Page 163 of The Devil's Fire

“My love?”

I nodded.

“I like it.” I admitted. She never called me anything besides my name. Even though I loved whenever she called my name, there was something about it when she called me that in her tongue.

“I can do that.” She smiled. I pulled her into me and kissed her softly as she smiled against my lips.

There was a gentle knock on the door, and Althaia quickly grabbed the small blanket from her desk chair, wrapping it around herself to hide the red marks.

She closed the door, her eyes catching the frown on my face. Her mother was someone I needed to discover who she truly was. I didn’t believe for a moment that she had entirely abandoned her former life. She possessed too much knowledge to be out of the world.

“You know, you have to at least try to get along with my mom.” Althaia urged again with a small smile.

“What did she want?” I didn’t bother hiding my dislike toward her mother.

“Just asking if you were going to spend the night, which I’m assuming you are?”

“I’m not going to leave you here alone.” My frown deepened. The last time they were alone, I found her crying.

“You know I’m not alone.”

“I don’t trust her.” I told her. Part of me wanted to tell her why, so she would understand, but that would only distress her and possibly make her sick again.

I had to be mindful of the impact my words could have on her and our baby. She didn’t need the extra stress, especially with everything she was already going through.

“So stubborn…” Althaia muttered under her breath but then looked at me with a hesitant expression. “Earlier, my mom said something that made you…angry.”

“Let’s go to bed. You’re tired.” I rose to my feet to undress, ignoring what she was trying to ask.

“What was it about?” Althaia asked. I turned my back to her, closing my eyes for a second.

“It was nothing.” I dismissed her, but knowing how strong her curiosity was, she wouldn’t let it go before she got an answer.

“It didn’t seem like nothing when you reacted like that -”

“Althaia, drop it!” I snapped.

I briefly closed my eyes to calm down before I faced her. Shock was written on her face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice.” I stepped closer to her, but she backed away from me. Althaia avoided making eye contact with me as she silently made her way to the bed and slipped under the blanket.

“Don’t be like that.” I sighed.

“I’m not being anything. I’m tired and I want to sleep.” She turned off the bedside lamp and turned her back to me, lying as close to the edge as she could.

I clenched my fists, pissed at myself for reacting like that and making her upset. I couldn’t tell her about it. I wasn’t ready to share that part of my life with her yet. Not when it still made my blood boil.

I slipped into bed with her. Althaia still had her back turned to me, which was unlike her. She liked to sleep in the middle of the bed, and preferably in my arms. But she was letting me know she was pissed at me.

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer to me. She tried to move away, but it only made me tighten my hold on her.

“I’m sorry. Just let me hold you tonight.” I whispered to her. She was about to move away again but decided against it and finally relaxed against me.

“Goodnight, my love.” I kissed her bare shoulder as I caressed her body, knowing it would make her fall asleep faster.

I knew she deserved to know so much more, but right now, I couldn’t get myself to let her know about that part of my life.

Not yet.

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