“Don’t make me blow this house down,” I call out.
“Go away!” She sounds riled up. “I don’t want you here anymore.”
I step back and consider my options. Breaking the door down would be heavy handed, but it felt slightly more romantic than picking the lock.
“You’re leaving me no choice out here!” I called back, getting ready. “Are you going to let me in?”
She hesitated to answer. Then she raised her voice. “No! You went straight to Eden when we... had a fight. You don’t get to just come back.”
A fight? That’s what she calls viciously attacking me because I told her I loved her? Yeah, I’m definitely breaking this door down. I can fight just as hard to win her dark heart as she tried to fight against her feelings. I know she has them. I know she loves me. She just doesn’t know how to deal with that.
I hear her walk away. I take a run at the door, then another. The bang my body makes slamming into the wood is loud enough to make my ears ring. Two more attempts and the wood around the lock breaks. I stumble into the hallway, rubbing at my bruised arm.
She’s standing at the end of the hall, gaping at me with those rose-pink lips spread apart.
“You locked me out,” I tell her. “I won’t let you do that again.”
She crosses her arms, pulling her usual superior demeanour back together. It’s fake, but she doesn’t think I know that. “What, Eden doesn’t want you, so you think you can just come back here and use me? Think again.” She makes a move to head up the stairs.
I close the distance and grab hold of her wrist. Her skin is so easily broken. There are still marks where she’d struggled in the handcuffs. She tries to pull away and I don’t let her.
“Eden just helped me to think more clearly.” I move closer to make it easier to pull her into my arms. She makes a frustrated noise under her breath as I grab her waist and pull her in close. She’s almost my height standing on that bottom step in her heels. I can see through her glower. I’d caught glimpses before of what lay beneath the surface. The desperation for any scrap of consideration. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you before. I was being selfish. I didn’t realise how good I had it until Eden spoke to me.”
She flinches at the mention of Eden’s name. “Stop fucking with me, Logan. I saved your life and I can undo that if I want to.”
“You don’t want to.” I’m sure of that. She could have buried me in that box she’d tried to get me to put Asher inside. She’d had the opportunity. Twice now. I’d let my guard down around her. She wouldn’t have had that first chance if I hadn’t. “You love me as much as I love you.”
It sounds strange to be saying that to anyone other than Eden, but it’s the truth. I barely know any of the little things about this woman, this Goddess, but I know I would follow her to hell and back if she would only just open up that dark heart of hers to let me in.
“You’re twisted,” she whispers, her dark eyes glassing over. “You can’t love me. I’m not capable...”
“You’ve saved me more than once now. Give me the chance to save you.”
She trembles under my touch. Her heart hammers when I pull her closer, feeling her chest rise and fall against mine. I press my lips to her wrist, kissing her softly at the pulse-point. She shivers against me. “I can’t be saved. I’m a Dark Forces Goddess, Logan. I don’t think you know what that means.”
I look her in the eye. “It means you’ve never known love. You don’t know what it feels like. No-one ever told you what you were worth. No-one ever cared.”
Tears begin to fall from her eyes as she shakes her head. “That’s not true.”
“If Asher had loved you, we never would have met. So don’t try to tell me that idiot cared.”
She sniffs. “You don’t know that. I pushed him away. I pushed until he stopped giving a shit.”
“And it didn’t take long, did it?” I can tell it didn’t. I know I’m going to have to hurt her a little to make her open up. It feels right, in a deeply twisted way. It’s what she needs. “He let you go. He didn’t realise you were so fucking hungry for love that you couldn’t stand to be around someone who’d never understand why you had to push him away instead of pulling him closer. He never could have given you what you needed. I’m not him. And you can push me all you want, I’m not going to move.”
She sobs, and the tears fall faster. Her hand covers her mouth as she shakes her head. I give her a second and she pulls herself together enough to speak.
“You don’t know what you’re saying, Logan.” Her voice is strained, weak.
“If you really don’t want me here, take back what you did.” I don’t know what else to do to show her I mean it. “Just let me kiss you once last time so I can die happy.”
I move my hand from her waist to her cheek, wiping at her tears with my thumb before I lean in and kiss her tear-stained lips. She wraps her arms around me and I move back instead of deepening it, resting my head against hers. “What do you want, Diana? More than anything?”
I know this is a choice for her. Eden did more than issue commands when she sent that light into me. She gave me understanding. I don’t know how that works, exactly, but I know everything I need to know right in this moment. Diana can’t love me and remain a Goddess. It wouldn’t work. This is the same decision Eden made when she pushed me away. I wasn’t enough for her, she hadn’t wanted to give up being a Goddess for me. The thought of that stings and I’m afraid Diana may make the same choice. Of all the women in this world, I have to fall for the actual Goddesses. I close my eyes, waiting for Diana to speak, praying she won’t push me away.
“I want...” Her voice trembles and she pauses to swallow, “I want you, Logan.”
I open my eyes, breathing out a sigh of relief. I pull her into a tight hug. She rests her head on my shoulder, getting my T-shirt damp with her tears.
“I love you,” she whispers.
The tension drains out of me when I hear the words. It’s as if the world got lighter suddenly.
“I love you, Diana.” I pull her into a proper kiss when she raises her head. My lips crush against hers, taking in the darkly sweet taste of her. It’s a taste I’ll always crave. She thinks her heart is black. I’m going to show her it’s not. That dark side of hers will always be there, just like mine, but there’s compassion underneath. I saw that when she came to me in the desert. Neither of us are lost causes. We’re capable of saving each other. This is a new beginning for both of us.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Eden
Spending the night lying around watching TV with Asher and Nick is pure bliss. The awkwardness is gone between them. We feel more like a threesome now. I rest my head on Asher’s shoulder while Nick rubs my feet. It takes a second to realise the ringing noise is coming from my phone, which I left on the kitchen counter. I get up to grab it, leaving my men on the couch. The call is from an unknown number, and it’s getting late, so I hesitate to answer.
Asher turns on the couch. “You’re not answering that?”
“Unknown number,” I tell him, ready to end the call.
He gets up and comes over, taking the phone out of my hand. “Hello?”
His smile makes me wonder what’s going on. “Hey, Eli. Yeah, Eden’s right here. I’ll get her.”
My mouth drops open. “How...”
“I might have given him your number.” He passes me the phone and goes back to the couch.
I’m still in shock at Asher’s reveal when I put the phone to my ear.
“Um, hey, Eli.”
“Hi, Eden. I’m sorry for the late call.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “So what’s up?”
“I was thinking about you.”
His voice has a hint of gravel to it. I hadn’t noticed that before. Combined with his ever so slightly suggestive tone, it’s making my stomach do flips. “You were?”
“You’re a hard woman to forget about, Eden. I don’t think I can wait for the
beer festival to see you again.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I’ll be in Rapture on Sunday. We could go for a drive.”
“Sounds good to me... Wait. I’m not riding in the back...”
He laughs. “I won’t bring the cop car.”
“What about the uniform?”
“It’s my day off. Maybe I’ll put it in the trunk. You can see if you can convince me to put it on.”
“Deal. What time?” We make the date and I hang up, excited already at the thought of spending time with him. Those gorgeous lips, that muscular body. I’m going to be all over him like a heat rash in July. Whoa. Slow down, Eden. Remember it’s a first date. Yeah, can’t go full uniform and handcuffs fetish until at least date three... Ugh, no. I’m going to have to come up with a hard rule for this one. He’s just too tempting. His dark secret will only be given to me once he really trusts me. And you can’t have love without trust, so, I’m going to have to hold off on jumping into bed with him until that happens. More than that, I want to be sure he’s a good fit with Nick and Asher before I let myself love him.
I head back to the couch and settle in between my guys.
“So, what’s Eli like then?” Nick asks, a glint in his eyes.
Asher smiles at me. “When are you seeing him?”
“I’ll see him on Sunday.” I turn to Nick. “You’ll meet him soon enough.”
I get comfy again and this time the blissful feeling results in dozing off. It’s been a long day. Getting Diana together with Logan should apparently stop me from needing to rush around helping people to make up for choosing to help a friend who’s resistant. Cupid snuck back for a few seconds when I went to the bathroom to let me know my plan had worked. Diana had chosen Logan over remaining a Goddess. They were both mortal now, and no longer a threat. Thankfully he’d waited until I was washing my hands to appear.
I wake back up again when Asher is laying me down on a bed. It’s dark, but I can tell it’s not my bedroom. I won’t be sleeping in there again until the balcony door is bricked off. I’d already mentioned it to Nick and Asher.
“I fell asleep.” I yawn and try to sit up as he arranges the covers for me.
“You did.”
“Are you staying?” I saw a case at the bottom of the stairs earlier.
“I am. We both are.” He covers me and leans in to kiss me softly on the lips.
I smile as I close my eyes. I can’t find the words to express how elated I am at how well everything has turned out. I know I’m on my way to having everything I could possibly desire. Caring about what the world might think seems silly now. I wouldn’t give up what I have for anything.
“Sweet dreams, Eden.”
Author’s Note
Wild Hearts is just the second step in Eden’s journey as a Goddess of Love. Book three is coming very soon and the rest of the books in the series will be released roughly one month apart after that. So if you love this book and can’t wait for more, make sure you do at least one of the following:
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Copyright
All rights reserved. Thank you for buying an authorized edition and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning or distributing any part of this novel in any form without permission of the author.
Romy Lockhart is a pen name of S.S. Martin, who writes fantasy novels under her maiden name.
Copyright © S.S. Martin writing as Romy Lockhart 2018
This book is a work of fiction and includes the creation of fictional towns. Any resemblance to real persons or places is purely coincidental.
Cover art by Mayhem Cover Creations
http://mayhemcovercreations.com
Wild Hearts (Rock Goddess Reverse Harem Book 2) Page 19