Page 71 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

"Cain will destroy you, little girl," he said through gritted teeth, and I scoffed as I glared at him.

The anger quickly disappeared when I looked into his gaze and realized he was...jealous.

“You almost sound like you care,” I told him in a taunting voice.

His face crumpled then, and his grip on my arm loosened. "I'm so tired of fighting you," he whispered. "I can't take picturing them touching you. You were mine."

My heart clenched. I felt like I'd been waiting for him to show me anything, but I certainly hadn't been expecting it to happen right now.

"That was a long time ago, Stellan. You've made it clear that you're done with me."

He sighed and his eyes closed, like my words had caused him actual pain. Maybe they had. I'd survived the edge of a knife many times, but sometimes it didn't feel like I'd survive Stellan's ugly words.

"It's her birthday," Stellan told me, a hitch in his voice, and my eyes widened.

Sophia's birthday. How had I forgotten? For years I'd made sure to remember it, making sure it was a day that I remembered how good she'd been, and wondered what she was doing. But lately there'd been so much going on...I'd forgotten. A rush of guilt hit me.

Stellan's fingers were suddenly tangled with mine, and he was leading me down the hall to where his room was. I followed him inside without an argument, savoring the momentary truce we seemed to have called.

Stellan's room was tidy. There were pictures of his family scattered here and there, and some of him and the guys. I stopped looking around when I noticed the box from Sophia's favorite bakery sitting on his bed, a candle and lighter laying beside it.

I didn't have to open the box to know what was inside. It was German chocolate cupcakes with coconut pecan frosting. Sophia's favorite. The bakery had been owned by one of their family friends, and he'd actually named the cupcake after Sophia since she'd been so obsessed.

I hadn't eaten one since I'd left.

Every year we’d lived in town, Sophia's family would invite me over and she'd have one pink candle on her perfect chocolate cupcake. And then that night, after the rest of the family had gone to bed, we'd sneak out of our beds to eat another.

And Stellan was always there too.

"You remember," Stellan commented. My breath came out in a sorrow-filled gasp as I realized that he was watching me.

"How could I ever forget?" I choked out.

Stellan went over to the box and opened it, pulling out a single cupcake. I watched as if in a trance as he placed the pink candle inside of it and then lit it, before walking towards me.

The candle light flickered across his face as he walked towards me. He was so sad, and so freaking beautiful all at the same time.

Stellan held the cupcake in between us, and we watched as the wax from the candle began to drip down.

“I miss the way that she was my best friend, the best person I knew,” he murmured.

“I miss the sound of her laugh and the way that she’d loved everyone around her,” I added softly.

We both just stared at the candle for another long moment, lost in thoughts of childhood and a different life.

Stellan finally blew out the candle and then pulled it out of the frosting before putting the cupcake up to my mouth. I didn’t hesitate to take a bite, the sweet chocolate and coconut frosting lighting up my tastebuds like fireworks.

“Mmmh,” I moaned, closing my eyes in pleasure as I savored the bite. I’d forgotten how freaking good it tasted. Maybe the best taste ever.

When I opened my eyes, I almost choked because Stellan was staring at me, so much hunger and longing in his gaze that it felt hard to breathe. He lifted his hand and wiped some frosting off the side of my mouth with his finger before placing it in his own mouth and licking all the frosting off.

My chest was heaving, my breasts felt heavy and tight. Stellan abruptly dropped the cupcake he'd still been holding, and I was only faintly aware of it splattering to the ground.

* * *

Stellan

The energy between us was palpable and wreaked havoc on my ability to concentrate on anything other than what I wanted to do to her. To Delilah. To Aurora. The blonde. The brunette.

---