Page 99 of Burn for Me

"No!" The deep baritone voice bounces off the walls, nearly rattling the house, which startles her. I quickly pull my hand back and smooth down her dress as an annoyed growl escapes her throat. I was going to deny her the release she craves. Caspian's yell just made it a whole lot quicker than I anticipated.

We need to intervene in the chaos unfolding beneath us. I'm sure I'll say something that will upset Tide again, and Jasmine will hold her tongue until we return to our quarters. Only then will she stay up all night ranting and raving about everything she wishes she could have said.

That’s one of the things I love about her—how she now opens up to me instead of just burying her nose in a notepad to bottle everything up.

It will be worth it, though. Even though I was thrown into the wrong family, I now have the right one. With two chosen brothers who will always have my back, a psychotic friend whose smile is still a little scary, and a wife who would burn the world down for me, it’s my turn to reciprocate their support. It’s time to fix a few broken parts so we cherish all our good a whole lot more.

Turning to Jasmine, I trail my fingers from her mouth to push her hair from her face in an attempt to tame it. I can feel her stare, even as I try to ignore it. I know it’s not just the tension coiling tightly in her abdomen, making her shift on her feet to alleviate the pressure between her legs; it’s that she can see straight into my soul and read every wrinkle between my brows.

“What are you thinking?” she whispers as if she hadn't just been two seconds away from using my full name.

“I’m thinking I should get out the mask later and chase you around a bit for that pout you’re wearing,” I tease, gently kissing her head. She slaps my chest playfully and tries to storm past to exit the bathroom, but then she contradicts herself by waiting for me by the door.

“I promise I’ll make it up to you, little devil,” I murmur as I guide her out of the bathroom and back down the stairs. Caspian is going on about something, and I don’t have to listen too closely to know that Moe is fighting to suppress the voice he’s shown to everyone. It’s not like I could focus on the battle playing out across the table even if I tried.

Seeing this beautiful home and all the possibilities it offers my friends annoys me. I never gave Jasmine the life she deserved. There was no heartfelt proposal or a beautiful wedding. We won't have kids unless we find another way, and I’m uncertain if I’ll ever truly leave my faction until retirement. But by then, our lives will have flown by. I want to give her the world—heaven and hell—but that feels so far out of my reach that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to obtain it.

As delicate fingers frame my jaw, I nearly flinch, pulling my focus into deep golden depths. So lost in my inner turmoil, I had barely noticed that I’d guided us to sit and that Caspian had poured me a glass of bourbon.

“For better or worse?” she whispers with a lazy smile, and my chest deflates with a sigh. For the longest time, I relished the pain I could inflict because it made me feel like I deserved everything I went through. But when she looks at me like I'm some sort of God sent to save her, I realize that even the devil deserves to be seen.

To be loved.

“Till death do us part and even after.”

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