Page 56 of Ruined By a Devil

“You too, Mamma.”

I spent a full hour talking to her about the wedding and at times, but none of it felt real.

The last twenty-four hours have passed in a blink of an eye and I find myself standing at the edge of my bed, staring through the window at the rain that hasn’t stopped since last night.

My silk robe is pulled tight around my waist, but it does nothing to ward off the chill at the thought that the wedding is tomorrow. Even though it’s quite late, I don’t feel sleepy and part of me worries that I’m going to look like shit tomorrow for the wedding.

Just as I’m considering taking a sleeping pill, the door handle of my bedroom door turns with a quiet click.

I don't need to look over my shoulder to know who it is, there can only be one person that let’s himself in without knocking. The subtle familiar scent of him drifts into the room.

I stay facing the window, my reflection ghosted against the dark glass as I listen to Malachi’s footsteps approaching me, my heart skipping just a beat once he’s close enough for me to feel the heat radiating off his body.

“You’re still awake,” he says, stopping right behind me.

“I’m not sleepy,” I reply, holding his gaze eyes in the dark reflection of the glass. “Everything is happening too fast.”

Malachi takes one slow step closer, closing the remaining distance between us. As his tall frame completely shadows mine, he raises his hands, resting his long, warm fingers lightly on my shoulders, over the thin silk of my robe. The simple contact sends a wave of warmth through my entire body, grounding me.

“It's too late to doubt it now, Jade,” he murmurs, his hands sliding down my arms, over the fabric, down to my elbows.

“I'm not doubting,” I say, my chin raising an inch as I watch him in the glass. “I'm just being realistic. Everyone is acting like tomorrow is a celebration, but it's just a trade.”

“It was a trade before you signed your name,” Malachi says, his thumbs tracing slow, deliberate circles over the cloth covering my forearms. He steps closer until his chest lightly brushes my back. “You can no longer back out. You had a choice before you agreed to this alliance, but now the ink is dry.”

The weight of his words settles over my chest, almost suffocating and my hands turn into fists at my sides.

“You talk about me like I'm a piece of land you bought at an auction,” I accuse, turning around slowly in his hold to face him directly. “Like I'm just property being transferred from my father’s house to yours.”

Malachi’s hands leave my arms and slide around my waist, his large palms resting flat against the small of my back, holding me against him. He isn't gripping me hard, but he doesn’t have to because he’s aware of his power. The steady pressure of his hands through my robe pins me to his hips, letting me feel the thick, hard length pressed beneath his trousers, causing my heart to try and jump from my chest. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself composed.

I lean into his chest without meaning to, my hands rising to rest flat against his dark shirt, feeling the rapid, heavy thud of his own heartbeat beneath my palms. I want him to rip the silk off my shoulders. I want his mouth on mine, crushing every inch of fight out of me until I can't think. I want this to be… real.

Malachi leans down, his face inches from mine, his eyes burning with a dark intensity that makes my knees feel weak.

“You aren't property, Jade,” he whispers as his hand moves up my spine, his fingers burying into the hair at the nape of my neck, holding me. “Property can be traded back. Property can be shared…”

His thumb drags across my lower jaw, tilting my face up just a fraction higher.

“After tomorrow, you will wear my name,” he says, his voice low and certain. “And anyone who touches what belongs to me will die.”

The sheer violence in his words should terrify me. It should make me want to run for the hills through that door and never look back. But standing here, held tight against his chest in the dark bedroom, feeling the fierce, unyielding weight of his protection wrapped around me, I realize this is exactly where I want to be.

I look up into his eyes, refusing to hide the hunger burning in my own anymore. He might be a monster but he is my monster, and I want to belong to him. I want his name, his ring, his body tangled in mine.

“Then I guess you'd better make sure you let your hands slip off me, husband,” I whisper back, my breath hitching as his thumb presses firmly against my lip.

Malachi stares down at me for one long, agonizing second, his chest rising and falling heavily against mine. Before either of us can say anything, his phone rings, snapping us both from our little bubble.

As if he has all the time in the world to answer that phone call, he slowly pulls his hand away and takes a step back. “Is everything in place, Lucas?” I watch him answer the call as he steps out in the hallway, leaving me cold in the middle of the room.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Jade

“You look beautiful,” Riley’s smile widens as she looks at my reflection in the mirror.

“Thank you,” I say. “I would not have managed any of this without you.”