Page 67 of Grave Mistakes
“That’s not the point,” I snap, inwardly seething.
“Then whatisthe point?” Crux asks, his blond brows pulled together in confusion.
“Yeah, why are you being fucking difficult? We did this to be nice,” Echo cuts in.
Anger heats my whole face, and I feel it spread up to my eyes. “I didn’t ask you to be nice. This ismyhouse. The house my parents bought and wanted to fix up to be their retirement dream home. Everything in here that wasn’t original was updated by my dad or by me. You can’t just come in here and do this.” My voice cracks, my vision blurs, and I feel a tear streak down my cheek. Fuck, why do I always have to cry when I’m pissed? Why can’t I get eye lasers or produce firebolts instead? Nope, I have to settle for angry tears instead.
Even though I quickly dash them away, both guys stiffen, and I hear Echo curse under his breath. “Fuck. Don’t cry, Jeter,” Crux says as he comes forward like someone would approach a rabid raccoon.
Seeing him walk over so carefully along with the use of the horrible nickname makes me look over at him. “I had to do every renovation in this house.Me,” I stress, patting a hand against my chest with a strong thump. “We didn’t have much, but my parents scraped to buy this house, and they were so proud…” Another tear slips down. “It was supposed to be my dad that fixed this place up, but now it’s left to me, and I—” My words cut out as my throat closes, a rough rock of emotion blocking my airway.
“And you wanted to do it yourself,” Echo finishes for me. I nod sharply and turn away, bracing my hands on the brand new countertop, the color reminding me of the demon Flint’s skin.
Part of me knows that I’m being irrational. It’s amazing that they did all this while I slept, and I know they worked hard and fast on it because they wanted to do something nice. But the shock of seeing a chunk of my dad’s to-do list knocked out in one fell swoop, when I didn’t even get to help, guts me.
“I know I’m not good at the DIY stuff,” I say quietly, breathing steadily through my nose to rein in my emotions. “But it makes me feel closer to him.”
I feel someone come up behind me, and then I’m gently turned around, and Crux is holding me against his chest. “Sorry, Delta. We didn’t know. Do you want us to take it all down?”
I know he’s completely serious as he asks me that. If I tell them to, they will. They’d rip everything right back out, and let me wallow in my overwhelming renovation repairs. My heart squeezes knowing that they’d undo all their hard work without even batting an eye. I release a deep sigh and try to let my irrational anger go. Maybe this is a sign.
Maybe it’s time for me to release my stranglehold on my parents’ dream and figure out some dreams of my own. I know in my heart that they wouldn’t care. They’re not here anymore, and it’s not like completing this house is going to bring them back.
I look up into Crux’s green eyes. The genuine concern I see staring back at me cools my irrational anger. I shake my head. “No, but thank you. Just...maybe no more surprise HGTV shit, okay?”
Crux lets me pull back, and I try to take in the new kitchen through far more reasonable lenses. He keeps one hand on my back, where he rubs soft, comforting strokes down my spine. I’m all too aware of his proximity, and when Echo comes to stand beside us, his chest touching my arm, all of my sexual frustration comes roaring back, right alongside that delicious dream that left me high and dry.
“What’s wrong with her?” Jerif gruffly asks as he pops into the room out of nowhere. I jump, adrenaline kicking my heart into overdrive at his sudden appearance. Less than a heartbeat later, Iceman is standing next to him too.
“She’s not big on surprises,” Crux replies, and Jerif grunts and runs his fingers through his flame flickering hair.
“Told you she wouldn’t like it,” he grumps, looking around at all the work Crux and Echo did.
My eyebrows lift. I’m surprised by that statement. It makes Jerif seem observant in addition to just being a prick.
He crosses his arms. “She’s been ungrateful about pretty much everything else, so I don’t know why you idiots thought this would be any different.”
Nope, not observant at all. Just a plain prick. My mistake.
Anger heats my face and douses my desire as I turn to him. I can’t believe I let my dreams convince me to fuck this dude. Not in a million years would I put up with that mouth just to get to his dick. My clit will just have to come up with a game plan that doesn’t involve the lava demon and his taciturn bullshit.
“You know what, Jerif? Fuck you.” I turn to Iceman. “Can you ward my house so his rude ass can’t get in?” I ask with complete seriousness.
Iceman shakes his head like he’s too tired to deal with this shit, but he does shoot Jerif a look. Jerif rolls his eyes and moves through the pristine new kitchen, grumbling about how he’s going to make coffee. I peek over Crux’s shoulder. Damn, apparently, I now own a super expensive coffee making thing that looks like it should belong in a Starbucks and not my house.
Well, at least Jerif’s not totally useless. Maybe he can be trained to bring me coffee and dessert anytime he has the urge to be an asshole. Knowing him, I’d be dead from an overdose of caffeine and sugar in less than forty-eight hours though, so maybe that’s not the way to go.
“Aside from surprise renovations, to what do I owe the pleasure of your demonic visit?” I ask, moving away from Echo and Crux’s sandwiching bodies as I walk out of the kitchen and go into the living room to lean against my ratty couch.
Iceman instantly looks nervous as he takes a seat on the worn cushions of my sofa. Worry flutters through me. Did they have problems at the Hellgate last night? He clears his throat and scratches at the base of one of his horns, stalling.
“Did something happen?” I ask uneasily.
“Nothing out of the ordinary, but I was hoping we wouldn’t have to talk about this right now,” he confesses, and a myriad of possible topics sweep through my mind. His blue gaze settles on my lips for a second, and heat crawls up my neck and into my cheeks.
Shit.
Did Echo or Crux tell him about how I was grinding against Echo on my couch and letting his shadows doverynaughty things to me? Is he about to lay somewe have to keep things professionallecture at my feet? Or worse...do they know about the dream somehow? I don’t fucking know what these demons are capable of, after all. They could be fucking dream readers or some shit. If Jerif knows that I let him dream fuck me up the ass, I willdie.There’s no way that fucker will ever let me live it down.
