Page 20

Chapter 20

Haden

I pushed the door open and walked in. Della glanced over her shoulder, noticing it was me, and looked back at the wall.

“Are you okay?” I asked.?

“Yes, just admiring the artwork.” She turned and held out her hand for me. The gesture seemed natural to her, like she had asked me to hold her hand before. I took her hand in mine, and she gripped it tightly. My gaze drifted over the sketches of homes on the wall.?

“He was talented.”?

“Very.” She nodded.?

Gods, I was feeling jealous over a dead man. She obviously cared for him, but to what extent??

“Was he just a friend?” I asked.?

She hesitated and opened her mouth but shut it and nodded. Something sad passed through her eyes.?

“Thank you for coming tonight,” she whispered.?

“Are you kidding? I didn’t know families could be like this. It makes me feel even shittier about my parents but also hopeful that maybe I can achieve all of this one day.”?

I heard a small sniffle from Della.?

“This is the ultimate dream.” She agreed. “We should get going, though.” She turned away.?

Suddenly, I could feel the void coming up out of nowhere. Before I had a chance to stop it, it slipped over my consciousness and took control. I closed my eyes as the shiver ran down my spine. When my eyes opened, Della was still walking away.

I could feel the overwhelming emotions I had as I realized she was here. My Storm still came to see my family. She still came to my room and admired my artwork. Something possessive and full of grief slammed into me. I had missed her so damn much that it was taking my breath away.

Gods, I wanted to tell her that I remembered us, that I knew why her eyes had become haunted when I was mentioned downstairs. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and tell her that I was sorry for what happened. Memories of her curled against my dead body slammed into my mind and made me close my eyes, but I swallowed down the emotions that were strangling me. Della was watching me oddly when I looked up, her pretty eyes filled with grief for a man that was still here; she just didn’t know it.

I couldn’t tell her that I remembered us when I was void. She would ask too many questions about my previous death, and I couldn’t explain to her what happened without her leaving me for good. So, I would pretend that I didn’t know how wonderful our short time together was and just be content with what we had now. ?

“Della, you feel it too, right? These overwhelming feelings between us?”?

She stared at me, and I wondered how the other side of me was handling this woman so well. I understood that the nice side of me didn’t think we were worthy of her, but I knew better. Della was everything we deserved. Our mating bond was glowing warmly between us, and I felt relief when I saw it. But I also felt dread because I didn’t know why the stars would let her be mated to me when they knew who I was. She stepped forward and pulled me down to her mouth, giving me a hard, lingering kiss. Fuck, I had missed this. I had missed her. ?

She pulled back, looking me in the eyes. “Yes, I feel it too.” She slipped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. “You’re perfect,” she whispered. “The heavens went above and beyond when they created you. Both sides of you are perfect to me.”

I gripped her tightly and glanced around the room. Fuck, I did not think she would still come home to my family every week. This made me realize just how much she wanted to still be close to me. After 300 years, she was still missing me. Guilt clawed at my chest. She could have had this with Holden if I hadn’t messed with her fate.

I closed my eyes and felt her chest moving with soft breaths. She smelled the same—like night and flowers. I pulled Della back and reached up to hold her face gently. After looking into her eyes for a moment, I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers softly. She hummed against me, and I knew that this was right. Della was mine, and the guilt I had for making sure she wouldn’t belong to anyone else dissipated as she deepened the kiss.

Her hands came up and ran through the hair at my neck, pulling me to her so I couldn’t leave. Fuck, she felt so good pressed against me.

Suddenly, she pulled back and moved away from me. Her gaze flickered around the room, and I saw the guilt that she had about kissing me here—where we had our first kiss last time.

“I can see that you want to bolt, but don’t,” I said, holding my hands out toward her.

“I got carried away.”

I smiled at her.

“You can get carried away with me any time you please, Della.”

She chuckled softly and held out her hand for me. I immediately slid my hand into hers, and we left my bedroom and headed back downstairs. My breath caught as I took in my family and how much they had aged. They were laughing and joking with Remiah. All of them smiled when they saw me. Stars, what was this like for them—to see me and know who I am but not be able to say anything?

I frowned slightly. I guess it was the same as how I felt about remembering Della and not being able to tell her. It was bittersweet. But Della still carried her love and grief for me. I could see it in her eyes when she watched me.

“We should probably get going.” Della smiled as they all made noises of rejection.

“You two will come back with Della?” my mother asked quickly.

“Of course,” I smiled.

I dropped Della’s hand and was the one to move forward for a hug. My mother’s familiar warmth and scent wrapped around me as she gripped me tightly. I held on a little longer this time, missing the way she had raised me, loved me. She had tears in her eyes when she pulled back but quickly moved to hide them. I moved to my father next and gripped him. He held on just as long as I did. When I pulled back, he patted my shoulder.

“You’re a good man, Haden.” His strained voice made tears sting my eyes. I turned, and Holden was already there, hugging me to him. Brother. I held him tightly before pulling back and seeing an aged version of myself.

“It was great to meet you.” Holden smiled before Sara practically shoved him out of the way and hugged me.

I could see Penelope and Henry whispering to Della. She nodded softly—sadly. I watched as they seemed to be trying to encourage her or make her happy. She seemed to feel my gaze on her and straightened up.

“Are you ready?” she asked us. We both nodded, and her starlight wrapped around us. When it disappeared, we were outside of our shitty house. Remiah thanked Della before looking between us and turning to leave immediately.

Della looked up at me and opened her mouth to talk but shut it.

“Just ask, Storm.”

“You only ever make a move on me when you’re void.”

“Because you scare me,” I answered honestly.

“Will your other side eventually catch up so we can be around each other more?”

I smiled and tucked her dark hair behind her ear.

“You want to see me more?”

“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate.

Fuck, she was pretty when she was confident. I leaned down and kissed her. This time, Della was the one to yank me flush against her. Her tongue swept across my lips. A deep hum left my throat as it dominated mine. I gripped her hair in my hands and tilted her head to the side to deepen this intoxicating kiss.

Della moaned softly as I pushed her into the side of the house below my bedroom window. My other hand came up and gripped her jaw tightly as I took complete control of her. I pulled away, kissing down her jaw and down her neck. Della sighed softly as my teeth grazed her skin. I kissed over her collarbone and then reached up and gripped the neckline of her dress.

“Do you like this dress?” I asked in a whisper.

“Kind of.”

“Good enough.” I ripped the fabric so I could see her chest as it rose and fell in heavy, lustful breaths.

“Haden,” she whispered.

“Do you want me to stop?” I asked as my finger slowly traced over her, the base of her throat, and down between her breasts.

She shook her head, and I smiled at her and then leaned my head down, licking her nipple before drawing it into my mouth. Della gasped, and I pulled away. I could not stop the desire pumping through me. There would be nothing sweet about what I was about to do to her. We had not seen each other in too long. I would give Della exactly what she wanted because my woman liked it this way—rough and untamed.

“Can you be good and not make any noise? I would hate for someone to hear you.”

“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” she sighed.

“Oh, Storm, you can be quiet for me, can’t you?”

This time her eyes widened with lust, and she nodded.

“That’s my girl.”

I leaned down and did the same thing to her other breast, and this time she was silent, pulling me to her so I wouldn’t leave. It would take divine intervention to pull me off of this woman. I kissed my way up her chest and throat before coming to her pouty lips with mine.

Della’s hands ran down my neck and gripped the top of my tunic. I heard the tear before I realized she was ripping it. I glanced down as her hands moved over my bare chest. She shoved the two sides of my tunic to the side before pulling me against her.

“I want to feel your skin against mine,” she whispered desperately.

Fuck.

My hand moved between us until I felt the bare skin of her leg and lifted the hem of her dress up with my hand.

“Will you be quiet if I sink my fingers into you?” I asked.

She nodded, but I wasn’t so sure.

I didn’t hesitate as I pumped two fingers into her. She buried her face into my neck and moaned softly. I waited for her to look up at me, and when she did, I slowly pulled my fingers back out again and then pushed them in deeper than before.

“Haden, I lied. I cannot be quiet.” She was panicking, and it made me smile. I squeezed her throat tightly as my fingers moved faster. She was trying to be quiet, but she was failing. My hand stopped moving, and she instantly went to protest.

Della used her magic to take us somewhere else, and I smiled at her. I had no idea where we were. It seemed like an abandoned, secluded house in the woods. Della’s back was against the wall as we were still outside.

“Tell me how good this feels.”

“So good,” she said in a needy tone that made me roll my hips into her. “Please keep going.” She tried to move against my fingers.

“So greedy, Storm,” I whispered as I barely moved my fingers, and she sighed heavily. “I didn’t realize you’d be so greedy to cum on my fingers,” I muttered. “Would you be this greedy for my mouth or my cock?”

“Haden, please shut the fuck up and make me cum,” she hissed.

This fucking woman.

“Answer me.”

“Yes. I would be greedy for any part of you that is willing to make me cum.” Her pretty, defiant eyes stared into mine as I smiled. Oh, I almost forgot what she liked. I shifted us so my thumb could rub her clit as my fingers started to move again.

“Fucking hell, that’s perfect. Keep doing that,” she demanded. Fuck. I kissed her hard and roughly—my tongue moving at the pace of my thumb. She was a whimpering mess. I moved my mouth away and held my hand over her mouth, knowing that it didn’t matter if she were quiet or not.

Her eyes flashed pure white and then closed tightly as I moved so I could pump into her in just the way she liked it. She shook her head, trying to warn me what I already knew was happening. Della’s hand grabbed the hem of her dress, lifting it so we could watch how fucking perfect my fingers looked sinking into her.

“Good girl, Storm,” I sighed. “You’re going to keep those pretty eyes on me when you cum.”

She nodded her head and looked up at me as her body tensed up. Oh, she was close. Her pussy clenched around me.

“That’s it, cum for me. Let me feel this greedy cunt clenching around my fingers.” I growled softly as my eyes stared into hers. Her moan was quiet only because of my hand, and she came hard and fast. Fuck, she clenched tightly around me as I pumped into her, wanting her to get every ounce of pleasure she earned. Slowly her body relaxed. I removed my fingers from her and brought them up.

Della watched me as I sucked my fingers into my mouth and cleaned her off of me before pulling them out slowly.

“Taste how good you are,” I demanded, and Della leaned forward and drove her tongue against mine. We kissed for a moment before I pulled back.

“Fuck, you are perfect.” I could feel the words ‘I love you’ on the tip of my tongue, but I held them in.

“Haden, that was so fucking good,” she said as her head fell back against the house.

We watched each other closely. Della ran her hand down my bare chest before gripping me through my trousers. I groaned, and she smiled.

“Let’s see how good you are at being quiet.” She teased, and I nearly came at the sound of her words.

“Della,” I sighed. But she didn’t listen to me as she turned us, so my back was against the house. She kissed my chest as her hands made quick work of my trousers and immediately started pumping down my hard length.

Her hand moved exactly how I liked—hard and fast, just like I taught her. Fuck, I forgot how good we were together. She looked up at me with innocent eyes, but I knew better. She sank to her knees in front of me, and I held my breath as she licked up my cock. My hands immediately went to her hair and tangled them in her silky strands.

She pulled me into her mouth, and I could not stop the moan that escaped me.

She hummed around me, and I couldn’t help pushing into her throat deeper. I was thanking the heavens for her fucking mouth.

“That’s it, Storm; just like that.”

She moved faster at the praise. I had forgotten how much she liked to hear how good she was doing. Gods be damned, I was not going to last long.

“You look so pretty with your mouth wrapped around my cock.” I moaned as I pulled her hair back, so I was slowly pulling out of her, and then I pushed forward quickly, making her moan. “You’re doing such a good job. I’m almost there,” I whispered.

She moved against me in the most perfect torture. I could feel my body tensing as she kept going, not letting up on me. She wanted to please me, and I loved that about her.

“Look at me, Della. I want to see that pretty face when I cum in your mouth.”

She obeyed immediately.

“Good girl,” I praised her and pumped into her twice more before holding her in place as I found my release, moaning softly as she took it all. After a moment, she pulled back slowly, and I yanked her up. Then I kissed her on the mouth that would be the death of me.

She sighed as my tongue tangled with hers. When I pulled back, she smiled at me.

“Well, that was a good way to end the night.” Her smile widened. Her hand flicked out, and our clothing was fixed. “How am I supposed to not jump you every time I see you?”

“Storm, you can jump me any fucking time you want. Believe me, even my nice side can’t control his fantasies about you. He is just scared.” I gripped her face in my hands. “He will not reject you, but I don’t know if he is brave enough to make the first move.”

“Are you telling me to make the first move on you?” she asked in a teasing manner.

“Hell yes, I am.”

She leaned forward and kissed me softly.