House Of Gods 9 - Samantha Snow Page 0,29

see anything because Button was being held in her arms in front of her and blocked his view. They looked like a complete dichotomy as they walked through the trees—him all in black and her all in white.

When they arrived at the lake, Tara went to sit on the large stone at the water’s edge, and Tannin followed her and sat beside her. Neither of them said anything as they watched the slow movement of the water.

“Do you think you could ever love me,” Tannin blurted out in what sounded almost like a shout.

“What?” she said as she looked up at him in shock.

He hadn’t quite meant for it to come out of his mouth so loudly or abruptly. He wasn’t one to mince words or purpose, and he got bored with wasting time, so he thought it best to cut right to the chase. But he was also nervous and knew that he was floundering badly with the delivery of his question.

“We both know why we’re here,” he tried to keep his voice more low and calm as he spoke. “And so I think it is a fair question to ask, don’t you agree?”

Tara looked at his face as he spoke, and then at his horns. For some reason now, as they sat talking by the lake, the horns seemed less obtrusive to her, although still a startling feature to be sure. Tannin saw her eyes look up to the top of his head and knew she was staring at them. It had been something he had dealt with his whole life, and he had found that the best way to handle it was just to get it over with.

“Would you like to touch them?” he asked.

“Can I?” Tara said with slight excitement. Fortunately, she had never been weak-hearted or weak-minded.

He lowered his head slightly and picked up one of her hands to place it onto the horn at the right side of his head.

Tara sucked in a quick breath when she felt it. They had looked so hard and terrifying, but to the touch, they were smooth, like satin. She ran her fingers over the black bone that curved into the shape of a backward semi-circle and ended in a point so sharp that she accidentally pierced her finger.

“Owe,” she said as she withdrew her hand quickly.

Tannin’s eyes got wide when he realized he had hurt her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “They’re pretty sharp at the ends.” He reached forward to see her hand and saw the tiny drop of blood balancing on the tip of her finger. Tara gasped when he put her finger into his mouth.

At first, she thought he was going to bite her, but then she felt his tongue softly swirling around the tip of her finger, and it felt good. When he opened his mouth and let go of her hand, the drop of blood was gone and her finger felt fine. He sat nervously beside her, not knowing whether she was going to run away screaming because his horn had cut her or because he had put her finger into his mouth. He realized in hindsight that both things were probably a rash decision on his part.

Tara sat, looking at him as if she were in a trance. She no longer saw his horns as something unusual; instead, they looked to be perfectly suited to him. They were actually quite beautiful, and they matched the beautiful, deep features of his face. She felt her heart start to pound against her breastbone, and as much as she tried to calm it back down, she couldn’t. All she could think about was how handsome he was and how gentle he had just been with her. There was something about him that balanced on the line between good and evil, primal and controlled, and it intrigued her beyond her wildest imagination.

“Are you okay?” he asked her, afraid she was either going to start yelling at him or pass out. Neither of which were options he wanted to explain to Helia.

Instead of an answer, Tara leaned forward and kissed him. She didn’t hesitate or even think about it first; she just looked at his mouth and then kissed him. His lips were warm and soft, and they pressed against hers with the same yearning she had felt sitting next to him right now. She slid her tongue inside of his mouth, and when she did, his eyes opened, and his heart raced as he kissed her.