Page 43 of Tainted Hearts

“Then demon boy it is. Give him all the love and attention, let him know that you appreciate him giving you time with those bad boys, but you need your sex machine back.”

“Stop.” I snort out a laugh, smiling wide enough to make my face hurt.

“How is it being with a sex demon?”

I give her a look, raising a brow. “It’s fun. He was shy with his powers at first. He didn’t want to be like his parents and have it become his whole personality. But after we mated, I got him to open up to us. He uses his powers here and there, but it’s mild. He likes knowing he makes me feel good on his own without the help. But...” I wiggle my eyebrows playfully. “He has used it on Isaac to get back at him for me.”

“No way!” Her brows jump. “What did he do?”

“Leo would give him boners at the most inconvenient times, like in the middle of a class presentation.”

“Fuck, I would have died to see that.” Frankie bursts out laughing.

“It gets better.” I chuckle. “There were a few times Leo made him cum in his pants; moans and groans and all.”

Frankie rolls onto her back, holding her belly as she dies laughing. I can’t help but join her. Maybe I should feel bad after finding out what Isaac was going through, but I don’t. In the end, he was still cruel to me and he deserved what Leo did to him.

“Ahh.” Frankie sighs as she catches her breath. “I think we need to get going, the sun is going down.”

“Yeah.” I get up and dust myself off. “Thanks, by the way.” Frankie gets up and does the same thing as she gives me a curious look.

“Thanks for what?”

We start walking back toward Zed’s car. “For being there for me today, for kicking Zed’s ass in my defense, for just hanging out with me and being someone I could talk to.” I give her a half smile. “Zed’s your best friend, but you had my back. So, thank you.”

“Of course.” She looks a little shocked by what I said. “Zed might be my best friend, but you’re my friend too, Abby. And I’m not going to let him, or anyone else, get away with hurting you.”

I shouldn’t enjoy how protective she sounds right now, but damn it, I do.

Not sure what else to say, I smile again as we get into the car.

When we get to Zed’s, Megan tells me Zed left with Leo to go to my place to get ready with all the guys. I was shocked, to say the least, that he went there without me. But I guess that’s a good thing, right? Maybe there’s hope for all of them to get along. Maybe even become friends someday. One can only hope.

“Abby. Do you think you could ask your other mates to come over for Christmas?” Megan asks as she hands me a cup of tea.

Frankie is curling Libby’s hair, and I’m already dressed, so I came downstairs to hang out with Megan.

“I could ask what they have planned. I know my mom said something about a Christmas Eve supper with the guys’ dads and me. I don’t want to go, but I don’t want the guys to face their dads on their own either.”

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” The dark look she gives me... it’s like she’s haunted by her past.

I chew on my lower lip, wondering what I should tell her. She is Michael’s rejected mate and has a child with him. I think she has the right to know.

“He’s not a good man. I know he puts on this whole ‘holier than thou’ persona, but he’s evil.”

She swallows hard, tears filling her eyes. “I was afraid of that. Once I got over the shock of being rejected, I started to see how things really were between us; I finally saw it clearly. He was very controlling, would do anything to make sure no one knew about me. I was glad to see him go, you know? I didn’t care that I was a single mom. I’d rather have done it alone than with him in our lives.” A tear slips free. “Sadly, I didn’t want to be alone forever and found comfort in another man who turned out to be even worse in some ways. I don’t regret it, because I got my sweet Libby out of it, but... thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me what you did for us.”

“Of course.” I take her hand, giving her a comforting smile. “No one deserves to be hurt. People like your exes need to be in Hell with my dad.” I sigh, leaning back in my chair as I let go of her hand.

“What did he do?” she asks, her voice low and filled with fear of what’s to come.

“He hurt Isaac. Bad. And often.”

Megan gasps, raising her hand to her mouth. “Oh, no. That poor boy.”

“Yeah.” I nod, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. “It messed him up. He turned into someone that I now know wasn’t who he truly is. He hurt me, not physically, but in a lot of other ways. He’s my mate, I rejected him, and well... we both paid the price.”

“Don’t give up on him,” she says with pleading eyes. “I can’t even imagine what he’s been through. While I don’t agree with how he chose to vent his anger and pain, he wasn’t in a place where he had any control.”

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