Good Side of Sin (24 page)

He began to tremble and I turned my head into the bend of his neck and kissed him softly there, right above his collarbone.

He gasped and jerked away from me, sat back on his bare heels, and then quickly grabbed the pillow beside him and put it over his hips. His face was a mask of sheer horror, like he was the virgin and I was attempting to steal his virtue. I was having so much fun.

I raised an eyebrow as I rolled to my side to face him, and then propped myself up on my elbow and stared at him with a mischievous glint in my eyes.

“You—you’ve not ever done this before,” Thoros stammered out, his eyes growing wide in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes. “Is it that obvious? I know I’m inexperienced, but—”

“No. I remember you telling me outside the home of Rhyan’s charge, but I guess it just didn’t register what you were saying at the time…” He ran his hands over his face and muttered, “Oh, God—”

“Thoros—” I went to reach out for him, but he was lost in that memory of ours and held out his hand to stop me.

He looked up after a moment, his eyes panicked and glossy with moisture. “Your human life ended while you were swimming. I asked if you had been skinny-dipping and you said that you hated to ruin my fantasy, but no. And you had never had children because you never married…”

I let out a heavy breath and tried to reach for his hand, but he brought it up to cover his own mouth as he stared down at me, shaking his head.

“I told you that not being married never stopped me from getting sex, and you shot back the response that there was a reason you went to Heaven and I did not. I asked if you were trying to tell me that you had never done anything sinful in your life. You said that you weren’t trying to tell me anything… but you were. You were trying to tell me that you were untouched, that you were—you are—a virgin.” He swallowed hard then looked to the ceiling, growling out in frustration.

“Thoros, it’s okay. We’ll go slow—”

He screamed out in agony and I sat up in alarm and just waited for him to calm down. It was clear nothing I was doing or saying was helping him get over the fact that no man had ever touched me intimately before. Shouldn’t he be happy about that?

After a moment, he took a deep breath and let it out in a rush as he blinked rapidly. He shook his head and then looked up at me through his eyelashes. “I must have scared you to death.”

I shook my head. “No, really you—”

“Hell, Josselyn, the first time we met I pinned you to the ground and almost took you right there on Kendra’s front lawn! I wanted to fuck you and you would have let me, because you were so scared. You thought I was Murry, and that if I was distracted with you—whatever I was doing to you, I wasn’t hurting the Chamberlain family! You are so good and pure and innocent, and I am so… not.”

I got to my knees and scrambled to him. He tensed and put out his hand to keep me from touching him, but I knocked it out of the way and straddled his legs, taking his face in my hands and giving him up-close-and-personal eye contact.

“Thoros, stop this. Please. I’m fine. I was fine then. I’m a lot stronger than any of you give me credit. If I had to say one thing about being under your body on Kendra Chamberlain’s front lawn with you in between my legs and telling me that the phrase was ‘mind-fuck’ not ‘mind-screw’, it would be that I was scared of you. Yes, I was terrified, but not because I thought you were going to rip my clothes from my body and have your way with me. It scared me that I
wanted
you to rip my clothes from my body and have your way with me. I was scared because I think I knew you were my soulmate then. There was such a strong connection that it scared the crap out of me and excited me all at the same time. It scared me that I knew you would have to leave and we would be separated; even a minute away from you felt like it was too long, and it scared me that I felt that way about a demon when I was an angel. It scared me that I had finally found you, but I knew it wasn’t possible for us to be together like fate intended for us to be, like
I
wanted us to be. I love you, Thoros, and I trust you. Please don’t do this to yourself. I’ve been waiting an eternity to be with you. And now that I have my chance, you are trying to deny and reject me again!”

His shoulders sagged in relief. “I’m so sorry I treated you like that. I feel wretched—”

I placed the pad of my index finger to his lips, shutting him up instantly. With my other hand I took the slip of the pillow he had placed over his hips and jerked it from between us.

He reached up with his hand, taking mine and placing a gentle kiss on my finger before removing it. “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t know if I will be able to stand it if you wake up with regret in your eyes in the morning.”

I inched forward on his lap until I was nearly chest-to-chest with him. The hardness behind the thin cotton pajama bottoms—a good sign that he wanted this to happen just as much as I did—throbbed and kicked against the material as if he knew I was thinking about it.

I looked into his eyes as I rotated my hips impossibly close, pressing the length of his thick sex in between our bodies, and then bringing my palms up to cradle his face as I leaned in even farther to kiss him.

His lips were soft and perfect—perfect for me—just like I had remembered them to be. He responded to the pressure of my lips with an amazing urgency of his own, but he didn’t touch me otherwise; he was still waiting for me to give him the answer that I was sure, sure I wanted this to happen tonight, sure I wouldn’t regret it in the morning or a thousand years from now.

My mouth opened when his did, and my tongue slid over his bottom teeth to anxiously find his soft and wet tongue waiting patiently for me to come in and play. He tasted just like his breath had smelled: sweet, fresh and that one-of-a-kind flavor that let me know it was Thoros’ lips that teased mine. I didn’t make myself wait any longer. I kissed him deeply, passionately, turning his head and mine at different angles so I could discover more of this amazing sensation rushing through my veins. He met my passion with his own fever, and his grunts and moans echoed my own, but he still didn’t touch me.

I could hardly believe it. It was time for my happily ever after and I was ecstatic about the man fate had chosen as my mate. I couldn’t have done a better job if I had picked one for myself.

I broke away, but stayed as physically close as possible without actually touching him. Both of us were panting from the heat of the moment and the feel of the electric current that seemed to be fusing and pulling us back together. Those green eyes, wide with surprise and desire, told me that he felt it, too.

I had been to Heaven. I knew what was there and how magnificent it was, but I also knew my soulmate wasn’t there. I would be eternally miserable if I left him here to return to the physical Heaven. I knew now what Rhyan had meant when he’d referred to Kendra as ‘his Heaven’. If I left Thoros, I would be leaving my Heaven, my happiness, on Earth. How was that supposed to make me happy? It wouldn’t. I never would be happy unless I was with Thoros, my soulmate.

“I could never regret being with you, Thoros. I want this more than anything in the world at this moment. Tell me that you do, too.”

Thoros closed his eyes and sighed in relief as he wrapped me in his arms and laid his head on my chest. “I do. Oh, Josselyn, I do.”

“Make me yours. Make yourself my first and last lover. Make love to me, my half-souled prince.”

Thoros gave me a wicked grin as he raised his head up to look at me. “Your wish is my command, my angel.”

Ethan had been watching Baddon out of the corner of his eye as he pounded his fists into the punching bag over and over and over again, missing the damn thing more than he hit it, because of the freak show with the big guy over on the weight bench. The guy had only stopped to add more weights to that already bowed bar. The thing was curved into an upside down ‘U’, and there was barely any room left for his hands. He pumped it up-down-up-down-up-down without ever slowing, breathing or sweating.
What the fuck?

Ethan was super glad that he hadn’t agreed to go even one round in the boxing ring with him.
What the hell are these people?
He had overheard them refer to him and Emma as humans and mortals, so what did that make them? Vampires? Had the guy invited him in here to have a snack from his vein?

Holy shit!

He had realized a bit earlier that this guy who said his name was Baddon—and what kind of freaking name was that anyway? Had he come from another planet? Another time?—was one of the guys who had come into the hotel room to get that serial killer and the bodies of Emma’s agent friends. Ethan had not seen his face then, but he recognized the voice, as well as the voices of the other two males that had been with him that night. But he knew the face of the serial killer. His name was Thoros.

He knew he had to get Emma out of here before something bad happened to them, but where would they go? The thing that had his dad held hostage seemed a lot scarier than anyone in this house. They really didn’t have a choice but to stay and do what was ordered of them. Anyway, the freaks had brought them into this kick-ass, expensive looking mansion and practically told them to kick back and make themselves at home.

And what was it that the really calm, nice guy had said he thought he was? An Elf? Surely not. Ethan felt his ears to make sure they weren’t pointy, and then snorted at the silliness he had stooped to.

“Ethan, may I have a word with you?”

Ethan jerked his head to the door to find the guy he’d just been thinking about standing between the jambs, patiently waiting for an answer from him. He looked back over at Baddon, who was now sitting up, straddling the weight bench, looking at him like he was wondering if he was slow or something.

Ethan nodded to him, and then walked toward the door. The
nice
guy stuck out his hand in greeting. Ethan eyed it cautiously for a moment, then took it, giving it a firm shake. The guy smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“My name is Isaiah. I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. I’m sure you have many questions, and I am here to make sure you get as many truthful answers as possible.” He turned and walked down the hall, not looking back over his shoulder to see if Ethan would follow.

Ethan wanted answers. The punching bag or the red-headed superhero on the weight bench didn’t seem to be offering any answers anytime soon, so, of course he followed the guy down the hallway.

He stared at Isaiah’s back, noticing first that his clothing didn’t seem to be of any style that was “in” around this part of the world, and then he noticed how long his hair was. It was pulled back in a loose tie at the nape of his neck, but the odd cream-colored, thick, wavy hair hung well past his waist and appeared to be made of silk.

Isaiah stopped and opened a door to his left, and then made eye contact with Ethan as he encouraged him to enter before him. His eyes were a pale gray. They couldn’t be mistaken for blue in any hue. They were definitely gray—gray as the primer he’d used on his bike before he’d painted it last March. But they weren’t dull or matte like primer, they were bright, almost like they would glow in the dark. Nearly silver.

He walked into the large room, realizing it was the massive library he had seen earlier, every shelf occupied from end to end by books.
What would they do if they wanted to buy more books? Build another library?

“I’m sure they would if they cared to do so. They have the means to build as many as they desire.” Isaiah looked up at Ethan’s shocked expression and held out his hand to a chair across from the one he chose to sit in. Ethan practically fell into it, and then went to work on removing the boxing gloves as he stared at the weird guy that could obviously read his mind.

“You can hear my thoughts?”

Isaiah relaxed and leaned sideways in his chair, letting the side of his head rest against his fist. He seemed to be trying to read Ethan’s thoughts again or maybe thinking about how much to tell him.

“I want to know it all!” Ethan blurted out, but Isaiah didn’t move or even wipe away the spittle that landed on his shoe, resting on his right knee.

“I know you do, child, but I’m not sure you can handle knowing it all, or even if you would believe anything I had to say. We don’t have time for setbacks.”

“What is that red-headed bitch doing to my dad? What is she? You all seem to be scared of her, but,” Ethan pointed to the door they had just walked through, “that guy in the gym room was bench pressing over two thousand pounds and you can read minds, so why did you just stand on the porch and let her take him with her?” Ethan realized he was shouting at the guy… and standing now… and crying. Yeah, he was crying. That was just freaking great!

He wiped at his eyes, and then sat back down on the leather cushion, looking away from Isaiah’s calm stare until he could pull himself together.

“Do you believe there is a God, Ethan?”

“I guess so,” he said exasperated. “Man sure as hell didn’t just appear out of thin air.”

“I see. Do you believe there is a devil?”

Ethan looked at Isaiah then. “Was that the devil that took my dad?”

“Would you believe me if I told you it was?” Isaiah asked, calm as ever.

Ethan stood and picked out a ten foot stretch of floor and began to pace. As he looked at his feet, he realized he was walking on what appeared to be a very expensive rug. He moved to his left a few feet, so he could walk on the hardwood floor instead.

Did he believe in all that supernatural crap? He nodded as he paced. He knew he did. He’d remembered a woman with him as a child, playing with him, holding his hand when his mom passed out from her high or left him alone to go in the back bedroom with strange men to pay for her next drug fix with sexual favors. He had not really understood what she had been doing at the time, but as he got older he’d realized, and he had hated her for it.

The woman, though, had been there a lot. He knew his mom or dad never saw her, even when she was in plain sight, there, beside him. She had told him that she was their little secret and not to tell anyone, so he hadn’t. He felt better when she was around, and he didn’t want to mess that up by disobeying her.