Page 38 of Monster's Obsession

“What does that even mean?”

I tugged on one of my ears. “It means I’m elfin royalty, Daruka. Or as close as the elves come to having royalty. Really, it’s more of a management role. An overworked manager at that. But it also comes with certain responsibilities. Like moving back to the elfin forest and maintaining a permanent residence there.”

Hell, I hadn’t even gotten to the juiciest part, and she was already shutting down on me. I could see it in her eyes. The idea of living in the elfin forest repulsed her. Might as well put it all out there at this point.

“And take a mate and get busy creating the next generation, who will take over when I’m ready to retire.”

Her eyes flared for a brief moment, and hope bloomed. But then her eyes narrowed and she said, “Creating the next generation?”

I nodded. “Yes, it means making babies, Daruka.”

“I know what it means,” she snapped, sounding far more irritable than the subject merited. But then again, she was part demon. Demons weren’t keen on the whole parent thing. Compassion, feeling responsible for another being all the time—that wasn’t in a demon’s nature. Just ask me.

Or my mother. Or, I’d wager, whichever of Daruka’s parents she got her demon side from.

“So this thing you keep insisting is between you and me…” she started.

“Daruka, that’s—”

“How does this all tie back to Selina?” Krishna interrupted.

Damn, I’d forgotten the werewolf was still here.

“Yeah,” Daruka said, her words now dripping with ice, “finish your story.”

I was tempted to point out that she was the one who asked me to elaborate on the whole elven responsibilities bit, but I held my tongue and explained what happened between me and Selina instead. In truth, figuring out how Daruka can feel safe while she’s here at the academy was the more urgent issue.

“I was staying at the Boar’s Nest Inn. Selina was working at the antiques shop down the road.” I’d believed she was just another supernatural who preferred to live here than to go back to the mainland and deal with humans on the regular. “I didn’t realize she was a student. I didn’t even know her name.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

I gave Daruka a good glare, even though it was true. Until her, I didn’t care who they were or what their names were so long as they were a willing participant in the sexual activities I had planned.

“I made it clear that it was only one night,” I said. “But she has obviously chosen to ignore the memo.”

“You didn’t make that clear to me,” Daruka said.

“What I made clear to you was, ‘This will not be the only time between us.’”

Her cheeks flared an adorable bright red. Krishna stared at me like I was a deity.

Far from it, mate.

Daruka waved at my groin. “So basically, your dick is so fantastic that my roommate wants to kill me because she got to ride it first.”

“I’m pretty sure she wants to kill you because I want you to ride it again and again, and I don’t want her anywhere near it.”

That doubt crawling across Daruka’s face was really starting to get to me. What was it going to take to convince the woman that I—

The bed wobbled. Not the kind of shaking it did when two people were hardcore fucking—or even one person was spanking his monkey with enthusiasm. This level of movement was more akin to—

“Holy crap, is this an earthquake?” Daruka asked, all that high color from her previous embarrassment leeching from her face.

I shook my head while swinging my legs over the side of the bed. “No way. Earthquakes don’t happen here. The school is built on ley lines, not tectonic plates.” Still, that hadn’t been the barely noticeable shiver the ley lines sometimes caused. Not to mention, the ley lines weren’t normally so active. This was, what? Three times in less than two weeks?

And twice today?

“Maybe we should get down to the ground floor anyway,” I suggested.

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