Chapter 39
Rule thirty-nine: Don’t become an exhibitionist in enemy territory.
W e take off running down a tunnel, heading away from the sound of approaching guards. “Is this East?” I whisper, disorientated.
Sin squeezes my hand, and I take that as a yes. We hurry down multiple well-lit tunnels, straining to hear if the guards are getting closer. Their footsteps echo across different corridors. It’s impossible to know if they’re close.
Sin turns down a completely blacked-out tunnel, and we falter. It’s too risky to take a torch, but Sin’s power isn’t back yet.
I pause, trying to picture the silver Reaper energy. As if energized by this realm, the threads spring to life across my hand .
Well, that would have come in handy during my last cave exploration.
Shame.
Sin pulls me forward, and we continue, trying to be completely silent. The blacked-out tunnels must be used less frequently. This is our best bet for finding a place to hide.
The tunnels continue for ages, all completely dark. We keep moving until Sin finally stops. There’s a small crack in the ceiling above us, similar to the one we climbed into earlier. Sin points to it before taking my waist and lifting me up.
It takes me a few seconds to crawl through, pulling myself over the narrow crevice. Once inside, I swallow my panic and let a bit more power flow out of my hand. With the added light, I can faintly see the crevice opens to a small tunnel.
“I think this is good,” I whisper down to Sin.
A moment later, Sin pulls himself up and follows my lead as we start crawling. I sing ‘Highway to Hell’ in my head, hoping it will distract me from how narrow this tunnel is. The stones feel like they’re pressing down on me, and I’m sure in a few more minutes, I’ll get stuck, wedged between the rocks. My heart is racing, and my vision is starting to darken around the edges. Unless Sin is keen on knocking me out, there’s no way I’m going to last seven hours in a tight space like this.
Almost blindly now, I push forward for another few breaths until, finally, the tunnel opens up to a cave. It’s about the size of a minivan. Not high enough to stand up, but still large enough that my lungs don’t feel like they can’t work.
Sin follows me inside and appraises the spot. “This is good. We’ll hole up here until my power returns.”
Sighing, I lay back on the cold stone floor. I don’t even care that it’s cold. The stones are smooth, and nothing is digging into my back. That’s a win in my books.
The adrenaline that’s been pumping through me during this mission is quickly wearing off, and exhaustion is setting in. I shiver and let the power I was using to illuminate our path die down. The darkness is absolute, but I know it’s wiser to conserve energy.
Sin lies beside me, his arm and leg pressing against me. I feel my shoulders relaxing a bit, savoring his body heat. We stay like that, listening in silence for what feels like ages, until finally, Sin whispers, “So, are we going to talk about what you said back there?”
While a silly piece of me is thrilled to know that Sin isn’t keen on me dying, I can’t ignore the logic in ending my mortal life. “My death is a solid option, Sin.”
Sin stiffens at my answer. “I’m not even going to entertain that thought.”
I pause, confused. “Then what are you referring to?”
Sin turns to face me. “The god of death offered to make you a goddess, kitten, and you turned him down.” His hand finds my waist, and he pulls me so I’m flush against him. “And when he asked you if you were certain of your relationship with me, you said yes.”
My pulse grows erratic at his whispered words.
“I did,” I whisper back.
I hold my breath. Sin’s thumb brushes against my waist. Once, twice.
His whispered question is barely audible, “Did you mean it?”
My heart beats so fast, I’m sure Sin must feel it against his chest.
I could lie. I could tell him I only said it to be polite in rejecting Hades. But at my core, I don’t want to. I trust Sin and don’t want to be dishonest with him.
War is coming, he is my partner, I’m magically bonded to Leon, I have major insecurities… all the reasons I need to avoid Sin are still there. I haven’t pushed them away, hoping to escape for a moment.
I just don’t care. Those worries pale compared to what I am starting to feel for this man.
“Yes,” I whisper back.
Sin’s hand tightens on me, and he mutters, “Fucking, fuck.”
My heart drops. Did I somehow misunderstand Sin’s comments earlier about wanting me to be sure about us?
How did I mess up this badly?
I swallow down my own embarrassment to apologize, “I’m sorry. I never meant to make you uncomfortable.”
“Fates above, kitten, I’m not uncomfortable with your answer,” Sin corrects emphatically. “I’m pissed off because I’ve never wanted to tear off your clothes and fuck you into oblivion more than I do right this moment. But I can’t because we’re stuck in the Underworld Realm, and I’m pretty sure fucking Hades will see everything we do in here.”
“Oh,” I answer, my mind reeling at his words.
Sin isn’t upset. He wants me.
I’m going to need a few more lifetimes to process the last hour of my life.
We lie in silence for another moment until Sin mutters, “Fucking Hades,” and then his mouth captures mine.
Sin claims my mouth like a man who is suffocating, and I’m his life-saving breath. His tongue rubs against mine, fucking my mouth and drawing a guttural moan from me. I kiss him back with equal need, wrapping my thigh around his waist to feel him pressed against my center.
Sin grinds me against him, his hard length rubbing against my clit. I arch at the pleasure, and he swallows my moans as heat builds low in my core. It feels as though my nerve endings are hyper-sensitive, lighting up everywhere he touches. The atmosphere around us is electric. It’s as if it’s charged by the desire that flows between us.
When Sin releases my lips, I tug at his hair to pull him back. But he ignores my silent plea and places heated kisses down my neck instead. I gasp as he hits the sensitive spot below my ear.
“I won’t give Hades a full show, kitten. I don’t share what’s mine,” he whispers between kisses. He lets go of my thigh, but instead of pulling away from me, his fingers graze at the top of my pants, his fingers teasing just below the fabric.
I whimper, needing more, and Sin licks at the junction of my neck and collarbone as his fingers dip beneath my pants.
“Please, Sin,” I whimper, begging him for more.
Sin groans, “Fuck, you do things to me when you beg. What do you need, kitten?”
I grind against his hand, but he stills, not giving me what I crave. “Please,” I whimper again, not at all ashamed that I am begging this man to touch me.
“Words, kitten,” he growls, his mouth leaving my neck. “I’m not going to touch you unless you use your words.”
I growl in frustration at the feeling of his hand so close to my center, and my hands leave his hair to claw down his shoulders.
Sin chuckles and nips my neck, drawing a choked moan from me. “Tell me what you want.”
My cheeks flame, but given our current location, I guess the earth really did open up and swallow me whole. When Sin doesn’t budge, I relent. “Touch me, please, get me off.” My voice comes out breathless.
Sin groans against my neck, “So fucking hot.”
His hand dips lower and grazes against my clit. I arch into the touch as he starts sucking at the sensitive part of my neck, where he marked me just a few days prior. His fingers draw soft circles against my clit, and I moan at the contact.
“Shhhh,” Sin whispers, “We don’t want the guards finding us, kitten. You need to be quiet if you want to come. ”
I whimper but do as he says, clamping a hand over my mouth.
In response to my now muffled moans, Sin’s fingers dip lower to skim at my soaked slit. He makes a guttural sound as his fingers tease just at the edge. “Always fucking soaked for me. Fuck, I can’t wait to ruin you.”
At his words, I feel myself growing even wetter. Sin notices, his fingers still teasing at my opening, driving me crazy. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I won’t be gentle. I’m going to wreck you so that you won’t remember what it feels like not to have me inside of you. And then I’ll do it again and again, making you come so hard that you forget how to breathe. I want you fucking shattered, kitten. I want every piece of you fused to me because that’s where they belong. Is that what you want?”
His fingers are driving me to the brink of insanity, and my body grows impossibly more heated at his words.
Fuck, there must be something wrong with me. I should be running in the opposite direction, but instead, I crave every one of his dark promises.
I want it. So badly.
I want to give him control. To let me escape my own head.
Sin whispers again against my neck, “I want to ruin you, kitten, but only during sex. And only with your consent.”
My breath catches.
Sin wants to use me. He could easily take what he wants from me, but he’s making sure I want it, too .
I’m not powerless here.
I move my hand from my mouth to whisper back, “Yes. Please, yes, Sin.”
“That’s my good girl,” Sin growls. And with those words, he plunges two fingers into my soaked center, and his teeth clamp down on my neck.
I scream into my hand, in both pleasure and pain. His fingers curl inside of me until they rub against a spot that has me writhing against him. His palm rubs against my clit, and I start grinding my hips into his hand, increasing the friction.
Sin licks at the tender spot on my neck before whispering, “That’s it, kitten, ride my hand. Make sure Hades knows who makes your pussy weep.”
I gasp, grabbing his shoulders, desperate for more leverage.
Sin claims my mouth for another bruising kiss, swallowing the moans he pulls from me. His tongue fucks mine in tandem with his fingers, and I feel myself starting to tighten against him, my orgasm not far off.
To my frustration, he starts to pull his fingers back. I bite his bottom lip in protest, and he growls in response. The sound isn’t angry, though. It’s charged with desire.
His fingers return to my slit, but this time, I feel the burn as he starts inserting a third finger. “I need to stretch your pretty pussy, kitten. Otherwise, you’re going to tear when I fuck you.”
My breath catches, and my fingernails dig into his shoulders as he starts fucking me with three fingers. The feeling of fullness and the slight burn from being stretched so wide is doing wild things to my body. My core tightens even further, and my legs start to shake.
His fingers fuck me harder as he takes on a bruising pace. I forget how to breathe, how to speak. The pressure builds until I’m sure I’m about to combust.
Sin releases my mouth. “Fuck, yes, that’s it. Strangle my fingers with your pussy.”
My core tightens to a point I never knew possible, and in response, Sin’s fingers curl, pushing against that sensitive spot inside of me again. “That’s it, baby. Such a fucking good girl. Come for me.”
I shatter.
Sin’s mouth captures mine, swallowing my scream. My body convulses around him as the orgasm plows through me. Waves of pleasure crash through me, almost violently, and Sin doesn’t stop pleasuring me. He wrings out every last aftershock until I’m trembling beside him. When he finally removes his hand, I go boneless next to him.
“So fucking perfect,” he whispers, his tone reverent. He pushes a finger inside of my mouth. “Suck, see how good you taste.”
I do as he asks, and the gesture is so erotic my core pulses again.
I lick his finger clean, swirling my tongue against it, and Sin shudders against me in response. He takes his finger back, and I hear him groan as he licks his other two. “Fuck, kitten, that mouth. The things I want to do to it,” he growls, pulling me on top of him.
I move to sit up, wanting to pleasure him, but Sin’s arms force me to lay flush against his chest. “Soon. I let Hades watch you come so that he knows who owns your pussy. But that’s all he is ever getting.”
Butterflies dance in my stomach at the possessiveness in Sin’s voice. I relax against him, letting his delicious warmth spread through my body. Sin tucks my head against his neck, his fingers lightly massaging my back.
I sigh in contentment, nuzzling against him. Sin keeps rubbing circles on my back, and my eyes grow heavier. “Sleep, kitten. I’ve got you.”
More warmth spreads through my body.
A sense of security like nothing I’ve ever felt before sweeps through me. Sin is more than powerful enough to protect me. But he refuses to leave me vulnerable, pushing me to train hard, ensuring I can protect myself. If that isn’t the pinnacle of having someone’s back, then I don’t know what is.
So, I let myself drift off, deep in enemy territory, feeling safe.