Page 33 of Captured By the Monsters
It would be a monumental moment for me to return to them, and their shock would lend me the chance to open their eyes. Their curiosity wouldn’t allow them to ignore me or the story I had to tell.
“And what do you think your leader would do when he found out you were back and informing everyone of the truth?” he quickly parried. “Do you think he would just allow you to change everything his forefather worked for and handed down to each generation since?”
My heart sank.
“No…” I murmured. “He would kill me.”
“Exactly. And I’m sorry, but that’s just not an option,” Rowen growled.
“But—”
“We have bigger issues to worry about,” he cut me off.
“Like what?” I demanded, genuinely curious how that was possible.
“If we don’t mark you, we could lose you to another Trifecta so that they can attempt to breed you.” My eyes bulged at Rowen’s announcement. “The crystal clearly chose you as our mate, but again, Specters are desperate and will do anything to restore our land and find a mate. We don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“But it still remains your choice,” Sylan reiterated, making me hug my shoulders in sadness.
It might be my choice, but I still felt like I had no options. The recourse for not being marked was not one I wished to confront. I might not have been one hundred percent on board with being shipped down to The Below, but Sylan, Axton, and Rowen were my monsters. There was no way I was going to be taken from them by another Trifecta.
They were mine and I was theirs. I couldn’t fight it any longer.
“Okay,” I finally conceded, heart swelling as I said, “You can have my virginity.”
Rowen’s bronze eyes softened as he drank in my face. “I’m sorry I pulled away because of my fear of this connection. I just wanted to protect myself and my family..”
Biting down on my lip I tried to hide the smile that tugged at my mouth. “Truce?” I asked, holding out a hand. This was more than a truce, and we both knew it. It was us both agreeing to tear down those final barriers between us and give it a real shot.
A shadowy tendril wrapped about my fingers, squeezing them lightly in acknowledgement. “Truce.”
Taking a deep breath, I straightened up, looking each of them in the eye. “When did you want to mark me?”
“No time better than the present,” Axton purred, making my legs wobble in heated anticipation. My mind might still be working on catching up with all of the information I’d just learned, but my body was all the way in.
Rowen floated closer to me, erasing all distance, kissing my cheek as Sylan came to hover at my back, gently caressing my neck. “We’ll take it nice and slow,” the silver-eyed monster reassured. “All day and all night until you’re ready.”
I moaned at his words, already on fire from their proximity and light touch. How the hell would I survive hours of this without combusting?!
Sylan whispered in my ear, “Remember, beauty, you hold the reins. You control the speed. Whatever you want, however you want it. We just want to worship the perfection that is you.”
His promise loosened some of my anxiety. I was safe with these men, and no matter what, I knew they would always put me first. It was time to stop second-guessing my feelings and acknowledge what my body knew all along:
I had been captured by the monsters, but now I wanted to be claimed by them.
