Page 29 of Fate & Monsters
“Domovoy always suggests the dungeons.”
“Does it not seem like special treatment? I don’t understand why you don’t set rules for me, why you let me roam at my leisure, or why you went from roaring about eating meat to caving to my dietary preferences. You could have locked me up.”
“But I didn’t.”
My features pinched as I glared at him.
“You might not believe me, but I…” He trailed off. Firelight reflected in his eyes as he gazed into the hearth. Sitting right beside me yet far away. I set down my glass and scooched across the cushions to close the gap between us. He sucked in a breath when my thigh pressed to his. “I have a connection to Earth.”
I gasped. He didn’t look like any creature from my world, and I was ancient. Though I didn’t know my age, I knew that I was very old. As old as the stars and the moon. There was no way—
“I see you aren’t convinced.” An uneasy chuckle followed. He set the book on a side table and adjusted himself, half facing me on the couch with an arm slung over the back. It made our closeness suddenly more intimate.
A fog billowed in, blurring the lines. Defenses lowered as the air grew heavier. An unseen thread knotted around my ribs and tugged me forward. Warmth suffused my skin when a clawed finger dipped to my shoulder and lifted my hair behind me. I choked down a gasp and bit my tongue.
“In fairness, I don’t know much of anything.” I don’t know when I moved, but I’d lifted onto my leg and turned into him. “I know that on Earth there aren’t any humans as generous as you’ve been with me. A new wardrobe, free range of a castle, and taking time from your busy schedule to teach me to read. You’ve been good to me, and I appreciate that. But it doesn’t make sense.”
His thumb lazily stroked over my shoulder as I spoke. Quivering energy raced under my skin in the wake of his touch. My core throbbed and my nipples peaked against the thin dress.
“You don’t know the rules ofInfernus or how dangerous the Inferni can be. Outside of these walls, life is a constant struggle. For power, for respect, for submission. It’s life or death for many. I couldn’t subject you to that when I had the means to protect you.” Mavros’ wandering hand paused, fingers at the base of my throat. He was so close, so warm, encompassing all my senses. His woodsy scent, the sound of his voice and his breath, the fire in his eyes. I wanted to burrow into his body and seek shelter in the cocoon of his ribs.
“I’ve always protected others,” I admitted. A magical, undeniable compulsion. Woven into the fiber of my being came the knowledge to safeguard my forest and those who inhabited it. Perhaps he was the same.
I turned my head away.
His hand caught my chin, firm yet gentle, as he tipped my face up. A breath vented from me, and he breathed it in. Mavros lowered his head, and my eyes dropped to his mouth, his thin lips, his tusks curving up. Close enough to imagine the gap vanishing. Close enough to feel the impression of his mouth against mine.
“Then perhaps it’s time for someone else to protect you,” he said. His eyes closed as he leaned in.
I tore myself from the couch. Heart pounding, blood moving sluggishly in my veins, and mind full of static, I stumbled away. The wine slowed my movement and fatigue worsened it, but a sudden flood of energy carried me back.
“Thank… thank you for reading to me. Goodnight, my lord.” I dipped my head, catching his hand drop to his lap in a tight-knuckled fist before I spun on my heel. I didn’t hear his response as I fled from the tension attempting to suction me back into the shadows, into the heat, into the unknown.
Chapter 11
The grotesque abomination I called my heartlurched and twisted in my chest as I looked down at her. I lowered a shaking hand to my chest, hoping to settle the awful pounding.
Astoria was asleep, wrapped up in my cloak.
I hadn’t realized she still had it since that first night. She had fled from me and yet returned to her room to bury herself in a semblance of me. Drenching herself in my scent and using a false sense of warmth to mimic what I could give her. A monstrous part of me wanted to grab her, shake her, thrash her awake and growl that I was right here, that she could have me, that I was already hers to seek. She didn’t need to nuzzle a cold cloak when I would give her anything—everything.
I lifted the fabric, swallowing heavily. Her scent punched me clear out of my mind. I stumbled into the bedpost, frozen as my cloak slipped over the edge of the bed and thumped onto the floor. My tail jerked and my heart convulsed.
Arousal drenched her, flooding from her pores.What had—
Naked. Illuminated by a column of light from the window. Milk and starlight spilled over the sheets. Hair splayed out in swirls of platinum blue around her head, supple curves and delicate peaks on display.
My mouth watered.
I hadn’t even touched her. Why was she so aroused?
Astoria had an arm over her stomach, reaching lower. I followed its path to the apex of her thighs, where she had her hand over her mound. One petite finger pressed to the top of her quim. Seeking pleasure, seeking relief.
“Oh, sweet creature.” I fell to my knees, palm hovering up her leg to her center. “Let me take care of you. I could be so good to you.” The perfume of her skin filled my nose, my lungs, as I skimmed it over her bent knee. “Please, please, let me be good to you.”
Her hand twitched and her hips rolled up. My chest expanded, holding in a growl as a delightful moan slipped from Astoria’s lips.
“You need more, don’t you?” She shivered from my breath on her hip. “I can give you more.”
