When I didn’t say anything, she leaned her head against my chest.
“Sometimes I just want to leave this place,” I finally admitted. “Leave and never come back. But I owe it to my mother to take down every single demon who had a hand in her death. We are so close; I can’t give up now. No matter how tired I really am.”
Fuck. Apparently being vulnerable hurts. No wonder demons don’t want to love.
“How long have you been doing this?” Eve asked, her hand finding mine.
“Years. Half my lifetime. Sometimes it feels like forever. Others, it’s like she was murdered just yesterday.”
She created some space between us so her eyes could seek out mine.
“A bit too depressive for you?” I scoffed. “The oldmy father killed my motheris too dry and drawn out for y?—“
“You’re smart,” she said again, holding my gaze like she wanted me to know she was being serious. “And caring. Thank you for sharing this with me. I know keeping a mask on at all times is not easy.”
Shit. She needs to stop talking, or I feel like I’m going to… cry?
I moved to kiss her, and she let me. It was chaste at first, but then she deepened it, pushing it. Pushing me. Like she knew I needed it.
“Eve…”
“Eros, I’m not here to judge. My own parents were shit. Especially once I caught Dad in a lie and blew up their marriage.”
My face dropped. I hadn’t considered that having her power could come with some serious difficulties.
“Tell me about your family,” I asked, a whisper against her lips, and she let out a sigh.
“I had a pretty good childhood until I let it slip that Dad was cheating on Mom. After that, they fought—a lot—and then took it out on me. They’d ignore me and make me feel like I’d be—“ She didn’t seem to find the words, so I ran my hand down her back, soothing her. “Better off dead.”
My claws dug into her skin. Not enough to hurt, but definitely enough to show her my anger. I felt the black veins beginning to show on my face, and this had nothing to do with lust.
I want to kill them both for making her feel that way.
“You don’t think that now, do you?” I asked. “Because if you do, even the tiniest bit, I promise you I’ll spend days—no, years—showing you just how wrong you are.”
She smiled at my response, her eyes burning with unshed tears.
“No. I don’t think that anymore.”
We took a moment, sitting in the heaviness of our confessions.
Maybe we’re not that different after all.
“I’ll do everything I can to help you,” she promised. She looked like she was going to say more, but after a long look at my face, her eyes fell to the ground.
“I wish I had your skill sometimes,” I confessed. She clearly had had it rough when she was younger, but I wanted her to see her gift as more of a blessing than a curse.
“I guess you’ll just have to keep me around then,” she joked. “So you can use me to my full potential.”
The heat was back. I could think of a few ways to use her that had nothing to do with her gift. Repeatedly. I leaned forward, my eyes searching hers.
“Do you want that, sweet human? Do you want to tie yourself to me forever? You know I would happily have you forever if you allowed it.” I realized my slip of the tongue too late. “Us. Oros and I. Both of us.”
“You really think I don’t like you, don’t you?” My mouth went dry and my throat clogged. Her question caught me off guard. “Well, stop thinking that. Because I?—"
Oros burst into the room, a smile gracing her face.
“I have a plan.” She looked at us, all snuggled in bed, and added. “Actually, make that two.”
