Chapter 47

47

SYLAS

I couldn't believe what Mina was letting me do to her outside—her terror at falling was very, very real, and I felt it wash over me with each delicious drop, licking it off of her the same way I was licking her cunt—and when she came, it was like her suspended light was like a comet in the sky.

But it wasn't enough.

And that was part of the problem, I knew—for me, nothing ever would be.

The fear I'd eaten from the men on her apartment stair, and the boy I'd strung up before that, only encouraged me to look for more—and Mina was the only one here.

I placed my palm on her breast and felt her heart racing against the inside of her rib cage. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were dark on mine. "What do you mean?" she asked, after licking her lips.

"I want what you have for me—so badly you don't even know."

I watched her be afraid, and then resolved, and she ran her hands behind her to unclasp her bra, sliding it off. "I trust you," she said, tossing it aside before reaching for my wrist and pressing my hand close. Underneath her nipple was still puckered tight from my mouths and the night air outside. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

I didn't know how to explain it to her. She'd gotten a glimpse when we were in the sickroom of her friend, but I didn't think it was enough. "May I show you? Over there?" I said, tilting my head to indicate the other place we could go. She blanched a little at that, but then nodded—so I pulled reality apart and pushed us in.

As we were the only two creatures around capable of making decisions, we were the only things inside the pan-dimensional black—me, and her, and the veritable highway of threads connecting us currently, none more strong than the ones pouring out of her chest for me.

She gasped at seeing them so clearly, without the interference of anyone else's will or hopes or dreams, especially now that our fates were so intertwined.

"Look at that, Mina—at us," I said, stepping closer.

"What happens when it goes into you?" she asked, reaching for one of the strings. Her hand passed right through them, not disturbing them in the least, then she set to playing with them, trying to trace them between me and herself, tucking fingertips inside of me.

"They fill me. Briefly. When they are severed," I said, looking down at myself. "But I've never brought anyone else here."

She looked up at me, and there was radiant light leaking around her eyes. "You've seen your other clients like this, surely?"

I had, and I'd always been tethered to them, but it'd never been like this. It'd always been just one or two threads, like fate couldn't be bothered to sew up the rest. "Yes," I told her. "But none of them were you. "

She laughed, and it made the light around her ripple. "Tell me more about how special I am, Sylas. I like that."

I took her comment at face value. "Mina, I want to touch the light inside of you—more than I've ever wanted anything before."

I had her full attention again quickly. "More than you want to leave your hourglass?"

It seemed impossible, but I found it true. "Yes."

"Then do it." I hesitated, and her hands found my wrist again, pulling me closer. "You've got a girl with a death wish who trusts you. I'll tell you if you're hurting me."

And if I thought I couldn't believe her faith in me earlier—she suddenly became my everything.

I knew I was in love with her—even if I'd never known what love was before—because I knew this had to be what love was: giving someone else the power to crush your heart.

"Make sure you tell me," I whispered, then began pressing my clawed fingertips in.