Page 16 of He Who Sleeps

She nodded.

“Good. Tonight is going to be...extra. Originally the plan was to ease you in, see if that changed the potency, but you walking in looking like a fucking gift changed that. None of us were ready for how amazing you looked in that dress.”

She smiled to herself, thankful for her yearlong mission to make herself a goddamn snack. “Who picked it out?”

“Goblin,” he said. “Plague picked the shoes this year.”

“Generous.”

“Nothing is too good for our little sacrifice.” He leaned forward, running his lips along the shell of her ear. “Honestly, though, who else are we going to spend money on?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if you guys have wives or girlfriends or anything...”

“No and no,” he chuckled and kissed her shoulder, fingers stroking her belly. “Our lives aren’t conducive to relationships. I mean, how do you hide the fact that you murder people, right?”

“You are dudes. I’m sure you are getting your needs met.”

“Possibly? Some of us are a bit too...volatile in that respect to be set loose on the public. I can tell you that since you swallowed my cock that first time? It’s only been you.”

“Romantic.” She giggled and leaned back more. “Is that like part of the pact? Do you guys have to follow rules, too?”

“You mean when we’re with you, or the rest of the time?”

“I don’t even know where to start,” she admitted. “I want to know everything.”

“I can’t tell you much. The seven of us were raised in a cult, and in exchange for keeping a dark god fed, we are gifted lives others would kill for.” She heard the smirk in his voice. “Pun intended.”

“I see. And the fact that you’re fucking insanely hot doesn’t throw women at you at all times?”

“No, actually. I’m good natured in my day to day, but I don’t get close. I don’t date and I don’t get attached to anyone. Except the others. Except you,” he offered. “You are a constant obsession. To all of us.”

“Even Snake?”

“Even Snake,” he said carefully. “Why do you think he doesn’t like you?”

“He’s never touched me unless he’s treating me as a tool to be checked for flaws before putting me back in a drawer until next year,” she said softly. “Everything is apparatus, nothing is him.”

“Ah. Well...” He kissed her again. “He has his needs.”

“And they aren’t me.”

“Does that upset you?”

She nodded but didn’t say more. How could she say wanted them all and not seem like she was totally delusional? Though Emerson wouldn’t judge her, she was still on the cusp of judging herself.

“You know, it’s kinda awesome that I mention the whys of our arrangement, and you don’t bat an eye at the idea of a dark god offering favors in exchange for life force.”

“Obviously I’m skeptical, but I’m not ruling it out. There’s more in this world than we can see, or touch. So, you say you’re killing people, and now rearranging my guts for two nights a year, to feed him and it makes a twisted kind of sense. Fucking and dying are two ends of the same spectrum. Whether pageantry, truth or psychosis, I’m all in.”

“Which is also baffling to me.” He shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong; the fact that we get a goddamn smoke show to play with that’s down for anything is kinda amazing, but why embrace it?”

“The choice between enjoying what seven talented men do to me, introducing me to things I never would have thought I liked, or being afraid of what my body feels isn’t a choice.” She turned her head to look up at him. “I don’t think you guys understand, but you awoke something in me, something sleeping and needy, and it responds only to you. To them.”

Turning completely she went to her knees, hands on his beautiful face. “I miss you all when you’re not here. The year alone sucks, and I live for these two nights. I get to feel alive. I get to experience the truth of who I am.”

His smile, the look in his eyes, she shivered. “Damn it, Pet...”

Then his lips were on hers and they were kissing, him pulling her into his lap, sitting her on his hips. She moaned, her hips rolling on his lap as she whimpered. Gods, being able to have this, this stolen moment with him.