Page 152 of Married to the Devil

The flash of anger is instant, and I wipe the tears away. “Why would I do that? You left.”

He steps closer, and I take a step back. He looks…not as put together as he’s existed in my memory. His hair is sticking up inplaces, and there’s a smudge of dirt on his cheek. He wears a T-shirt and sweats in the place of his usual suit.

“You should’ve still told me.” he says, and the vehemence of it surprises me. “I could have been here.”

“Why?” I ask like I didn’t ache for that every night.

“Because I love you!”

“You have a shitty way of showing it,” I snap.

He winces but steps closer again, and when I retreat more, I bump into the immovable object that is Stoneheart.

“He’s been like this for a week, and I had no idea!” Ben’s voice breaks, and pain spills over his features.

It’s clear in this moment that I’m not the only one he loves. I stole his opportunity to react to the state of the gargoyle we both care for.

My shoulders drop in momentary defeat. I lose the grip I have of the blanket, and it falls, pooling around my feet, but Ben reacts before my first shiver.

He hisses in dismay and grabs me around the waist, pulling me in. I make a sound at the warmth of him, my fingers digging into his fabric-covered shoulders.

“Gods, Stella! What are you wearing? It’s freezing up here.”

“Fuck you,” I snarl, not ready to abandon my righteous anger for the sucking sensation of guilt.

Ben’s eyes darken. “Let me take care of you.”

“No,” I say, but I don’t push him away. The contact of our bodies is already sparking a heat low in my belly. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“I know, but I need you,” he whispers.

Those words. They don’t make up for the moments of loneliness and doubt, but they heal something.

My nipples press against his chest, hard and sensitive. There is no cold or stars above us. Only our mate at my back and ahelpless anger in my chest even as my body comes to life under his touch.

“You abandoned us.” The tears I wiped away return with a vengeance.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he breathes against my lips.

I rear back, but the solid form of Stoneheart leaves no room for me to escape what my heart is clamoring for. Almost as if he’s really here with us, guiding back together again. Our bodies and souls are like magnets. The impending crash of slow heavenly bodies. I’m caught in his soulful gaze.

Ben’s grip on my waist tightens, and mutual momentum draws us in. This time when his face presses near mine, I tremble, panting against his mouth, needy for this connection even as I still suffer from the wound he dealt.

“I was wrong. Let me make things right,” he says, as enraptured with me as I am with him.

His kiss is warm against my cold lips. All at once, the frustration rises and breaks. He abandoned me, but I forgave Stoneheart of the same crime.

I refuse to hold my hurts close to my chest until they poison everything. I reacted all my life to being cast aside upon birth. I won’t let the fear of rejection steal this demon from me.

I won’t be left alone with my memories and forget-me-nots again.

I wrap my legs around him, and he grinds his arousal into the cradle of my thighs. I make a helpless sound. The fabric of his sweats pressing against where I’m bare. I’m not wearing anything under the sleeping dress.

“Ben,” I beg.

“Let me warm you up,” he growls.

I make an impatient sound. I need him as reckless for this as I am. I claw my fingers into his hair, kissing him like I can keephim from disappearing on me again just by force. I almost sob at the acute need. My hunger is so sharp I taste blood and gasp.

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