Page 32 of Death

Chapter 7

Itoss and turn on my bed, desperately trying to get comfortable. It’s too warm under the covers. It’s too cold without them. My skin continues to crawl. My thoughts don’t stop churning in my mind.

My lips keep pursing on their own.

Ari.

Every time I close my eyes, there he is. His cool confidence. His deep eyes and wicked smile.

His perfect lips. The way they moved with mine.

“Tannis…”

I hear his whisper in my ear.

“Open your eyes.”

I stare at an unfamiliar ceiling. It’s dark and old, nearly gray in color. This bed isn’t mine. It’s nearly twice as large and my sheets are white and purple. These are black as coal and smooth as silk. The only light in the room comes from a large fireplace in the far corner with flames taller than I am.

They outline his shape. A man standing at the foot of the bed. Tall and naked.

Ari?

I don’t move. The pillow hugs my head and neck perfectly. The sheets curl around my bare skin like a warm embrace.

“Where am I?” I ask, though my voice doesn’t come out.

Ari silently smiles and crawls onto the bed. I gasp at his flesh, tight and toned and... hard.

He balances over me, his legs mingling between mine. “Where you belong,” I hear him say, though his lips aren’t moving.

He hovers over me, his lips a mere inch from mine, and my entire body surges with that same shot of warmth as before.

“Where you’ve always belonged.”

I turn my head and his lips shift to my neck. I feel the wet slice of his tongue and the sharp edge of his teeth as he kisses a trail along my collarbone. He grips the sheet around my body and moves to pull it down but my reflex kicks in and I grab it before he can expose me.

“Wait,” I say, finding my voice. “Where am I?”

“Shh,”he whispers.

“No—” I jolt back. “Why did you bring me here?”

He smiles in the dark. “Oh, young Tannis,” he says. “I didn’t bring you here.”

I lurch awake and bolt upward, nearly knocking my lamp over as I spin around to flick it on. The soft light fills my bedroom, blending with early morning sunlight, and I lean forward to catch my breath.

It was just a dream.

I brush a hand along my throat, still feeling the cut of his bite on my blushing skin. My nipples are hard and my body throbs, urging me to keep touching myself but I force my hands down to my sides.

A really vivid dream.

I shake my head, trying to banish the memory of his eyes. They were so full of desire for me... and not an ounce of surprise.

Where you belong.

Where you’ve always belonged.