Page 39 of Monsters Within (The Creatures We Crave 1)
Alexandra
“I love the way you love us.”
That would be a line that I kept on permanent repeat in my head. Of that, I was sure.
His words chased away the lingering shadows in my mind. I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck, rolling us until I was laying on top of him. His hands fell to my hips as I wiggled up far enough to reach his face, peppering kisses all around his face, making him laugh until we both dissolved into a fit of giggles.
He made my soul happy. There was no other way to describe the energy I felt when I was with Elwin. It was like he was my personal ray of sunshine, breaking through those clouds that I thought would never clear.
As we quieted, he moved a hand to my face, cupping it. Loving the tender touch, I leaned into it as he said, “Do you want to know what had Kylo and Lucien all fired up?”
It was like a shock to my system, and I bolted upright, pleasantly surprised to feel my strength returning. I’d completely forgotten about that topic in the midst of our mushy talk.
“Yes!” I answered exuberantly, but all of my excitement was gone in the next heartbeat as a deep pain radiated from my chest, feeling like something was banging from the inside, demanding to be released. At the same time, the heat I had been feeling ramped up to new heights.
I cried out as I clutched my hands to my chest, slamming my eyes shut as I rocked back and forth, trying to wait out this unknown pain.
It couldn’t last forever, right?
“Alexandra!”
I heard Kylo’s voice as the door was flung open, and soon enough I had three sets of hands touching me and voices calling out to me, asking what was wrong and what hurt.
It was so overwhelming though, as if the sun had been taken out of the sky and placed into my chest for safe keeping, searing my insides in the process. All I could do was whimper and curl into a ball on the bed and pray that it wouldn’t last for much longer.
Whoever can hear me, please help.
“What happened?” I faintly heard Kylo ask.
“I was just about to tell her what happened earlier,” Elwin explained, and I could sense the pain in his voice at seeing me in this state. “What do we do?”
Hands rubbed my back as they discussed my situation, and I tuned them out, drowning in the pain as heat spread from my chest and up my neck. I swore I could’ve breathed fire in that moment. Opening my mouth, I begged for that to happen if that’s what would bring me relief, but nothing happened.
“She’s burning up,” I heard Lucien growl as the hands on my back moved to my forehead.
Seconds later, strong arms wrapped me into their embrace, and I was being carried—I didn’t know where, and I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes to look.
“We can’t all fit in here, and this isn’t the time to argue about it,” Kylo barked out as I heard water turn on. “Wait outside.”
No one argued, and the door promptly closed as cold water rained down on my body the next moment. Shrieking and spluttering from the onslaught, Kylo’s grip on me stayed firm, not allowing me any route of escape.
“Shh, darling. I’m here,” he murmured as I felt him shift us until it felt like he was sitting with me in his lap, completely enveloping me with his large frame. “I’m not going anywhere.”
We sat together for who knows how long until slowly, the blaze that licked at my insides was tempered down by the water enough for me to open my eyes and take a purposeful, deep breath.
A soft whimper escaped my lips as I looked up at Kylo. “Why does everything hurt?”
Despite the blinding pain I was in, it didn’t escape me that we were soaked head to toe as he held me tightly, sitting under the cold spray of the shower with me. He refused to leave me in this pain alone, despite how uncomfortable he likely was in the frigid water.
“Is it any better?” he asked, voice full of hope but eyes full of pain as they searched my face and body.
Taking stock of my body, I nodded. “A little bit, but there is this constant feeling of pressure still in my chest, like…” I broke off, gasping as another wave of pain rocked me. I struggled to find the words, but took a steadying breath and tried. “It’s like energy trapped inside of me that I can’t handle.”
Pin pricks ran beneath my skin, and I tucked my head down into his neck, needing to feel his skin against mine. It was a reflexive response, seeking out his touch, but when it clicked in my brain, I whispered, “The pain lessens whenever my skin touches yours.”
Was this real, or was I making a big leap of logic to correlate the two? I guess there was only one way to find out.
He was shirtless already, but I, on the other hand, was still fully clothed, and suddenly it felt like my shirt may as well have been a hoodie from the way it felt like it was keeping me from what I felt I needed.
