Page 83 of Wickedly Yours

Terrifying parts and all. The demon parts of him should have scared me, but he was beautiful. Like my dark angel. He’d done nothing but show me, over and over, that he would keep me safe. That he would protect me.

I swept my eyes over Zain’s face, taking in his sleeping features. His chest rose and fell steadily. And maybe that was why, for the first time, I reached out. Let my walls down, my mind unguarded.

And I cupped his cheek. Pushed forward with my magic.

Golden eyes. Dark hair. Wings.A little boy that looked just like Zain. A little girl that looked just like me.Lavender eyes. Laughter.There was happiness. Sadness, too. But that didn’t all have to be bad.

A future.Ours,if it came to pass.I practically cried at the thought. I’d been seeing our future all along, and I had shut myself off from the idea.

“You’re awake.” He blinked up at me, reaching out a hand to brush through my hair. Zain frowned, as if taking in my face. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, trying to force the tears away. “They’re good tears.”

His thumb swiped underneath my eyes, catching the unshed emotion. “Are you sure? Last night wasn’t…”

“It was perfect,” I answered, feeling the truth of my statement with every part of my being.

Zain kissed my neck. “Do you want breakfast?”

I didn’t know if it was the wine, but we’d been unable to keep our hands off of each other since yesterday. I wasn’t sure how we’d gotten any sleep at all. Every time we’d finished, it had only taken a few moments before we were both all over each other again.

I was ravenous. Hungry, but not for food.

“I can think of something else that sounds even better,” I murmured, straddling his lap.

During the night, his wings had disappeared, and disappointment flowed through me. I liked the reminder of who he was. How powerful yet soft he could be. It was a dichotomy, just like him.

“Down, girl,” he murmured as I pressed a kiss to his bare chest. “I need to feed my wife.”

My cheeks were warm. “I can't believe we’re actually married.” But the rings still sat on my finger. I raised my hand to look at it, and Zain put his hand on top, interlocking our fingers. So I could see his ring, too like we were claiming each other.

“Was it everything you ever imagined?”

I laughed. “Honestly? No.”

Zain frowned. “Really? But I thought…”

I took his hands in mine. Squeezed them. “It was wonderful. Beautiful. I promise. I can tell you put a lot of thought into it.”

“Then what was wrong?”

A snort escaped me, which turned into a full-body laugh. “Nothing was wrong. I loved every minute. But I never pictured getting married like this, and certainly not to ademon.It’s been a whirlwind.” Incredible butcrazy.

Zain looked sheepish as he admitted, “Willow helped me, you know.”

Nodding, I drew circles over his bare chest. “She told me about it when she got here. When did you even have time to do all of this, though?”

“It was last week. After we talked. I realized I hadn’t been present enough and didn’t want to be that kind of husband toyou. And also, I didn’t want you to regret this, so I stopped in for a visit.” He rolled his eyes. “Damien wasn’t pleased.”

“Oh.” My eyes grew damp. “Thank you.”

“It was nothing.”

Except, to me, it waseverything.

I shook my head. “You don’t even know how wonderful you are, do you?”

“Only for you,” Zain said, wrapping his arms around me and burying his head in my neck. I burrowed in, savoring every moment of the bear hug. Gods, there was no feeling quite like being in his arms.

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