The Drazen World: Purgatory (Kindle Worlds Novella)

some rest.
"Let's go to your room," he quietly demanded but I stayed planted where I stood.
"No. I need to speak with Ernest. I need to tell him." Lifting my gaze to his, I channeled the old Gabby. The ever familiar mask dropped over my eyes, the fake smile opened up like a curtain of survival.
"Don't do that, Gabby. Do not hide yourself from me, it won't work." Hunter took a step back and placed his strong, long fingers on my shoulders and squeezed enough to get my attention.
"I'm not doing anything, Hunter." Lie.
"Dammit, Gabby. Don't you dare play this game with me. I know you. I've known you for a long fucking time, your walls and armors are not new to me."
I blinked, trying to understand. I knew time was of no relevance here but still. I wouldn't say we had known each other that long.
"That makes no sense, Hunter," I said, trying to push my way around him to get to the library.
"Gabby." My name was but a whisper blowing out from between his full, kissable lips. I should have been asking for answers. Any normal, sane person would have been grilling Hunter about his conversation with Samael but I didn't want to do it. There was no doubt in my mind that whatever those words entailed, it would be more destructive than anything I had endured in my living years.
For interminable seconds, we stood there in the hall staring at each other. Pain etched on his strong facial features, questions lacing my thoughts, we had a wordless conversations.
'We need to talk.'
'I don't want to know.'
'You have to listen.'
'I can't.'
"I need to go, Hunter. I have to talk to Ernest." Our eyes still locked, Hunter released my shoulders and slid his steady hands down the length of my arms until he reached my shaking fingers, squeezing them. My breath hitched at the intimate position we held, my mouth slightly parting to catch my shaky breath.
"I need to talk to you when you get back. Okay?" Hunter's words were mere breaths caressing my cheek as he leaned in and softly dragged his lips across my skin until he reached my mouth. He didn't kiss me, not in that immediate moment. Instead, he glided against my lips, teasing my flesh with barely guarded restraint. From our close proximity, I could feel every beat of his heart as though I were pressed firmly against him.
"Hunter..."
"Shhh, just feel me, Gabby. Close your eyes and feel me," he whispered.
Releasing one hand, he reached up to the nape of my neck and angled my head just enough for him to perfectly align his lips to mine. Instinctively, I opened up for him, allowing his tongue to invade me. I didn't fight him. I didn't want to. I merely let him lead the dance of seduction and allowed myself a minute of pure, adulterated adoration. Words weren't necessary when our body language spoke eloquently enough to have a perfectly discernible conversation. We told each other of our desires. We apologized for past transgressions, whatever they may have been. We spoke of futures we would never have a chance to experience. We said goodbye before our bodies had the chance to ever meet.
Our kiss tapered off to a soft ending, a rallentando eased into a diminuendo, our lips still touching lightly when I heard the clearing of a throat. Hunter groaned before he cupped my cheek in one hand while the other squeezed my fingers in reassurance, giving me one last lingering kiss.
"I'm all for a little voyeurism but that was just a little too sweet for my tastes. Hunter, let the little lady speak to Papa Smurf and we can finish our conversation," Samael stated, a smirk firmly planted on his mouth, looking pointedly at me. "In private," he added with a little wink.
"I'll see you later, Hunter." I whispered, a little wary of Samael and his plotting eyes.
Taking a step toward Samael, I stopped just inches from his perfectly put-together self and looked straight into the dark irises of his eyes.
"I can't really be sure  Samael. But I don't think I like you." Without giving him a chance to respond, I walked away, straight to the bookless library.
"I knew there was a reason I liked this one." Samael's deep laughter echoed behind me, his words sending a chill straight down my spine.
Chapter 12
"Gabrielle, it's good to see you. How is your soul-searching going?" Ernest was difficult to describe but he had this fatherly quality to him that begged equal parts respect and blinded trust.
"I think I had an epiphany…or something." I took a seat in my usual spot and looked around the familiar room. My eyes caught on another book that had not been there before. Snapping my gaze to Ernest's awaiting eyes, I asked, "Is that for me?"
"Yes, it is. Before you tell me about your revelation, I want you to read the story. It's important." We locked eyes and I saw the sincerity in his soulful regard.
"Okay," I relented, knowing it was in my best interest to have all of the facts before condemning myself to an eternity of roaring fires and sulfuric smells. Of course, I couldn't be sure that Hell would actually be what everyone claimed it to be. After all, no one had gone and come back to tell stories about it.
Standing on admittedly shaky limbs, I made my way to the far end of the bookshelf and slid an index finger on the spine of the leather binding.
I tilted my head to read the words eloquently written down the length of the book, ‘The Ties that Bind’.
"Whose book is..." When I turned to ask Ernest the question, I saw he had already disappeared. It was utterly frustrating how they all seemed to do that. Like ghosts,