Page 41 of The Fate of Black Hearts

It shouldn’t matter. But it did.

“Can someone explain to me what just happened?” Efrem picked at the dried blood on his face where several cuts had once been.

Evie walked to the closest leather seat with the grace of a snowflake on a light breeze. She removed her jacket and crossed her legs. Her gaze slowly roamed down Dom’s body, and she nibbled on her lower lip. Her nipples pressed against the tight black shirt. Color suffused her cheeks.

Don’t look into her head. Don’t do it.

She blasted him with an image of him with his face between her legs.

Fire roared down Dom’s spine to his balls. Hefought the urge to take her to his house, or even the in-between, somewhere he could show her what non-abusive sex was supposed to be like. He wanted to give her pleasure until she screamed his name so many times that she was hoarse.

He squeezed his hand around the cilice on his thigh. It didn’t help.Why the fuck do I even wear this thing?

Too many ripples in the Source.

He rubbed his right eyebrow, which didn’t ease his headache. The pain could be from denying the magnetism between them or from the energy expense over the past hour. He’d used too much power to hop places with others in tow. Several jumps within a few hours could drain him for days, but he pushed himself to continue to mask his presence from Efrem.

“You truly have no idea how to free them?” she asked him.

“Free who?” Efrem held up his hands. “What happened out there?”

Dom shook his head. “It’s a type of old magic no one alive understands.”

“Who said that?” Efrem spun around.

“If no one understands it, how did it get into the hands of humans? How did they know that witch could activate it?”

“I don’t know. You need to take off right now before they close the airport.”

Dom mouthed,Goodbye.

Her thought shoved itself loudly into his head,“I want you to kiss me like you mean it one day. The more I think about it, the more I want to know what it feels like.”

He backed into the in-between realm to do one final jump. Once he landed at his place in Spain, he stumbled to the shower he’d had installed a few years ago. Cold water ran over his body for long minutes. It did nothing to quiet the heat rushing through his veins.

All he could see was Evie looking at him with wide, vulnerable eyes.I want you to kiss me like you mean it.

“I’ll never hurt you,” he said out loud. “I won’t allow anyone else to hurt you either.” If she knew the power she had over him, it’d be disastrous. His hands shook as he removed the cilice.

With it gone, dark desire cut a deep path inside him. He let it grip and torture him until its sting became too much. At that moment, he took his shaft in his hand and pumped hard until he released. Still, he wasn’t at ease.

He pounded a fist against the tiled wall. This longing to be allowed the freedom to worship her body with everything deep in his soul was forbidden. She would be his doom. If she was the mother of his prophesied child, they could trigger devastation and awful destruction in the world. He would never allow that to happen.

He pounded the tile again and howled.

To punish himself, he stood outside the shower and let the cold seep into his body. By then, he was dry. He replaced the cilice and cinched it tight. Tomorrow, he’d soak the links in more potion. For tonight, they’d hold.

He needed rest. He was scheduled for a shift as an emergency room doctor in Vienna in twelve hours.He did one shift every few weeks. At the suggestion of the Fates, he’d attended medical school a few years ago and earned a legitimate degree. The straightforward healing of injured humans helped him understand humanity and why he needed to preserve them. Through it, he learned how to be around women and have no interest in sex. It wasn’t hard. The only one who consumed him was Evie.

Exhausted, he fell onto his bed and into immediate, deep sleep.

Sometime later he woke to the sound of bells. He didn’t have a doorbell.

The bells continued from the front door.

How long had he been out?

After a shuffle to the front door, he yanked it open.