“I could tell you about the number of people who I’ve claimed on nights like these,” he says. “I could tell you that you would only slow me down if you were dead or weak. But the truth is, this is instinct, kismet. I don’t understand why, but I want to be close to you, I want to hold you when you say you are cold.”
My heart beats loudly.
He is your enemy.
He is your enemy.
He’s solemn and indifferent and he’s hurt you and now he’s kidnapped you.
Do not give in to the pretty words.
“You’re really planning on laying here, out in the cold, with your wing pulled over me the entire night just to keep me warm?” I say.
“I’m not opposed to going inside where it’s probably warmer, but yes, I … think I am.”
My heart beats madly in my chest. I thought this was intimate before, when it was purely physical. I realize now that I was using the word wrong. Because this is intimate.
“I don’t know what to make of you,” I say quietly.
“Go to sleep, Lazarus. You can analyze it in the morning.”
And I do. Somehow, I fall asleep in Death’s arms like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
I wake burrowed against a broad chest.
I snuggle deeper into the heat and solid muscle before it registers.
I’m in Death’s arms.
Literal Death.
I blink my eyes open only to find that he’s staring at me.
All at once I’m pushing away from him, trying to get out of his arms.
For an instant, his hold tightens, but then he does release me, and I roll away, brushing past the dark wing that’s still covering me.
I scramble to my feet, nearly tripping over a discarded computer monitor laying nearby.
Thanatos props himself up on an elbow. He doesn’t look like he’s in any hurry to get up, even though the plants around us have lacy frost on their edges and his breath is misting in the morning air and his muscles must be stiff from staying in the same position for so long.
Assuming, of course, that the horseman gets stiff muscles.
He probably doesn’t.
I don’t know what to think about the fact that Death himself held me through the night, so after taking a deep breath and staring at him for a long moment, I settle for turning my back on the horseman and heading back into the derelict ranch house.
Not a minute later the door creaks open behind me.
“Can’t you give me one iota of space?” I say without turning around. “Is that too much to ask?”
Thanatos’s heavy footfalls are slow, the wood creaking beneath him with each step he takes.
“Do you really want space?” he asks softly. He comes right up to my back.
“Yes,” I say, swiveling around to face him.
“So be it.”
Death grabs one of my wrists.
“Hey!” Before I can jerk away from his hold, he spins me around and grabs the other. He pulls them both behind me.
“What are you doing?” I yank against him as I speak.
Thanatos whistles over his shoulder, and I hear the distant plod of horse’s hooves.
Still holding my wrists, Thanatos steers me towards the front door, opening it wide. Outside, his horse trots up to the front of the house, tossing its dark mane. Without any prompting, the beast enters the building, coming right up to Death’s side.
I jerk against Thanatos’s hold again, but it’s useless. His grip is unyielding.
“So, are we back to being enemies?” I say.
He pulls me close. “You’re the one who keeps insisting we have never stopped being ones.”
I growl as I try to tug my wrists free. It’s useless. “Well, friends definitely don’t restrain each other.”
Death reaches into one of his horse’s saddlebags and pulls out— “Rope? You’re going to tie me up now?” I ask, outraged. As I speak, his horse plods back out of the house.
Death jerks me by my wrists so that I’m forced to lean back against his sculpted chest. “You have tied me up several times yourself,” he says, his lips brushing against my ear. Goosebumps break out across my skin. “It’s only fitting I return the favor.”
“How in the fuck does this solve the problem of you being too close?”
“It’s simple, kismet,” he says. “You’re going to stay here, tied up, where you can enjoy some space from me while I leave.”
I yank against him again. I don’t like this plan. Not one bit.
“And when I return,” he continues smoothly, “maybe you’ll be ready for my company once more.”