Chapter 84

CLAUDIA. I didn’t know what came over me when I kissed Achilles and told him I wanted him, but now that he’s in front of me, I know very clearly: need. Plain and simple. Need to be close to him, to be vulnerable without consequences, to love and be loved back. Announcing another prophecy, an ominous one at that, made me feel so far away from the world. Far away from him. It feels like so many bad things await us, and perhaps it’s selfish but I want just a little piece of heaven before I face anything again. Achilles looks into my eyes again as though asking permission for the last time, and I know that I will die if I don’t feel more of him. I push my hips against him, reveling at the groan that escapes his lips. Then, his hands start to move to the buttons of my dress, carefully unlatching them and letting his knuckles graze my skin. I swallow hard, the sensation from that alone making my blood burn. He bares all of me to him, his eyes roaming hungrily over my body as he gets rid