Page 23 of Beg the Night (Mystics of Ashora #1)

TWENTY-THREE

sinner

T he plan was risky. If this didn’t work, we would be punished for it, and Mags would be in danger. That alone made me consider ditching the plan entirely.

But if I gave in and did what they wanted, where would that put us? Would we ever be free of the Ministry’s grasp?

Mags was tough. Far tougher than she looked. She would be okay. And Athena was a fighter. I would not be the one to take that away from her. Especially not like this. I couldn’t fucking live with myself if I forced her to give any part of herself away.

I could already feel my magic reacting to her, the influence of the blood moon kicking in. This plan would work.

“We have to make them think we’re being intimate, okay?” I kept my tone low, ducking closer so we wouldn’t be overheard. “But I need you close so I can access your full power. Last time…” I cleared my throat. “I didn’t try to touch it, explore it. But it would have been easy. I’m sure of it.”

Hands still cupping her face, I ran my thumbs over her sharp cheekbones. Instantly, she softened. She always did, and it made me want to never take my hands off her.

“Okay,” she breathed. “But I don’t know how—I’ve never?—”

“Don’t worry.” I bowed my head, moving in until our lips were almost brushing. “I’ll take care of it. I just need you to open your power to me so I can access it. No more holding back, New Girl. No more hiding.”

She swallowed, averting her attention. “What if you hate it? What if it kills you?”

Oh, Athena. My heart pinched painfully in my chest. There was so much she had to learn about me still. So much she would learn very quickly if what I had planned worked the way I thought it would. “I’ll tell you a secret.” I lifted her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Nothing can kill me.”

When I kissed her, my entire being roared to life. I held her face gently while I moved my lips against hers. Guiding her. Coaxing her. She was shocked at first, still, but eventually she kissed me back.

And nothing could have been more perfect.

When she’d relaxed in my hold, warming up to the sensation, I slid my tongue along the seam of her lips, urging her to open. She did instantly, melting for me.

Fuck, I wanted her.

I had wanted to kiss her for longer than I could even admit to myself. I had touched her, I had seen her completely naked in the shower, but this?

This was more intimate than sex. More personal than any orgasm I could give her.

Open up to me, Athena. Let me in.

When I bent down and picked her up by the waist, she wrapped her legs around me effortlessly.

Bed. We needed to get to the bed.

I shuffled that way, all the while reveling in the feeling of having her entirely wrapped around my body. She slid her arms around my neck while she kissed me back, growing more and more confident with each second.

When she pulled away to take a breath, I laid her gently on the white silk sheets.

Chest heaving as she caught her breath, she watched me, her dark eyes wide and her pupils dilated as I stood over her and pulled my shirt up and over my head.

I pulled the sheets back and waited for her to slip under them, then joined her, making sure we were covered. We deserved at least a small amount of privacy.

Athena spread her legs for me, and I notched between them, fitting perfectly, bracing myself with an arm on each side of her head.

Phantoms slipped out of my control, flickering around us.

She gasped, her attention darting behind me, but rather than fear, her expression was full of awe, just like it had been the last time she saw my shadows.

My power liked that. My power really, really liked that.

I kissed her again, more urgently. My power needed more of her. I needed her full surrender if this plan was going to work, and she was still hiding behind walls. I didn’t blame her. We were supposed to have sex in the middle of this forest while god only knew who watched. It was fucking creepy.

Then there was the bomb her sister had dropped on her. It was no wonder she tried to hide.

I pulled back, resting my forehead against hers. “Do you trust me?”

She whimpered at the sudden distance between our mouths. ‘Yes.”

That’s my girl. “Good. Because I don’t want you to think about anything else right now, okay? Just me. Just us.”

She sucked in a sharp breath but nodded.

It was all the response I needed. I ran my hand down her body, then, ensuring the white sheet covered her entirely, I pulled her dress up her thighs slowly. Torturously.

That’s what my power liked. It liked the way she sucked in a sharp breath the second my fingertips touched her thighs. It liked the way she arched against me, her body begging for more. “That’s it,” I whispered. “Close your eyes.”

She did, her thick lashes fluttering.

“Now think about my touch and nothing else. Can you feel the way your body reacts to me?” I brushed my fingertips higher, pulling her dress along with me until I had reached her bare hip bone.

A low growl escaped me when I found no material in my way. Of course they hadn’t given her underwear.

Athena whimpered, which only made things worse.

Or, in this case, better. This was exactly what I needed to unleash my power. To set me on edge so I had no choice but to consume her, devour her.

“Yes,” she breathed. “I can feel it.”

“Good.” I leaned down and kissed her neck, sucking gently on the skin.

She moaned, her back arching.

My stomach dipped as my magic purred.

More phantoms filled the air around us.

As I sensed them, I nearly pulled them back, afraid I would lose control. But I fought the urge, knowing I still needed more if I was going to help Athena and Mags.

I needed everything. My power and hers.

Fingers digging into her flesh, I moved my lips down her collarbone. She pulled herself against me, slipping her bare leg around my hip, pressing her exposed core to my groin and holding herself there.

Holy. Fuck. The heat of her seeped through the fabric, and I almost lost all control. Jaw clenched, I pulled back and inhaled deeply.

She kept her eyes closed, trusting me to do what I told her I would. The thought grounded me, brought me back to myself. I brought my lips down against her collarbone. I wanted to rip that dress right off her body, but that was definitely not part of the plan.

With a squeeze of her hip, I relished the way my fingers dented her flesh. Fuck, I loved the feeling of her bare skin under my touch. And apparently so did she, because a pulse of her magic shot through me, causing my power to jerk back.

“More,” she breathed. My god . “More, Sinner.”

“Open up to me. Let me in. I can feel you.” I brought my hand down to her bare pussy, barely brushing across her skin.

Eyes snapping open, she sucked in a harsh breath and hooked her arms around my neck.

I pressed my forehead to hers and rubbed my fingers through her slit. She was already so fucking wet. Her body wanted this just as badly as I did.

But no matter how much we wanted each other, it wasn’t right. She would regret it afterward. I probably would, too, though I was starting to think regretting anything to do with Athena would be damn near impossible.

I pushed a finger inside her and swallowed down the moan that rolled off her tongue. My dick was so hard in my pants it fucking hurt, but this wasn’t about me. It wasn’t about what I wanted.

This was about her.

More of her magic filled my chest. It warmed me, but there was something sinister there, too. A facet that reminded me of my own magic.

A darkness.

I choked back my shock as I curled a finger inside her, watching for cues as to what she liked, reacting to every whimper or squirm.

My power loved every minute of it.

“Oh god, Sinner.”

“It’s working,” I whispered, my face buried in her neck. “It’s working, Athena. Keep opening up for me.”

She whimpered again, spreading her legs even wider and tightening her fingers in my hair. “Take it,” she said. “Take it all. It’s yours.”

Though she was talking about her magic, a deep, primal part of me responded when she arched her back and pressed her breasts against me. She was mine. All fucking mine.

“That’s it, Athena, that’s it.” Without slowing my movements, I brushed her clit with my thumb. I wanted her to drown in pleasure. To be overcome by it.

“I’ve got you,” I said as more of her magic crawled into me like it was finding its home. My power stirred and shifted, shadows now filling the room.

Athena didn’t seem to care. I had been pushing my powers down for so long, this finally seemed like freedom. She finally seemed like freedom.

And the power she was giving me, holy shit.

It was like nothing I had ever felt before. My phantoms roared, and I realized I had let out a roar, too, as the warmth of her magic pumped through my fucking veins.

She pumped through my fucking veins.

It wasn’t until she reached her climax, wasn’t until she was writhing and arching against me, telling me it was all mine, that my power reached into her chest, too, and gave itself over to her.

“Athena, calm down.”

It took the space of a heartbeat or two to realize I was no longer in the forest. No, I was in Athena’s mind. Her memories. She stood around with what had to have been her family. I could sense the familiarity, just like I could sense her emotions and her thoughts.

And they weren’t good.

Darkness surrounded her—a darkness she couldn’t see.

Katherine screamed at her to calm down, to relax, but Athena couldn’t hear. Her attention was locked on her mother.

“Tell us the truth!” she yelled, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Why can’t we go into town? What are you hiding?!”

“I’m not hiding anything!” her mother responded. But her voice was laced with fear.

Her mother was afraid of her? Why?

The small kitchen where we stood would be cozy, if not for the anger that poisoned the air.

“It is for your own protection,” the older woman said.

“That’s what you and Father have been saying for years, but it isn’t true, is it? There’s something else. You hide us here like fugitives! You can’t keep us here forever!”

Her mother—fear and all—slammed her small fist onto the wooden counter. “I am your mother and you will obey me, dammit! I say you don’t go into town, so you don’t go into the damn town!”

Athena’s chest rose and fell rapidly with each breath, her pulse racing in her neck. Rather than calming like her sister continued to urge, she was more worked up.

But her mother took a long, shaking breath. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to this nonsense. I’m going to cool off in the stream.” She paused in front of Athena, eyes glossy. “If only you were more like your sister. Katherine has never had a problem following the rules ? —”

“Well, I’m sorry I can’t be the perfect daughter that Katherine is, I’m sorry I ? —”

“That is enough,” her mother interrupted.

“No,” Athena spat. “No, I’m not going to shut up and sit down anymore. I want to know the truth!”

“I can’t do this.” Her mother waved a shaking hand, then stormed off, leaving a fuming Athena behind with Katherine.

Two silent beats passed. Then Katherine lifted her head. “You work her up on purpose. She’s done nothing but provide for you all her life. Calm yourself down before you do something stupid.”

If only it were that easy. Athena’s anger was uncontrollable, unstoppable. It buzzed with something more than a simple emotion. It buzzed with something thicker, something tangible.

“She wishes I was never born. I know she does. Maybe I can’t blame her, because sometimes I wish she were dead.”

My eyes flew open, and all I could see was Athena. She was panting beneath me, her grip still tight in my hair as she came down from her climax. As I slid my fingers from her warm channel, her eyes locked on mine, and her body finally relaxed.

“Sinner,” she whispered. “Did you feel that?”

Okay, so she had the strange visions, too. I didn’t want to ask what she’d seen. We didn’t have to go there.

“It worked,” I said. “It worked, Athena.”

“Okay,” she breathed, though her brows pinched. “What now?”

I closed my eyes and rolled my hips, though I didn’t allow my pelvis to connect with hers. But we had to continue the ruse. We had to make it look as though we were still continuing the ritual.

She got the hint quickly and tossed her head backward, moaning slightly. My cock throbbed again, but I ignored the sensation.

Instead, I focused on my power. It felt uncontrollable. Undeniable.

So I sent my senses out, like before, and urged my shadows to search.

This time, they easily slid through the magical barrier.

With the power of the claiming, I was made new. And with Athena’s power now pounding in my chest, I was unstoppable. Outside the barrier meant to keep us contained, my phantoms immediately found the mystic using his magic to enclose us in this room and strangled him without a sound.

The luminescent walls disappeared. Athena noticed this, too.

“Did you just?—”

“Get ready,” I teased as I tugged her dress back down her thighs. “Now, we fight like hell. Let’s go get my sister.”