Page 49 of A Summoned Husband

“What?” It made me confused about his meaning half the time.

“Another side effect of our marriage. Your feelings are now mine. I feel your sorrows. I house your pain.” His hand lifted slightly, gliding lightly over my arm until goosebumps pebbled my skin and my teeth chattered.

I gently rotated my shoulder. Any hint of pain was gone.

“You house my pain?”

“Yes.”

I shook my head at the words. “What does that mean?”

“It means all the emotions demons usually don’t have to feel, I feel now. All the bothersome things we are normally immune to, I am immune to no longer.” He ran his hand along my jaw. “Because you hold my key. My wife.”

The title made me shift away. “Only by accident.”

“Hmm,” he hummed low.

“And not for long, right? You’re going to undo it?”

His tongue dragged a slow line over his bottom lip. The movement drew my eyes and made my stomach knot. I watched the muscles in his jaw flex like he was trying to force his lips to remain closed and it annoyed me I didn’t understand what it meant or what he was doing. Asmodeus looked like he always fought against the answers he gave me and it made me question whether I should trust him.

“You are going to undo it, right?” I shouldn’t be married to a demon. No one should be. And I shouldn’t be hunted by a witch’s fury, whatever the hell that was. I was just Eden. Boring Eden Perez who designed houses and small businesses. Who didn’t want the responsibility of pets or children. Boring Eden who didn’t even want the responsibility of a boyfriend let alone a husband. I was single, boring Eden who only unwound when she was with her girls.

I wasn’t this person who lived the kind of life that only made sense on the pages of a book or in the movies. I wasn’t built for supernatural adventures.

No ma’am, not me.

“Are you in a hurry to be free of me, Eden?” he asked.

I hated the way his voice sounded. It was a low sound with a timbre meant to seduce. It was the harsh sound of something I knew would apply just the right pressure.

You’re afraid of him, Eden. I reminded myself. He’s a demon.

I tore my eyes away from his lips and pressed them closed. “What’s happening to me?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re infected with my sin.”

Confusion moved through me. I wish there was a book that could explain what all this meant, but the only book I thought would shine any light on demons, Asmodeus had laughed at.

“Infected with your sin? What the hell does that mean?” My constant questions were beginning to annoy me. I felt like I was brand new. Not a clue to anything that was going on.

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Lust.”

My eyes snapped open but I couldn’t put the space I wanted between us. His finger was folded under my chin and the fatigue I had been begging for settled into my bones, making me sink into his hold. “Like magic? You cast a spell on me or something?”

“No.”

“Wouldn’t a demon lie?”

“I cannot lie to you, Eden.”

My heart hammered in my chest but my mind told me to lean into him. To find a home in his strong arms.

Eden, girl, what the fuck?

It had just been too long since I had sex, that’s all. My body was forgetting he was a demon. Of course she was, she was needy. And I had been starving her.

The last guy I slept with was Matt. That was… I couldn’t even remember. It was winter. Before New Years, I think. So maybe around November.