Page 130 of The Monsters We Are

“No. No, not at all.”

He merely shrugged.

She looked at the ceiling, mumbling something he couldn’t quite make out.

Cain felt his mouth kick up. He hadn’t smiled anywhere near so much until Wynter came along. Well, she gave him plenty to smile about, especially when she so often did the unexpected. He doubted any other woman would have dared curse his cock so that it would wither and rot if he ever betrayed her. Only Wynter.HisWynter.

Their lives had so easilyclickedtogether. She was a Priestess. He was a ruler of sorts. They had different responsibilities and duties. Yet, there had been no push and pull, no struggle for balance, no difficulty for either to keep a foothold in their own “world”. He wouldn’t have expected that. Wouldn’t have thought it could work that way.

But then, he wouldn’t have thought a lot of things until Wynter. More, he wouldn’t have believed that anyone could become part of him, until there was no way he could exist in this world without them.

He combed his fingers through her hair, letting his gaze drift possessively over her face. “I forgot to tell you something.”

Her gaze flew back to his, her brows slightly inching together. “What?”

“I realized something when you almost fell through the netherworld portal right before my eyes.”

She slid her hands over his shoulders. “It would be nice if you didn’t glare at me like I did that on purpose. I was kind of unconscious.”

“I know.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I thought for sure I wouldn’t get to you in time. My heart was in my throat. My creature was frozen in horror. Fear . . . I could taste it, smell it. Even though I caught you and hauled you to me with Seth’s help, that fear didn’t leave right away. I could feel your soul, I knew I hadn’t lost you, but relief didn’t really hit me until you opened your eyes. And I realized that, fuck, I love you.”

Her face softened. “You do?”

“I do.” He lifted his head. “I didn’t know that the emotion could be so intense and raw. Didn’t know it could be so dark that it straddled the line of obsession and could make a person so much more dangerous than what they already were before. I am more dangerous for loving you, because to lose you would be to lose myself. You’re as much a part of me as my own soul.”

Ignoring the ache in her throat, Wynter swallowed. “Well, that’s . . .” Dammit, she got all choked up and awkward and flustered. She’d never be good with expressing how she felt, or at handling hearing how deeply he felt for her. And she could tell that, sensing her struggle, hereallywanted to laugh right now. Asshole.

As she suddenly remembered something he’d said before, she frowned. “Hold on a sec, you realized you love me, but you ‘forgot’ to tell me? How? How does one forget that?”

“Perhaps ‘one’ was waiting for the right moment.” He bit her bottom lip as he withdrew from her body. Rolling them both onto their sides so that they faced each other, he added, “Now here’s where you give me the words back.”

“You’ve already heard them many times.”

“I want to hear them again.”

“So spoilt.” She gave him a quick kiss. “I love you.”

“I hope for both our sakes that you never stop, because I will still keep you here. In chains, if necessary.”

She sighed. “What is it with you and chains?”

“Why are you so opposed to them?” He cupped her pussy but didn’t stroke her, as if he just wanted to hold her that way. “Being a sexual captive wouldn’t be so bad.”

Yeah, in Hattie’s world. “It wouldn’t be anywhere near as exciting for you as you seem to think. I would make aterriblecaptive. Defiant. Bitchy. Totally uncooperative—”

“All of which would give me reason to punish you.” He hummed. “I do like to punish you on occasion.”

“Yeah, well, I’d also do whatever it took to get free,andkill whoever stood in my way—including you.” She probably shouldn’t have been surprised at how heat flared in his eyes. “God, you’re so weird.”

“Now really, little witch, are you in a position to be throwing stones like that?” he teased, sliding his hand from her pussy up to palm her breast. “You come back from the dead. You host one of the Rephaim. You gave yourself to the son of Satan. And you lead a coven of people who wouldn’t know ‘sane’ if it skewered them with a sword.”

“What’s your point?”

His lips hiking up, he kissed her. “Would you prefer if we pretend I don’t have one?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I would.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Back to what we were speaking of before . . . So, being chained up would truly be a problem for you?”

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