymore.”

Mikhail pulled his head free and leaned against the banister. “I want to believe you.”

“In time, maybe.”

“But you’re