Page 52 of The Broken Prince

“No—because I rescued myself.”

He started to turn away.

My fingers forced him back to me. “It’s hard to look at these scars in the mirror, to see my beautiful skin destroyed by fire that still burns my flesh. But it’s much harder to watch your husband avoid you, avoid your stare, pretend you don’t exist…when you need his love more than ever.”

He closed his eyes in shame.

“I need you to accept the way I look. I need you to look at me the way you used to, like any time we’re in the room together, you can’t keep your eyes off me. If I didn’t have these scars, you would have taken me to bed the second you came home. But now…it’s like you don’t want me anymore.”

His eyes remained closed. “You know that’s not how I feel—”

“But that’s how it seems. That monster destroyed my flesh…but don’t let him destroy us.”

When he opened his eyes, it was accompanied by a heavy breath. “Nothing could ever destroy us, baby. It’s just hard to look at the injuries I failed to prevent. You don’t understand how sick it makes me to know that someone did this to you…that someone hurt my wife.”

My hand squeezed his. “I know.”

His fingers squeezed mine back before he brought my palm to his lips and kissed it.

“Now make love to me.” I missed the way he made me feel desirable, like women half my age still couldn’t compete with me, the way he expressed his love with his touches and kisses. I’d feared he wouldn’t return to me when he left for HeartHolme, and I’d nearly died in his absence, so all I wanted to do was unite our bodies and let our souls touch.

He stared into my eyes for a while, searching for the strength to carry on from the heaviness of this conversation, from the reality of our war-torn lives. In times of peace, our lives felt like a fairy tale, but now they felt like a nightmare.

He brought his forehead to mine and moved his big fingers into my hair, the heat from his body like the surface of the sun. His nose rubbed against mine before he kissed me, a gentle touch between our lips, but it was enough to make my stomach warm. He turned his head and kissed me again, and once our mouths felt each other, everything else fell into place. He gripped me like he didn’t want to let go. He breathed into my mouth with desperation. He desired me the way I wanted to be desired.

He laid me back on the bed as he continued to kiss me, his hand yanking up my dress so his fingers could slide into my panties. His fingers found my nub and rubbed it hard as his tongue slipped into my mouth. Then he inserted his fingers, feeling the wetness that he caused.

His mouth left mine, and he stood upright, dropping his boxers to show his raging hard dick. Possession burned in his eyes, his jawline tense from the way he clenched his mouth. He grabbed my hips and yanked me down to the edge before he pulled my underwear over my ass and dropped them to the floor. Then his big hands scooped me up, and he moved inside me, invading me slowly, coated by my arousal.

I moaned when I felt him, when I felt the reunion I’d wanted since the moment he was home. My hands gripped his wrists as he held me at the edge of the bed, my body stuffed with his thickness.

Then he thrust into me over and over, eyes locked firmly on my face, taking me like there was no other woman in the world he wanted more than me.

SIXTEEN

AURELIAS

I felt her mind before she reached the front door.

It had its own signature, its own color, its own power. I could recognize it in a crowded room full of angry people. It pressed against my mind in a distinct way, like the warmth of the sun…when I used to enjoy it.

Then she knocked.

I was on the couch in front of the fire, using it for light in the dark living room. I’d cleared out all the personal belongings of the previous owner when I first moved in, put everything in the basement along with his dead body. It didn’t make the house feel more like a home—just empty.

In my boxers, I walked to the front door and let her inside.

The second her eyes were on me, there was a flush of emotion, like a flash of lightning across the sky, striking the earth and setting the surface on fire. White-hot and burning, her flames exuded from her presence in an infinite diameter. It was more than just desire, rather profound longing. It was hard to believe a woman so fucking perfect could desire me so deeply, a man who thrived on human blood, a man haunted by endless demons.

If only she could feel the way I desired her.

She said nothing as she stared at me, like she expected me to speak first or forgot what she was going to say. “How did it go with my father?” She entered the cottage, not wearing her uniform and armor this time. She was in a short-sleeved dress, her dark hair long down her back.

I shut the door and followed her to the living room. “We’re on good terms now.”

“What was said?” She grabbed my glass of scotch from the coffee table and took a drink.

“That’s between him and me.”

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