Eternal Sin (Primal Sin #2) - Ariana Nash Page 0,51

turned back around to why they weren’t in Aerie, Severn masterfully spun a lie about their vacation that Mikhail was sure the humans wouldn’t believe. But not only did they believe him, they offered the use of their rental cottage for a few nights.

Mikhail could have done without the reminder of how Severn used lies to win over the hearts and minds of everyone he met.

It had been easier to love him when he’d lain unconscious in Mikhail’s arms in the barn. After waking in the field to find Severn’s bloody and motionless body beside him, he’d almost spiraled into despair, but then he’d heard Severn’s soft breathing and cursed him instead. He’d told him all the ways he hated him and why, while carrying him limp in his arms to the safety of the barn, where he’d tucked him close, listening for any stutter in his breathing or his heart. Only when Severn had begun to wake had Mikhail abandoned him for the top of the hay bales.

Then he’d woken, and there had been no bars between them, just a whole lot of emotional wreckage.

Mikhail mused over events as Severn offered to help the human couple fix their failing roof. Nobody asked Mikhail, so he used the time to silently observe Severn. The way his eyes laughed, even when his mouth did not. He carried a lightness about him, a joy in the simple things—like speaking with these humans on their level. And they loved him for it.

The day rushed by, and Mikhail considered those last moments in Aerie. He’d pulled Severn to safety, and Remiel had stabbed him in the back.

Deep in thought, he found himself content to deliver slate tiles to Severn on the farmhouse roof and, perhaps sensing his need for space, Severn didn’t demand answers, just took each roof tile when it was needed so he could happily hammer and nail it home.

His joy had always been there, in his laughter, the sly way in which he’d read others and tell them what they needed to hear, in the coy looks and thoughtful silences. He’d always been demon, but Mikhail hadn’t wanted to see it.

The day faded into early evening, and their gracious hosts gave them a tour of the tiny cottage. A renovation project, they said. It was warm and dry and smelled faintly of washing powder.

“It’s lovely. Thank you. We’re honored to stay,” Severn gushed, making Mary blush. Even Barrie seemed smitten. They had no idea they had a demon lord in their midst.

They left, and Severn closed the door behind them, then pressed his forehead against it. “I know what you’re going to say, but don’t hurt them. They won’t call the correctioners.”

Mikhail stood back in the narrow hallway, feeling like the house was trying to envelop him in humanity. Severn’s words pulled him back from his thoughts and into the moment. “I had no intention of hurting them.” They might have been the first words he’d spoken all day.

Severn huffed and turned to lean back against the door. “And you call me the liar.”

Thoughtlessly, Mikhail closed the distance between them in a few strides. Severn’s breath hitched, he straightened, and then Mikhail braced an arm against the door beside him and… stopped.

Severn’s parted lips were so close, he could already taste their tingling tease. Blue eyes searched Mikhail’s, pupils full. He should kill him. End this here and now. But his ever-moving mouth held Mikhail briefly captivated. He desperately wanted to kiss him, but that was wrong, and so he did nothing, trapped instead between two terrible needs. Kiss or kill.

Severn’s hand came up and touched Mikhail’s cheek, and the agony on feeling that gentle caress nearly freed a moan from Mikhail’s lips. He should not want this. But every restrained inch of him needed it.

Severn was Konstantin, and Konstantin was an incubus.

Mikhail tilted his head. Severn’s lips were soft beneath his, but he didn’t kiss them. They shared breaths, and Mikhail’s heart thumped heavy and hot. His body knew its wants, even if his mind did not.

Demon. Angel. Did it matter anymore? His position in Aerie had been taken. The moment he’d saved Severn from falling, he’d sealed his own fate. And then… whatever Severn had done between Remiel stabbing him and waking in the field with Severn collapsed beside him, his back shredded down to bone.

Severn had saved him. That was true.

In the end, when they should have died, they’d saved each other.

But he hated this, hated himself for