Page 34 of Let Me Win You

“Yes. That’s me. In all my monstrous glory,” I said with a bitter smile.

There was no point in hiding now. Trying to shrink again would only make me look ridiculous. Also, my clothes had been irreparably ruined.

“This is incredible.” Nic tipped her head to the side, examining my tail. “I mean I saw you in this form before. But I was so terrified, I had no presence of mind to appreciate it.”

“Are you reallyappreciatingthis?”

“Well, it’s not something one sees every day. At least not where I come from.” She glanced up and down my height as I propped myself on a coil of my tail. “You look even bigger up close.”

She said it calmly. Wonder had melted the fear from her hazel eyes, and she looked like she reallyappreciatedwhat she saw.

“Now that you know the truth, how do you feel about us spending the night together two days ago?” I asked carefully.

A shiver of apprehension ran down my tail in anticipation of her reply. My rattle trembled with a subtle buzzing.

“What’s that?” Nicole perked up with curiosity. “What’s that noise?”

Instead of an answer, I silently raised the tip of my tail in her line of vision.

“It vibrates?” she asked incredulously.

“It does.” I shook the tip faster, making the rattle vibrate harder.

She propped her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at me. “Well, that explains the mysterious appearance of a vibrator in my bed that night.”

“You seemed to enjoy it.” I ventured a smile.

She didn’t deny it. A gentle smile played on her lips, with a dreamy expression settling over her eyes. She leaned forward slightly across the table toward me. And I hated that table for still standing between us.

I wanted her close so badly, my chest ached.

“It’s my turn now. In our game,” I rasped through my tightening throat.

“Are we still playing it?”

“Yes. And since you chose for me, I’ll choose for you now. It’s a dare, my dear Nicole.” I propped my hands on the table and leaned across it toward her. “I dare you to kiss me.”

10

Nicole

Invi leaned with the massive bulk of his upper body against the table so hard, the poor piece of furniture squeaked, its legs sinking into the soft grassy ground half-way.

“I dare you to kiss me,” he rasped.

His otherworldly eyes of vivid green stared at me with the same intensity as on the day we first met. Aside from the lack of facial hair and…well, the lack of human skin, his facial features remained the same too.

When he looked at me like that, I didn’t see a monster. I simply saw the man I had spent a wonderful night with. The man who stood up for my best friend, who worshiped my body like at the altar of a goddess, and who made me feel like a goddess too.

“It doesn’t need to be a dare.” I reached to cup his face, bringing it closer to mine.

Just like the rest of him, his head was larger in this form, but his lips met mine with the same tenderness as before, robbing me of breath just the same. Swaying on my feet, I gripped his shoulder.

He pulled back in concern, supporting me with a hand around my waist.

“Kissing you has never been a chore,” I breathed out. “I always loved it.”

He searched my eyes, looking like he was going to say something, only to just exhale my name at the end.

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