Page 40 of Ruin

He sighed and pushed himself up. “Okay, you win; food, then I want time with just you. Keep explaining while we eat.”

“Okay, well, I suppose the most important thing for you to know is, Berith wants me because I can free Hell’s army.”

His brows dipped and a dark look crossed his face. “Why does he need you to do that?”

“Well, you know about my fire.” It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway. “It turns out I’m a phoenix, the only being who can burn through the gates of Hell. Satan needs my phoenix to keep them open, so he can invade our world.” I lifted my hand, raising a small flame in my palm. It flickered, reflecting in his eyes. “If he pulls Fire, my phoenix, from my body with the Halo, he can chain her to Hell’s gates and keep them open forever. As long as my body and human soul remain together, she will live, but if I die, and I have no blood heir for her to connect to, so will she.”

Connor raised his hand and placed his palm over the flame. It didn’t burn him. “Then at least we know Berith won’t kill you.”

“No, he won’t, but he can take me and torture me—like he did you; and there will be no end to it.”

His throat bobbed. “Then we won’t let him get you.”

I nodded. But I had no intention of hiding away in a secluded fortress somewhere. No, I would still fight alongside my mate and my friends to stop these demons and soldiers of Hell from destroying my world. There was another loud growl from his stomach. I patted his chest. “Come on, let’s eat.”

Reluctantly, he let me go, but his gaze didn’t leave me. “Fine. But you’re coming right back into my arms when we’ve eaten.” His towel had fallen open, and I couldn’t help but stare at his glorious body. He growled. “If you keep looking at me like that, neither of us will be eating any time soon.”

My breath caught in my throat, and heat flooded my body. I allowed a small smile to curl my lips and let my gaze sweep over the full length of his body. His dick twitched under my attention. “Ember...”

The smile stayed on my face as I turned away and piled a plate high with food for him. “Here.” When I turned back to face him, he’d covered himself with the towel again and propped his back up against the headboard. Without any further words, he fixed his gaze on the plate of food and began devouring it. The groans that came from his mouth with each new flavour were almost sinful. “Mother Wolf, it’s been so long since I’ve tasted anything this good.”

I laughed, happy to see him demolish his food. He’d been starved, and clearly hadn’t had a proper meal for months. I passed him some coffee and again he groaned when he tasted it. “Gods, it’s amazing how much you can miss something that you’ve always taken for granted. Stale water just isn’t quite the same.”

While he drank, I swapped his plate for mine.

“Oh, no you don’t. Eat.” And he shoved the plate back at me.

“Connor.” I rolled my eyes. “You need it.”

“So do you. Now eat—or maybe you’d like me to feed it to you?”

My scowl was hard to maintain when he was right, I really was hungry. Besides, I didn’t want to fight with him. “Bossy bugger,” I muttered. Who said I had to give in gracefully, though?

He grinned, and raised his brows.

“Fine.” I sat down next to him and ate the food. As soon as I was done, Connor took our plates and cups, pushed his big frame off the bed and deposited them on the table. His ice blue gaze rested on me, sending my stomach into all kinds of flutters. His nostrils flared. Shadow swirled through his eyes and around his face before it disappeared.

“What is that?”

His face remained intense. “It must be my fae half. I have another...spirit in my soul, as well as Prime. My mother's a fae. Did you know that?”

I nodded my head. “Yes, I sensed she was, but not what kind.”

“Do you think she can tell me about it? Help me control it? It controlled me once before…” His throat bobbed. “And it’s a vicious creature.”

I contemplated the floor. “Probably. We should go and talk to her soon.”

Connor nodded.

“Do you think someone has told her what Zander did? Gods, Connor, what if she doesn’t know what’s happened to her son?” I rubbed my face. “What if she does?” I couldn’t imagine how awful it would be to know your son had chosen to launch himself into Hell with his demonic father, to save his brother…

“Hey, I’m sure Owen has spoken to her, but we’ll go and see her...together.” He stalked to the bottom of the bed, his vivid eyes darkening as he studied me leaning against the pillows. “I want you to tell me everything that happened to all of you since those bastards ripped us apart. But right now, I don’t give a shit about anyone else but you.”

He unfastened the towel and let it drop from his hips. Blood roared through my ears, my heart beating hard against my chest wall. Holding my gaze, he kneeled and lowered his body forward over mine supporting his weight with his hands flat against the wall to either side of my head.

“I want to kiss you, Ember.” His words were heavy with lust...but I didn’t miss the slight tremble in his voice. He needed this reconnection, just as much as I did. My voice deserted me, so I nodded my head. A tiny, and damn sexy, smirk curled the side of his mouth. “Words, sweetheart.”

“Yes.” Was all I could manage. I’d done nothing but dream about being back in his arms with his mouth on mine. Now we had a second chance with each other and his scent and warmth and godsdamned sexy body were overwhelming my heightened senses. Prime’s rumble filled my head and I let him meet Connor’s gaze.

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