Lover (Betrothed 3)

I guided her around to face me so I could kiss those lips with the same passion that I kissed her everywhere else. My hand cupped her cheek, and I kissed her aggressively. I lost control and fell into the chemistry between our bodies. My hand pushed down the front of my boxers so I could get naked and take her to bed.

But then she extinguished the fire.

She pulled her face away and pressed her hands against my chest to put distance between us. Her eyes fell as if she couldn’t look me in the eye. “I’m not ready…”

Disappointment washed over me, and my body was so hot that even an ice bath couldn’t cool me down. I would respect any request she made, never push her to do something she didn’t want to do, but I thought she needed a nudge. “Baby, I’m not him.”

“I know…”

“I’ll wait as long as you want me to wait. But it’s always going to be hard until we take that next step. We need to push through it and move on with our lives.” I searched her face, hoping she would change her mind. I knew she wanted me, knew she still desired me. “It’s you and me. It’s different with us.”

She wouldn’t budge. “I’m sorry.”

I swallowed all my frustration and let it disappear. This was something that couldn’t be rushed, and I had to be patient a while longer. Once I composed myself, I slid my fingers under her chin and forced her gaze to rise to meet mine. “You are worth the wait.” My arms circled her waist and brought her closer to my chest. My lips rested against her forehead, and I gave her a kiss. I was getting less action as a married man than I did as a bachelor, but that was okay. As long as we were still together, we would be okay.

20

Sofia

I sat across from Hades in the dining room downstairs. My mother sat beside me, rambling on about bullshit neither one of us cared about. I loved my mother, but since she’d lost her husband, she talked a million miles a minute because she didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Sometimes, it was overwhelming for the two of us, especially Hades since he was a quiet man.

Hades drank from his wineglass and kept eating, his gaze averted and his mind somewhere else. Our relationship was slightly tense after the way I’d rejected him a few days ago. He didn’t seem angry with me or resentful, but there was a hint of disappointment.

My mother continued to talk about the baby. “I hope it’s a boy. I only have experience raising one daughter, so it’ll be nice to do something different.”

Hades seemed confident the baby was his, but sometimes I feared otherwise. It haunted me in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. The last thing I wanted was to give birth to my son or daughter and then see Maddox when I looked into their face. I wanted to be prepared.

When dinner was finished, my mother wouldn’t stop talking, so I had to cut her off so we could go to bed. She didn’t seem aware of Hades’s annoyance, so she never took our subtle cues to be quieter. We said goodnight, and Hades and I walked up the stairs to our bedroom.

He was silent and a bit moody because he hated our family dinners. He wasn’t so bitter about it when we tapered down our meals with my mother from five days a week to two. But now, it seemed like even two days were too much.

Instead of pointing it out, I chose to be more positive. “Thank you for putting up with her.”

He continued to face forward as he walked beside me.

“I know she talks a lot. She’s just lonely.”

He cleared his throat before he spoke. “It’s fine.”

I knew it wasn’t fine, but I appreciated him saying that anyway. I grabbed his hand and held it.

He squeezed mine in response.

When we entered the bedroom, we got ready for bed. I continued to undress in front of him and didn’t shield my body from his gaze. He didn’t look at me or make me uncomfortable. He took my request seriously and backed off. In fact, he purposefully turned his head away whenever I was unclothed, as if the sight of me was too much to handle.

He sat up in bed, shirtless against the headboard. He held his phone between his fingers, and he seemed to be reading emails and paperwork.

I got under the sheets on my side of the bed and turned to him.

When he felt my stare, he set his phone on the nightstand and gave me his full attention. He turned off the bedside lamp and then cuddled up to me. He pulled our bodies close together, and as always, he was hard in his boxers. He immediately closed his eyes like he was ready to go to sleep.