Page 342 of Psycho Gods

It felt like a milestone.

The babbling brook gurgled, and in the distance, an owl hooted.

A speaker vibrated and pulsed turquoise in the grass as it played enchanted low-fi music.

The darkness was dreamy.

All six of us sat in a circle under the night sky, holding our breath with anticipation as we spun one of our empty wine bottles on the blanket.

A single scarlet flame hovered in the air above our heads and cast us all in warm shadows.

The bottle landed on John.

Scorpius grinned wickedly. “Truth or dare?”

John narrowed his eyes, then he stuck his chin in the air and said, “Dare.”

Scorpius’s wicked expression became downright evil.

“I dare you”—he enunciated each word carefully—“to seduce Arabella, right now.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Orion whispered, eyes wide with alarm as he stared at me.

Scorpius tipped one of the wine bottles to his lips, and red spilled down his tattooed throat. He licked his cherry-red lips slowly and said, “You don’t have to.” He smirked. “It was just a suggestion.”

John looked at me, and I winked.

He flashed his dimples, eyes glossy with intoxication as he crawled across the blanket toward me.

The low-fi music flowed around us.

Warm air blew on a comforting breeze.

“Hey, beautiful,” John whispered when he got close to me. He reached out and grabbed my head in both his callused hands, then he pulled our lips together.

He tasted like sandalwood and tenderness.

The man who’d held me up in a merciless ocean for hours kissed me like he was drowning and I was oxygen.

He groaned into my lips.

His kisses became fiercer, and he pushed me back so he was straddling me. Hardness rubbed against my aching core, and I lifted my hips to increase the friction.

“Who’s your best friend now?” he whispered roughly into my ear as his callused thumb stroked the delicate pulse points of my neck.

“Still Sadie,” I gasped out.

He reached under my flowy shirt and cupped my heavy breasts. I flushed all over, and he moaned gutturally as he pinched my nipples and sucked the delicate skin on my neck. He whispered, “You’re lying to yourself.”

My hips arched.

The fire in my lower stomach was like nothing I’d ever experienced before; without any pain to dampen it, I was dripping and breathless with need.

It seemed surreal that something could feel so good.

My head spun.

Stars twinkled above.