Page 10 of Love & Monsters
I told myself it was the same curiosity one might have when seeing a new animal at the zoo. Just the thoughts of a person who wanted to pet the tiger in the cage. And maybe it was the same for him.
Then I had the mental image of Vadric petting my head like I was a cat, sitting curled up in his lap. At first it was a silly, innocent thought. Until I wondered how it would feel to sit on those muscled thighs and have a hand larger than my face on my body.
My breath hitched. I realized we were intently staring into one another’s eyes. There was a heated tension in the air, and it was odd, but I still welcomed it. Because I was alone, and I was scared, and he was here. It made me feel less alone.
Warmed, and with something in my belly, my fight with exhaustion was ending, and I was losing. I yawned and my eyelids felt too heavy to keep open. The fur blanket was heavy and warm, like a fuzzy hug. Even the stuffed mattress under me was inviting by now.
“You should sleep.” Vadric spoke up again after our extended silence.
“I don’t know.” I looked around at the shadows in the corners, shifting as though they were also monsters, ready to pounce on me.
“You’ll be alright, Mina. It’ll only get colder, and you obviously need to rest.” Vadric placed his hand over his chest, like a human putting a hand over their heart. “Go to sleep.”
“You won’t eat me, right?” I joked, giving Vadric my first smile since waking up in this hell.
He leaned forward. I didn’t know what to think when his smirk and a dangerous flash of fang made something in my tummy flutter.
“No promises.” I knew it was a joke, but it still made my heart skip a beat.
At first, I was so tired I laid down and curled into a ball. When I blinked, I saw Vadric pushing to his feet and a jolt of realization shot through me. “Where are you going to sleep?”
“In the bed, silly human. Where else?” Vadric chuckled at my expense, as if it really had been the silliest thing I’d ever asked in my life.
When he climbed into the bed behind me and I felt it dip under his weight, I became incredibly tense again. I held my breath, waiting for the moment something would happen. It never did.
It was quiet, aside from a steady drip in the corner. It was dark aside from the low light of a wall sconce. While the dungeon was cold, the blanket was warm, and it was weirdly comforting to have Vadric behind me.
There was still a dull pain in my stomach, but I was too exhausted to fight sleep any longer. So, I fell asleep with a monster inches away.
Seven
I woke in the dark with something heavy and warm draped over my midsection. There was a sharp twisting pain in my stomach and lower back. Fear and that familiar ache made a drawn-out groan of agony pull from my lips.
My mind was a whirl of thoughts. Who was next to me? Why was I hurting? Where am I? Until the haze of sleep and pain faded enough for my rational thoughts to take control.
I was in the world of demons. Vadric was asleep next to, and that had to be his massive arm weighing me down. And the pain in my abdomen… the monthly pain any woman knows and fears waking up to.
Another sharp cramp hit me, and this time my body jerked reflexively. My face twisted, and I felt tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. A sob made my breath hitch, and I bit my tongue to stop from crying out.
When my legs moved, I felt something slick between my thighs. Part of me hoped it was just sweat from sleeping under a hot fur blanket, but I knew it wasn’t. With the pain twisting in my stomach and lower back and that feeling of something leaking… it was blood.
“Mina?” Vadric jerked up when he heard my muffled sobs. His eyes widened when he realized his arm was holding me, and he pulled it back. “What’s wrong?”
“I… I’m fine.” It mortified me beyond belief. To say it embarrassed me was an understatement. There was nothing I could tell him that made sense in my mind.
Would he understand? Would Vadric know what was happening? How would he react?
“You’re hurt. Something’s wrong.” Vadric sat up in the bed, but he was so close. I could feel the heat from his body as he leaned over me, as if inspecting me for visible injuries.
“N… No.” I tried to another, but another twist hit me, and I groaned through my clenched jaw. When my hips moved, I felt more of it coating my thighs and I gasped from another wave of pain.
In the darkness, I could see those yellow eyes piercing through me. I caught his nostrils flaring, like a beast scenting the air. Each inhale brought him closer, and I suddenly thought of a shark when there was blood in the water.
“That’s blood.” His body froze, as still as stone. “You’re bleeding.”
“Yes,” I whimpered. Uncertainty gripping hold of me and keeping me in place on the bed.
“Fuck me, that smells… delicious.” His eyes closed, and he breathed deeply, inhaling the smell of my blood in the air. There was a growling purr in the back of his throat, like he was enjoying the scent.
