Page 11 of Fate & Monsters
The door swished open, and a wall of her scent punched me in the chest. It almost sent me to my knees, as potent and intoxicating as the first time she entered my office. It had etched itself into my brain from that first moment she stumbled in, pouring off her in tantalizing waves. A crisp floral scent with honeyed undertones. Like nectar from ripe fruit in a blooming garden, earthy and tempting.
A sweet creature from the otherworld.
The door shut quietly behind me. Not that it mattered. Burdened by exhaustion and unknown trials, she slept deeply, soundly, dead to the world. The neglected drapes rustled from my entry and a slim bar of silvery light slanted across the bed. My claws silently passed over the floor as I approached the unmoving figure laying vulnerable before me. Like an injured bird found by a predator.
Her pale brows were pinched, and her soft pink lips were set in a strained frown as she struggled through a taxing form of rest—therecovery kind. Hair like spun bluish silver splayed out in a fan around her head, and my fingers itched to see if it felt as silken as it looked. Dried fruit juice stained her mouth and chin, almost gruesome with the scarlet color on creamy flesh as striking on blood on snow.
One hand dangled over the bed. Dried mud smudged her fingers and there was dirt under her fingernails. Blades of grass were threaded into her light blue strands. Her feet were tucked into the cocoon of my cloak, and I recalled the state they were in when she arrived. Filthy. Wild. That only added to her mysterious appeal.
Where had she come from?
I kneeled beside the bed, holding my breath to dampen the urge to inhale her into my lungs. Ethereal, beautiful even in a tormented sleep. She looked serene compared to the frazzled state she’d arrived in. Her audacity still impressed me.
Tales as old as time would have me believe that humans were frightened of beasts. Yet she’d glared right back. She was wary, cautious, and though there had been fear in her scent, it hadn’t been aimed at me. Intrigue bristled along my spine as I wondered how she’d gotten here, how she’d made it so far into Infernus.
Perhaps it was fate.
I’d always known I had destiny on my side, and a life of receiving everything I ever wanted—to an extent. For decades, I had put my desires on hold to focus on the needs of the land, the betterment ofthe realm. Now that I was there in that abandoned, dilapidated tower with my newfound guest, I felt inexplicably selfish. If she had come to me, a picture-perfect dream, then she was going to be mine.
A present hand-delivered by destiny directly into the lap of the lord of the castle. History had a funny way of repeating itself. And who was I to continue denying what I wanted?
Although she was new. I had no idea how to treat a mortal human female. She wasn’t like the Inferni. I wanted to cater to this strange creature’s every desire, but there was no guide to seducing human women. But the sight and smell of her made me warm and borderline dizzy… relying on instinct would have to be enough.
Leaning over her, I hovered my nose over the delectable perfume rippling around her. Her pheromones rose to meet me, something in them attuned specifically for me. Something… something magical.
Her nostrils flared, and she stirred.
held my breath.
She nuzzled her face deeper into my cloak, inhaling until her stressed expressions smoothed. Relaxed and sleeping peacefully as if she sensed me, my smell, my aura, and melted—for me. Responding to my scent as obviously as I had to hers. There was something there between us. She knew it, even in her dreams.
A steady thumping picked up, and I realized itwas her heart rate rising. Mine raced to meet hers.
It was decided.
She was mine.
Lost and alone, didn’t she deserve someone who could tend to her every whim and provide for her?
My hand trembled above her shoulder, and I snatched it back before touching her. Claws cut into my palm, and I restrained myself from the insensible urges in my core rising to guide me.
A whimper caught in her throat.
I clenched my jaw and tightened my fists to abstain from touching her.
Her noises troubled me. Something had brought her to me, certainly. Nothing good. And with the rising rumors in the realm… concerns rose their ugly heads in my chest. I would learn what troubled her, what brought her to my castle. There were coincidences, but not like this. If she was in danger, I would keep her safe.
Nothing would take her from me. Not now that I’d decided she was mine.
Watching her was like a drug.
Countless hours passed as I sat on the floor beside the bed, breathing her in, listening to the sleepy sounds she made, and shaking from the visceral need to touch… to touch her. Touch her.
Touch her.
I snatched my claws from her personal space. Again and again. Each time, trembling, panting, bodily shaking with shattering composure. Shewas so bright, so sweet, so close. I could reach out and feel her breath caressing the back of my knuckles. I wanted to feel her cheek under my palm and the warmth returning to her delicious form.
But not yet.
