Page 14 of Beg the Night (Mystics of Ashora #1)

FOURTEEN

athena

M y heart pounded, my pulse beating in my fingertips and all the way down to my toes.

First, I thought their plan was to incapacitate us again. Kill us, maybe. Clearly, I was wrong.

Sinner stiffened, the broad shoulders beneath his shirt tensing as he too realized what was happening. “Why would they do this? It isn’t even the night of the blood moon!”

I scooted back on the bed until I was pressed up against the cold concrete wall. Slow breaths. Slow breaths. Lower your fucking heart rate, Athena. You’re not going to let a heart attack take you out. Not after everything you’ve been through.

In front of me, Sinner shuffled to the front of the cell and gripped the bars so tight that his hands shook. “This isn’t right.”

“Obviously.” I choked on the fog and fell into a coughing fit. My eyes watered, my throat stung. “Gas invading the room is typically not right.”

He growled again, igniting the tiniest spark in my chest. I didn’t fear him, but sometimes I was reminded that he was a monster. He was one of them—a mystic. A powerful one at that.

And now I was trapped in this tiny room with him, and he was getting angrier by the second.

At least, that’s how it looked. And I could practically feel the fury simmering inside him as he stood with his back to me, tense as a freaking rock.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, still willing my body to calm down. Sinner had draped his jacket over my shoulders at some point, which was a blessing considering I was still wearing the very thin dress from the ball.

I didn’t want to die wearing a flimsy dress. It would be a real shame.

My racing heart slowed a fraction, but the pounding changed from panic to something wholly different. Heat emanated from my chest and rolled through my extremities. I took a few long breaths, silently begging the warmth to dissipate.

Instead, it settled in and morphed into something else. Something…deeper.

Sinner pressed his head against the bars as he shook them with abandon. “They want us to mate. That’s what she warned us about. They’re drugging us so we’ll willingly mate. I’d bet they’re using tonight to test us before the blood moon comes around.”

My heart lurched painfully. “What? That’s crazy! They can’t do that, can they?”

He tilted his head to the sky, back still to me, and laughed. It was a laugh to whatever god had cursed us with this fate.

“We have to fight it,” I said. “A drug can’t make us do anything.” On cue, the heat that had worked its way through me began to pool between my thighs. Okay, maybe a drug could make me feel things, but it sure as hell could not make me willingly touch Sinner.

Absolutely the fuck not.

“As long as you stay over there and I stay over here, we’ll be fine.” His voice was rough and strained, his knuckles white as he clutched the bars. “I’m not touching you.”

“Feeling is mutual.”

The fog started to dissipate, the hazy cloud lifting a little. I focused on my breathing. That was a good sign. Maybe it would clear out as quickly as it had settled in here. There was no way this tactic would work. If it did, then the Ministry was taking the free will aspect out of the claiming.

Or would it be successful? Was there some sort of loophole? Shit. If that was the case, then the Ministry could pair whoever they wanted, whenever they wanted to. Hell, they were already pretty much doing that.

This would simply speed up the process.

Every second that passed was more torturous than the last. Breathe in. Breathe out. Focus on the cool air, focus on it cooling your body.

I sat up and pushed Sinner’s jacket off my shoulders, tossing it onto the edge of the bed.

“You’re taking your clothes off ?”

“Only the jacket! You want me to burn alive back here?”

“If it means remaining clothed, yes!” His shoulders rose and fell, rose and fell.

Without my permission, my eyes trailed down his back, lingering over his waist. He was too damn attractive for his own good. Why couldn’t he be hideous?

I’d never been a big fan of men. Not like I’d spoken to that many outside of my family, but from the few interactions I’d had, I’d learned to be wary.

Though none of the men I’d ever met looked like him. And none of them pissed me off while also making me want to beg them to touch me.

No, only Sinner had that privilege.

And right now, emotions like anger and frustration and desire were all mixed up.

I stretched my legs out and ran my hands down my face, wiping the sweat that now glistened across my skin. The heat was only getting stronger, only pooling deeper in my belly, so deep I had to clench my thighs together.

My breath grew more shallow as the feelings compounded.

“Whatever you’re thinking right now, stop it.”

“I’m not thinking anything,” I panted. “Except for how much I hate this. And how much I hate you. And how much I wish I was in here with literally anyone else.”

“Is that right?” He finally spun around, pressing his back against the bars. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes darker than usual. “You’d rather be trapped in a tiny cell with a sex-drugged man with less restraint?”

I coughed on a laugh. “You really think you’re the only mystic here with restraint?”

He rolled his eyes. “I think plenty of men in that dungeon would be more than happy to be in this situation with you.”

That stung. I didn’t want any of them to touch me, and I sure as hell didn’t want any of them trapped in here with me. Yet it hurt, knowing Sinner wasn’t one of the men who’d gladly be stuck in this situation with me.

Was I that appalling?

I eyed him, only to find him drinking me in, his focus lingering over my exposed legs.

I took it back.

This was much, much worse than thinking he was repulsed by me.

I pressed my head against the wall until it hurt, clenching my thighs together even harder.

A broken sound left Sinner, one that forced me to dig my fingernails into the skin of my legs so I could think of literally anything but how badly I wished he’d move closer.

“It’ll pass. It’ll pass, right?” My voice cracked and my next breath came out as a rush of air.

Sinner clenched his jaw. “Either that, or they keep pumping the gas in here until they get what they want.” He trailed off at the end, taking another long, shuddered breath. From this angle, his chest looked wider than I remembered. He was strong as hell, that much was obvious. He was easily the biggest man in the dungeon, the biggest man I had ever seen, actually.

So when my eyes drifted down to his waist, below his belt, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

But I was very, very freaking surprised.

And before I could stop myself, a soft moan left my lips.

His bulge grew even thicker in his pants, and like me, he pressed himself against that wall like it would save his life.

I relaxed my thighs, letting them fall apart slightly, causing the slit in my dress to ride a little higher. God, I needed a little cool air. That would stop me from doing the very bad things I was imagining.

Sinner started to pace, mumbling words I couldn’t make out.

“Sinner.” I meant for it to be a warning, but my voice betrayed me, turning the two syllables into a plea. God, my body needed him. I needed him to touch me.

Right. Now.

I spread my legs farther as he paced the tiny room. Even farther still, until one slipped off the edge of the bed.

My nipples ached beneath the thin fabric of my dress, no doubt on full display. My restraint was quickly dissipating.

This is what they want. They want you to give in.

I was beginning to wonder why I’d bothered fighting it at all.

We were going to participate in the ritual eventually, right? What was to stop them from pumping this gas into the air again if we didn’t give in now? They’d try again tomorrow, and maybe the next day, until they could ensure that we would actually claim during the blood moon.

And I was very close to giving in.

I arched my back and closed my eyes, clutching the mattress on either side of me in order to resist touching myself, because right now, I’d give just about anything to relieve the pressure coiling and building and tightening inside me.

Though, if this feeling didn’t start to fade in the next five seconds, that was looking like a good option.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but when the mattress dipped, I flung them open again.

Sinner sat dangerously close, wearing a wild, disheveled look. He’d situated himself between my legs, his hands planted on either side of my hips, the warmth of him lighting my entire body on fire.

“They want a show? We’ll give them a fucking show.”