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Be brave, Eden!
I let out a dramatic sigh as I rolled my eyes, more at myself than anything else. “I… like you.”
His brows dropped.
“I mean… I was never really the relationship type and we have been at each other since you got here, but you’re not evil and you’re not a monster and the more I get to know you…” I paused, looking him over. “I like you.”
So I was going to be a whole-ass child.
Telling him I liked him like I was a kid in the schoolyard.
“Eden. Like? It’s a frivolous word for the way my soul feels like it’s found a home in you. For the way a fire ignites in my core at a single smile from you. For the way my insides feel like they are finally set in their right place seeing this look on your face now, so open to me. Still… I’ll take it. I will take your likes and hope that in time you feel the same way I do.”
“And what way is that?”
“I love you.”
I laughed and quickly covered my mouth. I hadn’t meant to but that he thought he could love me when we’ve only just met each other was wild. I looked at him, worried that laughing would likely have pissed him off. Hell, if I told someone I loved them and watched them laugh in my face, I would be pretty mad.
Asmodeus merely smiled. Broad and real. Not the tight smile someone gave when they were feeling pressured and didn’t know what else to do with their face. “Is that funny? I’ll admit I don’t care if it is because I love the way you look when you laugh.”
“It’s just… Asmodeus, you can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
I pushed myself up to sit, grabbing the throw that was shoved under the couch behind me to cover myself. I clutched the soft fabric to my chest as I scratched a nervous hand through my hair. “Asmodeus.”
“Eden.”
His quick response made me fluster, losing my thoughts.
“Don’t worry. You’ll see.”
I shouldn’t argue with him. I had just decided I liked him. That I wanted to spend time with him and give this married to a demon thing a chance. Whether he loved me or not shouldn’t be shaking me the way his admission was. That should be what I wanted from my husband, shouldn’t it?
So why the hell was it making me feel so damned uneasy.
He leaned over me, his hands planted on both sides of my leg as he pressed a heavy kiss to my brow. “And there is your fear again.”
An annoyed huff left me. “I don’t know if I like you feeling my emotions all the time.”
“I quite like it. I feel I’ll need all the help I can get where you’re concerned.” He pressed another kiss to my nose. “Until then, I plan on doing whatever I can to make you feel like you did just then. Happy.” His lips closed over mine and I lost myself as he gently pushed me back to the carpet and another wave of happy anxiousness filled me.
Our fingers linked and the heat of his body covered mine.
* * *
“What the fuck?”
My body was this useless thing, every inch of me used up. Every single muscle was as lax as they’ve ever been as I rolled onto my side, the plushness of the carpet pressing into my bare skin. The heaviness of my duvet — Asmodeus had brought it down before one of our naps — made the perfect cocoon as my brain told me to ignore the sound of whispered voices.
The click of the lock of my sliding door echoed through my living room before the sound of it sliding followed.
“She’s dead! She has to be dead, right? It’s been five days! She texted us on Tuesday! Tuesday! It’s Sunday afternoon! I told you we should have come through here before now.” Imani’s voice was rife with anxiety. I hadn’t heard her this wound up since — well, since a demon appeared and held me against my dining room table.
“Eden!” Vi’s voice was shrill. “Eden! Please don’t be dead! I killed her, guys! I killed Ede!”
“What the hell were we thinking leaving her to a demon?” Imani’s voice broke. “We’re the worst friends ever.”
