Page 24 of Devour

I nodded as if my head were on a spring and did my best to lunge forward. Because really, if I absolutely wanted to get closer, he couldn’t stop me. His fingers dug harder into my shoulder, and that was just enough to get me to refocus.

“I mean it. You must listen or else—”

“I will.”

He let his arm go slack so I could collapse into him with a deep inhale. So good. Desire. Attachment. Frustration. Overwhelming trust. Much more than I deserved.

“Will you spank me if I don’t listen?” I panted in his ear. Mostly teasing. Mostly.

“You’d enjoy it too much,” he whispered back.

He had a valid point there. Though I wasn’t sure I could enjoy him any more than I already did, aside from the obvious. More than anything, I would love to see him come undone.

“And you’re done,” Eli warned.

I pulled away from his neck but stayed almost nose to nose with him. “And why’s that?”

Because of what you did to me. “Because I said so.”

I frowned. Hubby did not make a habit of lying. Even if the other person couldn’t peek into his mind, he wouldn’t. Yet, he knew I could, and he did it anyway.

With a deep sigh, I crawled down and sat back on my legs. He was a lot more unhappy with me than he let on, and I couldn’t make sense of why that bothered me so much. I didn’t realize I was glaring at the floor until his thumb and forefinger nudged my chin up.

“Very good. Thank you for cooperating.”

Well, at that exact moment, I realized something about myself I had yet to discover. My skin shivered, and I felt fuller from his praise than anything else I fed on this week. Interesting, the effect he could have on me. And thankfully, he noticed.

Eli’s lips rolled inward, suppressing a smile. Sheer amusement. Affection. And another hint of arousal. Pervert.

“What?” I huffed.

He couldn’t stop his smile this time and released a chuckle. “If you had a tail, it’d be wagging.”

“Who says I don’t have a tail?”

He raised a doubtful brow at me.

“Are you going to check?” I asked, my enthusiasm showing.

“You’re ridiculous,” he dismissed with another smile.

“You love my ridiculousness, hubby.”

“Sometimes,” he conceded.

Hmm, definitely not lying now. Still, I couldn’t stand the thought of him secretly harboring resentment. He had learned how to hide things from me. I couldn’t rely on my methods, and not knowing what he thought bothered me way, way more than it should.

“Are you mad at me?” I finally asked.

“Why should I be?”

Interesting how he didn’t deny being angry but answered one question with another.

His response only ate away at me further. “Because… I made you sick last time.

“No, you didn’t—”

“Yeah, I did.” With a furrowed brow, I tried to apply some context he could understand. “You know how divers can only come up so fast after a certain depth? I pulled you to the surface too quickly, and you emotionally crashed.”

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