Page 14 of The Silver Pact
I shake my head. “No.”
“Why?”
“The song makes her sound bad, but there isn’t a single line about what’s going on in her life, why she chose the man she did. We only see his side of it. I mean, it literally says he was idealistically searching for his perfect woman. Maybe she wasn’t searching for perfection, maybe she was looking for safety.” I snap my mouth shut, furious that I just divulged so much information.
Ross stops playing. “What were you searching for, Silver?”
I stand up and pace away from him. “Nothing. I was…nothing.”
“Silver-”
“Play the song about lost chances. It’s about your scent match, isn’t it?”
Ross’ lips turn down. He obediently plays the song. I turn away, looking out into the garden, feeling a desperate need to run but knowing there’s nowhere I can go. The walls have crumbled, and it’s me and my demise ahead of me. I know my future. I’ll die alone on the street.
This song. I asked him to play it to remind me that the bond on my wrist is nothing. It means nothing.
The song concludes with the woman choosing a life that made her miserable. I choke on a sob. Did I choose the life that made me miserable? I was trying to choose safety.
“They died, you know,” I throw at him. “My scent matches, long before I ever met them. They all died. I’m cursed.”
Ross puts down his guitar and steps towards me. I step back and start to sing. My voice comes out husky and low. It’s been a long time.
I sing their song about their scent matches, but I change it so that I’m singing about mine. By the time I’m finished and the last note dies in the air, Ross is staring at me like I’m his salvation. He’s missed the point of what I was doing.
“You don’t understand, Ross. There is no happiness for us. We’ll always miss what isn’t here. No one will ever be enough. We’ll be alone until we die.”
Arms grab me from behind and hold me to a warm, hard body.
“That’s not true, Silver. We can be happy without scent matches. We can be happy if we work at it.”
West leans his nose down and inhales my scent. “Fairy floss. I’ve always loved fairy floss.”
I hold still as he opens his mouth and sucks hard on the side of my neck. It’s so hard not to melt. My back arches, and a low moan escapes me. This is crazy! I should stop him. This isn’t right, it’s just making it harder.
“Wait, what are you doing?” I try to protest, but it comes out weak and breathy.
“She didn’t smell the way you do. She didn’t smell enticing or right. Silver, maybe the universe got it wrong,” Ross purrs out, stepping into me, so I’m sandwiched between the two men.
I stare up at Ross while West kisses his way up to my ear.
“You sing like a siren,” West hisses. “I’m captivated by you, always by you.”
I’m stunned. I’m so shocked it hasn’t even occurred to me to stop them. Ross drags his hands up my hips, up my sides, and up the outside of my arms until he gets to my shoulders and squeezes.
“Sing with me,” Ross says softly, his breath wafting against my lips.
He sings a new song. A song I haven’t heard before. I listen intently, and by the time he’s run through the chorus, I've got it. I start to sing.
The two of them move closer, locking me in between them.
The song is about a ghost who keeps disappearing and appearing only when things are dire. It’s about a pack who is in love with the ghost and chases her only to lose her every time.
I stare up at Ross while he finishes the song.
He reaches up and cups my cheeks. “Stop running, my gorgeous ghost.”
I open my mouth, but his lips press lightly to mine, stopping the words from escaping. I’m so stunned I just stand there. But then his tongue swipes a hot, wet path across my bottom lip, and I groan and open for him.