Page 106 of Monsters Wear Crowns
And when she moved beneath me, when she gasped my name in that broken, breathy voice–I nearly came undone.Goddammit.
Each moan carved into my skin. Each arch of her hips shattered my control.
I was holding on by a fucking thread, and she was tearing through it with nothing but her need. Her sounds. Her body. I was lost in her. Drowning in the heat, the hunger, thefucking loveI wasn’t ready to admit out loud. And I didn’t want to come up for air.
My thrusts turned rougher, deeper. I needed her to feel what I couldn’t say. What I didn’t know how to give voice to.
Becausefuck, I loved her.
I couldn’t say it. The words stuck like glass in my throat, jagged and destructive. But the feeling was there...unrelenting, terrifying,real.
And when I came–buried inside her, shuddering so hard it felt like my soul cracked open–I collapsed into her body, forehead pressed to hers, breath torn from my lungs. I still couldn’t say it. Couldn’t force the words past the fear lodged in my chest.What was wrong with me?
But as I held her close, as our bodies cooled and our hearts thundered in sync, I knew she felt it anyway. She had to.
Chapter 21
ADELA
The days passed in a strange, stretched-out silence. A fragile kind of peace that felt more like the calm before a storm than anyrealsense of safety. It should have been a relief. The attacks had stopped. Moreau hadn’t made another move, hadn’t even sent any messages. But the waiting was worse. Every hour that ticked by only wound the tension in me tighter–and I could see it happening to Rafe, too.
He was quieter. Softer, in some ways. His touch lingered a little longer, his voice lower when he spoke to me. But there was a distance in him I couldn’t quite close. And when I looked at him sometimes, I saw that edge of fear he tried so hard to keep buried.
He was waiting for something. And whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good. I hated the waiting. I hated not knowing when the next hit would come. And most of all, I hated how unsettled I felt in this quiet.
Because I couldn’t stop thinking about that night.
The way his hands had bruised me. The fire in his eyes when he’d thrown me against the door, too far gone to hold back. The snap of his control when I’d pushed him too far. I’d never seen him so broken, so wild, and it scared me how much I wanted him anyway.
It scared me more that I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to handle him when he broke like that again. What happenedbetween us the other night was probably the most terrifying yet powerful, beautiful thing I’d ever experienced. And I knew he felt it, too. Even if we didn’t talk about it. I had to be patient with him, this unstable, damaged soul.
But I couldn’t leave. Not now. Not when I felt his walls starting to splinter. Not when Iknewthere was something real between us, no matter how dangerous it might be. I stood at the bedroom window, watching the sun sink behind the trees. The estate was quiet. Too quiet.
Behind me, I heard the soft rustle of movement, and then Rafe’s arms slipped around my waist, his chest warm and solid against my back. “You’re tense,” he murmured against my neck, his lips brushing my skin.
I sighed, leaning into him despite myself. “So are you.”
He didn’t deny it. His grip tightened, and his voice dipped lower. “It’s been four days.” Four days without an attack. Four days without any word from Moreau. And the longer the silence stretched, the more I felt like we were waiting for a gun to go off.
“Maybe he’s regrouping,” I said, trying to sound calm even though I didn’t believe it.
Rafe’s laugh was quiet and dark. “No. He’s waiting for something.”
I turned in his arms, looking up at him. His face was drawn, his jaw tight, and when our eyes met, that fear I kept seeing in him flared bright and sharp.
I swallowed hard. “You think he’s going to hit us harder.”
“Iknowhe is.” His fingers brushed my jaw, his touch gentle despite the tension in his body. “And when he does–”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to.
We both knew this wasn’t over.
I reached up, sliding my hand into his hair. “We’ll be ready,” I said softly. “Let’s just be a happy couple until then, okay?”
He didn’t answer. But when he kissed me, there was something frantic in it that almost tasted like goodbye.
And that scared me most of all.
