Page 65 of A Kiss From Death (Oath of Vengeance #1)

“Good,” he says in a flat tone. His muscles tense, like he’s unsure exactly what to do with himself now, so I decide to offer the poor, flustered man an olive branch.

“Join me?” I ask boldly. “I could use help washing my back.” I am desperately giving him any excuse at this point.

He shifts, unsure what to do, and the floorboards creak under his weight. I see him fighting an internal battle, his fists opening and closing with confliction.

“Or you can wash up, and I can go eat,” I rush out, second guessing myself from his hesitancy.

Maybe this is all too much for him. Maybe it’s all too much for me too, and I’m just as confused, but I can’t help the way my body feels around him.

It’s like a magnet drawing us closer any time we are near each other, and I’m done questioning or fighting it.

It’s otherworldly, and I can’t even begin to decipher it, so for once, I let it guide my actions.

My body begs to be touched by him and to touch him in return, but my mind is clouded with my past. A small part of me knows it always will be, but I’m working on opening myself up again, one day at a time.

He turns abruptly, reaching me in two strides. He grips my chin between his fingers, dragging my face to look at him. “You will do no such thing,” he grumbles in a low tone, leaving no room for argument.

His eyes are deep pools of ink blown by lust. I can hear his labored breaths he’s trying his best to contain.

It’s taking everything inside him to hold himself back, and all I want to do is make it so he loses that precious control he prides himself on and see what forges in its wake when he inevitably breaks.

His face is right in front of mine as we share the air between us. The room turns charged with need as he slowly reaches out and drags his knuckles down my cheek, and I close my eyes and lean into his touch. He lets out a tortured moan that goes straight to my core.

“Hade,” I whisper, my eyes pleading.

“Yes, beautiful?” he questions with a softened gaze.

I grab his shirt, tugging him against me. “Kiss me,” I pant, and he wastes no time as he finally breaks and devours my mouth. I fall limp, the sheer force of his devotion making my knees buckle.

He kisses me with burning fever, cupping my face, holding me hostage as water runs between our mouths. He plants kisses across my jaw, slipping out of his shirt between each kiss he brands me with. His pants follow, falling to the floor in a woosh.

An excited giggle leaves my lips between kisses as he rips me off my feet, crashing my body into his. I eagerly wrap my legs around his torso, gluing myself to him .

My back collides with the cool wall behind me. The water lines up directly above his head, cascading down him, and if he weren’t holding me up right now, I think I would fall to his feet and pray. The water runs over his golden skin, making him practically glisten.

This man will be the end of me.

I squirm when I feel his magic lash out, traveling over my body, lighting a fire in its path.

It deliciously tingles over my skin, so slow that a chill wracks my spine, and I let out a small moan.

A tendril snakes over my stomach, traveling over the peak of my breast, making me gasp.

It continues its exploration, slithering under my armpit and wrapping back around the top of my shoulder.

I suck in deeply when it glides over the dip of my narrow neck and disappears under my arm to wrap back up around my shoulder, creating a harness across my upper body.

My eyes roll back in my head as the tip of the tendril stops at the top of my shoulder and presses into the pulse at my throat, which is beating faster than should be possible.

Hade must feel it through his magic, because he lets out a shattering growl as he releases me, standing straight.

He looks over my body and his magical creation holding me to the wall while my legs still pathetically cling to him.

I shake and crumble under his gaze as he slowly scrutinizes every single inch of bare flesh. The air evaporates from my lungs as I look into the eyes of death himself. His eyes are deep, dark chasms full of the promise of destruction, and I’m the only thing standing in his path.

I pant loudly as I feel his eyes blaze over my hardened nipples while he plucks one between his fingers, massaging it tenderly. My body reacts to his touch, my back arching and shoving my breast further into his large palm.

“ Fuck! ” He hisses between his teeth as his last shred of restraint finally vanishes.

He snaps his hand out, wrapping it fully around my neck and applying just the right amount of pressure without taking my breath away. His thumb strokes softly back and forth over the dip of my neck, making me swallow harshly against it.

I gasp as his mesmerizing eyes finally lay claim to mine, my heart lurching to a halt. They promise ruining, and every time I’m ensnared by them, my body begs to give in to his every command, even at the mercy of corrupting my soul.

“You. Are. Perfection,” he growls, and it echoes off the walls around us.

He’s breaking right before me, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I want to dig my nails under his skin until all that’s left is the feeling of me etched deep within his soul. It’s intoxicating and addictive. There are no words to describe the string tethering us together.

Our breaths heave in time with each other as a million emotions crash through his eyes, painting a vivid story.

I can physically taste his lust against my tongue, but there’s also questioning.

There’s plea and restraint. He’s not quite sure what this is between us, or if it’s okay.

I know this because I feel all those emotions pushing against my heart as well.

I wash my thoughts away and lean into his touch. A low rumble trembles from his throat, making me drag my bottom lip between my teeth while a soft breath leaves my throat. I stare the beast down in front of me as my body hums with anticipation.

“You make me want to do very bad things, Nyxi,” he says in a strained tone.

I reach out and drag my nail up his chiseled torso until it lands at the base of his neck. “What happened to flowers first? Chivalry is dead,” I say in a teasingly seductive purr.

He flicks his wrist, and a thorny rose appears in the air, made from his black shadow magic. It floats between us, bobbing softly as it spins slowly. My eyes widen in surprise, and I can’t help my smile.

He plucks the rose with a dark gleam in his eyes. I pout as he grips the rose instead of handing it over to me. The magic seems to purr in his grasp, recognizing him as its maker.

“How am I supposed to admire the pretty offering if you won’t hand it over?” I pout dramatically.

A shit-eating grin makes the side of his lips kick up, and my pulse rises with it. “Who said flowers were only good for looking pretty?”

Leaning forward, he brings the rose between us so it sits just below my nose.

I inhale deeply, making some of the magic flow into my nose.

My head floats and my body hums like a drug is racing through my veins.

I’m nothing and everything at the same time as I feel his magic work through my body, carving out a chasm deep within me.

“ Hade ,” I moan, my eyes closed as his magic settles deep in my core. I could combust just from the feel of his magic coiling through my body like a claiming.

My eyes spring open when I feel a soft caress of something dragging across my chest. I tremble as he runs the top of the black rose across my skin like a feather, leaving electricity behind where it connects with my heated skin.

It feels familiar but also a little denser than his usual magic, as if real rose petals were made from fluffy clouds.

One of the thorns drags across my hardened nipple, and I gasp—not in pain, but pleasure. The thorn pushes against my skin but doesn’t cut me, leaving behind a delicious sting that turns heated.

He continues his pursuit of my body, dragging the head of the rose down my stomach, feather light, coating my body in chills. It’s a delicious, heady feeling, and I never want it to stop. I would happily love to receive flowers from Hade every day if this is the outcome.

I flinch as I feel the rose press right above the sensitive nerves between my thighs. He teases me, dragging it in circles across my lower stomach but never lower, driving me to insanity as I thrash in the grip of the tendril of magic around my upper body.

“Tell me to stop,” he breathes, tortured.

“Don’t….stop,” I chant the words.

The feral moan that leaves his lips makes me feel things that shouldn’t be possible, and I’m wound into a tight ball of need and wanting from his teasing, addicting touch.

“I…” I pant, trying to make my brain work through the fog.

“What, beautiful ?” he taunts as he continues his torture on my body.

“ Need ,” I drag out in a breath, the only word my tongue is capable of making.

“Tell me what you need, Nyxi.” His voice drops dangerously low. “Use your words and tell me exactly what that pretty head of yours is thinking.”

“ You ,” I sputter as he swipes the rose dangerously close to my center. I freeze for a second as the realization of my words come crashing in. I can see the hesitancy in his eyes as he tracks my movements.

Hade is my inevitable and always has been. I feel it deep in my bones, to my very soul, that our paths were always meant to cross. This chaos between us is bigger than the two of us, and there is no escaping it, only forging through the madness. I can’t walk away any more than he can right now.