Page 104 of Elex

Thinking of Skyla, I sobered.

“I’m sorry, Hel. I thought she was coming around. I didn’t think she would—”

“How could you know?” he asked. “I was listening the whole time, and I couldn’t tell she was lying. She was obviously determined to return to slavery in Alexandria. This—” he yanked on the collar around his neck. “This was her ticket.”

“Was she, though?” I asked.

“Was she what?” he responded.

“Lying,” I said, thinking back over her words. “I don’t think she did, really. She said she wouldn’tbarbecueus. She didn’t say anything about dropping half a building on us.”

“Even my powers have limits,” he said, smiling wryly at me.

Silence fell, nothing but the sounds of our breathing heard in the room. I shifted uncomfortably. I could feel his gaze on me as it ran over my body. I shivered again.

“So are we going to talk about this?” Hel asked.

“About what?” I said, stubbornly playing dumb, my heart pounding. I stood and moved to where we had dropped our packs and dug my canteen from it, taking a long drink of the slightly stale-tasting water.

I turned around, and he was just suddenly there.

Damn Somas.

“Tell me you don’t feel it.” he said, tracing a single finger across my cheek, the touch sending sparks across my skin andstraight to my cock. I had closed my eyes, but something in me refused to surrender. I slowly opened them and was instantly caught by his silvered gaze.

“Feel what?” I demanded obstinately, looking up at him in challenge.

“Lie.” He whispered. “I can hear your heart beating, little Mageia,” he said, trailing his fingers across my lips and over my cheek to curl around the nape of my neck. “I can feel the breath in your lungs. Your body is saying you want this.”

He stopped all movement suddenly, going still like he had earlier that day.

“But I want more than just your body to want this. I need you to say you want this. That you want me. I will not have an unwilling partner.” He growled.

“Partner?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “Is that what you think I am?”

“That is what I hope you will be,” he said, his silver eyes boring into mine. “A match for me. My equal in all things. A man who knows his own wants. Needs. Desires.”

He whispered the last in my ear, giving me goosebumps. He pulled back slightly, his lips hovering over mine.

“But it is your choice,” he said, his voice holding a strange echo of power.

We hung on that precipice for what seemed like eternity, my eyes watching his face, feeling the heat of his body as he stood so close to me, but not quite touching.

I swallowed hard, trying to decide if I dared trust him. I’d been used by many over the years. Betrayed. I’d let down my brothers, time and again. Why would he want me? Was he just going to use me like the others? I realized this was the moment. I had to make the decision on whether to really trust Hel or not. I considered everything I knew about the man. The animated conversations he had with Luke, the tenderness he showedBetts. The respect and concern he had for each of the Mageia who had joined us.

Erix’s voice came back to me.

“You don’t think about consequences,” he’d said.

He’d been right. I rarely looked beyond the here and now to what might happen next. My thoughts moved fast as lightning, trying to consider the consequences of saying yes to this man.

Then the though occurred to me. What would the consequences be of saying no? That thought alone made my breath catch in my lungs and froze my heart, suddenly, I knew I had my answer.

“I feel it,” I admitted, the final layer of my armor shattering, reaching up to caress his scarred face. “I want this. I wantyou.”

Hel surged forward, his mouth devouring mine. Our hands were everywhere, clawing against clothing, desperate to touch warm skin.

The heat from Hel’s body was intense. One of his hands found its way under my shirt, pulling me to him as he kissed my neck, the other sliding down my front to cup my suddenly-aching cock through my pants as I groaned.