Page 138 of A Taste of Bliss

He stands, pushing me back, gently this time, but his hands still grip my waist. I keep my hands on his chest. I don’t want tomove. At least, I don’t want to move farther apart. Pisces inhales deeply, and I wonder if my scent does the same to him as his does to me. I close the distance he put between us, catching his gaze in mine. I wonder what my rune looks like to him.

If he fed off my feelings of lust, is he feeling it too? And if he took some of my lust away, what does it say about me that I still have some to spare?

I run a hand up over his chest, to the side of his neck, tracing his tattoo. I’ve never seen it fully like this. Water lilies wrap from his left collarbone around his neck, ending below his right ear. There are other details threaded through the tattoo that I can’t make out right now, too focused on how his skin feels. My fingers just barely brush the ends of his hair. I want to run my fingers through it. I want to bring his face down to mine and capture his lips.

I want to know what he tastes like.

Our breathing grows more labored and Pisces’ hands start running up and down the curve of my waist. He brings his fingers towards the waistband of the sweats I’m wearing, hooking into the band and beginning to pull it down.

Stars, how I want his fingers to find my core. I want him to push me back onto the bed and take these clothes off me. I want to strip him down to nothing and run my fingers up and down his length. I take a step closer, so our bodies are flush. And I can feel him. I can feel how hard he is.

Pisces groans as I lower his head to mine. He rests his forehead on mine. “Bliss,” he whispers, as his fingers dip into my pants, finding their way blocked by my underwear.

He runs his fingers along the outside of my underwear, brushing nowhere near close enough to that spot.

And then all too suddenly I see something flash in his eyes, some sort of change in energy. He pushes me away, his hands going into his pockets. Pisces glares at me and turns his back onme. “Bliss, I can’t feed you. I…” He trails off for a minute. “I don’t want to.”

He takes a blanket from the bed and pushes the armchair so it’s by the window, facing away from the bed, settling into it.

A pit forms in my stomach, gnawing into the lining and sinking its teeth in. I sit down on the bed, the little bit of warmth I was feeling while he fed off me gone and my mind whirling.

CHAPTER FORTY

BLISS

The next morning is silent.I finally drifted off to sleep after silently crying for what felt like hours. Pisces—despite there being plenty of room in the bed for both of us—slept on the floor.

When I wake up, eyes dry and crusty, he’s already awake, sitting in the armchair and staring off out the window. He barely looks at me as I go through my little routine of getting ready. I put my ribbons back in my hair and dress in the bathroom.

I don’t know what to do with myself. I clear my throat to say something to him, but he glares at me, and any words I might have said die in my throat.

So I just sit with a book on the bed, reading, until finally Grim comes to gather me for another interrogation. It’s crazy that I’m relieved to be going into the interrogation room again.

But as Grim leads me down the hall, he goes the opposite way. “Where are we going?” I ask as I follow him.

“Your aunt has been causing quite the commotion for the council. She has enough support that the others finally forced Lyra’s hand. You’re being released.”

“What?” I reach out and stop Grim, my hand gripping his forearm. “That’s amazing.”

But Grim doesn’t seem pleased. “You broke the law, Bliss. Just because I can’t prove it, doesn’t mean I’m happy to be letting you go.”

My brows shoot up to my hairline. “You want to throw me in jail?”

Grim shakes his head, blowing out a breath. “You were working with a wraith. People got killed. And I don’t know who’s responsible for that. Maybe Jordan is just a scapegoat and you and Pisces are behind this whole thing.”

“You really think that?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“I don’t know what to think because you won’t talk to me, Bliss.”

“We’re friends. How can you believe that I would be responsible for anyone’s death?”

“Wewerefriends, Bliss. Now I’m not so sure.” He motions with his chin to keep going, so I shake my head and in my best Amelia impersonation I throw my hair over my shoulder. This hallway leads out into a foyer where Liz and Amelia stand, waiting to take me home. I ignore Grim’s presence at my back and throw my arms around my family.

“Stars, I’m so glad to see you,” I say into my sister’s hair.

“Same here,” she murmurs back, hugging me tight. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I turn back to Grim. He’s waiting, hands behind his back in the doorway. “What’s going to happen to Pisces?” I ask. “Why is no one here to pick him up?”