“You won’t have to see me again.”
“Roxy,” he growled, so loud I startled.
I blinked up at him.
“You are not going any-fucking-where, you hear me?”
I shook my head and the tears fell, no matter how hard I tried to fight them. “Why? Why would you want that? I can’t…I can’t be here, and not…while you…”
“While I what?”
“While you hate me.”
He moaned, the sound distressed, broken. “Hate you?” He shook his head and dropped to his knees in front of me, his massive arms wrapping around my waist. “I’m not angry at you, I’m fucking furious with myself. I’m here, kitten,” he choked out, “to beg your forgiveness. To fucking plead with you not to leave me. I remember, baby, I remember every moment with you, every fucking beautiful second we spent together.” He made a rough, wrecked sound in the back of his throat. “And I remember what I did, I remember how I got this,” he said and pressed his fist to the center of his chest, over the scar there. The scar I’d given him. “How I fucking blew us apart.”
I stared down at him in shock. I shook my head, confused, scared, but gods, hopeful. “I wasn’t thinking straight,” I rasped. “Sera followed me, she offered Lucifer a deal… I should have said no, I should never have agreed to it, but I hurt so much and I…I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I just wanted the pain to go away, and Lucifer…”
“Lucifer used the situation to get what he wanted.”
I nodded.
He rose and lifted me, pressing his forehead to mine and gripped the front of my jacket, his jacket. “I’ve hurt you, kitten, in the worst fucking ways imaginable. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m begging you for it all the same.” He swiped his thumbs over my cheeks, over my tearstained face. “Please, Roxy, please give me a chance to prove to you that I’m worthy of you, that I’m worthy of your love.”
I stared into his glowing eyes. “The price you paid was more than you ever deserved,” I choked out. “You didn’t want Sera, you never wanted her. I know that now. You did it for me. Lucifer gave you an impossible choice. I forgive you, my love. I forgave you a long time ago.”
He shuddered against me, his huge body trembling. “You won’t leave me?” he said with hope in his voice. “You’ll stay?”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “For centuries, I have loved you from afar, craved you, missed you. Being right here, by your side, is all I’ve ever wanted.”
He closed his eyes, an agonized sound coming from him as he cupped my face and pressed his forehead to mine.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I said.
He slid his thumbs over my cheeks. “Neither can I.” Then he kissed me, slow and deep. His breath shook when he finally lifted his head. “Can I take you to my den, baby? Will you come home with me? If you wanna go to Hell, that’s okay too. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you, Rox, yeah?”
I shook my head. “Take me to your den, Loth. I want you to take me home.”
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Lothar
* * *
I gripped Roxy’s hand as we walked into the clubhouse. War’s head shot up, and Relic, who stood beside him with his mate, took a step forward. Fern grabbed his hand and shook her head. Realization lit his eyes before a huge smile curled his lips.
My brothers hung back, not stopping us as we took the door down to the dens and rushed along the cavern. Good thing, too, because there was no stopping me. Our mating had been something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I had assaulted my female. She submitted, but she’d done that for me, to protect me. I hadn’t given her any other fucking choice. We could never go back and change that. We could never get that moment in time back.
So I would make this mating the one we remembered.
“Roxy?”
We spun around at the sound of Lucifer’s voice. I snarled, fury lashing through me.
He lifted his hands, rings glinting off the wall sconces. “I know I hurt you both, beyond measure, and I will never forgive myself for my selfish act. Seeing you together…” His gaze slid to Roxy and he swallowed thickly. “I’m happy for you. I wanted this for you, both of you.”
“I’m not going back to Hell with you,” Roxy said, her voice instantly full of pain.
