Anathema

“For those who feel lost in a dark and pathless wood. Believe in the magic beyond the trees.”

“I want you. I want you so desperately that I’d kill anything with a pulse just to have you for one night. This insatiable craving I feel …” A muscle in his jaw twitched with the tension in his words and he squeezed my hand. “I can’t fucking breathe. I ache for you, Maevyth. Believe me when I say this.” But he didn’t bother to say why he hesitated.”

“Emotions I was forced to keep hidden for fear of looking possessed by evil, as girls were often perceived when they felt too much.”

“I find it interesting that any time a girl is unusual, or dare I say, unique, she’s deemed evil, or cursed.”

“Hands gripped my face as he held me imprisoned in that breathless moment, then pressed his forehead to mine. “I’ll never know what in seven hells inspired the universe to send you to me, Maevyth.” “Some might call it a punishment,” I said, smiling. “If this is punishment, then I welcome an eternity of suffering.” The kiss that followed was gentle and teasing in the way he merely brushed his lips across mine. “You consume me entirely, little moon witch.”

“A growl rumbled from his chest. “Because I’m a jealous cunt who refuses to entertain thoughts of you lying next to another man. Is that explanation enough?”

“I wouldn’t consider reading books in solitary the worst scenario.”

“I’d learned at too early an age that the sound of a girl’s scream drew nothing more than apathy.”

“Everything is poison with the proper dose. Even you.”

“How tragic that a woman’s worth equated to the depth of a man’s pockets.”

“Beg all you like.” He let out a sardonic chuckle. “I’d quite like to see you on your knees.”

“No. You pray to a god that doesn’t listen, and you’re shocked when he doesn’t come to save you.”

“You’re thinking about feeding me to the fyredrakes again, aren’t you? Perhaps I should meet these terrible beasts, so I can truly appreciate your threat without rolling my eyes.”

“You are mine, moon witch. For all eternity and whatever lies beyond it. No soul has ever been more intricately woven into mine than yours.”

“Do I still annoy you?” she asked. “Endlessly.”

“What in the gods’ shriveled balls is this?”

“Your heart must be the smallest organ you possess.” “And your mouth must be the largest.” Oooh, what I wouldn’t have given to smack him across the face!”

“My, my, Maevyth. You are a naughty girl,” she said with an edge of amusement.”

“nothing invokes fear quite like the peculiar.”

“He groaned. “Must you always prod for an explanation?” “Yes. I like to have clarity of thought. Why are you so hesitant to say?”

“Nothing mattered in this place where death loomed beyond the walls. We were sketching an illusion of normalcy in a world too dark to imagine. A place that longed to devour us. Here, in this little hovel, with our bodies entwined and our hearts beating in sync, we transcended death, existing on our own plane.”

“Goodnight.” “Goodnight, Lunamiszka.” “Do I still annoy you?” she asked. “Endlessly.”

“Having committed the glyph to memory, I returned to my original spot across from him, and it was from there that I happened to glance downward, catching sight of the massive bulge in his leathers. Dear god.”

“The men of our parish believed the birds to be an omen of death. They believed the same of me, too, so maybe I shared a kinship with the foreboding creatures. It was said that, on the day I’d been found near these woods, ravens had flocked around my basket. I liked to think they were guarding me, but some thought it a sign. A terrible sign. The whole parish had branded me as cursed ever since. The lorn.”

“You’re peculiar, is all, Maevyth. And nothing invokes fear quite like the peculiar.”

“Well, that was about as fun as stroking my cock with a gauntlet.”

“What a terrible burden to watch something die.”

“find it interesting that any time a girl is unusual, or dare I say, unique, she’s deemed evil, or cursed.”

“You are a fucking torment, Lunamiszka,” he said through clenched teeth,”

“swear, if she were to get a good fucking, just once, she’d be a whole new person.”