Circus of Death - Candace Wondrak Page 0,16

she had now, lacking the warmth those who lived had. “While the others ignored you and pretended you didn’t exist, I will be everything to you.”

My hand curled around the side of her neck, and I felt her throat move as she swallowed hard, an involuntary reaction, I’d bet. Those amber eyes flicked back to me, her lips parting somewhat. Oh, yes, I could tell I had her. I had her, and she didn’t even know it.

“Give yourself to me,” I whispered, pulling her toward me, holding her as close to my body as I could without pulling her inside of me. “Give yourself to me in every way, and I will be a gentle master to you.”

“And if I say no?” Thana spoke, the words whispered to the air so softly, I nearly didn’t hear them. As if the girl could say no to me, as if she wanted to.

No, all she had to do was accept this, and she would want to be mine in every way possible.

“If you say no, your life will be worse here than it was out there,” I spoke, a promise. I never made threats. Threats were something a man said when he hoped to avoid dealing them out, but a promise? A promise was eternal, as eternal as this place. A promise meant so much more than a mere threat.

She closed her eyes, and I watched as she breathed out. I could feel the confusion in her, the way she wanted to deny me but couldn’t quite do it. She was as connected to me, to this place, as everyone else here was. There was no denying it. As the saying went: you can’t fight fate, and this… this was fate in the worst way.

The hand on her throat dropped to her shoulder, running down her arm before lightly touching her hip. A sudden, strange, inexplicable desire coursed through me right then, something I hadn’t felt in a long, long time, something I couldn’t remember ever feeling with any of the others here.

I wanted this girl. I wanted her to be mine.

Not just mine meaning she belonged to this place, for she did, without question, but in a different way. A bodily way. I wanted to feel her cool skin against mine, to hear the soft sigh of release as I joined with her. Suddenly, right then, I wanted so many different things, things which both felt so foreign to me, and things which felt so right.

Was this why she’d called out to me so badly? Because I knew, almost prophetically, that I’d want her?

I looked toward the tent flap, knowing anyone could walk in at any time. It didn’t matter, though. Let them watch, should they so choose. I couldn’t care less, for my full attention was now on the girl whose chest leaned against me, pressing harder upon me with every breath she took.

“Here, with me, you can feel everything you’ve never felt before,” I told her, causing her eyes to lock on mine, though I did notice they dropped to my mouth, and while I could not tell what she was thinking, I knew it right then: I had her. I had her in every way, so why not make it official?

When night fell, when we were not busy inducting others into our family, the others got wild. You could not bring life where there was none; you needed a living, breathing being to do it. Nor could you bring death where there was already death; to do so wouldn’t make sense. By sunrise, everything always reverted back.

It was not dark yet; the others had not fallen into their depravity, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was taking this girl right here, right now, and making sure she believed every word I spoke.

I was not a liar. If there was one thing I was, it was a man of my word.

“Let me show you,” I murmured, bending my head towards her, “how good it can feel to be mine.” I pressed my lips upon hers, tasting her confusion, her shock and her uncertainty, kissing her softly.

Thana was almost unwilling, at first, but it wasn’t long before those lips began to shift, melding against mine, returning the affection. Her hands snaked up the front of my suit, grasping the collar around my neck as if to stop me from pulling away.

Oh, dear girl. It was far too late for that. The moment she’d stepped foot on these grounds, it