Page 89 of Lessons with the Mothman

"You're fantastic in bed, and I'm so grateful that you've learned what pleases me. But Ilikewhen you're selfish and you use me to get yourself off. I know that for you, half of the pleasure of sex is knowing that you've satisfied your partner, becauseI'm the same way. So we're going to have to compromise sometimes."

Elias lunged up to kiss me, but he was smiling, teeth scraping my bottom lip as he caught it, sucking and scratching and laving with his tongue, his arms and wings gathering me closer and rolling us onto our sides.

He buried his face in my throat, nipping and nuzzling there as he growled out happily, "Say the word and I'll use your sweet pussy like the good little cock toy that it is. I'll use you so thoroughly you'll be leaking my cum for days. There won't be a creature with a decent sense of smell in all of Illinois that won't be able to tell how hard I fucked you."

The massage had warmed my body up to his touch, but there was nothing like Elias's particular brand of filth purred into my ear to make me consider justonemore round of sex.

"Not tonight, though," Elias said, and I shook off the impulse to pout as he tugged the blankets out from under him and then tossed them over us both. "You tooktwotentacles at once from Nico,andme in your ass. Your body needs rest."

It was proof of how true that statement was that the arousal Elias had stirred up in a moment now cheerfully simmered down and melted away.

We cuddled closer. We'd roll away for cool sheets and our own pillows as we fell asleep, but I had grown so attached to these moments when he was warm and soft and holding me tight that I sometimes found it difficult to fall asleep without him.

"How did you know I was lonely?" Elias whispered.

I smiled, fumbling in the dark until I found his soft, fluffy mane of hair, smoothing it gently, antennae tickling the back ofmy hand. It had been fairly obvious the first time he'd shown me his house, all those empty rooms, all the time he'd spent arranging them perfectly, for no one.

"Because I was too," I said instead, since it was also true. "And I knew that…when you feel like you don't fit the shape of what you're expected to be, or you can't find a reflection of yourself in those around you, it can seem easier to isolate yourself intentionally, rather than justfeelthat way. You can't fail to be what someone else wants you to be if you don't let anyone near enough. And you can't stand out in a crowd if there's no one else in the room."

Elias's arms around me squeezed briefly.

"It took me quite a while to realize Khell and Rafe liked me, even when I was intentionally proving to them that I was an irritable ass," Elias said, laughing softly.

"I couldn't hide much from Lyle. And he didn't need me to. It was such a relief," I said, nodding against his chest.

One of his hands remained on my back, warm and broad, holding me to his chest, and the other lifted, stroking through my hair, lulling me to sleep. I was nearly there when Elias whispered my name once more.

"Hmm?"

"Be mine."

Perhaps it was like the first time Elias had made me come, easier when I was all but asleep, or perhaps we'd simply reached the understanding we'd been strolling toward for months.

"I am," I said, sighing and sinking into the dark with the brush of lips on my forehead and his soothing fingers in my hair.

CHAPTER 29

Victoria

In all myworries about my family's reaction to Elias and vice versa—that they would make it uncomfortably obvious that they'd never spent time around any other species, that Elias would find them banal and petty, that if they found out about his oh so prestigious fae pedigree, they'd relish it like he was some kind of European royalty—I'd never considered the reality.

That they would fawn over him, and Elias wouldloveit.

I lifted Emma's mocktail into her reaching hand as she crossed to me from the dance floor, panting and smiling brilliantly. She and Brett had made a deal to curb their own alcohol consumption for the night, and Elias and I were in charge of keeping glasses in their hands before any of Brett's finance bro friends could start a chant for shots.

"Mom and Aunt Jen are monopolizing your boyfriend," Emma said, nodding her head to where my mother was indeed holding court with family and friends, her arm linked through Elias's.

"He's thriving under the attention," I said, waving a hand.

Emma raised her eyebrows at me as she sipped her drink.

I laughed, reading her too easily. Which was wonderful. We'd spent a lot more time together in the past few months, and even had a double date with Brett and Elias which, while slightly forced in its amicability, hadn't been as awkward as I'd feared. I had my sister back, and she was incandescently happy.

"I don't mind, actually," I said, surprised to find it was the truth. I shrugged, glancing back across the room to find Elias watching me. "It suits him, and it keeps Mom's spotlight off me. It's better they all get along than not, anyway."

Emma nodded, smug married smirk curving up. "That's very long-term thinking of you."

I blushed but didn't argue.

---