prisons. But she was like flames rising around me, and I would burn for her until there was nothing left but ash.
Her skin felt so soft, so vulnerable beneath me. I needed to taste her between her legs. I found my head moving down lower. My hands were on her hips, locking her in place. She ran her fingers into my hair, gripping on tight, legs clenching around me. She was forcing my mouth lower, desperate.
I lowered my mouth to her, and I kissed. I tasted her, licking her as she moved against me.
God, I needed more of her. I knew this was a mistake, that maybe it was already too late.
It was no wonder the Watchers had fallen. A mortal woman could rob you of reason, turn you into a beast. Every movement of my tongue seemed to make her back arch, her hips move. I could feel the pleasure rippling through her. And I could no longer think, or make words, my thoughts lost in a deeply erotic haze.
It didn’t take long for shudders to rack her body, and her thighs clenched around me, fingers gripping my hair so hard she might have pulled it out. A final, loud moan echoed off the ceiling, and she went still, muscles limp. She was catching her breath, thighs still around my head, dewy with exertion.
But I hadn’t had my fill, had I? No, I was unbearably hard.
I still needed more, wanted to turn her over and take her from behind, I wanted this to never end, except—
Take care, Samael, and never trust the mortals.
Distant words from my past rang in my mind.
And did I trust Zahra?
No, not at all.
My fingers tightened into fists. With an iron will, and all of my muscles tensing, I forced myself to rise.
It was actually physically painful to step away from her, like someone was driving nails into me.
But this was life or death, and I had to get away from her, now. To stay any longer could be my death.
I heard her say my name, and something about that felt like glass shattering in my heart. I had to get away from her.
I turned away, and as if from a distance, I heard myself muttering that I was leaving.
I was going to find an ice-cold bath—perhaps the Dark River itself.
I would rip this madness from me completely.
39
Lila
I stared into the darkness, still catching my breath, heart still racing.
What—what had just happened?
He’d stolen my ability to think clearly or to form coherent sentences, and then he’d left. Before I could even catch my breath, he’d just walked out the door. And all he’d said was, “I’m leaving.”
I clenched my jaw. I supposed it didn’t matter, did it? Because it didn’t matter what he thought of me. I wasn’t actually his lover, but his enemy. We didn’t trust each other one bit, and I’d only done this to make him vulnerable in the first place.
The room was eerily silent; I could only hear my own breath. I supposed there was nothing to do but sleep. So I slid under his blankets, and made myself comfortable in his bed.
Would he be coming back? I had no idea, but I lay down in the soft sheets, and pulled them up to my chin. His bed smelled amazing, and the pillow beneath my head was soft.
I'd never been in a bed like this before. Mostly, I’d slept on the uncomfortable, scratchy hay mattress with Mum and Alice, sometimes on the floor in a corner if they were snoring too loud. But now, I had silk against my skin, and my body was melting into the mattress. And yet I couldn’t quite relax.
Before I could drift off, my thoughts kept snapping back to Samael. I’d made it a point to seduce him, to make him vulnerable. But for the first time, I was wondering if maybe I didn't have it in me to actually kill him.
He was Death Incarnate, but the look in his eyes sometimes—that innocence, that perplexed look. If he was Death Incarnate, he was only serving his purpose. And had he killed the servants at all? I didn’t know it for a fact.
What Sourial had told me earlier was starting to make me think differently, too. He was claiming that they were some kind of guardians, keeping the peace between a mankind out of control with violence.
What did I know? I wasn't privy to the actions of generals and leaders. Every powerful force used manipulative tactics to