Fallen Ever After Read Online Free

surprised me. Conflicted me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want a commitment; I did. In fact, I’d imagined something more than a promise ring eventually. But that was just it…it felt too soon, and my emotions were still so new and raw. And if I was still processing it, then how did Arie feel about Katarina’s death? Hell, when you’re with somebody that long, there are bound to be residual emotions, even if that somebody was totally twisted.
    Arie tilted his head, looking up at me. “Six months? You know that’s kind of an arbitrary number.” The wounded look in his eyes took my breath away. “So what are you saying? Are you saying that you don’t want to live with me?”
    I swallowed hard. “I’m saying…now there’s no threat and we have plenty of time, so maybe we should slow down and take the time to really get to know one another.”
    It crushed me to hear Arie’s intake of breath, a thin hiss. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I’d never lived with anyone. At least not in a romantic sense. Other kids in foster care didn’t count. So much had happened, and he’d finally let go of Katarina. Or had he? I didn’t know for sure. What I did know was that it didn’t change his worry that the Sight would be harder on me as a vampire. Deep down, he had to wonder if I’d be able to handle it. It pissed me off being compared to her, and I wanted to know that he believed in me, that he knew that I was stronger than that.
    “Holly, I want you to stay. I need you with me.”
    I didn’t have an answer for him. There were no easy answers, and I wanted to stay more than anything. I just didn’t want to ruin what we had by rushing it, and it didn’t feel right staying now that my reason for being here was dead and gone. But I didn’t want to argue with him about it, either. I couldn’t stand the hurt in his eyes.
    And there were other things I had to figure out for myself. Rue, my godmother, had told me that she would take me to meet my grandmother if I wanted her to. I’d never known my parents or anyone that I was related to by blood. Blood. A ripple of hunger coursed through me.
    I nodded slowly, my only acknowledgment, because I wasn’t ready to agree to anything. “Let’s go out. Let me take a shower and then we’ll go.”
    Arie’s brows knitted together. “You drive a hard bargain, Holly. We’ll revisit this after the club. We need to talk about this. I don’t want you to leave. I want you with me. I need you by my side.”
    He paused.
    “I didn’t think I could ever feel like this about anyone. You satisfy me. I feel content when I’m with you…it’s like coming home.”
    I smiled as I continued to stroke his hair. His words almost made me want to take back what I’d said. Other than the Ellis family, I’d never had a home. Not a real one. Arie had become my world, and we shared so much passion. We had more than that. Knowing it wasn’t just the fact that I rocked his world meant everything to me. Maybe reminding him he’d been buried inside of me moments ago would take his mind off the bomb I just dropped. “I figured a satiated man would be a lot easier to persuade to get out of bed and do something other than suck on my nipples and spank my ass.”
    Arie grinned. “I suppose our prelude should just about tide me over. But don’t take too long in the shower. You’re only going to get sweaty again later.”
    With a smile I slid out from under Arie, who had been using me like a body pillow. “Why don’t you join me?”
    Arie groaned. “It’s a good thing we’re already dead, because we’d fuck each other to death otherwise. And that is precisely why I shouldn’t join you in the shower.”
    “Precisely?” I laughed as I pushed myself off the bed and padded across the floor to the bathroom, glad the injured look had left his face. I bent to scoop a bra off the bedroom floor, deliberately taunting him with the view of my ass. “Suit yourself.”
    I closed the bathroom door