Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
I was sure for some women those deep, dark words would scare them, but not me. Those words held a promise coming from Gray. Anyone besides my husbands would get a swift kick in the ass for saying those words to me. From my husbands, those words made my panties drop.
Usually. Tonight I found them annoying because he didn’t truly mean it. “You know you could have called and avoided the whole hiding in the corner thing.”
I saw his shadow rise and realized he wasn’t in his human form. His demonic form was at least a foot taller. When Gray went demonic he got these hot as hell horns, and he seemed to expand.
I’d been told by an archangel that there was nothing inherently wicked about demons. Like everyone on all the planes, they chose how to handle their souls. I’d never been able to get Gray to understand that there was nothing wrong with his demonic form. His demon had done nothing but love and protect me.
I thought his demon was sexy and beautiful, but he withheld this part of himself from me.
It was an old argument between us, a wall I was too tired to try to climb.
“You want to see what twelve fucking years without you has done to me, wife?”
“You could have avoided those twelve years by figuring out a way to tell me to not get close to that painting, Gray.” I didn’t want to be logical. I’d lost twelve years with my son, and Gray had known it would happen.
The light came on, though neither of us was close to the switch. It was a magical switch, of course, and apparently Gray was good at controlling it. That was a difference. He hadn’t used to be able to do anything like that.
Of course he also hadn’t had such magnificent horns. They were longer, curling around three times, and his eyes had taken on a red hue.
“Obviously made you even hotter.” I gestured up and down that sexy bod of his. I had to tilt my head to look up. “Is this all you have to say, Gray? Because if so, you can go and I’ll wait for Trent and our son. You know the one you apparently abandoned.”
“I scared him.” Gray practically roared the words.
“Dude, don’t yell. Eddie brought brownie helpers with him, and you will scare them. As to scaring Fenrir, yeah, if you showed up like this when he was a kid, you probably scared him. Did you even try? Did you offer to give him a ride on your shoulders? He could have held on to your horns and had a fun time, and then he’s not scared of his demon dad anymore. Did you, Gray? Or did you get your feelings hurt by a nine-year-old and run away like you always do?” I knew I was being a bitch, but he deserved it. He’d left Trent and Fen. Fen didn’t even call him Dad.
“Fenrir was scared, and it wasn’t merely about Gray’s appearance. When he comes back from the Hell plane, he requires a period of decompression. We weren’t ready for that the first time.” Trent strode into the room, stopping in front of me and putting a hand on my hip as he leaned over. “Let me handle him.”
“You handle him?” I was curious about that phrasing.
“Yeah, baby.” He kissed my forehead. “I keep all of us calm. It’s my job in life. Luckily I learned how to handle you first. Did I mention how well you’ve dealt with all of this? Twenty-four hours. You held it together for twenty-four hours. Your world fell apart and you didn’t lose your shit. He hasn’t figured it out yet, so go easy on him.”
He was right. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that my she-wolf had been relatively calm. A few months back I’d required sedation when I got super emotional. I’d managed to keep my shit together for a whole day. And even when I’d gotten to Trent our reunion hadn’t been about him handling me. He’d held me and we’d mourned what we’d lost together, but there hadn’t been a violent spark in my system.
Because it wouldn’t have helped Fenrir. It wouldn’t have helped the baby growing in my body.
Because honestly, it wouldn’t have helped my husbands.
My wolf and I were on the same page. Our family was more important than our impulses. We had to temper ourselves to be good for our children, for the men who loved us.
I watched as Trent moved toward Gray.
“Did you get my message?” Trent was wearing the same jeans and T-shirt he’d worn all day, which told me the run had likely gone well. He hadn’t had to quick change and had the time to dress after he and Fenrir had finished.