Page 45 of Ruthless Monsters

“You’ve heard the rumors,” she whispers. “If I accidentally kill my mates, we won’t be able to seal the bond. And, I’ll have to live with that loss.”

“We’re your mates. None of us will die because of you,” I assure her.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“Trust me, you don’t,” she insists. “There’s something wrong with?—”

My lips find hers, because I can’t let those words keep tumbling out of her mouth. That lie. She tenses, but I devour her mouth, my tongue tangling with hers, and slowly she softens. I pull her closer to me, and my tail wraps around her thigh, squeezing tightly, and reminding her that she’s mine. By the time our lips part, she’s breathless and panting, and her golden eyes are bright with desire.So incredibly beautiful.

“It’s you who doesn’t understand, princess,” I tell her, my heart pounding faster. Because this is the moment I’ve dreaded. I made a mistake, but keeping this from her was never the answer. “And it’s my fault you don’t.”

She pulls her head back to stare at me. “What are you talking about?”

I steel myself and finally let myself admit the secret I’ve held on to for so long. “You didn’t kill me that day.”

“Kill you? Do you mean in the tournament?” she asks, puzzled.

I think of the deadly tournament the king made us fight in, and how I’d been knocked unconscious that day. “Not then,” I say carefully, my finger trailing up and down her side. “In the palace.”

I can see her mind working as she tries to understand what I’m telling her, and I stare into her golden eyes, guilt squeezing my chest. “I’ve got you,princess,” I repeat the phrase Kaiuttered, wondering if this time it’ll trigger the memory. Seconds pass, and I can tell familiarity is tickling at the edges of her mind.

I go on, “It wasn’t your fault I almost died. There’s a power in the castle. Something reached out when you were coming apart in my arms. A dark magic that’s unlike anything I’ve experienced, and it wasn’t until I’d turned invisible that I’d managed to slip free of its hold.”

Her face drains of color.

I run my hand over my horns. “I wanted to tell you the truth sooner. When I saw you searching for the demon you knew as Kai, fuck I wanted to tell you, but I’d realized you were mine, and I couldn’t risk it. Not until I knew where that dark power was coming from.”

Her mouth opens, closes, and then opens again. “So, I never killed Kai?”

“No.”

“But you can’t shapeshift,” she rasps, and before I can explain she connects the dots. “Luna,” she croaks. I’m not sure if she’s angry or relieved.

“I wanted to discover who you were without my reputation ruining things,” I explain, though it sounds so stupid now. “Be honest, if I’d gone as myself, would you have agreed to a meeting?”

She purses her lips, proving my point.

“I promised myself I’d stay away from you until I discovered the threat,” I say. “But I knew you were mine, and it was driving me mad. So, I came up with excuses for you to visit me.”

“Wait. You violated the rules, bringing humans to your home so you could lure me there?”

I smirk, not in the slightest regretting that part. “I only have so much control, princess.”

“Unbelievable,” she mutters.

“The thing is, it can be hard to function when your mind is constantly filled with thoughts of the only female you’re destined to spend your life protecting and pleasuring.” My fingers brush against the side of her breast again, and she shudders.

“You should have told me,” she says. “Did you find out where the power is coming from?”

I frown, hating my answer. “No.”

She nods like it’s the response she was expecting, and she peers up, scrutinizing my face. I know she’s imagining his features. Kai’s, that is. “His horns were longer,” she says, a wicked grin slowly tugging at her lips.

“Were they now?” The corners of my mouth tease up, because we both know that isn’t true.

Her gaze trails downward, and she bites her bottom lip. “Also, I’m pretty sure his cock?—”

---