Page 102 of The Demon Prince

“We do.”

Gluttony stood, walking over to her with hesitant steps before he held out his hand for her to take. “We have places to go, pet.”

She looked up at him with a new light in her eyes. He was more than just a man who wanted to keep her. Now he was the monster who had killed for her safety. And she knew that should terrify her. She should be afraid of what he had done, and how easily he had torn through her people like their flesh was butter.

But oh, all she saw was a man who was willing to risk everything for her.

She slid her hand into his and allowed him to help her stand. And then he gathered her up in his arms, tugging her against his chest and tunneling his hand into her hair so he could cup the back of her head. He held her. Just held her against his heart as he breathed her in.

“Katherine,” he breathed into her hair. “You are well?”

“I am well.” Or better than she was before. There would be a time for her to consider the betrayal of her people, but now was not the time.

Like she was in a dream, she followed him through the curtain of weeping willow leaves and out into the place where she had always dreamt of going. The moors put on a show of a lifetime. Thousands of fireflies blinked all around them. The darkness had fallen, but she’d never felt more safe as they hopped from stone to stone, the moss cushioning every step she took as she followed him up a small incline.

There, he released her hand and strode up to the top. She took a few moments to look at him. A dark figure standing in the center of a swamp, blinking lights swirling around him, basking in his magic. The moon silhouetted his tall, muscular form, and his long hair swayed down his back. He was a mythical creature, just like the villagers always warned her about.

The monsters of the swamp would call you deeper, the legends said. They would drag you into the farthest corner and devour you whole.

But oh, she wanted nothing more than for this man to do that.

“Katherine,” he said, his voice deep and low. “I almost lost you.”

“But you saved me.”

“I could have lost you, though. So easily. Your people almost took you from me, and I do not...” He paused, and she watched as his expression shuttered.

No, that’s not what she wanted from him right now. How dare he try to hide from her? This was not what she would do. Not in the slightest. He was hers and no one else’s, and this just proved it.

She stalked up the hill, determination in every step, even if it made her hip ache yet again. Stopping in front of him, Katherine caught his hand. She pressed it against her heart, so he could feel the heavy thud of the organ caged behind her ribs.

“This beats for you,” she said. And it felt like her soul took flight. Finally, she’d said it. She’d let the words free. “I want to be with you for as long as you will have me. You are not just a monster, Gluttony, you are my monster. And I love you.”

He stared at her, apparently lost for words, but that only meant she had to keep going.

“I want you,” she said, purging all the thoughts that had plagued her for so long. “I want you now and forever. And I think I’ve always wanted you, from the first day we met. You have consumed me, Gluttony. No one has ever cared about me like you do.”

At least, she hoped. He was still standing there like he’d forgotten how to speak. Katherine could only hope she hadn’t ruined this for the both of them, but she needed him to know. To understand that she would do anything for him. Everything.

He lunged. Or maybe she moved first. Either way, suddenly their lips were pressed together, and he was kissing her like she was the last woman on earth. He devoured her, tongue lashing at the seam of her lips until she allowed him to deepen the kiss into something so wondrous, so magical, that it made her heart stutter in her chest.

Gluttony glided his hand down her throat, over her collarbone, to cup her breast as he said, “I love you. I have loved you for such a long time, you beautiful creature who walked out of the moors and into my life.”

Soon, they were tearing at each other’s clothes. She had no idea how he’d gotten her dress down around her hips, but then again, she didn’t know when she’d ripped his shirt off either. All she knew was that they were suddenly pressed heart to heart, and her nipples pebbled against his flexing muscles.

Gluttony growled into her mouth, his hand suddenly palming her breast, while the sharp point of a claw stroked over her nipple. “You are so dangerous, pet. One moment I am a man, and the next a ravenous monster.”

“Yes,” she moaned, tilting her head back so her neck was exposed to him. “That is what I want. My monster.”

He groaned and then he was there. His teeth sinking into the side of her neck as he caught her limp body and lowered them to the ground. They curved around each other as he sank onto his knees with her in his lap. He drew deep at her neck and she felt the instant dizziness that she’d come to love.

“So good,” he growled against her as his hand tunneled between them.

His claws delicately parted her folds, and she couldn’t breathe with the feel of him there, at her neck, everywhere. His teeth in her throat and his finger pressing deep inside her. No claw, she didn’t think, but it wouldn’t matter.

Katherine ground herself against him, feeling the burning pressure of a second finger as he strummed her clit with his thumb. He played her body like a masterful musician who knew how to only play one instrument.

Her.

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