Page 60 of Monster's Pretty Bride

The pleasure builds, a coil tightening deep within me, and I can feel myself unraveling, piece by piece. His lips find mine again, swallowing my moans, his tongue tangling with mine in a dance as fierce and wild as the raging waters around us.

His hands grip my hips, guiding me, controlling me, and I let him, surrendering completely to the chaos he brings.

“Naranus, Naranus!” I jolt as my eyes roll back.

“Come with me,” he roars, holding onto the rock behind me and shattering it with force like how he shatters my mind into smitheereens with his final, brutal thrust.

My body convulses around him, waves of pleasure crashing over me, pulling me under. He follows me to the zenith, his roar muffled against my skin as he comes inside me, his body trembling with the force of his release.

There is no tenderness. Only need. Desperation.

A battle.

A surrender.

I don’t know where I end and he begins.

The river rages beside us, but its storm is nothing compared to this.

The world settles. The night hums with life, the rush of the river steady, grounding. His body is still half-draped over mine, heavy, solid, real. His breathing slows, but his hands stay on me, like he’s not quite willing to let go.

I stare up at the stars peeking through the canopy, trying to catch my breath, trying to pretend I don’t feel, everything.

Regret? No.

Fear? Maybe.

This changes everything.

I shift slightly, muscles protesting, the cool night air licking against my overheated skin. His grip tightens, and I glance at him. His eyes are half-lidded, unreadable, but there’s something dark in them, something possessive.

I hate that it thrills me.

I swallow hard. “This doesn’t mean anything.”

His golden gaze flickers, unreadable. “No. It doesn’t.”

Liar.

But I don’t call him on it.

Because I’m a liar, too.

28

NARANUS

The scent of rain and earth clings to us as we trudge through the thick underbrush, the night pressing against my back like a second skin. The stronghold is close. I can taste it, home, familiar ground, a place where I can keep hersafe.

The fall from the cliff actually helped us to come back to the stronghold faster.

If she would just stop fighting me every damn step of the way.

Eryss walks beside me, her expression hard as flint, her shoulders stiff, her silence a blade pressing against my ribs. She hasn’t said much since the fall, since I pulled her from the river’s grip and warmed her body with mine. But it’s not silence from shock or exhaustion. No, this is a storm brewing, a hurricane ready to break.

Fine. Let it come. Iwelcomethe fight.

“You need to open your damn eyes, purna,” I say, breaking the silence. “Your sisters if that’s what they are—are playing a game you don’t see.”

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