Read Online Jude; The Fallen (The Fallen Series, Book 2) by Tara S. Wood, Lorecia Goings - Free Book Online Page B

not? Even if it was his room, it was still her house. She nodded and swept past him. His bedroom was one of the few in the house she rarely entered. It was as permanent a place as it could be for him, especially when they juggled their parental duties. Coriander wanted them to be together as much as possible when she and Alex weren’t working, so it seemed to make sense to give the man his own space in a bedroom next to their daughter’s. Christ knew she had enough room.
    Alex turned and shut the door, smirking at her raised eyebrow. “Oh, calm down. I’ve no intention of trying to seduce you.” His teeth flashed in a quick grin. “Unless you want me to.”
    “Subtle.”
    “I try.” He went to the little cabinet in the corner of the room and pulled out two glasses and, pouring them both a drink. “Here,” he said, handing her the glass. “Drink that and tell me about your shopping trip. Your sister said something about a statue.”
    Coriander took the glass and sat down on the edge of the bed, the fingers of her other hand picking imaginary fluff off the duvet. The steel-gray duponi was pebbled beneath her fingertips, and she let them drag across the silk without thought. She raised her head to look at his face. In the dim light of his room, his eyes were almost the color of the bedspread. Winston’s doing, no doubt. The butler would have ensured Alex’s room was as tailored to him as possible.
    “It was a good find,” she said, watching him move to stand with his back against the wall. She frowned. “Do you have something against the furniture in my house? You seem to do nothing but drape yourself in doorways.”
    A long fingered hand raised the glass to his lips, and he smiled at her over the rim of the crystal tumbler. She watched his throat bob as he swallowed a mouthful of scotch. “I’ve always been a bit of leaner, you know that.” His smile softened as he lowered the glass. “We used to lean on each other.”
    Coriander sighed, wanting to close her eyes against the truth contained in his words. Instead, she stared into the amber depths of her glass. “We still do, just…not like that anymore.”
    “I’ve noticed.”
    “You said you weren’t going to do this,” she countered, irritation stiffening her spine.
    “This isn’t seduction, Coriander,” Alex huffed. “You’ve made your thoughts clear on that.”
    “Then what are you doing?” she hissed.
    “Maybe I want more.”
    She barked out a harsh laugh, but controlled herself at the raise of his eyebrow and jerk of his head toward Ashtiru’s room. She shook her head. “No, you don’t. You haven’t wanted that for a long time.” Her eyes bore into his, and his challenging glare made her burn. “Admit it, the only reason you’re talking about this is because you think I’m interested in someone else.”
    “Aren’t you?” She couldn’t ignore the bite to his tone.
    “What does it matter, Alex? We admitted it wouldn’t work between us. Hell, we weren’t even together when I got pregnant with Ash. It was a last-ditch drunken hot mess of a mistake.”
    His eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, muscles tight with a slight menace. “Are you saying Ash—?”
    “Don’t be stupid,” she snapped. “And don’t put words in my mouth. Ash is not the mistake. Thinking we could try to fix it was the mistake. And if she’s the reason we came together that last time, fine, I can reconcile that. For fuck’s sake, I can rejoice in that. She was meant to be. Not the rest of it. It won’t ever happen again,” she said with conviction. “Ever.”
    “You don’t mean th—“
    She cut him off with her hand. “I do mean that. I love you,” she said on a sigh. “I will always love you. You are the father of my child, and I will never begrudge you that or try to keep you away from her. But we are done. You do things—you take risks that I can’t. And I can’t be there for you because I have to be there for her. One of us has to