Page 290 of Sorrow & Strangers

“Do you, though?” Rafe asks, leaning in to claim my mouth again.

I moan as he pulls me back on top of him. I feel his erection beneath me and grab his horns, sending a small flash of heat into them. He arches beneath me, and I rock my hips, luxuriating in the way he’s rubbing against me.

“You’re going to end up naked again,” Rafe growls against my lips. I know I should pull back, but instead, I deepen the kiss, getting lost in him. He flips us so he’s on top again, already pushing my jeans and panties off. He slides his fingers over my core and then plunges into me again. I arch, crying out from the pleasure, and then I roll us, taking the lead.

The fire burns through me and rushes into him through his horns, and the feeling is so perfect⁠—

“Rafe!” someone calls from outside, but I barely register it above the sound of my own moans. The blood rushes through my body like a fire spreading through a forest, and Rafe’s possessive growl sends sparks skipping along my skin.

I throw my head back and moan, slamming down on him over and over, lost in the connection I have with this beautiful male. The door bursts open, piercing the haze of pleasure, and I snap my head around to snarl in annoyance, meeting Annabeth’s pink eyes. Her shocked gaze is locked on Rafe and me. I freeze, but my nearly naked body is completely exposed to her.

Rafe snarls when I stop, but Annabeth’s sob of pain pulls him out of his fog of desire, and his eyes clear a little. I shift off Rafe and pull the sheet over us.

“Annabeth, I⁠—”

She sniffles. “I knew you were keeping a secret, but when I found Rafe’s shirt in your washing pile⁠—”

“Anna . . .” Rafe says, sitting up.

“You said you weren’t ready for . . .” Her words trail off, tears welling in her eyes as she stares at him.

“It’s complicated,” Rafe says, searching blindly for his pants.

“Looks real complicated,” Annabeth says, and sobs again. Before either of us can say anything, she turns and bolts. Alice grimaces as Annabeth runs past her, though her eyes sparkle with something akin to entertainment.

“Annabeth!” I call, scrambling out of bed and pulling on my jeans before chasing after her.

Chapter One Hundred Twenty

Mira

“Annabeth, I’m sorry!” I say, having finally caught up with her. ­Kitsune are foxlike by nature and can easily evade predators, but the phoenix is a born predator, and I used those skills to find her. “I didn’t mean to⁠—”

“Fuck my boyfriend?” she spits through her tears, though her fists are clenched, and I can sense she is moving past anger and delving deep into rage.

“Anna, I⁠—”

Rafe appears out of nowhere, surprising both of us. He steps in front of me, using his arm to keep me behind him.

“I met her first,” Rafe says, as if by way of explanation. I peek over his shoulder and see her blink. Some of the anger is receding from her eyes as confusion sets in.

Rafe takes a step closer to her, making sure to keep his body between the two of us. “And I thought she was lost to me.” Rafe keeps his eyes on Anna­beth. “I told you that it was never you. You were perfect. I mean that,” he says, taking another step closer. “You were patient with me. Far more patient than I deserved.” He rubs the back of his neck.

Annabeth watches Rafe and then looks around him at me, and whatever she was looking for in my expression, she clearly got. “Is she the reason you never wanted to be intimate with me?” she asks, and I grimace. I shouldn’t be here for this. This should be between them, but I also don’t want to leave her. She was kind to me when I arrived, and that meant a lot to me, even though I know I deserve her hatred.

Rafe shakes his head and tucks his hands in his pockets, clearly less concerned about getting cursed now. “No, Anna. That’s . . . It’s all me.” He looks away. “I had my consent taken away from me as a kid. So that is something I struggle with.”

His pain calls to me, and I can’t keep from pressing up against his back, needing to comfort him. I know this isn’t something he’s even told his sisters, but he clearly thought Annabeth needed to know to assure her it was never about her.

“Then why her?” Annabeth asks, her eyes flicking to me.

Rafe glances at me over his shoulder, and I nearly fall to my knees with what I see in his eyes. “Because she’s my mate,” he says, and my knees actually buckle this time. I tighten my hand on his arm to stay standing as he looks back at Annabeth. “I know you have one too, Anna, and it’s not me.”

“Demons don’t have mates,” Annabeth says, shaking her head, and she’s right, they don’t, but⁠—

“I’m not a demon,” Rafe says. “I am the Prince of Hell, and I am a Fallen.”

I watch him. Could he be right? Lucifer has been with his queen for millennia, and he is besotted with her, but it would make sense for him to want to keep this secret. If it were common knowledge that Lilith was his mate, she would be seen as a weakness. To take the mate is to take half of him, his heart, his soul, his power.