Page 50 of Their Pretty Little Monster

“You can’t keep running from me,” he says, walking inside and kicking the door shut behind him. “I’m starting to worry that you’re not interested in me.” His grin is enchanting, doing its trick to unfurl the fear that tells me to back away.

“As I already said, you don’t need to fear me,” he explains softly. “But what you need to know is that with our ritual, the Shadowfen have a need to release their pent-up arousal. Otherwise, that deep hunger where you’re dying to be fucked will soon turn into pain.”

I blink, trying to unpack everything he just said, the word pain at the forefront. It leaves me wondering if he’s attempting to trick me.

“So, you’re helping me, then?” I smirk despite the fear knotting my stomach.

He tilts his head to the side, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his lips. “You could say that if it helps you.”

As he moves closer, it’s difficult to focus on anything but the way his muscles shift under his skin with every step. He’s not wearing much, just those loose black pants hanging low on his hips, his bulge still as huge as ever. And here I am, staring at it longer than I should be.

He strides closer, and I scramble onto the bed, bringing myself closer to his eye level. I press my hand against his chest to stop him, and his skin is a furnace under my touch. The move might have been a mistake, considering that single connection has my knees wavering. His hand cups over mine, then he lifts it to his mouth and kisses it tenderly.

“For my first time,” I say with a shaky voice, fully aware of where this is heading. I’m not fooling myself into pretending I don’t want it because I do. “I can’t take you in this form.” My gaze lowers between us.

His smile is beautiful and captivating, then he kisses my knuckles.

“You’d be surprised what you can take.”

“Killian,” I whisper.

“I’ll take care of you, Sage.” He grins, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

I’m quivering. His words are meant to comfort, but they only make the anticipation more intense. He leans in closer, his breath warm against my skin, and I shiver harder.

Then, it’s me who leans in closer, my lips capturing his in a kiss that I embrace.

His hands wind around my middle, unwrapping the tablecloth from around my waist and tossing it aside. Next, he wrenches my shirt up and over my head, breaking our kiss.

There’s a tenderness in his movements and behind his gaze. Standing naked in front of a monster should terrify me, and it does slightly, but there are other feelings involved. Something so much deeper in the way I react to him, how he drives me crazy with his obsession over me, how he shows me those snippets of absolute tenderness that have me swooning for him.

I reach up and cup his strong blue face, so much larger against my palm, and he leans in. This powerful Shadowfen, soft under my touch, is beautiful.

At that same moment, I sense him shuddering, and instantly, he’s shifting before my eyes, the blue vanishing from his skin, his size reducing, those scars on his body remaining, but not the tattoos. In a heartbeat, he’s back to the Killian I first met in Nightingale Village. A Viscount, I feared at first. Now, I’m naked and pulling him closer.

Our mouths clash, and he kisses me with untold passion. My stomach tickles, and I can’t ignore how desperately I desire him. He knows it, too, and I don’t have to say it. The words are confirmed in my actions. It feels right, even though I’m so nervous I could cry.

In moments, he has me in his arms and off my feet, then lays me on the bed. He vanishes into the bathroom for a moment, then returns with a long strip of fabric, or more like a tie from a robe, which begs the question… there’s a robe in my bathroom?

Before I can ask him, he’s standing at the side of the bed, weaving the fabric into the intricate holes of the headboard carved into waves.

“Should I be worried?” I ask, twisting around, but he’s already returning and gently taking one hand.

“I won’t let you run away from me again. I can see it in your eyes that you will.” Grinning, he has my wrist wound in seconds before I can wrench free from him.

“Killian, this isn’t necessary.”

He reaches over, taking my other hand with more firmness as I resist him. In seconds, my arms are over my head, tied up.

“Really?” I ask, pulling against my restraints.

He grins, staring down at my body. “You’re too captivating to be real.”

Then he drops his loose pants, and my response flatlines.

His hidden beast pops out.

I gasp in response to the thickness of his erection, the bulging vein, the head so bulbous it’s never going to get inside me. Based on the one I’ve seen before in the village, they don’t even compare. How in the world is Killian’s so huge?

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