Page 26 of Make Me Wild (Rich Demons of Darkwood 3)

I stiffened. He must have realized already that I couldn’t bring myself to wear any of Sophia’s clothes, and he hadn’t exactly packed me a bag. He was a pretty inconsiderate kidnapper.

But it was thoughtful of him to go out to get me clothes. So thoughtful that it made me uncertain. I stayed paused at the end of the bed as he walked out, his spreading shoulders filling the doorway.

Over his shoulder, he threw, “There’s coffee in the kitchen.”

By the time I padded downstairs, his car was gone from the driveway. I got the milk out of the fridge, remembering how magical making coffee in the quiet of the house had seemed during sleepovers. I’d usually wake up before anyone else and come into this room, with the view of the living room and beyond that the doors to the green backyard with the trampoline. This house had felt cozy, safe.

Well, most of the time. I’d always wake hours before Sophia—I was too restless to sleep in—then read in the living room and drink my coffee. But every once in a while, the silence would last too long, and I’d become convinced the Demon had snuck in. I’d get up with my stomach twisted with tension and go to check on Sophia, pushing the door open, sure that I’d find her in blood-soaked sheets.

I should have killed the Demon. The regret that I hadn’t felt unbearable.

Did I have to go see him face to face? To ask him about Sophia? I wouldn’t have hesitated, but he’d never tell me a damn thing that I could believe. He’d take any chance to hurt me, and losing Sophia… That would never stop hurting.

The thought made me suddenly nauseous. Seeing him once since the courtroom was enough. Too much.

I hopped in a long, hot shower, but it didn’t make me feel clean.

When I was about to get out, Stellan’s voice called from around the corner, “Hey, it’s me. Just dropping your clothes off.”

“Stay out of the bathroom,” I said, but I was still speaking as he rounded the corner.

I could never stand to close a shower curtain. It made me feel unsafe, not being able to see what was on the other side when I was naked.

Stellan stopped dead when he saw me, his fingers uncurling from around the bag, which fell to the floor. His jaw dropped open. The raw longing on his face when he looked at me sparked a surge of power in my chest.

“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” I reminded him.

“True.” He was back to cool and unimpressed, leaning against the door, his muscular arms crossing his chest. But I’d seen the way he’d looked at me the moment before, as if he would devour me. “But you look different.”

“Just used to seeing me covered in blood?”

“Or in Cain’s lap.” There was the faintest note of jealousy, then it was gone, and I thought I might’ve imagined it. “But I never see you like this.”

“Wet?”

“Vulnerable.” He opened the cabinet in the corner and pulled out a towel. I rolled my eyes and turned off the water, but when I stepped out of the tub, he wrapped the towel around me. The movement brought us intimately close together.

“You like vulnerable?” I asked skeptically. “That's not creepy at all.”

He huffed a faint laugh, never the slightest bit shaken when I was barbed. “I like all your sides, Delilah.”

“That’s a fucking lie.” I was instantly furious, and I shoved him against the wall. “And I’m not Delilah.”

“Bullshit,” he said. He let me shove him against the wall, but even when my hands were pressing him against the wall, he looked down at me as if he were in control. “You can’t just divide yourself into two people. One before, and one after.”

He wasn’t talking aboutmeanymore, or at least he wasn’t just talking about me.

“Then you show me how it’s done,” I said. “Be someone besides the asshole you’ve become. Show me that you’re still the one I used to…”

I stumbled over the word.

“Love?” he asked me, the word itself a taunt.

“Sophia was right. You never deserved me.” I shoved off him, intending to walk away.

“Never,” he agreed.

Then he grabbed the back of my neck and spun me to face him.

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