Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) Grayson Sinclair (book recommendations website .TXT) 📖

and placed it on her waist. Her skin was as soft as it looked, but pressing in, more unusual material resided just beneath.

Without thinking, I traversed across her waist and stomach, marveling at the softness of her skin and the hardness as I pressed deeper. She tensed each time I touched her, growing more and more heated. Eris moaned and dug her fingertips into my chest, the pain bringing me back into the moment.

She pushed her hips deep into my groin, feeling my burgeoning hardness and grinning down at me. In a flash, Eris removed her shirt; It fell off the bed, and Eris stood nude before my eyes.

Her skin was perfect—not a single scar, or hair for that matter. Barring the hair on her head and her eyebrows and eyelashes, she was completely hairless.

Her breasts drew my gaze. They were small, yet firm and perky, her light brown nipples were fully erect as she watched me. “Do you like them?” she asked. For the first time, there was uncertainty in her voice. “I know they’re small an—”

“They’re perfect,” I assured her.

Her face lit up. She smiled her thanks and took one of my hands to cup her breast. Heat radiated from her as her flesh yielded under my fingers, bringing the beat of her heart into my palm. I was tempted by her beauty and lustful eyes, but I stopped myself and pulled away.

“Not tonight,” I said with a shake of my head.

“Why not? Isn’t it normal for humans to mate after they bond?”

“Normal, yes. Though this is anything but, and I’m not comfortable sleeping with someone I’ve just met.”

Eris sighed with disappointment but nodded and slid off me to rest beside me. “Maybe that’s best. For entomancers sharing blood, is much more personal than mere sex, but that’s not true for humans. I understand your hesitation, but it’ll happen eventually, so I can be patient.”

I chuckled. “You seem certain of that.”

“You are my bonded. We are drawn to one another, until eternity, and even though you did it to help me, I don’t want this to be solely for the sake of convenience. I want...” she said but trailed off.

“Want what?”

She shook her head, coming to lay her head on my chest. “Doesn’t matter, it’s not important.”

Eris quieted after that, and I settled down to get some rest. I slept for what felt like seconds before I awoke again.

What was that?

Something had awoken me and set my skin on pins and needles. I scanned the room for intruders, but there was no one in the room besides Eris and myself. Turning to check on her, I found her awake and staring at me.

Eris opened her mouth to speak, but the voice that rose from her lips wasn’t the voice of Eris. It was lifeless and robotic as if something were speaking through her.

“Human. Durandahl. You who have cast aside your identity, I name you once more. Sampson Acre.”

My blood froze in my veins, and my head ached as if it were about to burst. I went to speak, but my voice caught, and I choked. “H-how do you know that name? Who are you?”

“I am the beginning and the end. The serpent which devours itself.”

“I don’t know what that means!”

“Irrelevant and inconsequential. My time is short. I must do what I came here to. You have interwoven yourself into events much greater than yourself. It couldn’t be helped, but you will not survive as you are now.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

She didn’t respond immediately, shifting to sit up and stare around the room before looking back at me. “You were not the intended choice, but you met the qualifications, and she has chosen you. My influence is limited now.”

Hold up! Is this who’s been manipulating me?

Not-Eris nodded at my unvoiced thoughts. Giving me conformation. “Yes, when chosen, I could not interfere, and you were unwilling to cooperate. My actions were necessary.”

Before I knew it, I was in her face, my finger jammed in between her chest as my face burned with anger. “So, you’re who’s been fucking with my emotions, making me feel this way?”

“Incorrect,” she said with a shake of her head. “Once perhaps, but no longer. I lack the power to influence your emotions. I can only push you along the desired path, but I cannot affect your mental state.”

I had so many more questions, my head pounded with agony, but she held a finger up to my lips, silencing me. “My time is up. I would apologize for this and ask a favor. Do not hold this vessel accountable for her actions. She knows not what she does.”

With those words, Not-Eris slumped over, and the otherworldly presence faded. “Eris?” I asked.

Her head bolted up at the sound. She stared at me, but she wasn’t looking at me. It wasn’t the same force that had taken her a second ago, but she still wasn’t herself.

“You belong to me,” Eris spoke with a tone that commanded obedience, the tone of a monarch, and I could not go against her. Her words echoed in my very soul. The shard of ice within my chest bellowed in rage and wrapped its frozen fingers around me, refusing to relinquish its control.

Eris opened her mouth wide, far too wide. Her canines had elongated again and dripped a vile emerald liquid. Out of her mouth spilled green smoke and scents of the forest, so quick that I couldn’t stop her, she latched onto my neck, sinking her teeth into my flesh.

Pain the likes of which I’d never experienced floored me. Oh, by the nine kings of Hell, it hurts. Like my veins were being pumped full of powdered glass, it shredded through every inch of me. For an eternity I suffered, the agony so intense