Page 42 of Absolved In Death

She swung around so her thick thighs were on either side of my lap. Her hands cupped my face, and she kissed me right on the lips. “Thank you, Bash. I know offering is hard for you.”

My cock thickened beneath her, and I shut down the knee-jerk reaction to retort‘Not harder than my cock, Birdie’. I pulled out the handful of compassion I had in my shriveled black heart and said, “Not harder than this entire situation must be for you. I can feel your pain through our bond.”

The ease in which the words spilled from my lips shocked me.

“Does it make me an awful person that I would rather her go through this, even if it’s an agony she didn’t choose, than no longer have her at all?”

I rubbed my thumb along her full lower lip, hating to see my woman in pain. The anguish on her face made me want to find Bain, have him reanimate those soldiers, and then kill them again myself. I pulled her into me, until my mouth was right outside her ear. A full body shudder worked its way down her and I stomped on my urge to blow onto the sensitive skin and nibble down her neck.

“No, it means you love her,” I whispered.

“I really do,” she muttered before her soft sobs reappeared.

I stood, carrying her bridal style to the iron four poster bed in her room. It was similar to the one in the old house, but we made some upgrades. It had an attached ensuite, bringing the total number of bathrooms to seven. One for each of us, with a guest powder room in the hallway. It was ridiculous to expect six people to share one bathroom like we had at the Costa Compound. The closet was double the size, with hidden compartments and boutique style shelves. We also made sure Diana had a big enough bed that some of us could spend the night in here if she wished, without being on top of each other. Being on top of each other was fine mid-fuck, but some of us took up a lion’s share of the bed while sleeping.

It’s Ares, he’s the “some of us”.

We often woke up with his dick practically living in our asscracks. Or with him halfway on top of us or wrapped around us so tightly we couldn’t breathe.

“Bash, it’s amazing,” she gushed through a snotty sniffle.

“You’re going to save the world, Birdie. The least we can do for you is give your own space. This is your room. We each have one, with our own bathroom. And the bed is big enough for overnight guests, if you choose to have any.”

“Will you stay with me tonight?” she ran her hand through my hair. I loved the feeling of her fingers raking over my scalp.

“Always. I can’t wait to brag about how I was the first to stay the night,” I snarked. “It’ll drive them all berserk with jealousy.”

Never one to be shown up, Mal faded in with a smug smile. “Not me, because I am also staying the night. I volunteered to guard my Queen.” The fucking prick barged in on my alone time with her. Again, karma always took her cut, and I’d make sure he’d pay for his interruption.

Diana smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Thank you, Mal. You’re so thoughtful.”

“Anything for you,” he cooed. He took in his reflection in the mirror before snapping his fingers, changing into a pair of black cotton boxers. “Way more comfy.”

He slid into the bed next to her, then gathered her into his arms. Her face nuzzled into his pecs, and I wanted to smack him. He smirked at me over her shoulder.

You jealous shit,he linked me.

“Are you okay?” he asked her as he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

He had no clue how jealous I could be. Luckily for him, I was trying to be on my best behavior for her, because the last thing Diana needed was us getting into a pissing contest over her while she was so upset. I climbed into bed next to them, pressing myself into her back and running feather light touches up her outer thigh.

“Okay… Just realizing she won’t be the same person anymore.”

Mal’s lips turned down and his hand stopped moving. He scooted back a bit, and sighed, as if he was readying himself to talk about something grim.

“Before I became a hellbound demon, I was a witch just like Angela… My change was a punishment, not a last resort to save my life. But that’s okay, because it gave me a new chance at life. Becoming a hellbound made me a less bitter version of myself. I became a better man, in large part because of you.”

She sniffled, and took his face in her hands. Mal would have never said something that deep a year ago. He rarely talked about his past or how he felt about his eternal sentence. But he was right—he did change for the better. The gooey, intense way he gazed at her was such a one eighty from the glares he gave her when she first came home to us. She was the rich soil in which he grew a heart. The water and sun that gave it life.

She did the same thing to me.

“Mal’s right. She won’t be the exact same person after this. But Angela is a fighter, just like you. She’s going to come out of this shit storm as a stronger version of herself,” I assured her.

“Only time will tell,” she responded in a far off voice, as if her mind was somewhere else.

“Let’s get to bed, Queen. Tomorrow we can both take a tour of the new Pit 13,” Mal offered before kissing her cheek.

He leaned over her, and kissed my cheek, too. Once upon a time, I took his affection for granted. I hadn’t always been gentle with Mal, and sometimes I was downright dismissive when I wanted to be. Before thinking too deeply about it, I quickly weaved my fingers into his hair and captured his lips in a searing kiss.

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