He slapped a hand over my mouth, cutting me off again. “I’m not going to thank you,” he whispered.
I clamped down on his skin with my teeth, biting harder than I intended due to the fear sinking through my body. The hint of a metallic taste lit upon my tongue, and he grunted, pulling his hand free and replacing it with his mouth. I was too shocked to react at first, but then his tongue slid along the seam of my lower lip, licking at the trace of blood that lingered, and I reacted on instinct. I pulled his tongue into my mouth, closing my lips around it… as though it might keep him tethered to me. His chest rumbled and his hands clamped down on my hips, dragging me further up the wall as his lips slanted over mine roughly. He licked into my mouth and managed to draw my tongue into the kiss, persuading me to react to him in ways I hadn’t been prepared for. I tried to climb higher, wanting to be closer, and he grabbed my thighs, forcing my legs around his waist.
There was an inferno inside my chest, threatening to consume me if I didn’t break away and gulp for air, but I couldn’t. I could only press myself to him and lock my legs tighter, dragging his hips to mine as he growled into my mouth. I could feel everything when he pressed between my legs, and spots of light flashed over my closed lids as liquid heat dripped through me.
Silas suddenly tore his mouth away, tilting his chest backwards as he stared at me in shock. Valcrick was spluttering all over the room, slipping though the particles of air in tiny, wriggling little sparks.
“I have to go,” he muttered, setting me on my feet and striding for the door.
I ran after him, catching his arm. He halted, but didn’t make a move to face me.
“Where are you going?” I eventually asked.
“I have to dispel some tension,” he replied. His tone was quiet and sharp again, ripping a hole through me.
“You can’t hurt anyone else.” I left it hanging in the air that I knew about Gerald, but didn’t bring it up explicitly. “And you can’t see her. Hunter. I won’t let you.”
“What are you going to do about it?” he prodded, spinning around to face me again.
I bit into my lip, allowing my eyes to slide to the door. “Use me instead. Like last time. I could find some cards or…”
“That won’t work this time.” He sounded almost sad, and I realised that it wasn’t sadness for himself. It was pity. He pitied me.
“I can help,” I insisted, my fingers biting tightly into his arm.
He glanced down at the grip and then un-pried my fingers slowly, one by one. He stared down at me in consideration for so long that I started to shuffle from one foot to another, before he walked away from me and stopped beside a desk set against the wall. He looked at me expectantly until I trailed after him. He grabbed my hands when I reached him and pulled my arms behind my back. He planted a hand at the base of my spine as he kicked between my feet, simultaneously widening my stance and catching me before the movement sent me tumbling. He pulled away once I had regained my footing and stood back to look at me, passing his dark eyes over the rumpled sweater that had slipped down over one of my shoulders, and the knee socks that were hanging unevenly on my legs. He paused a moment on the socks, tilting his head, and then he drew close again, coaxing my head to the side.
His teeth dug into my neck without warning, biting hard enough to draw a gasp from me.
“Should I go?” he murmured, once he had softened his bite.
I felt that I knew what he was doing, even though a large part of my brain was suddenly confused. He had invested a lot into convincing the both of us that he was unstable, unhealthy… but I never listened.
Silently, I shook my head, and he pulled down the neckline of my sweater, dangerously close to baring one of my breasts. He lowered his head and seemed to simply breathe against the surface of my skin for a moment, before his teeth were clamping down on me again. Perhaps it was his proximity to my breast, but the gasp that left my throat this time wasn’t one of shock. He bit again, harder this time, and his hand slipped further into my sweater, moulding to the underside of my bra.
“Should I go?” he asked again.
He was testing me.
“N-no,” I whispered.
“You have a toxic habit of putting yourself in harm’s way, Seraph.” He whispered the words, his breath falling over the recent bite mark in a way that drew a whimpering sound from me.