Page 17 of Claimed By Her Monsters

Sadly, when you really thought about it, that was exactly what the truth did.

It revealed that I wasn’t their destined one, and showed the burden and ultimate weight betrayal carried in return.

The nagging call was wishing for me to leave, but I couldn’t further distance myself from him.

I can’t simply leave him like this…

Before I knew it, I was before him once more, my eyes staring into his expression as he looked down to the floor, tears spilling from his eyes that couldn’t even look at me.

“Aloisium.” I wanted to comfort him, but would that be weird now that he knew the truth? None of us even knew what would come out of all of this.

What will be our end game?

“Did…” he began and gathered the courage to lift his head enough to meet my saddened gaze with one that tore at my heart. “Did you truly love us?”

It was a question that made the corner of my lips rise while my eyes softened as I slowly nodded my head.

“Sadly,” I confessed. “Even though you’re a bitter ass.”

He tried to laugh, but it didn’t come out right. It was a mix of joy and immense sadness, which proved this really was devasting for someone like him.

“Why did you even put up with it?” he dared to ask as he shook his head. “You knew the truth and let us antagonize you?”

“I’d rather face your wrath and hatred,” I admitted with a shrug. “If I endured it alone, at least one of us suffers versus all four of us, right?”

“How…can you be so damn selfless?” he questioned.

I was left to shrug once more. “I don’t know, honestly. A trait I have no clue where it comes from really. You’d think someone as diabolic as I shouldn’t have such a kind heart, huh?”

My teasing only made him struggle with more tears before he gripped my cheeks and whispered something I’d never expected to hear from his lips.

“I’m sorry, Nerissa.”

His apology matched with the sight of immense guilt in his eyes opened a door I’d never walked through with Aloisium. Witnessing this much emotion and actually being apologized to felt almost forbidden to experience.

When I first ran away, I pictured my dark gods and how they would apologize to me. There were so many scenarios, some that didn’t even make sense, and yet I craved their understanding. For them to finally see the light and apologize for the agony their blind-sightedness had caused. Yet this felt so different from the sense of victory I yearned for.

This felt as if he was saying goodbye…

My hands slowly reached out to lightly press against his chest, the touch only making this harder for both of us, and yet I couldn’t leave until I confirmed one thing.

“Why…does it feel as if you’ll slip away if I leave?”

He tried to hide his emotions, but it was as if the mask of fury and annoyance had completely slipped off and was unretrievable.

“The worshippers have already begun to stop supplying us with their hope,” he confessed. “All this week…we’ve tried to reach you, but it was like a broken telephone. Regis summoned you to the forest to try to talk to you, but the sight of the mark Atticus gave you insulted him. It made him and I feel inadequate, even though Fenriz pressured us to seek you out and get a proper explanation.”

“Meaning you guys are running out of fuel.” I was slowly putting one and two together, which only made him sigh before confessing, “Fenriz and Regis may be okay for now. They’ve been in your radius and that’s enough to give a boost without our sexual contact in these realms of dreams.”

“But you…” I trailed off as he looked away, almost in shame.

“If I took a chance to listen to your bickering, maybe I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation, to begin with,” he scolded himself. “It’s the punishment I’ve earned.”

Before he could say more, my hands were on his cheeks as I gave him no choice but to return his gaze to me. When our eyes locked, I didn’t hesitate to lean up until my lips pressed against his. The touch was so soft, and yet the vibrating hum of lust that kindled between us made it hard to pull away.

My arm snaked around his neck before I realized it, while his arms boldly wrapped around my waist as if to keep me in his grasp. He pressed us against the wall, our lips moving, pressing, fighting to keep each other locked in and occupied while our bodies hummed with relief.

My body grew hot against his as the two of us became so lost in our heated kiss, we didn’t pick up on our nakedness until the last bit of clothing was shredded away — by his claws. His body was shifting and his flesh tainted to onyx with a glimmer of pink and red that shimmered across his chiseled frame, while tentacles immediately wrapped around me but kept me pressed against their master as we continued to kiss passionately.

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