Page 46 of Held By a Monster

With a squawk and wings that flapped furiously, the fowl in question emerged from a tunnel. Her beak was clamped around insects stacked three deep and two high. All I could really see of her face was wriggling legs and the end of her wide, stretched beak.

Quin reared back in horror. “That’s disgusting.”

Meanosaurus said something unintelligible.

Bacon rolled her eyes. “It’s bad manners to talk with your mouth full.”

The chickenharrumphed, which was another new experience for me.

Roul took the lead, showing them the way out of the cave system.

“It’s three o’clock in the morning. I’ll be back around three this afternoon for any final preparations.” Zeus was the last to leave, giving me one last, weighted look before disappearing into the gloom.

I don’t know if it was the stress, or the energy expended during all the mind blowing orgasms, but I was drained. I grabbed my small lantern and made my way back to Drym’sroom. My feet felt made of lead and my fingertips dragged the ground. Metal pellets replaced my brain and every sound was replaced with a dullwhoosh.

I only knew Drym followed me from the heat of his hand on my lower back.

When we got to the room, I collapsed onto the pile of blankets. I didn’t look up at him. My head was too heavy for my neck to lift.

“I want to forge the bond.”

thirty

Even though I knewthat’s what she was going to say, it still made my skin tingle. Whether in anticipation or fear, I didn’t know.

I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a decision that should be made under these circumstances.”

She snorted. “What circumstances would you prefer? When we’re old and gray and the only thing left ahead of us is death? Are you afraid, or do you not want to bond with me?”

I strangled my whine. “I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

She lifted her head and stared at me with tired eyes. “It’s too late for that.”

I huffed and looked away. “No, it’s not. You can take all the time you need to make an informed decision. There is no reason to be hasty.”

She sprung from my bed and I backed up as she advanced on me.

“No reason to be hasty? Are you fucking kidding me?” Her little hands fisted at her sides. “Tomorrow night you’re going to reveal yourself to someone who will run to tell their boss, who is one of the people that funded the research to create you! Someone who will tell the director of the lab!”

I shrugged. “That’s the easy part.”

“Easy?”

I winced as she screeched.

“If that’s easy, what’s hard?”

I took a deep breath and cocked my head. “The waiting that comes after.”

Her entire body deflated and she sank to the blankets. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t think I’ll survive the wait without some kind of connection to you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You can’t say that. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

I growled low in my throat. “I will always come back to you. I don’t need a forged mate bond to tell me what lengths I’d go to in order to get back to your side. I would endure a thousand lifetimes of captivity if it meant you were safe.”

“Don’t you see?” Tears tracked down her cheeks. “If I don’t have a way to feel that you’re okay, I’ll be in hell.”

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