Page 30 of To Love a Monster
“But not yet,” he murmurs.“No, baby.You’re going to have to earn that.”He noses down my neck, biting lightly at the curve between my shoulder and throat.
“You’re going to plead like a good fucking girl.”His fingers ghost along the inside of my thigh again, just enough pressure to make my breath catch.
“Because right now?”he growls, “you haven’t earned me.”Then his hand pulls away entirely, leaving nothing but heat and absence, and I nearly sob.
“You feel that?”he whispers, mouth brushing the corner of mine.“That ache?That’s mine now.That’s your punishment.”He nips my lower lip between his teeth, just hard enough to sting.His eyes darken as he cups the side of my face, tender and terrifying all at once.
“Go on, little lamb,” he breathes.“Tell me how much you need me.”
Chapter Twelve
Lila
Idon’t know if it’sthe way he looks at me or the way he tells me to beg like it’s both a sentence and salvation.But I feel it snap inside me, that last thread of resistance.Of pride and pretending.
My lips part, breath trembling.My voice is barely a whisper, it’s just raw, shaky, and desperate.
I shift against the counter, breath shallow, and my chest heaving beneath.My eyes flutter open, glazed with arousal as I speak.“Please.”
That single word slices through the air like a spark hitting dry kindling.His eyes drag over me, my lips swollen from his kiss, body trembling and stretched out before him like an offering.
“Do you need it, little lamb?”he murmurs, voice low, rough, darkened by something feral.“You need me to touch you?”
I nod, eyes wide, helpless.“Yes.Fuck, yes, Nikolai.I need you.Now!”
His hand slides down my stomach, deliberate and slow, until his palm cups me through my tights.His thumb presses, just barely, against my clit and I can’t bite back the moan.A ragged, desperate sound that betrays how close I am.How wrecked I already feel as he leans in close, mouth at my ear.“You’re dripping through your clothes for me, little lamb,” he growls.“Fuck, you’resoaked.”My fingers clutch at his wrist, dragging his hand harder into me.
“More,” I breathe.
“Oh, you want more?”he teases, pressing just enough to make me gasp again, just enough to make my hips roll against his hand.Something wicked curls in the corner of his mouth.
“Now that’s more like it,” he says, voice roughened with approval.“See how pretty you sound when you stop pretending?”
In a blur of motion, he lifts me again, dragging me against his chest.His strength is effortless, arms locking around me like chains.He carries me to the bedroom, eyes fixed on mine the entire time like I’m the only thing anchoring him to this reality.
The room is dim, and thunder rumbles like a pulse beneath the floorboards.
