5. Stella

5

STELLA

“You would do well not to lock balcony doors, wife .” Stoneheart’s words are cool despite the terrifying growl he’d released at the sight of Ben.

“Is that a rule of yours?” I ask, forcing levity into the words.

I almost kissed Ben. The shame of that doesn’t make it any less true. After all the assurances I gave about us not being lovers, after vowing loyalty, all it took was Ben’s compassion for me to gravitate toward him like the most inevitable catastrophe.

“Among other things.” His eyes don’t move away from Ben who is so still not a single strand of his responsibly cut dark hair moves.

But there’s no fear on his face, only caution. I half wish he would save himself and teleport away from the gargoyle I married, but he doesn’t.

I swallow. “Maybe if we communicated about these things, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Maybe if we communicated at all, I wouldn’t have had to drag Ben into this . I don’t want Ben hurt, and I’m realizing now that I’ve brought him into danger.

“Your bag was delivered to the Firefly,” Stoneheart says, tossing the duffel at my feet with his eerie gaze still locked on Ben. The part of me that has lived my life by suppressing my need for justice and keeping my head down wants to snatch the bag up and run away, but I can’t do that.

“I called him because I was trapped here without towels or even clothes. If I contacted anyone using the hotel phone, it would have displayed our lack of unity.” I project the haughtiest air I can.

He dismisses my statement. “You could have spoken to the guards.”

The ire I summon is real now. “Oh, of course. Let me parade myself into the hallway half-naked in front of the men who allowed us to be interrupted. Who knows what else they’ve been instructed that they can ignore.”

That gets his attention. He narrows his eyes at me, probably because he can’t deny my words.

“I’m rather short on trust for the people surrounding us,” I say as calmly as I can. I don’t verbally include him in that assessment, though it’s true. Insulting him won’t help Ben leave here alive. “So I called on someone I could trust.”

His gaze snags on the jacket Ben placed around my shoulders, and I feel like I should shrug it to the floor, but I can’t. I refuse to. Stoneheart crushed me tonight. He ripped away my protective walls through seduction and left me naked.

Ben placing his jacket around me reminded me that someone still cares for me. I tighten my grip on it, and that deep sweet scent curls around me.

“I see,” my husband says. “And what do you say of your presence here, Barnes? You could have easily alerted one of mine. You didn’t need to show up in our room next to my naked wife.”

Ben’s body is tense, but it doesn’t stop the professional cadence of his words. “I wasn’t aware of the situation I was being summoned to. Stella was instructed to call if she had need of me.” His face is grim even as anger stews beneath the surface far greater than when I’ve heckled him over the months of our acquaintance. “Kalos will be displeased that you’ve treated one of ours as such.”

“One of yours?” Stoneheart asks with brows raising.

Ben glares. “She was under his protection when this deal was struck. Her continued safety and happiness are important to us.”

“To both of you?” he asks, prodding as a surgeon does, looking for weakness.

“She has many friends,” Ben snaps. “We will not allow her to be treated poorly just because you’ve placed a mating mark on her.”

“ Friends , of course.” The disbelief of his words is choking. This whole situation only goes to prove his suspicion of Ben’s and my involvement.

Well, tough shit. Ben is right. Stoneheart can’t afford to mistreat me.

“Perhaps in your rush to categorize me as a piece, you forgot that the queen can turn the whole game,” I say.

Stoneheart focuses on me again. There’s an acknowledging glint in his eyes, and he moves as if to assert his claim on me. The dominance emanating from him has a shiver trailing down my spine. My body still responds to him, and that has anger percolating in my chest.

Ben moves to step in front of me, and I raise my hand to his chest to stop him. The tension between me and my husband is inconvenient to my peace of mind, but it isn’t violent.

“ Do not touch him .” Stoneheart’s words come out as a hiss, and I freeze. He rolls his shoulders, but the tight air in the room doesn’t dissipate.

I pull my hand away. This rule is loud and clear. He will abide by the fact I called on Ben. He will allow us to even be in a room together without destroying the demon, but he will not allow this.

Ben’s hand flexes as if remembering where I’d already touched him tonight. The game we’re playing is so much more dangerous than I’ve let myself believe.

I shouldn’t have summoned Ben.

Stoneheart exhales slowly. His expression is impassive, but the sense that he’s close to the edge doesn’t vanish. “I suggest we move to the Firefly. Tonight.”

I tighten my grip on the jacket and sheet around me, and he continues, nodding to himself.

“My most trusted people are there. Leonids and Council members won’t cause us more trouble. Get changed,” he orders.

I hesitate, not wanting to leave Ben and Stoneheart alone together. But Ben gives me a nod. I pick up my bag and shuffle to the bathroom, the sheet trailing after me making me take my time.

Once the door closes, I collapse to the tiled floor. I try and keep my gasping quiet. The gargoyle probably has inconveniently good hearing. Bathrooms have always seemed like good places to fall apart. Too bad I can’t take the time to run a shower and hyperventilate as much as I want to.

I need to stay away from Ben for his own safety.

It had felt right to call on him, but Stella the charm maker made that decision, not Stella the bride of the Devil. The comfort he gives me will only make everything worse for both of us.

It takes some silent breaths, but finally I pull myself together and I clothe myself. I’d carefully chosen the deep blue dress cut in a classic silhouette for the fact that it’s understated but classy.

People are judgmental creatures no matter if they are shifter or human. Dressing for the part of territory leader is the only thing I feel confident about in this new life.

I put the charm that kept the dress wrinkle free back in the bag and focus on preparing myself to join the melee again.

Ben is out there with my husband. I don’t want him to get in a fight because Stoneheart decides to treat me like he can’t stand me one moment and wants me the next.

I shake my head to keep from psyching myself out.

Ben has probably already left. That would be the wisest course of action.

It’s not Ben who is gone when I exit my haven.

“What happened?” I ask Ben, handing him the suit jacket he’d wrapped me in and glancing around the empty room as if my husband is going to arrive in another dramatic fashion to startle us again.

Ben’s hair is slightly more mussed than before, but I see no damage to his person as he puts his jacket back on. There’s a short halting moment where he inhales, but it’s over before I can question it. He gathers my ruined petal strewn wedding dress and pins, handing them to me. I hesitate before stuffing them in my bag, not wanting to leave the garment for people to gossip about.

“Stoneheart will meet us at his penthouse,” he says. “It will be more comfortable for you to travel by teleporting with me rather than him flying you there.”

I almost threw up the last time Stoneheart tried to fly me anywhere. I didn’t think I was afraid of heights until he’d taken me away from a dragon destroying my father. We’d been witnesses, but the situation turned dire quickly.

It had given me romantic notions that he cared for my safety.

“He wants you to teleport me?” I ask. What about the no-touching rule?

Ben nods, and I don’t have to voice the question. “He’s given his permission for me to touch you over clothing.”

“That makes no sense.” When I was going to touch Ben, it was through his shirt.

He shrugs. “I don’t think logic matters. He’s possessive of you.”

I wish that didn’t make a deep part of me giddy. It would be so much simpler if I was unaffected by my husband now that he’s turned our marriage into a battle.

It would also be simpler if that same part of me wasn’t looking forward to Ben taking me in hand through my clothing to teleport me.

Emotions don’t matter. I’ll need to be made of sterner stuff if I’m to carve out a place for myself in my new territory.

I inhale with a nod. One last surge of tenderness gets through my tattered control. “Thank you for answering my call.”

“Stella,” Ben places a hand to my lower back, the most respectful place that clothing covers for him to touch me. “I’ll always come for you.”

It’s the act of teleporting that makes my insides sing, definitely not his promise.