Page 203 of Sorrow & Strangers

“Best of my life.”

I pull her close, fitting her soft curves against me. “I can’t tell if people are lying anymore.”

The taste of truth is gone, ripped from my mouth when I fell.

“What would I gain from lying, demon?”

“I don’t know,” I say, brushing her hair back from her face.

She wraps her arms around my neck again, leaning against me. “There would be nothing to gain.”

But lying isn’t always about gain. Some lie for pleasure, for power, for fun.

“I fell . . . recently,” I whisper. “So I’m still a bit of a mess.”

She smiles up at me. “All the best people are.”

Chapter Eighty-Six

Rafe

“Why don’t you take me to your room?” she purrs.

Others are finishing breakfast and coming out to enjoy the beach. They are trickling down to our secluded stretch of sand and sea, and we aren’t alone anymore. Taking her hand, I lead her out of the water. We grab our clothes before heading back to the hotel. I don’t let go of her hand once as we navigate the resort, and neither of us says anything until we are inside our suite. I shut the door behind us, and Mira smiles at me as I pull her toward my room. Again, she doesn’t resist, and her anger seems to have simmered off her skin like the steam still wafting from her.

“This is really nice,” Mira says, wandering around the palatial room.

“Alice chose it,” I say with a shrug, wholly focused on her.

“Is that the vampire or the weird fae?” she asks as we step into my room. I close the door behind us and pull her into my arms, needing to touch her. I need more of that addicting warmth and fire that makes me feel clean. Almost whole.

“Alice is the vampire, and Summer isn’t weird. She’s Seelie.” The words slip out of my mouth unbidden. “I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”

Damn, what is it about Mira that I have this need to explain every detail, no matter that I should keep my mouth shut? I am the aloof Morningstar, the loner, the different one, but around Mira, I feel . . . normal. Something I didn’t realize how desperately I craved.

“Your secret is safe with me,” she whispers, twining her arms around my neck again and pressing against me.

Is it? I still don’t know anything about her. Besides, I like being around her, and I already want to fuck her again. A lot.

“Why?” I ask, my hands on her waist. “Why keep her secret? My secret?”

“Because I like you.”

Is that enough? Can I trust her with my secrets and my sisters? Or am I thinking with my dick here?

“People don’t usually,” I admit.

She chuckles. “I find that very hard to believe.” Her fingers find the curls at the nape of my neck, and she gently scrapes her nails through them. My eyes practically roll at the simple caress, and the demon preens. Her hands are so warm.

“People find me unapproachable and angry.”

“I find you sexy . . . irresistible,” she says, pressing even closer. I widen my stance and slide my hands down to her hips, fitting her against me as she steps between my feet.

More truths spill from my lips.

“Before you . . . I’ve never . . . I wasn’t interested in that.” It wasn’t that I didn’t notice people. They just didn’t interest me enough to pursue.

“That?” she says, pressing onto her toes to brush her lips against mine, tasting the vulnerability the words left behind.