Page 113 of Married to the Devil

I distract myself from the marvel of it by clearing my throat and purring. “Maybe you have a masochistic streak yourself.”

She huffs a laugh. “That’s surely true.” But she doesn’t let the joke drop, instead her eyes grow serious, and I want to stop her from saying whatever she’s going to, but I cause her enoughtrouble without being someone who attempts to silence her. “This is mine to keep. And I’m not running from it. Not with Ben either. Even when he leaves?—”

“I’ll tether him to the bed before I let him leave you.”

She arches a brow, and we both know that no matter my influence, whether he chooses to stay is ultimately not in my power.

I’m hoping there’s something else that keeps him here, but only time will tell if that scheme pans out. As we all have more moments together, the casual hope for that solution has turned into something bigger that I didn’t expect.

I don’t want him to leave.

And it frustrates me that I’ve become as drawn to him as I am to my wife. Each detail their souls display makes me want to dig deeper and take what I cannot give in return.

“Be that as it may,” she says, “I’m not going to hide my feelings or try not to feel them.”

Then she’s a braver soul than I.

37

STELLA

I sighat the feeling of fingers in my hair and blink up at Ben.

“Hi,” I say, hiding my face for a moment in my favorite pillow, embarrassed with how I cut him out earlier. I fell asleep on top of the covers of our very desecrated bed. I’d usually have napped in my workshop, but with Stoneheart’s gift of the decor and all the time we’ve spent together here, it soothes my raw heart.

“Hey.” His smile is soft. “Did you have a good nap?”

“It was okay,” I say. It would have been better cuddled with either of the men I’m intimate with, but that would be too much of a luxury. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost dinner time, but I planned something. Stoneheart is meeting us there.”

I tilt my head in curiosity. We’re going out together as the three of us? Before I can interrogate Ben, he moves on.

“I wanted to offer you something.” He hands me a blue vial with a yellowed label.

“What’s this?” I ask, even though I can read the wordsFertility Aidjust fine. Fully awake now, I sit up.

“It’s a potion. It’ll help you get pregnant outside of your natural cycle.”

“Really?” The worry and unnamed disappointment that had been keeping my stomach heavy lifts. A giddy rush has me smiling.

“You don’t have to take it,” Ben says, unaware of my reaction. “There are side effects, but the biggest one the potion master mentioned was that you may feel different…like you’re going into heat.”

My laugh is full of relief. “I think I can stand being horrendously horny to accomplish the goal.”

I’m going to get pregnant. We won’t have to wait months to try again. When I committed to trying to make an heir, I’d been shaky on the decision.

But with the days we all spent together and the promise of making something together and the reality that it might not be in the cards at all…I want this.

And now I have help to make it happen.

Ben tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. His expression is soft, and I want to wrap myself in it to keep it close.

“Thank you. If this works, you’ve saved us,” I say.

He blushes. “Of course. I told you. My job is to find solutions.”

“I’m sure you won’t mind handling me while I’m horrendously horny either,” I tease.

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