Page 50 of Fate & Monsters
A clawed hand cupped my cheek, and I leaned into that touch, seeking more of his heat and his presence. His acceptance rushed through me, beating away the vestiges of fear in my blood and bones before leaving me sated and on the cusp of exhaustion. I hadn’t realized how burdensome holding that truth had become. Now it felt as if Icould breathe for the first time in ages.
The beast prince pulled me into his lap, and I melted into him. The solid muscle of his thighs, the breadth of his chest, his thick, toned arms wrapping around my waist. He was all around me, and I wanted more. The last of the sun vanished beyond the horizon, leaving the library dim save for the soft glow in the fireplace. We sat in silence for a long moment, individually coming to terms with the storm of information finally breaking over both of us.
His claws were threading through silver-blue locks of my hair when he spoke again. “I suppose I should divulge the source of my wound, then.”
I froze, staring at our joined hand in my lap.
“The night I returned injured, you were right. It wasn’t some freak incident. It wasn’t from a feral demon in the woods. It was him. The Crimson Mage. He’s already here in Infernus.”
Bile crawled up the back of my throat. I pulled back to meet Mavros’s searching gaze.
“And you fought him.” Not a question, but Mavros hummed in answer.
“Somehow I knew he was looking for you.” He traced a finger over the curve of my cheek, then down to my jaw. His voice was low, rich and full of dark promise. “His magic is dark and unnatural, but I won’t let him take you from me. You are mine to worship and protect.”
The world tipped beneath me, and I leaned further into his chest.
“The dreams and visions. He’s been tormenting me all this time, reaching out with his magic insearch of me. He’ll come for me,” I whispered, shaking from the panic zapping under my skin.
Mavros gripped my chin and tipped my face to his. His breath was warm on my lips and a breathy sigh escaped me. A ribbon of desire curled deep and warm inside me.
“I hope he does,” the beast growled, and my thighs clenched. “Because I’m going to tear his heart from his chest and rip his head from his shoulders.”
“Mavros…” I couldn’t argue. Couldn’t protest. Undeterred by fear, I believed him. It almost frightened me more than the threat of the Crimson Mage. The monster knew the truth now. He knew me, he saw me, and after everything, he still wanted me.
I wanted to kiss him.
I wanted to care for him.
Mavros leaned close, whispering into my mouth, “I won’t let anyone take you from me, Astoria.” He kissed me soundly, intensely. It was a claiming and an affirmation of the tangible bond solidifying between us. A string of fate tied to our ribs and bringing us into one another’s orbit.
Oh, gods, I wanted to love him.
Chapter 18
If I had become human enough to love, then no magic in existence could ever change me back. The pain of losing myself didn’t scare me anymore as it had become so normal to carry it. Love was pain, and I’d willingly carry that bittersweet ache as long as Mavros allowed me to build my new home in him.
And the way he was kissing me, I could feel the foundation of a home setting its bones in place. He ran his claws through my hair and the beams rose, and as my heartbeat raced to match his, the walls were erected around us, closing us in together. Fires burned to life in the shared hearth of our home, and stars glinted overhead like watching eyes from the heavens.
His eyes were brighter than any fire I’d ever seen, and his gaze burned hotter than the sun. The feel of his mouth was sunshine on a spring day. His moans were an aria of magic and nature coalescing between us. The beast grabbed me around the waist, claws trembling, gentle,as if afraid of hurting me. Or afraid of how he wanted to. There was something agonizingly beautiful about the dismissal of cruelty from the monstrous. He was careful, not from an absence of violence, but despite a wealth of it.
I lost a laugh between kisses, shifting to sit astride his thighs, and he chased my mouth for more, hungry for the melody of my delight.
Mavros wore a serious expression when we broke for air, and I shivered at the way it softened a fraction. Only for me, because the way he admired me, looked at me, was different from how he looked at anything else in his life. The beast prince looked at me like his knees might buckle and the sky would cave, and he still wouldn’t take his eyes away if it gave him another second to admire. It made my heart skip and my mind dizzy. Like I was the first bloom of the season, opening my petals to the sky and feeling warmth for the first time. And I’d never felt so alive as this.
My cheeks flushed, and that languid warmth gradually spread through my chest to my limbs. I was warm, malleable clay in his claws, and willing for him to mold me into whatever shape he desired. Perhaps that lust made me human in the most grotesque way, but it felt too good to repent the thought.
The light of day sighed goodbye, cleaving us in a cocoon of darkness. Only the sputtering fire in the hearth cast flashes of amber light over us. We were sheltered in my favorite room in the castle,and I was lost in the throes of my favorite beast. Comfortable dark and gentle heat coiled around us, splitting our erotic moment from the reality of the world.
I used his shoulders as leverage, pushing myself against the hardness of his chest. The sheer lilac dress I wore bunched at my hips and his palm slid down to rub my thighs. His thumbs purposely pressed into the sensitive juncture of my thighs and cunt before smoothing down to my knees once more. Tension rippled inside me as I closed the distance to kiss him again.
The press of his tusks and the threat of sharp teeth in his mouth only spurred me on. Mavros existed as the epitome of danger, yet I sought comfort and pleasure within his embrace. Our mouths locked together, and he pulled me tight against him. His hardness nudged at the apex of my thighs, and I keened low in my throat.
His tongue probed at my mouth, and I inhaled him in. His tongue was slick and hot as it curled around mine. The little noises of pleasure I made incited him further, and he deepened the kiss to plunder my mouth. His hands traveled along my body, one roaming down to my behind and pushing me into his erection, and the other belting around my ribs to keep me caged against his torso. The beast kneaded and massaged my flesh, savoring the softness of my body and rolling his hips to grind into me.
He read my intent when I dropped and rubbedmyself over his bulge. The friction was nice but not enough, and a desperate whine pulled from me. I squirmed, and he grabbed my sides. My fingers slipped from his shoulders as he hefted me and set me on the edge of the table. A flash of excitement flared through me when he flattened a palm on my stomach to push me down and his other hand parted my legs.
“Now let me see what’s mine.” Mavros licked his lips, and my core clenched around nothing. My arousal leaked from me and his hands cupping the back of my thighs spiked my anticipation to a near unbearable degree. “That’s right. Look at this pretty pussy drip for me.”
