Pits & Poison: These Godly Lies (The Peaches and Honey Duology Book 2)

by R. Raeta

“Silas sent you?” Lips thinning, he gives a quiet scoff. Somehow it sounds more fond than irritated. “Of course he did. He knows I have a soft spot for star-crossed lovers.”

“You’re still a fool,” Khiran sneers, but it sounds more tired than sharp. “Funny, because I don’t remember you being such a coward.” “I could kill you.” “And I could kiss you,” Cassius counters, “but that would be incredibly rude being that you’re spoken for.” His eyes linger on her, bright with hopes and sharp with vengeance. “I suggest we behave ourselves, at least for dear Anna’s sake.”

At night, Khiran teaches her the art of silence—silent gasps, silent pleas for more. In the privacy of their room, they practice their own way of worship, whispering devotions against each other’s skin and finding salvation in each other’s touch.

HELLOOOOO

There is a blade hovering over his heart, ready to pry it from his ribs like a trophy, but it’s her fear that he feels, a bolt of lightning to his chest, that terrifies him. He told her to run. Why didn’t she just run?

PLEASE STOP

“This is Anna, my…” he falters, eyes meeting hers. “My person,” he says, voice soft. “My heart.” Once, Anna would have only seen the romance in such a statement. But for all the love he holds for her, the adoration lining his voice like velvet, there are flames haunting his eyes like ghosts. His heart. His weakness. Burn her to ashes and he will float away with her.

Around them, the ocean freezes—ice branching out like lightning and expanding in the cracks and crevices of the earth. Above them, the land shakes and the ocean swells. For four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, Alaska is reshaped by fissures and landslides in what will become known as the most powerful earthquake recorded in North America. Only three souls will ever know it was heartbreak that made the earth split.

“What’s this?” he asks. “A gift,” she teases, an echo from their past. “Is it magic?” He means it to be a joke, but there is a light in her eyes that robs him of his breath. In his chest, his weak, fragile heart stutters when she answers. “Yes.”