Page 114 of Viper

“They wouldn’t. Not even to ensure my death. They use this realm in various ways, such as dumping angels here and forcing them to earn their halo. If demons learned what could become of a fallen archangel, they’d come for me. But what else would they do?”

“Kill the rest of the Fallen, as well as any non-Fallen angels, in case there’s other stuff they don’t know about your kind.”

He nodded. “Demons outnumber celestials here in this realm, so we’d be wiped out fast and hard unless those in the upper realm sent backup, and I’m not sure they would. They know there’d be no real winners if a war broke out between the light and the dark. But if they let us be slaughtered, demons would then essentially own this realm. There’d be no angelic presence here. The Uppers will never want that.”

Viper badly wanted to haul her close, kiss her, hold tight to her. But his baby was so overwhelmed and off-balance that he knew she needed personal space right now.

She’d handled things far better than he ever could have hoped. She was still here, no distrust or misgivings in her expression. She wasn’t looking at him any differently than she had before. But yes, she was definitely overwhelmed. “I’ve given you a whole lot to think about, haven’t I?”

“My synapses feel fried.” She eyed him curiously. “You could have just taken the memory of the note from my head, couldn’t you? You could have delayed having to tell me all this—I would never have known any different.”

“I couldn’t do something like that to you. It would make me no better than the last fuckers who meddled with your memories.” He could be a cruel bastard. He’d own that. But he’d never direct such cruelty at her.

Even his entity, sadistic shit though it was, would never wish to betray or hurt her. And despite that it was an incredibly selfish being, it wasn’t urging Viper to disregard her current emotional state and push her to give them all they wanted from her. It was prepared to give her some time and breathing room if it was what she needed.

As such, it didn’t cast him annoyed looks when he took a step back. She, however, narrowed her eyes at his retreat.

“Why are you backing away?” she demanded.

He shrugged. “Figured you might want some space to process.”

“Well, you figured wrong. And you were wrong about something else, too.” She flushed, turning all awkward and fidgety. “I didn’t realize it until now, if I’m honest.” She shifted from foot to foot, avoiding his gaze. “You’re not the only one who’s riddled with soppy emotions.”

Viper felt his mouth curve, warmth blooming in his chest and spreading through his system. “Is that your way of telling me you love me?”

She cleared her throat. “Kinda.”

He hooked an arm around her neck and drew her closer. “You always did struggle to say it,” he said, his lips moving against her forehead. “As if it would somehow jinx everything.”

“Yeah, I saw that in the memories you showed me,” she mumbled.

He kissed her temple. “As I said before, I won’t push you to let me claim you here and now. I don’t want your mind whirling when I do it. I don’t want your thoughts preoccupied with other things. I want you with me one-hundred percent, completely certain it’s what you want. But don’t make me wait too long, Ella.”

“Or?” she asked.

The word was a tease. Pure playfulness. Still, his entity rose up and took over, saying, “Or I’ll take the matter into my own hands. You’re mine as well as his. Neither of us are going to let you go.”

Her eyes bled to black as her demon came to the fore. “If she wants to leave, she will leave,” it told the entity, haughty.

“But she doesn’t,” it stated, “and neither do you.”

Her demon gave a prim little sniff and then subsided.

Ella blinked as her eyes returned to normal. “They don’t seem to get along all that well.”

“It’s their version of foreplay.”

She twisted her mouth. “That claiming thing you mentioned—”

“We’re not gonna talk about it anymore today. I just piled a fuck of a lot on you. Some of it was heavy shit. I want to give you time to let everything fully settle up here,” he added, gently tapping her temple. “From the beginning, I’ve pushed and pushed to get what I want from you. I don’t want to push when it comes to something as serious as binding you to me. It’s not as if I’m asking for a little thing here. I want you to be sure you’re ready for it.”

Ella narrowed her eyes, her gut stirring. “It’s not just that, is it? As you said, you’ve pushed from the start. It’s been you who made every advance; you who nudged us into a relationship. You need for me to do my own pushing.”

His brow creased as he weaved his fingers through her hair. “You’ll never need to push me to claim you, baby—I’m all for that. I came to this realm for that reason. But yeah, I’d like to feel that we’re reaching for each other; not that it’s me leading this dance.” He framed her face with his hands. “We’ll put a pin in all that for now. Come for a ride with me.”

Her lips tipped up. “Okay.”

He pressed his forehead to hers. “Will you wear it?”

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