The evening was spent in our bedroom, me on top, with his back against the headboard, his hands squeezing my hips, his fingers kneading my ass. My hands planted against his chest, the band of my ring leaving a mark when I pulled away. Again and again, it happened, our final time ending with him on top of me, his narrow hips between my thighs, fucking me like he’d been gone for months rather than weeks.

But once it was over, the sadness returned.

The heat of the moment drove away the coldness in my heart. His kisses made me feel loved when I felt unworthy of his love. His desire made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world when I was the ugliest—at least on the inside.

Gilbert left a late dinner outside the door, so I set the dining table and we sat together.

Fender normally showered the instant he came home, but I’d demanded his attention to the exclusion of everything else. We sat across from each other, me in his t-shirt, him in his boxers, and ate in silence.

My eyes were down on my food, and I didn’t ask him how his trip was. My mind was elsewhere.

Like always, he read my mood like words projected on the wall behind me. “What is it?”

I lifted my eyes at his question.

He chewed his food as he stared at me across the table, his massive shoulders strong, his chest hard like stone. His jawline was covered with hair because he didn’t shave as often when he was at the camp.

“Magnus and Raven came by a few days ago…”

“I know. Is that not what you wanted?”

“No, it is,” I said quickly. “I just… Never mind.”

His eyes were instantly hostile, pressuring me for an answer.

“I told her I agreed to marry you…and she wasn’t happy about that.”

His mood darkened even further. Invisible rain clouds appeared over him, making the bedroom feel like winter instead of summer. “You’re a grown woman, Melanie. You need to stop caring what that hypocrite thinks. She doesn’t belong on the pedestal where you’ve placed her.”

“She’s my sister…”

“Magnus is well aware that I don’t care for her. You think I’d ever intervene?”

I dropped my gaze.