Page 32 of Love & Monsters
The slight pain with the pleasure made me tremble, and wild thoughts were shooting off in my brain. What would his claws feel like on my skin, and how would it feel if he licked the blood from my flesh? Would he sink his teeth into me, bite me and tear my sinew, then lick the wound afterwards?
My hands stopped beating against his chest, and I melted into him. Vadric’s tongue released mine. Once it slithered from my mouth, our lips locked together again. His thumb brushed over my cheek and that’s when he felt the tears.
“Mina?” Vadric pulled away faster than lightning. His eyes scanned my face while mine closed. I took a deep, shuddering breath as he cradled my face in his hands, using his thumbs to wipe my tears away.
“I’m okay,” I replied, not entirely sure if I was. After all, there had to be something wrong with me to have those appalling yet stimulating thoughts.
Vadric could drink my blood and devour me, and I think I wanted him to.
Eighteen
“We went through the mountains outside the city in the wagon. Now we’re here, in the woods between the next mountain range, which is where our destination lies.” After we finished eating, Vadric showed me a relative map of the land he’d gotten from Mewlan, the cat-man.
There was so much I needed to learn, and a basic concept of the surrounding land could prove useful later. Though I had no plans to run away, not after all the monsters I’d seen. I knew it would be safer for me to stay with Vadric.
“And we’re waiting for someone to meet us here?” I asked, clarifying what I’d already heard.
“Yes. Someone with more supplies to last us getting through the next few days.” He sat back, and the slight distance between us now didn’t go unnoticed. “She should be here soon.”
“Alright. Where exactly are we going?” I prodded. Vadric wasn’t giving a lot of information about what was going on. I’d always been a curious person, eager to learn. He wasn’t willing to share everything. At least not yet, he would say.
“Someplace safe in the mountains. An ancient place where we can recuperate and I can gather my—” he closed his eyes and shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts, “—It’ll be a good place for you to rest safely.”
“Great.” I went back to plucking blades of grass out of the ground, my knees hugged to my chest and my chin resting on them.
After the kiss Vadric realized I’d fought against him before giving in to the wildness of it and my thoughts. He wouldn’t tell me what he was thinking or feeling, but I guessed by his expression and reactions that he was angry with himself. Knowing that, I tried not to take his distance personally.
The bloodlust that overcame him when he smelled or tasted my blood must be something I could never understand. It overwhelmed Vadric, and each time he tasted my blood I got the sense he couldn’t control himself very well in those moments. Maybe he despised his personal lack of control.
I could feel him watching me. Glancing sideways from the corner of my vision, I confirmed it. Those unusual eyes seared the side of my face as he watched me plucking grass like a lonely child on the playground. With the tension rolling off him in waves, I quickly turned my gaze back on the grass.
“Mina,” he started after the silence stretched like an eternity, “this place we’re going.”
“Yeah.”
“While it may be a safe place, I still need to warn you.”
“Okay.” My heart felt cold, and I finally lifted my chin from my knees to look Vadric in the eye.
“My kind, they are not delicate like you are. They are rough, and they can be cruel. It would be all too easy for you to get hurt.” I didn’t like where this was going.
“You know you’re not making it sound like a safe place for me, right?” It sounded like the dungeon might have been the better choice. At least in the dungeon, I’d had a door between me and the monsters.
“It will be, I promise. But—” he broke eye contact, glancing down at my clenched fist as I fought to hide the new tremor in my hand, “—when we get there, I’ll need them to know you are under my protection. No one will be allowed to touch you.”
“No one was allowed to touch me when I got to this godforsaken world, but I guess my rules for my own body don’t matter here.” Did monsters never learn about bodily autonomy?
“Mina, I’m being serious.” There was a low rumble in the back of his throat, giving away his rising frustration.
“So am I!” I tossed my handful of grass in his direction. The blades fell pitifully on the ground, inches from landing on his leg. “The minute I fell through that damn portal, I lost my rights to just exist. I’m not a person with my own thoughts and feelings and wishes here. I’m just an object to your kind.”
Vadric grunted in agitation. “You aren’t just an object to me, little one. In time, the others will see that. But when we get there, we’ll need to play a part to ensure your initial safety.”
His expression made me shiver. Vadric was being deadly serious now, and I pursed my lips into a thin line to listen to him. “What parts?”
Vadric’s shoulders relaxed as I relented to listen to him. However, his tail twitched furiously behind him, swishing over the ground. After rubbing his hand over his face to change his expression, he took a breath to continue.
“They will call you my pet, or a plaything. To keep you safe, we should pretend that’s the case. If the others believe you belong to me, they won’t dare touch you.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, I felt like they had struck me through the heart with a stake.
