Page 69 of Captured By the Monsters
ROWEN
A palpable silence hung in the air at my declaration, and I immediately regretted my words. I wished I could take them back—erase them from ever being uttered—because they left me weak and vulnerable. Everyone in the room froze for a few seconds.
Sylan and Axton looked away, but Sera just stared at me, wide-eyed. Minutes ticked by, and still she said nothing. A cold sweat dotted my neck, and my stomach churned anxiously. I wanted to shake her, demand that she say something…but at the same time, I dreaded her response if it wasn’t one she could give me easily.
Her lack of one was enough. Sera clearly didn’t feel the same way, and I was a fool who spoke from the heart too soon, exposing my true feelings that should never have been revealed. I knew my Trifecta would never mock me, but I was the one who usually kept my emotions hidden.
I had been the one to rebuff the instant connection to Sera when it felt like things got too deep and emotionally raw too quickly between us all. Yet here I was, the first to admit what each of us felt for her.
“You…love me?” Sera repeated in what sounded like an incredulous voice.
Swallowing thickly, I just nodded in response. There was no use in denying it—I couldn’t if I tried, now that I had admitted it. I loved the gorgeous human woman who was brave enough to be my mate, and who was even braver to be our Queen, but she simply couldn’t go back to The Above.
There was too much at stake.
Clearing my throat, I reaffirmed stoically, “Yes. I love you.”
Sera continued to stare with an almost blank look in her eyes, and I shifted uncomfortably.
“Are you sure?” she prompted, and I couldn’t help myself—I tipped my head back and laughed.
It was so Sera to question everything.
The sound bounced off the walls of the grotto and echoed merrily around us. Sylan grinned at the sound, and even Axton seemed amused at my predicament. Our world had been so dark and bleak that we rarely were happy—we couldn’t find joy without a mate.
Sera definitely surpassed any expectation I might have had for a mate. She brought so much delight to my life—to all our lives. She was our light in the darkness, and I wouldn’t let anything snuff it out.
“Of course I’m sure,” I snorted, still feeling foolish. “I might regret admitting my love out loud if it scares you, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”
“But how do you know?” Sera urged. “Have you loved someone else?”
“Like another woman?” I asked in disbelief. “Obviously not—my heart never came alive until I laid eyes on you. I know because it felt like that organ was dead inside of my chest, the same as our land was. But just as you’re doing with our lands, you breathed life into me. You make me feel alive, Sera. You give me a reason to want to live.”
Fuck, I had already scared her with my proclamation, and here I went word-vomiting my feelings again.
The cold sweat that had erupted along my neck suddenly became unbearably warm, and I wiped a hand nervously across my clammy skin. This conversation was not going how I had planned—not that I had planned this at all.
Oddly, Sera looked smug at my words.
“What’s that look mean?” I demanded, stepping into her space.
“And if I don’t tell you?” she teased.
Getting her pregnant was off the table now that she was Queen, and I knew our mate loved to be filled with our cocks. She’d be thrilled. Maybe that’s exactly what I needed to change the subject.
A wicked grin slowly overcame my face as I declared, “Then I will fuck you slowly and gently.”
If she knew me at all, she would know slow and gentle were not things I was capable of.
She gasped in mock horror, eliciting more laughter from me and the two others.
“You wouldn’t dare!” she scoffed in challenge.
“Try me,” I purred, grateful for the change in topic, but of course, Sera was tenacious and steered our talk back to more murky waters.
“Well, that’s what people in love do, I’ve heard—they enjoy one another, gently and slowly.”
Sylan and Axton lost it, hooting hysterically at my expense while Sera moved a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles.
