Free Finite by Viola Grace Page B

heart. She had the peculiar idea that it was a literal offering.
    She reached up and touched the words, and a sharp edge cut her finger.
    Wake me with blood.
    Cera whirled and looked around. There was no one in the room with her, but she had definitely heard a voice. She put her cut finger in her mouth and walked away from the wall, heading to the tallest statue.
    The features were generically masculine. Nothing fancy, nothing special, just male. Muscles, bone, tendons, nothing stood out as spectacular even though the pose was designed to call attention to masculinity.
    She walked down the hall and looked at the face of each statue before letting her gaze wander lower. Several statues were nude and aroused, but something about them didn’t sit well with her.
    “Not you. Too hairy for something made of stone. Too long, not long enough.” She spoke out loud, quite confident that she was completely alone aside from the strange voice in her mind.
    A shadow cloaked a figure, and as she approached, that strange light cascaded over it. Her heart stuttered in her chest. She wanted to reach out and touch the face hewn in stone, but she curled her fingers into fists at her sides.
    Pointed ears, lazy cascades of long hair, he was an image of the Admaryn warrior Cethnu, and she had had a crush on that face since she had first seen the file. The features were beautiful to the point of elegance, and she held her breath as she watched the stone figure as he sat quietly, waiting throughout eternity.
    Wake me with lust.
    The voice jerked her out of her hormonal stupor and she ran away from the statue as fast as she could. Her heart was pounding and her skin felt too hot, but she came to a halt next to a bier with a slumbering giant on it.
    She sat on the floor and tried to calm herself. Two of the criteria had already been met. Love was not something she was going to allow herself. Was she?
     
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    She was tired, but there was nowhere to lie but on the floor. Cera looked up at the sleeping giant on the bier and shrugged. There was enough room next to him to curl up, and his arm was far enough from his body to hold her in place.
    Cera wedged herself in place and put one hand on the stone chest. She looked around before she closed her eyes and a tear slid down one cheek.
    Wake me with tears.
    “Okay, cut that out!” She scowled and wiped her cheek. There was a sensation of amusement in the air.
    She returned to her nap and focussed on sleeping. If the men who brought her here thought she was going to give this room her love, they were mistaken.
    The stone under her cheek was surprisingly warm, and it helped her get some much-needed rest.
     
    Time didn’t exist in this place. The light was always the same unless the weird beam was in action. She sat on the giant’s bier and played tick-tack-toe with herself and some pebbles she had found against one wall.
    She was hungry, thirsty and still tired, but as long as she could keep herself entertained, she would be fine. She hoped.
    The image of the giant was interesting. His face had been sculpted to appear as if a drape was over his head, leaving only his lips and jawline exposed. Those lips were very tempting.
    She looked left and right, the smacked herself in the face. “What am I thinking?”
    She had honestly been considering pressing her lips to that perfectly chiselled stone mouth.
    The sting from her slap kept her concentrating on her game for a minute until her gaze strayed over to those lips once again.
    There wasn’t anyone watching, so she crept over and stroked the lips with one finger.
    Wake me with love.
    “Whoa! Hold it. I didn’t wake anyone with love. Love was never mentioned. I am quite sure that love was not a factor.”
    The silent laughter ran through the room once again. Hold me close, and give me your heart.
    “Wait, I know I didn’t do that. I mean, all I did was sleep on this…oh damn.”
    A beam of light struck and swirled