Page 87 of Blood Sweeter than Honey

Her reddened, tear-swollen eyes search mine as if she can’t quite believe my reaction.

“What the heck were you so afraid of, angel?”

Her lower lip trembles and it makes my heart fucking squeeze.

“I thought that—that you wouldn’t want me anymore.”

I can’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it.

“Baby, you could grow an asshole in the center of your forehead, and it wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”

Winnow bursts into a watery laugh that ends on a soft sob of relief.

“I mean, I might ask you to wear some panties over it because I’ll be damned if anyone but me gets to see your pretty little assholes, but I’d still love you all the same.”

A tremulous grin curls her lips as tears slip down her cheeks.

“You love me?”

I nod, brushing away the tear-soaked hair sticking to her cheeks and temple with my thumb. “Horns, tail, and all, angel. Until you, I didn’t even know what love was.”

My thumb sweeps across her jaw before I lower my head to hers, give her a lingering kiss, and lick my lips to savour the flavor of her tears.

“I was just so afraid that if…”

Her voice cracks, more tears streaking her cheeks.

“... Even in my world, a realm replete with magic, daemons tend to be shunned from society, so I thought that here it would be a million times worse. That as soon as you found out what I was, you’d change your mind and…”

Winnow’s words are cut short by a warble of emotion, and it makes my heart weep that she was ever afraid I wouldn’t love every single part of her.

Sweeping away her tears, I press a kiss to her forehead.

“Angel, you couldn’t possibly be more perfect than you already are. All the parts of yourself that you doubt are part of what I love most about you. Whether it be your horns, or thefact you’ve survived unimaginable horror at the hands of others, and yet somehow, you’re still sweeter than fucking honey. I’ve never met another person so kind, warm, caring, affectionate, and loving. Someone who has had so much taken from them, yet it doesn’t stop them from giving. Everything about you steals my breath.”

Winnow shakes her head as if in disbelief at my swift and unconditional acceptance.

“How is it that you don’t even seem surprised?”

I huff a laugh at all the times I’d seriously considered if I was having some kind of critical cerebral event.

“Since you arrived, I’ve seen flashes of your horns and flowers here and there. At first, I thought I was hallucinating or having an aneurysm, until one morning I woke up with your tail wrapped around my thigh… And every morning since.”

I can practically hear Winnow’s jaw clatter to the floor.“You mean, you knew?! This whole time?! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Well, for one, the moment you woke up, your tail, flowers, and horns would disappear, so I just assumed you were hiding yourself out of fear. I didn’t want to corner you andforceyou into revealing something that you clearly were scared of telling me, and I don’t blame you, considering you’re in a world with no magic that’s filled with trigger-happy humans. I figured I’d just continue proving to you in all the ways I know how that I love you in every way, and in all forms.”

WINNOW

Never in my life have I felt so seen. Even without words, simply the way this man looks at me, I feel as if he loves and appreciates all that’s now revealed. Good and bad.

It prompts me to tell him the rest of my past, my time at the Paltorian war camp’s prison, and everything that I’ve tried to hide or hadn’t dared to speak of–like the loss of my wings. By the time I finish, my hands are shaking and tremors are running through my body. The silent tears that slip down Gideon’s cheeks momentarily make me second-guess having confided all of my past, but he simply holds me tighter and brings his forehead to mine.“I wish more than anything I could have saved you.”

Just when I think my love for this man couldn’t burn any brighter…

Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, my hand cups his jaw as I press a salty kiss to his lips.“But you have.”

WINNOW

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