Page 19

Haden

W e arrived at the home Della had finished building for us. She was watching me closely, taking in my reaction. The last time I was here, it was torture because I could not enjoy it, thinking I would not get to live there with her.

“You’ve already seen it.” She smiled. “Please tell me what you think about it.”

I gripped her hand in mine and felt my throat burn with emotions. “This is the most meaningful thing you could have ever done for me, Storm. You made it so much better than I ever would have.”

She squeezed my hand and smiled. Her gaze moved around the area. “It’s so strange being here and remembering a life with you that seemed like so long ago.”

Grief tugged inside of me. There would always be a part of me that longed for our life from before. Where would we be in life if I hadn’t been killed?

“It was short, but that was a good life.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and tugged her into me. “I love you; let's go make some new memories.”

We walked into the house together, and we both stood in the entrance, taking in the feeling of coming here after so long. This is where we should have always been, here, together.

Della smiled as she looked around. I realized how clean the home was.

“Did you come and clean?”

She laughed softly. “That would be your father, Henry. Since he retired, he has been driving your mother nuts. He helped me learn how to build the home, and he cleans it for me—for us.”

I swallowed hard. I loved my family, and if they had been my actual parents, then I would have been a man worthy of Della. There would be no bad parts to me.

“How are my lovely parents doing?”

“They miss you.” She swallowed hard. “Maybe we can have them over for dinner in the next few days.”

“Actually, I think we should go there. I miss their home.”

She nodded. Della and I set down our bags and immediately gravitated to the kitchen. I smiled when I saw food already made.

“You made me food.” Della was fidgeting nervously as I stared at her before she nodded slightly. “You can’t cook.”

She had tried before and had burnt everything she ever tried to make. I glanced at her, and her cheeks flushed.

“I wanted to learn. It used to make me feel good when you did things for me, like cook or start a bath, so I was hoping it would make you happy too.”

Her words made my chest squeeze with love. Gods, I fucking loved Della with everything I possessed. I smiled at her and stepped toward her so I could kiss her.

“This makes me very happy, Storm.”

“Well, hopefully it tastes alright. I had your parents teach me a couple of times, and they didn’t ever turn out.

” Della laughed, and the noise warmed me from deep in my chest. I swallowed hard as my eyes took in everything about her.

She looked so happy, and I realized that was all I needed to be happy too.

I sat down when Della did. I could see her happiness shining in her eyes. I made her happy, and that made me so fucking happy that someone found me so worthy to love.

“Don’t hold back if it tastes terrible.”

I took a bite and groaned at how good it was. Della didn’t eat; she watched me with a smile. “You’re a natural.”

“No, I’m not. I burnt the first steaks I tried to make before I came to get you. This was the second attempt,” she laughed carelessly. “I also had to remake the bread twice.”

I chuckled as I watched her try a bite, seeming surprised with herself.

“How was your day?” I asked.

She glanced up at me, and I saw a flash of worry in her eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“I’m not used to having someone ask me how my day was.” She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but it was new to me too. “I missed this.” She was blinking rapidly, like tears were about to fall.

“Me too.” I paused for a moment. “Do you remember our last morning together?”

Tears fell down her face. “Yes. You knew you were going to die.” She frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I smiled softly at her as I reached across the table and held her hand in mine.

“I wanted to have one more perfect day with you. It needed to happen so that I could come back as yours. I didn’t want to ruin our time together.”

Della stood up and came over to me, sliding onto my lap and wrapping herself around me. I hugged her tightly, breathing in her scent that had been ingrained in my heart since I first met her.

“I’m glad you didn’t tell me. But wouldn’t you want to know if our time was limited?”

I pulled her back and wiped her tears from her face before tucking her hair back behind her ear.

“Yes,” I whispered. “So that I could change fate again because I am not as strong as you, Storm. I would die without you. I could not survive 300 years without you. I couldn’t survive three years or days without you. ”

“You are much stronger than you are giving yourself credit for.” She brushed my hair off my forehead. “If anything ever happens to me, promise you will not do anything stupid. You will be strong until I return to you.”

My eyes bounced between hers. “Is something wrong?”

She looked like she was scared of something.

“No, but I don’t like thinking that you would do something, and I would come back to find you gone.”

“I promise, I will always wait for you.” I pulled her to me, knowing that something was wrong with her. She was keeping something from me. Mateo’s words came back, but I tried to dismiss them. What if she was lying to me? “Don't you think it is odd that I have magic and none of my siblings do?”

Her whole body tensed ever so slightly. Fuck, she was keeping things from me.

“No.” She lied. “Maybe the heavens know that you are not like your siblings. You are far kinder than they are.”

I nodded but it was only to throw her off. How did she know I was kinder than my siblings unless she had met or seen them? I knew I couldn’t be angry with her because I had been keeping my own secrets too, but something about this seemed worse.

“You never came to Hell, did you?” I asked. Della pulled back and gave me a look that was meant to throw me off, but it didn’t work. “I won’t be angry if you have secrets from me, but Mateo said that you had to come to Hell and give me magic. Is that true?”

“Mateo is a snake who is trying to make you doubt this, and you’re falling for it.” She glanced between my eyes. Her words had their intended impact for only a moment.

“If you are hiding something, you can tell me. I will not be upset.”

Della’s eyes flashed with worry, and it took my breath away. She was really worried about me pushing this.

“I can see that you are terrified about this, so I will drop it. But I hope you will tell me soon.” I grabbed her face in my hands and stared her in the eyes. “I love you; you know that, right? It scares me that you do not trust me to tell me something.”

“I do trust you,” she whispered. “I will tell you, but I just want to relax with you for a few days first—away from reality. We have been apart for years, and I just miss being close to you.”

Leaning forward, I gave her a chaste kiss before pulling her to me.

I buried my face in her neck and inhaled the scent that told me I was home.

Della sighed contently, and after a few minutes her entire body relaxed.

Her soft breathing told me she was sleeping.

It wasn’t that late, but she looked exhausted, like something was weighing down on her.

I lifted her up and carried her up the stairs and to the bedroom that now had a large bed in it.

Slowly, I laid her down and helped her out of her dress.

I tugged my tunic off and slipped it on her.

She rolled over and continued to sleep. I started a small fire before crawling into bed next to her so I was facing her.

“What are you hiding from me, Storm?”

She snuggled into me and clung to me like I would be ripped away from her again. I would figure it out. Nothing was going to take me from her again.

?★★★?★★★?

When I woke up, Della was curled against me, clutching me as if I would disappear while she slept. That persistent ache of longing in my chest did not make itself known today. I felt lighter. I actually slept well; I didn’t have nightmares.

I kissed the top of Della’s head, and she let out a content little sigh that made me smile.

This felt right. This felt good. I slipped out of the bed, moving my pillow so she could grip onto something.

I slipped on my trousers and headed down to make us breakfast. I wanted to do something nice for her.

So, I immediately rummaged through the food and found enough things to make a decent breakfast.

I worked on it as quietly as I could, hoping I could wake her up in bed with it. The permanent smile on my face made my cheeks hurt. I couldn’t believe she was here with me. Looking over the plate of berries, sweet bread, and meat, I decided to sneak out and get one other thing.

I slipped a shirt on and headed to the field in the back so I could pick her flowers.

I grabbed mostly orange flowers, remembering that she said it was her favorite color.

Walking back to the house, I rearranged them in a way that looked prettier.

When I walked inside, Della was standing in the kitchen looking worried.

As soon as I smiled at her, I saw her relax.

“I thought you left,” she whispered, and I realized she thought I left her again.

I walked to her and gave her a kiss before giving her the flowers. Her eyes glowed brighter than I had ever seen. “I went to get you these to go with your breakfast.”

Her eyes drifted to the small counter where a plate of food sat. “You cooked for me?”

She took a hesitant step forward before smiling. When she looked up to me, I could see in her eyes that no one had ever done such a thing for her.

“You remembered my favorite color.” Her smile was contagious.

“I was hoping it was still the same.”

“Your soul is still orange, so yes.”

I swallowed hard at her confession.