Page 44 of Monsters Wear Crowns
Finally, he spoke.
“Losing control,” he said quietly. “That’s my greatest fear.”
I watched the way his jaw tightened, his throat working as if the words cost him something.
“Control is everything,” he continued, his voice low and measured. “It’s how you survive. How you build something worthkeeping. I’ve seen what happens when you let your guard slip. When you trust too easily or let emotion cloud your judgment. Empires fall that way. People die that way.”
His words felt heavy. And yet I couldn’t help but notice how his fingers still brushed against my skin–slow, almost absentminded. A contradiction.
“Is that what you think I’ll do?” I asked. “Make you lose control?”
He didn’t answer. But his silence spoke volumes.
My lips curved in a slow, risky smile. “Good. I’d love to see it”
“No, you wouldn’t. Trust me. I hate seeing myself that way.” His hand tightened on my waist, and his eyes flashed. “And your greatest fear,little doe?” he asked, his voice a low rasp.
I didn’t hesitate. “Weakness.” The word hung in the air, sharp and cold. “I was taught that weakness gets you destroyed,” I said softly. “I saw it happen with my mother. I watched my father push her aside because she didn’t know how to fight back. She let her heart get in the way. I never will.”
Rafe’s thumb brushed my bottom lip, his eyes burning into mine. “And still, you let me in,” he murmured. “Into your bed.”
“I never said I wasn’t willing to take risks,” I whispered. “But I don’t gamble unless I know the odds are in my favor.”
He smiled then, that slow, sinful curve that always made my stomach twist. “Is that what this is?” he asked. “A gamble?”
“Isn’t everything with you?”
An intense quiet filled the room, laced with the tension that had been building from the moment we met.
But I wasn’t done yet.
“Am I officially your girlfriend, then?” I asked, my voice deceptively light.
Rafe blinked, and then helaughed. A low, rough sound that made my blood heat and my temper spark all at once.
“Girlfriend?” he repeated, his eyes gleaming withamusement. “Adela–”
“I’m serious.”
The laughter faded at the edges.
“I don’t play when it comes to my heart,” I said quietly. “So if this is just a game for you, tell me now. Because if you scorn me, Rafe, if you betray me, you’ll wish you’d never met me.”
The temperature in the room shifted, the heat giving way to something colder.
Rafe’s eyes darkened, his smile slowly slipping away. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise,” I said, my voice soft and lethal. “I will tear your empire apart. I will burn everything you’ve built to the ground and do it with a smile on my pretty face.”
The silence between us was deafening.
But I didn’t flinch. I held his gaze, my chin tilted in defiance.
Slowly, his lips curved again, not in amusement this time, but something darker. “You really are perfect for me,” he murmured quietly, almost to himself. His eyes bore into mine, dipping to my lips.
“Then don’t make the mistake of underestimating me,” I said. “If youreallywant me, know that it’s your choice. And going back on that would threateneverything.”
Rafe’s hand slid up my throat, his fingers tilting my chin as his mouth claimed mine–slow, consuming, andpossessive. “I always protect what’s mine,” he whispered against my lips.
