Chapter 51
Vivian’s Point of View
Rule fifty-one: If he’s hanging on by a thread, fetch scissors immediately.
Sin is acting weird.
Usually, he makes a point to always be in physical contact, but he’s barely touched me today. I thought maybe it was therapy jitters, but that ended an hour ago.
“Ready to do your homework with your friends?” He asks, sounding cheerful as we step outside.
It’s a beautiful day, and the sunshine highlights golden strands in his otherwise dark hair. We’re on our way to find the others, after Carys told us they were in the gardens. They’re hoping the nature time will do Rosie some good.
My gut twists. Sin isn’t holding my hand.
Logically, I know this is for the better. He’s going to need to let me go at some point.
I still hate it, though.
Clearing my throat, I quickly shove those thoughts away before he can feel them. “Not happening. I really think we need to focus on winning the war. My soul can wait.”
Sin’s gaze darkens, but he only sighs and finally takes my hand. The contact causes something warm to light up in me, and I try not to show how unbelievably relieved I am at his touch.
He tugs my hand, and I follow, thinking he can hear the others. Instead, he guides us to a shadowed alcove, tucking us behind a marble column. I glance around the nook, taking in how private it feels. There aren’t even windows that overlook us.
Gently, Sin tips my chin so he can search my eyes.
I try to manifest ‘happy,’ but I assume I’ve failed when I take in his answering frown.
He shakes his head slightly and doesn’t say a word as his hands circle my neck.
I don’t even realize I’m leaning into his touch until I feel something cold brush against my neck. It’s followed by a brief pulse of red light, and then his touch is gone.
He steps back, but the way he looks at me has my heart skipping a beat.
“I’ve been trying to keep my distance today, while I obsess over how the fuck I’m going to get you to agree to letting me help you.
Because that is the only thing I care about.
But in the meanwhile, I think you need a reminder,” he all but purrs, and his eyes drop back to my neck.
Looking down, I find the necklace he gave me back in the Shadow Realm – the one I left behind. My breath catches as I lift the small pendant, holding it in a small ray of sunlight that peeks around the marble.
“Thank you,” I say when I finally manage to speak. “But… what did you just use your power for?”
Smirking, Sin presses closer, invading my space. “I was removing the clasp and making the chain unbreakable,” he notes mildly.
I frown slightly. “But it’s too small to slip over my head.”
“That’s right, kitten. Want to know why?” His tone grows more dangerous. “Because for some reason, you keep thinking that I’m going to change my mind. So, to help remind you, I’m making sure the necklace can’t come off. It’s fucking permanent, just like we are.”
I suck in a sharp breath, and my pulse flutters. Because no part of this feels like ownership. It feels like reassurance, and the extreme gesture tempers my crippling insecurity.
Sin’s gaze rakes over every trace of skin around the necklace, but he pauses when he reaches the spot where I’m holding the pendant. Tilting his head to the side, his expression turns curious.
Before I can ask what’s up, he gently tugs me further into the sun. His eyes track over my collarbones.
That’s when I see them – thin white lines that are so faint, they’re only visible in the sunlight. They twist around my arm like vines, occasionally dotted with tiny, ghostly flowers.
They’re almost… beautiful.
“What are they?” I ask in a hushed tone.
“I think… I think they’re your Creator tattoos,” Sin whispers. “But typically, they only appear while Creators are using their power.”
Thoroughly curious, I call on my Creator power. Immediately, the faint lines glow with golden light.
A breath gets caught in my throat at how pretty they are. But a moment later, I feel the power ripple. Quickly, I pull it back, before I accidentally combine it with the Reaper energy and lose control.
When my gaze finally returns to Sin, I find his eyes following the lines across the rest of my exposed skin. “What is it?”
He smiles at me in a way I’ve never seen before. It’s both sad and joyful, and his eyes crinkle at the edges, filling with warmth. “The flowers cover every place you used to have a scar.”
“What? How can you be sure?” I squint at my arm, trying to remember where the scars were.
“Because you’re seared into my soul, kitten. The moment I saw your marks, they were burned into my memory.” His voice turns menacing as he continues, “Because I wanted to make sure not a single fucking stone was unaccounted for when I visited your realm.”
His words send my heart beating into a frenzy, and a part of me struggles to believe someone could ever care for me so much. But instead of delving any deeper into those thoughts, I focus on the tension lining his forehead.
Cupping his cheek, I give him a half-smile. “It was a long time ago, Sin. It’s okay. They won’t ever hurt me again.”
His hand settles over my fingers, and he kisses the underside of my wrist. “You’re right, they won’t hurt you again. But that doesn’t make it okay. Nothing will. So, I’ll continue to visit your realm and haunt their nightmares until the day they fucking die.”
Our hungered gazes meet, and he sweeps me against him for a kiss. It’s desperate and possessive, as our pent-up need to protect each other rages to the surface. Our tongues twine against each other, and Sin buries his fingers into my hair, gripping me even closer.
My nails dig into his shoulders, and he lets out a low growl before lifting me and striding back into the shadowy recess behind the marble column.
I wrap my legs around his waist, and he moans against my mouth. The sound emboldens me, and I nip at his bottom lip before pulling back to meet his eyes.
His pupils are blown, and he looks starved for me.
“I want to taste you,” I whisper.
He groans. “Kitten, if I fuck that sassy mouth of yours, then I won’t be able to stop myself from locking you away and having my way with you. It’s already fucking torture to watch you wear anything other than me.”
My core clenches at his dark promises. “Please, Sin,” I beg, tugging at his hair a bit.
He shudders but doesn’t make a move. “Kitten, you don’t–”
Seeing him on the brink of losing control is almost intoxicating, and I lean in closer to whisper in his ear. “I want to get on my knees while you fuck my throat and use me.” I kiss his neck, dragging my teeth against his skin.
His answering groan borders on sounding pained. “Fucking Fates above.”
“Is that a yes?” I ask, arching a brow.
“You fucking ruin me, kitten. You own every last piece of me, including the shredded pieces of my self-control. Of course it’s a fucking yes,” he growls.
Excitement surges through me, but when I try to slide down, his grip on me only tightens. “Oh no. Not here. I mean it, kitten. If you want this, then I’m getting us the fuck out of here, because if someone tries to come between us when I have my cock down your throat, I might kill them.”
Death threats should not turn me on.
And yet, here we are.
His eyes flare, likely feeling my arousal. “I need to hear you say the words. Tell me that’s what you want,” he chokes out in a low voice.
“Ye–” I start.
“Sin? Vivian? We know you’re over there,” a voice calls. It’s Morgana.
My eyes widen, but Sin doesn’t make a move to let me go.
“Say the word, kitten,” he pleads, ignoring her.
“This is urgent business regarding the war effort,” Ragna adds in a sterner tone.
I sigh, defeated, letting my forehead fall against Sin’s. “We can’t.”
His fingers tighten around me almost imperceptibly, but it only lasts for a second before he slowly sets me back on the ground.
But I guess he isn’t quite ready to let me go, since instead of stepping away, his hands come up to the marble column on either side of me.
Yet again, my pulse flutters. “Uhm, yes, okay. We’ll meet you at the gardens. We’ll just be a minute,” I add, trying not to sound flustered.
“Like teenagers,” Ragna complains as their voices fade away.
Sin’s eyes are closed, and he’s taking deep, measured breaths. When he finally opens them again, he still looks half-wild from lust.
“Ready?” I ask, grinning, because clearly, I’m a monster who likes the fact that I have this effect on him.
Just as I’m about to duck under his arm, his hand darts out and wraps around my neck. The movement is so fast that it’s almost a blur, but he doesn’t add any pressure, allowing me to gasp.
“Not quite,” he answers.
His gaze is still feral when it locks on mine, but no part of me is afraid. He waits a beat, watching for any sign that I don’t want this.
I shouldn’t want this. We’re on the brink of war, and the right thing to do would be to go meet the others. But Sin’s touch feels like home, and I’m desperate for more.
The moment I decide, his grip tightens, and his fingers dip below my pants. He brushes against my clit, and I arch against him, soundlessly begging for more.
A shuddering growl escapes him when he finds me soaked. “I am hanging on by a fucking thread, kitten. Two taps. Give me two taps, because that’s the only way I’m going to let you go without tasting you.” His voice is urgent, like he’s trying to give me one more chance to escape him.
His fingers hover just over my slit, and my body feels molten from the heat coursing through me.
I’m not going anywhere.
I lift my hips, trying to take him inside me, and the last threads of control he was holding onto fracture.
“Fuck,” Sin growls, before plunging two fingers inside me.
He doesn’t go slow. He claims my pleasure like he’s starved for it, making me writhe against him. “You’re so fucking beautiful. You are fucking temptation incarnate.”
Small circles dot the edges of my vision, and the pressure coiling inside me builds to a dizzying peak.
“That’s my good girl. You’re going to take everything I give you,” he continues, and there’s a slight pinch when he adds another finger, before it’s replaced by more searing pleasure.
“That’s it, baby,” he coaxes, fucking me even harder now. “Strangle my fingers with that pretty pussy. I want you to fucking coat me in your arousal, until there’s no fucking doubt about who makes your pussy sing.”
His words detonate something in me, and my orgasm rips through me. At the same time, Sin releases my throat and kisses me, swallowing each of my moans. He coaxes every last one of my aftershocks, claiming them like they’re his salvation.
I’m panting when he finally pulls back, and he holds my gaze as he sucks my juices from his fingers.
“Your taste is fucking addictive, kitten,” he growls.
He still looks aroused, but it’s no longer bordering on feral, as if claiming my body soothed him.
“What do I taste like?” I ask, wondering if maybe something changed when I became immortal.
His answering grin is wicked. “Mine.”
I flush, trying not to let myself get aroused all over again.
Sin winks and takes my hand. “Come on, kitten. We have a meeting to get to.”
The heat in my cheeks only intensifies when I remember that Ragna and Morgana are waiting on us. “Oh god. They’re not going to know what we were doing, are they? No. We can just say we were talking about the souls we freed last night,” I ramble, trying to work through my mortification.
Sin laughs – like really laughs, and I frown at him. “What is so funny? This is embarrassing,” I huff.
“Kitten, half the people in this castle are shifters. They have very good senses of smell,” he answers, still chuckling.
I groan, “They’re going to know, aren’t they?”
He has a self-satisfied smirk when he pulls me closer. “I’m fucking counting on it.”