Hope
I tried to stop shaking.
I really did.
But I was in a car with an immortal, and I was still awake as in, I wasnât dreaming or even having a nightmare. This was real. And heâd just basically told me if I didnât have sex with him.
I would die.
Was he lying?
Too many thoughts rushed to the surface, thoughts about elves, about Alex, about why I needed to touch him, why I wanted to touch him, why I craved him even when Mason seemed friendlier, albeit in a pet sort of a way.
It was insanity.
Because I wanted to ~run.~
My mind told me that was really the only logical choice I had.
But my body leaned toward him, wanted him, thirsted for him. And I felt like a complete fool that I had to actually concentrate on not touching him every single time I sucked in a much-needed breath.
His golden skin pulsed before my eyes.
Like legitimately pulsed, causing a shiver of awareness to wash through me as he slowly exhaled and pulled up to a stoplight only to curse and jerk the steering wheel right and take us down an alleyway before popping out on the other side and nearly running us into a semi.
I double-checked my seat belt then gripped the door handle just to keep myself from slamming into his rock-hard body.
âImmortals have road rage too.â I nodded as I talked to myself. âGood to know.â
âI need you not to do that,â he finally broke his silence with his gruff voice.
Frowning, I glanced over at his perfect face and barely kept back a whimper as it built in my throat. âDo what? Exactly?â
âTalk,â he grit his teeth. âAt all.â
âEver?â
âNow,â he said slowly and loudly, like I was hard of hearing.
I was irritated. Hot. Angry. Scared. And heâd just asked me not to talk or ask questions. âWell, can I breathe or is that against the rules too?â
âStill talking,â he slammed his hand across the steering wheel. âAbsolute death wish.â
âI thought I only died if I left you or if you canât control yourself during sex.â I really needed to snap my trap shut. His crazy purple and gold eyes hit me like a lightning bolt before he jerked his attention back to the road and shook his head. âThatâs still talking.â
âI know butâ
âLiterally.â He whispered hoarsely. âNot figuratively. But literallyâ¦â His body pulsed faster, harder, louder, like I could hear his heart hammering inside, the blood roaring to the surface. âI will kill you if I donât calm the hell down, and every time you speak, I taste you. Again, not figuratively, literally. So if I were you, Iâd sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, because the next time you get one, itâs going to be rough.â
I felt my cheeks heat.
He meant in a car, right?
Not⦠I gulped and chanced a glance out of the corner of my eye as his breathing slowed and then, of course, because I was hallucinating, I could have sworn he finally exhaled and relaxed.
All because Iâd stopped talking.
Which was great for himâbad for me.
Because with every mile came the sinking feeling that I was headed toward my doom. And I hated, absolutely hated, that my body was on board with it.
That even now, I was on fire for him.
And felt like if I didnât touch him.
I really would die.