1873

Priscilla moved my hand to her chest, flattening hers against mine. Her mouth parted, and I heard the breath louder than my own. A deep sound filled with need, anxiousness, and desire.

Focusing on her eyes, I followed her as she entered the tub.

"Do I call you Envy?" she whispered. With her other hand, she pushed her gown off her shoulder. "Or Octavio? I want to learn who you are."

Sucking in a breath through clenched teeth, I hissed, fighting the pressure between my legs. This wasn't like the other victims who put themselves in front of me; those people were hand-picked by Pride, willingly giving their souls to the devil for a night of wild sex. Those men or women never knew what they agreed to. Sleeping with a demon wasn't a pastime. It meant death. Maybe not at that moment, but soon after. Their soul was ours the moment we kissed; we needed them to die to claim our prize.

Priscilla wasn't them. She wasn't looking at me with a need for a thrill or a risk of never returning to her mortality. There was a genuine desire, a mutual attraction; I felt the same, and there was no hiding this.

But I couldn't do this. I spent days keeping her alive. Sleeping with her would be worse.

She pushed at the other side of her gown, exposing both shoulders; bare, a beautiful sun-kissed brown, glowing in the candlelight. "Will you let me learn who you are?" she whispered.

I licked my lip, maintaining my focus on her alluring gaze. While I kept my mind from overly intrusive, inappropriate thoughts, my body had other plans. There was no hiding the bulge in my pants, throbbing painfully, wanting to be free. There was no silencing my heart hammering away in my chest. Even my blood burned, reacting to need.

I didn't need sex. I needed her.

My reasoning was losing this battle.

"I can tell you all you wish," I said, watching as she gently lifted my hand but didn't let go, "but we don't need to do it like this. Priscilla, you don't have to—fuck..."

Her gown fell, sliding down her voluptuous hips, sitting for a second as if stuck until she gently swayed to get the material to drop. She stood bare in front of me, glistening with nervous sweat. Or this wasn't nervousness; perhaps this was excitement.

"For days, I've looked in your eyes and seen a spirit that attracts me. Is that what Sins do?" She pulled her lip between her teeth. "Do you dazzle us?"

I took in a trembling breath. "Not you."

"Why?" Her head dipped to one side.

"Your soul," I closed my eyes to fight my gaze before it traveled to her breasts, "is immune to our sins. We cannot lure you in with simple immorality."

"So my attraction is real?" she whispered, pressing my hand lower. "You aren't making me feel this way?"

That wasn't my sin. I wasn't Lust. But there was the truth that each of us could inflict every sin because we were all a part of the Seven; we were united in a forsaken brotherhood.

"I am not," I opened my eyes and focused on her face, "but we cannot do this."

"Do you not want me?" She frowned. "Is there something wrong with me?"

No, there wasn't anything wrong. She was perfect, beautiful, and desirable in every way. There was something wrong with me. I was the problem.

"I did not say that. I simply, I-I," I couldn't tell her the truth. Words failed me.

"Whatever it is that worries you," she whispered, "know that I'm not afraid."

Priscilla wrapped her fingers around the folds of my top and pulled me closer. I stumbled, my knees hitting the side of the tub. Out of reflex, my arms reached out to keep from falling; and wrapped around her. My palms pressed against her warm back as my bead landed on the top of her breasts. My cheek against her collarbone.

Her scent filled me in seconds.

"You say I'm pure, but I've lived a hard life," she whispered. "I lost my mother. My father is a monster. People see me and smile, but many, so many, have cruel intentions." Her hand slid through my hair as I remained against her body, holding her, sliding my fingers softly over her skin while I listened to her heartbeat.

"They change once they're closer, and the evil fades, but I see it before they smile. I feel their ill thoughts before they show me kindness."

Closing my eyes, I let the sounds of her body calm me. "Your soul provides light for others," I said quietly. "You are pure."

"Then won't you want this purity?" She lifted my chin, so I looked up into her eyes. "You are the first person to not show me cruelty."

She wasn't looking at me when I aimed to kill her. Her back was turned. She was oblivious to my initial thoughts, and like the mortals she looked down upon, I, too, felt my murderous assignment fade when I looked into her eyes.

"I am giving it to you." She cupped my face with both hands. "Take me as yours, as I want you."

For a moment, I couldn't feel myself. I was numb, yet burning. I was cold, yet melting. A part of me wanted to pull away, but the rest of me gripped her, pressing indents into her soft skin. "And if I don't want it?"

"You're lying," she said, and in one motion, pulled my head up to hers. Our lips locked. The sighs and soft moans escaping her filled my mouth, lungs, and entire being. I couldn't leave this, leave her. She had me in her grasp; the light taming the dark. And I needed this.

"You're right," I growled into her mouth as I stood, still holding her, keeping her mouth with mine. I lifted her slightly by the small of her back and pressed her against the pressure between my legs. She fell in, sighed, and looked at me with hooded eyes. I licked her top lip and allowed my flames to consume me. "I'm lying."

"I know." She pressed her arms through the small space between us and tugged at the top of my shirt. She wanted it gone. Obliging, I moved back and pulled it clean over my head.

She sucked in a breath as she looked at me. Her fingers traced the muscles along my abdomen. "You're beautiful," she whispered.

"Am I?" I had scars, thin lines below my ribs. The same lines Priscilla traced as she sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. She was devouring me with her eyes, and I knew it.

Grabbing her wrist, I stopped her and looked into her eyes. Their light faded into a different shade, burning like the sun, slightly red, like passion. Was it something only I could see?

"I want to touch you." She licked her lip. "All of you."

I kicked off my shoes and stepped into the tub with her. My flames warmed the water. "If this happens," still holding her wrist, I lowered her hand to my chest, "you cannot escape me."

"And who says I would want to?" She grinned as she pushed her other hand into my hair. "I may not be able to escape you, but looking in your eyes," she traced a finger along my cheek, "you cannot escape me."

Closing my eyes, I closed my eyes and groaned. "Can you forgive me?" I whispered, not wanting to look into her eyes. I didn't want to see her desire in her eyes, nor did I want her to see mine. Sleeping with me had deadly repercussions, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

But if she could grant my forsaken soul a pass, then I would gladly sink into the sin of the flesh and make her mine.

She needed to accept me first.

"For what?" She whispered, pressing her warm lips down my arm with gentle kisses.

"If I take you, we cannot come back from this—"

"Yes, yes," she giggled, "unable to escape each other."

"No." My eyes snapped open as I stared into her eyes. My hand reached for her neck, gently squeezing to pull her closer. She gasped, but I needed her to understand what was at stake.

When a mortal gives themselves to a Sin, they died. But when a Sin gives in to a mortal? When we want what isn't ours? Sex was a pastime. I didn't want just sex. I wanted her body, her soul; I selfishly wanted her purity as my own and would fight anyone who would take it away.

"If I have you, I will keep you," I breathed against her lips. "And keeping you means relinquishing my place in hell, to give up our protection from darkness. What has kept you alive for days will cease."

"Then I will protect you," she whispered, holding my gaze. "I will keep you in my heart, for you've deserved it."

"You don't know what you're asking of me, Priscilla.

"I do." Pulling free from my gasp, she pulled me into the tub, sitting me on the bottom. She then straddled me, one hand undoing my pants, freeing me from my clothing restraints. Her cheeks reddened, heart pounding, as she looked into my eyes. "I want.... nothing more...than to have you... by me... for eternity."

Biting my lip, I watched her skin glow with power, as my energy slipped into her body. She gasped and whimpered as she rocked forward, taking my length in one motion. And I took her mouth in a kiss. "An eternity it is," I whispered against her lips.