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She wanted to moan at the flavors, the richness of the liquor he’d added having soaked into the meat and veggies without the buzz of alcohol. The man shouldn’t be such a talented cook. Devouring his so-called suck-up meal made it harder to argue with him. So she didn’t. No, she simply enjoyed the dinner with him next to her at the counter as if there was nowhere else he’d rather be. The clink of silverware against dishes and occasional tap of a glass against marble interrupting the quiet made for a comfortable silence.
She’d finished and moved to clean her plate when he stopped her with a light touch.
“I didn’t want to leave you,” he said. “But I needed to. It sounds like a lie, but it’s true, and I’m not ready to explain—not everything, not yet.” His gaze searched hers, as though seeking a response.
“I don’t understand. You tell me to stay here, you worry about my night terrors, you kiss me, and then you’re gone. Did I do something—”
“No. I…” He glanced at his hand on hers. “It’s an obsession, this possessiveness. I would work so hard to keep you that I would lock you away and never let you go.”
Her breath stuck somewhere between her lungs and her throat, and her heart bumped loudly in her chest.He would keep her? He didn’t make it sound like the creepy confinement she’d known her whole life. Excitement ran through her along with a trickle of fear.
He shook his head. “I can’t do that to you. I won’t—not after what you’ve been through—”
An alarm blared through the house, sounding like a distant bell with a ghostly moan rolling through the pauses.
Alexei grabbed his phone. “Someone’s outside.” Swiping the screen, he stopped on an image of the house’s exterior, the camera angled toward the circular paved driveway. “Yulia’s here early.”
Joelle searched her mind for the name, and her stomach twisted when she remembered it belonged to the demon who’d flown to meet him when he’d first rescued her. The demon princess his parents had wanted him to marry. The one he had planned to spend his life with when they first met in the park. A woman who even had wings. Jealousy tangled her gut and left a sour taste on her tongue.
Alexei pushed away from the counter, his stool scraping against the floor. “I’ll let her in.” His rush seemed so far removed from his usual calm, controlled composure. “Wait here.”
No way. Joelle followed him to the door.
He opened it to reveal a woman who could’ve competed with his supermodel cousin for any magazine cover. Standing only an inch shorter than Alexei with light skin and rich dark eyes, she made Joelle feel insignificant and plain. Dressed in jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt, she looked like a designer’s wet dream and a perfect demon princess match for Alexei. Worse, she held a familiar pair of shackles—the ones Noxx had strapped to Joelle to keep her from running, those with the rough lining that had left her scarred.
Joelle’s heart thudded hard in her chest, and her breathing went tight. How had the woman gotten those and why had she brought them here?
Sweeping past, Yulia raked a dismissive glance over Joelle from head to toe. “So this is your mate?” she asked Alexei and dropped the shackles on the antique table with a clatter.
He moved in front of Joelle as if trying to hide her, to deny she was there. “She’s not my mate.” His voice held a low growl.
Hurt detonated in her heart, ricocheting the heavy beats with an ache that blasted through her. Her throat squeezed into a knot, and she struggled to swallow around the anger she felt at his callousness, grief for the future she’d imagined, and shame for wishing for things she couldn’t have.
Silly Joelle. Always wanting to belong when you never will.Noxx’s words circled in her mind, making her head thick and her vision blurry.
Her magic flashed in quick symbols across her skin, making both demon royals stare at her. Humiliation had heat surging through each mark, burning as hot as the tears she wouldn’t dare shed in front of these two. Not when they might have spent the last week together. He hadn’t said who he’d spent his time with after he’d left her. What if Alexei had talked about how he’d found her? What if he’d told this perfect princess all of the horrible things she worked so hard to forget? Or about her night terrors? Her clumsy kiss?
Joelle pushed past them, hurrying toward the stairs and blocking out Alexei’s demands that she stop. She wouldn’t. Not now. Not ever. Hurrying all the way to her room, she dialed the last number that’d called her.
Josh.
She needed her brother to help her get out of here before she made a fool of herself.
Only he didn’t answer. His witch did.
ChapterFifteen
Alexei wanted to shatter the damn shackles that had sent Joelle racing up the stairs. “You always have to make an entrance,” he accused Yulia.
She waved away his protest. “You invited me.”
“For tomorrow night in a public place.” The dull pounding in his head turned into a full throb. “For a dinner and an honest discussion about origins research and mutual interests.”
“I’m not the one who made your little not-a-mate run.Whatis she?”
“She’s my…” Everything. Gods, what a mess he’d made of this. “She’s my guest.”
Yulia grinned a cruel smile that didn’t match her eyes. “You don’t want to share what magic she has that makes her glow like that? Fine. But I’ll figure it out. You can’t hide away a power like hers forever.”
