Page 39 of Tortured Soul (Soulless #1)

Lola

A rc’s room was empty when I let myself fall against the door, panting.

What an ass, sending me there to “help Carter out.” He knew Carter hated my guts. He knew I wasn’t a fan either. He saw what happened when we ended up alone together.

How could he think for one moment that sending me in there was a good idea? We might not have violently fought this time, but a kiss? It wouldn’t bring any good.

And yet, as much as I resented Arc right now, I couldn’t shake off the ghost memory of Carter’s lips crashing against mine. Of the amount of energy such a simple kiss had given me.

Had it lasted just a few seconds longer, his thoughts would have reached me with it.

Was I glad I didn’t get to peek more inside his mind? Yes. It looked like hell in there. But was I still disappointed as well? Definitely. I wanted to dig into his head and understand where all that rage and hate was coming from. See and hear what he truly felt, why he had kissed me.

Probably blood loss .

He obviously wasn’t in his right mind.

After a long and slow exhale, I stood up and rushed to the bathroom.

Looking around, I noticed how small it was compared to Carter’s. Here, the bathtub was large, but placed against a wall hiding a rainfall shower. The bathroom I just left was huge , with a sunken tub in the middle of it that looked like some small pool.

Since it was Arc’s house, I wondered why he didn’t claim Carter’s room for himself.

I know I would have .

I turned on the faucet, leaving the warm water to flow and fill the tub as I took off my dress and necklace. I dropped them to the floor, making sure to hide the little chain and ring in the fabric.

There were a few things on a little shelf that weren’t there this morning when I took my quick shower.

Bubble bath, scented salts, hair products and new soaps…Did Arc buy them today? Or were they his , but he hid them this morning so I wouldn’t see?

There was nothing wrong about enjoying some quality time by himself in a nice bath…

I poured some tangerine scented salts and a bit of bubble bath before sinking in with a satisfied sigh.

Fog quickly covered the mirrors and I closed my eyes, enjoying the smell and toasty temperature.

Oh, how good it felt to be alone. No “mate” trying to tell me what to do or—

The door creaked and my eyes jerked open.

Great .

Arc was standing at the door, waving the smoke away with his hand. I discreetly tried to arrange the bubbles to make sure I was completely covered.

“Damn, do you need your water to be at Hell’s temperature?”

I frowned. Here goes my peace .

“Don’t you see that I’m taking a bath?” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest under the foam.

“I don’t since the whole room is clouded with steam.”

I rolled my eyes and his answering chuckle confirmed that he, in fact, could see me clearly.

Arc walked inside, and I felt the need to sink further.

“Don’t mind me, I’ll just take a quick shower.”

“Can’t you wait until I’m done ?” I groaned.

“Depends, do you plan on being done in the next couple of minutes?”

I mumbled a no, picking up one of the loofas hanging against the wall.

He pulled his T-shirt over his head and threw it in the laundry basket before sauntering closer to me, avoiding the small pile made of my dress and underwear. My eyes widened and I sank deeper .

“Care to explain why this was on my pillow?” he asked, sliding his hand in his pocket to pull out my damn panties.

I could still try and drown myself in embarrassment. Why did I do that ? I chastised myself.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Maybe one of your groupies left it behind after—”

“Oh no, that’s definitely yours.”

I scoffed. “What, did you smell it? You perv’.”

His deep laugh made my stomach flutter. “I didn’t need to smell it to know that no woman other than you has ever set foot in this room.”

He slid the underwear back in his pocket and stood next to me, his hands unbuckling his belt.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I panicked.

“Changed my mind,” he said, his pants dropping at his ankles. “That bath smells really good.”

My eyes snapped to his face as he stared at me with a shit-eating grin, taking off his underwear as well.

Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down—

I pulled my legs against my chest, circling them with my arms to hide my breasts and tried to make myself as small as I could.

“You’re being rude,” I gritted out.

“How?” he asked, now sitting in the water, facing me on the opposite side. “Fuck, that feels good.”

Closing his eyes, his head fell back, hanging over the lip of the tub. His legs were folded like mine, knees visible over the water and thick foam.

“Look, we can’t be comfortable in this tub like this,” I said, trying to convince him to leave me alone.

“I’m perfectly comfortable. You’d be too if you weren’t so—bunched up.”

“I’m not moving from this damn spot.” My teeth gritted in the back of my mouth. “No matter how uncomfortable it is.”

He leaned forward, grinning and eyes sparkling with mischief. I didn’t have the time to register his hand circling my ankle before he pulled my leg toward him, making me shriek in surprise.

My naked ass slid underwater on the bottom of the tub until it stopped, right between Arc’s legs, both my feet now resting on his collarbones .

My throat bobbed and pussy throbbed, thinking that his naked parts probably were inches away from mine.

“See? Plenty of space. Now you can lean back and rest your head on the—”

“Arc!” I groaned, trying to pull my leg from his grasp, but quickly stopped when I noticed it only made me slide closer to him. “Let go, it’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” he asked, his hands starting to rub my calf.

“It is! I don’t understand you!” I held a moan as his fingers reached the back of my knee.

“Have I done something wrong?”

Has he done something wrong? Of course! Him, invading my bath was only one of them!

“Where do I start?” I asked, pulling on my leg again, giving up as it only brought the same result as before.

“You said you acted all distant and mean at first because you thought I was trying to ignore the fact that you were my mate. Then why are you still breathing hot and cold now that you know I didn’t ? ”

He tilted his head to the side, contemplating my words, his eyes studying me.

“Hot and cold?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb now ,” I groaned.

He cocked a brow, his thumb rubbing deeper circles on the arch of my foot.

I successfully managed to keep my eyes from rolling in the back of my head. My toes, curling on themselves, were not as cooperative. I wanted to push my feet to kick the damn smug smile off his face.

“Enlighten me.”

There’s no way in hell he didn’t know what I was talking about. But, because I wanted to make my point, I did.

“This morning during the meeting, the second our hands touched you acted like I had the plague again. Then, you kept my hand in yours the whole way from Carrie’s office to the restaurant.

There too, you seeked contact and teased me, acting all kind and playful, only to go back to cold and distant the second you stood up for us to go see Dimitri.

“And there, you dismissed me like I was your personal assistant and you couldn’t be bothered to look at my face. Were you so annoyed that I took Dimitri’s side? Was that it? But again, if it was, why did you already give me the cold shoulder during the meeting? I don’t—”

I yelped as he leaned forward, his hands sliding from my waist to my ass to pull me over his lap.

“Arc, what the—”

I stopped myself, lips parted as I stared at his face in shock.

He seemed completely relaxed, his head back, supported by the side of the tub.

His eyes hooded as they looked into mine, his gaze not going down to look at my now fully visible breasts over the water.

Both my hands were on his shoulders, preventing me from falling against him or backward as his were still on my ass.

I tried to avoid thinking about the fact that I could feel his length against my core, or that my legs were awkwardly hooked over his forearms, spreading me open for him.

“I have a good explanation; do you want to hear it?” he whispered, eyes drifting to my lips as his cock throbbed against me.

I nodded, eyes wide.

“As I told you before, you make my demon side more…active. And I try to keep it down when I have to deal with delicate matters, such as the camp security and… rogue Nephilims .”

I gasped in outrage, swatting at his chest with one of my hands. He chuckled, straightening up to bring our faces closer together.

“What, would you have preferred my Hellriser’s side to throw you over that table to fuck you in front of Carter, Carrie, and Dimitri?

Because, that’s what the sight of you, slightly disheveled and wearing a dress, smelling like sex, and a hint of me from the fact that you wore my T-shirt all night, made me want to do.

“Would you have wanted it to throw a fit in that room when you so openly took Dimitri’s side and not mine? Because I swear to you, that part of me is not pretty to see. It’s a jealous beast, and you’ve hurt its pride .”

I gulped as his nose brushed mine playfully.

He pulled me higher against him, causing his stiff length to slide against my clit.

“You have the power to unleash that monster into the world, and I can’t let that happen,” he whispered, his breath warming my lips. “Keeping you in my arms at night without touching you myself is my way of appeasing it and staying in control. ”

My breath hitched in my throat as he nibbled on my bottom lip, his hands flexing on my ass, my breasts now plastered against his chest. A blush crept up my cheeks at the position we were in; my legs spread and hung over the crook of his arms, his cock hard against my entrance.

“And I can’t risk losing control, blondie. Not right now. Not when there’s so much at stake.”

“What’s at stake?” I asked, shivering in his arms.

He grinned, flashing his sharp canines.

“Enough that I need to stay away from you, but I can’t. So I’m trying to content myself with shallow touches.”

Why did everything sound like fucking riddles?

“Why are you letting me touch you right now?” Arc whispered against my lips.

Why was I?

“I thought that privilege was reserved for Dimitri ,” he continued, his tone a bit dryer. “When I touched your hand earlier, I thought you’d push me away. When I kissed you in the kitchen too. And now—”

“Are you jealous?” I asked.

“Of course I am. Probably less than Carter, but still.”

“I thought mates in a binded group weren’t supposed to be jealous of each other.”

He nodded, his fingers tracing soft circles on my lower back. “Key word here is binded . None of us are, and might never be.”

I panted as his length rubbed against my entrance again and his mouth brushed my parted lips.

“Dimitri isn’t jealous,” I breathed out. Blake wasn’t either .

“Because he had centuries with you already.”

Blake never had centuries. We had less than a decade before everything went to shit.

But again, we were alone for the first three years.

He knew Dimitri existed, but hadn’t met him for a while.

Maybe it was why things went well from the start.

Why, for the few months Dimitri stayed with us, it felt like we all belonged together, no matter how different we were.

“I’m guessing it’ll be better once—”

“We have sex?” I asked, my toes curling from the gentle friction of his cock against my clit.

He chuckled, mouth drifting to my neck .

“It might be a while.”

“Because I said I didn’t want you to touch me?”

How I wanted to go back in time to slap myself from asking that.

“I’m touching you right now, and you’re not pushing me away,” he retorted, the smile audible in his voice. “No, Because I can’t be distracted. Can’t let you distract me from what’s at stake. From what I need to do here.”

His tip pressed against my entrance again and he groaned, shifting his hips not to push further.

“Are you going to deflect again if I ask you what ’s at stake?”

He pulled on my hair softly, pulling my head back to stare into my eyes.

“Depends. Are you ever going to be on my side?”

My throat bobbed, and I didn’t answer.

He grinned. “I understand. I guess Dimitri has earned your trust. But you haven’t truly earned mine yet.”

“Is it freeing the Immortals from the hidden prison?”

“Partly.”

He nipped at my jaw before releasing me, placing my ass back on the bottom of the tub.

Why were these men so confusing today?

“Get ready for bed, Lola. I’m not talking about this anymore, and my control is slipping away.”