Page 100 of Grave Revelations

The smell of cheese assaulted her nostrils, and she swung toward it, following her nose into the kitchen. She halted in the doorway, mouth falling slack.

Azazel’s back was to her, a string tied in a bow peeking between a pair of massive ebony wings, and he held a large wooden spoon in one hand.

“Az?”

He turned, holding a bowl filled with mac-n-cheese out to her. “I made you something to eat.”

She accepted the bowl, staring down at small pasta shells drenched in creamy, melted cheese. “You know how to cook?”

“I can read instructions.”

His brows were dark slashes, daring her to contradict him, and Rebecca swallowed her smile. She was upset. She would not let his show of kindness derail her mission.

Moving to the counter, she opened a drawer and pulled out a spoon, pointing it at him.

“I need to talk to you,” she demanded.

He arched a brow. “Eat first.”

Rebecca huffed, stuffing her spoon into her bowl and setting it down on the tabletop. “No. First, answers.”

“You are not looking for complications in your life. I heard your thoughts,” Azazel said. “There is nothing to discuss. I’ve already said we cannot be together.”

She glowered at him, leaning against the counter. “So you keep saying, but then you do things like this for me.” She waved a hand at the bowl beside her.

“Humans cook food for one another all the time. It does not make them lovers.”

Heat crept up Rebecca’s neck. “I wasn’t talking about being lovers. Necessarily.” She cleared her throat. “I only mean, if we’re supposed to be soulmates, and you’ve vowed never to leave my side, I would appreciate it if you would stop reminding me you don’t want us… to be anything.”

Her cheeks burned. It hadn’t been what she intended to say, but theloverscomment had thrown her.

Azazel’s apron disappeared, leaving him standing in a dark V-necked shirt and jeans. He moved closer, and she leaned forward, unable to stop herself from the pull of their bond. He rested an arm on either side of her, pressing her back against the counter, and their eyes met.

“If you wish it, I will never say another word on the subject.”

She swallowed, leaning back to look up at him. “I… Just don’t say things you don’t mean.”

Light, my love for you is boundless. When I was at my darkest, you brought me the one thing I could never have imagined I’d find in my endless eternity of darkness: hope. I didn’t deserve it then, and I don’t deserve it now, but please, never doubt my feelings for you.

Rebecca sucked in sharply, realizing she’d been holding her breath. She couldn’t look away from his gaze, burning so intently she knew it would be etched into her soul forever. Her heart thrashed wildly in her chest, and that ember inside her was aching to be near him, to close the distance and press every part of her to every part of him until there was no end or beginning to either of them.

The tug between them grew more insistent, and she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck as her lips crashed against his.

He met her, tucking powerful arms under her thighs and lifting her onto the counter. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth, biting down until she tasted coppery blood.

She gasped as he drank in the liquid pooling in her mouth and, finding his top lip, bit down hard. His blood tasted sweet, like apples, and she ran her tongue over the indentation, tasting it as energy bled through her.

When his fingers flexed, squeezing her thighs, a pounding need started between her legs. She groaned as images flashed through her mind, and he pressed into her, wedging her into the cupboards behind her.

“Stop,” she breathed around his mouth.

His lips vanished, and the heated skin along her legs chilled at the absence of his touch. Some of her lust-filled mind cleared as the scent and taste of him receded.

Maybe we should move to the bedroom?Rebecca opened her eyes and searched his face.

He backed up another step, running a hand over his face, putting more space between them.That was a bad idea.

“Don’t do that,” she huffed.Don’t retreat after telling me I’m your entire world. She tried to bury the feelings of hurt and rejection simmering just under the surface, knowing this washistrauma, not hers. But they were too close to the ones she’d had all those years ago when her father and sisters had made her feel like she was worthless and unlovable.

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