Make Me Burn (Rich Demons of Darkwood #4)

by C.R. Jane

“Another of my father’s worshippers. This one with a replica of his face. I woke up and thought it was him, sitting on the edge of my bed.” I shivered again at the memory. Staring around the room, I wasn’t sure I would be able to sleep in here by myself ever again. Stellan suddenly lunged towards my lamp and threw it against the wall, a loud howl of rage echoing around the room as he smashed it into a million pieces. Remington and I both stared at him in shock.

Stellan shook his head in disgust before striding over to me, pulling me against him, and smashing his lips against mine. I fucking swooned.

The lock disengaged on the door, and a second later, Cain was standing in the doorway…wearing those motherfucking grey sweatpants that showed off every inch of the anaconda I was now extremely familiar with. A little moan leached from my throat and he grinned, or should I say smirked. Cain didn’t really smile like a normal person. Every edge of his smile was laced with arrogance. It was half of his charm.

didn’t mention the strike of fear and then rage that lanced through my insides when I’d first seen him and thought he really was my father. But I had a feeling Cain could see it, as he stared at me with his

piercing gaze, the one that made you want to spit out all your secrets simply to see if he still loved you at the end.

Cain stared at the ceiling like he was praying for patience. Except I wasn’t sure why he’d look up there to pray. We both knew his master was below him. I ate my somehow still warm dish as the guys

talked quietly among themselves, as if they were afraid their voices could raise the dead. He’s dead, guys, no need to whisper. I can promise you he doesn’t mind.

No one ever talks about what having a huge pole shoved in your ass feels like afterwards. #worthit

“I think we should forgive and forget,” I added, even as I was thinking that I would do neither.

During the daylight, my confessions were kept under lock and key, but in the nighttime, I let them out. And I gave them to her. Because she was the only person who could understand that the scars we wear hidden under our skin are the worst ones. They’re the ones that do the most lasting damage, that dig into our souls and rip away at any good in us.

“Sometimes I think you’re right,” she whispered back. And I was grateful she wasn’t coddling me, or filling the room with useless platitudes. Because that would cheapen the moment. Cheapen this thing between us.

I only hope that after I win this fight, and I actually have something to offer her…that she won’t think I’ve already fucked it all up. That it won’t be too late. Because, despite the fact that I don’t deserve her, that I never will... I need Aurora to be mine.

“I’ll be free,” he said. “I won’t owe Cain’s daddy for taking me in anymore. And…Once you get over this, I’ll be able to give you what you deserve. Instead of Cain and the others footing the bill for everything.” “You know you don’t need money to be their equal.”

“You might as well be the only woman in the room whether they’re here or not,” Cain said. It was so sweet I would’ve melted, and then Cain added, “Because I can never take my eyes off you…in case you drug my drink or stab me in the back.” “Sweet talker.”

Stellan grabbed our hands, which were still pressed against my chest, and he brought my hand to his lips, pressing a feather-soft kiss on my skin. “I don’t think our story is a fairy tale by any stretch of the imagination. But that’s okay. Because the heroes in those books don’t destroy the whole world to make the heroine happy. And that’s what I’ll do to make you happy. There isn’t a line I won’t cross, a law I won’t break, a human being I won’t destroy…in

in order to keep a smile on your face and prove what we have is the realest version of love that could exist. I’m going to make sure there isn’t a day that goes by, for the rest of our lives, that you don’t know you’re everything I’ve ever wanted out of life. That you’re all that exists for me. Without you...I’m nothing.” I was fucking swooning right then. Stellan’s

love seemed necessary to my existence now. I needed his words to keep me from falling into the darkness that followed me everywhere. I needed his devotion and hi...

The Demon was right….parts of me had become weak. Parts of me felt…way too much. But I’d rather die than give him up. Give them up.

Stellan leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, looking distant, the way Stellan often did. Like he was better than us. “Come on, don’t be a pussy,” I taunted Pax. “You hurt the girl and now you’re too chicken shit to face her? What’s the point of being such a badass in the ring when you’re so fucking weak outside of it?” He swung at me. I knew he would. And that was when Stellan darted around him and jabbed the Taser up under his ribs. Pax’s face went from murderous intent to wide-eyed alarm as his body stiffened at all the electricity coursing through his body. Stellan, who was not stupid, kept it up until Pax was completely down on the ground, his muscles painfully tense. I threw Pax over my shoulder, knowing he’d recover fast. Then we threw my best friend in the trunk for the ride home.

The words made me realize that it was true; these men made me happy even if they also made me

crazy, and they’d put a smile across my face that was so intense my cheeks hurt.