Page 22 of Beauty's Monstrous Demons

“He won’t accept it,” Samael murmurs, watching as Phenex brings the platters to the table he set up off the living room.

“I like to make sure everything is set up right,” his friend says, frowning.

As someone whose entire day revolves around this, I understand it well.

“Understandable,” I murmur, moving forward as he pulls a chair out for me.

The demons sit after me, making sure to serve me before Phenex continues to fill his plate. Wow. I don’t think anyone has ever done anything so simple for me before. I sit in stunned silence as they chat, their sidelong glance after a moment galvanizing me to pick up my fork and begin eating.

Samael makes no effort to disguise the fact that he’s not eating, though he takes enjoyment from watching me. A small moan escapes me as I chew. The potatoes I just took a bite of are cheesy and crispy, and so fucking good.

“I was going for something hearty, but still delicious,” Phenex explains, a pleased look on his face. “Do you cook?”

“I know how,” I admit. “I usually don’t, though.”

“There’s more to that,” Samael drawls.

God, such a tattletale.

“And, I’m avoiding spending much time in my kitchen,” I add.

“I’d much rather you eat than scrounge for food,” Phenex says disapprovingly. “Come use mine.”

“I couldn’t do that,” I say. “It’s silly that I’m not using a perfectly good kitchen.”

“Silly or not, the fact remains that you’re not using it and you need to eat,” he says. “Use whatever you want.”

“I…what?” I ask. “You can’t just invite me to?—”

“Lorelei,” Phenex says, his forearms leaning on the table. Something I’m noticing is that while there are no personal items in his apartment, the furniture is all well made to withstand how large he is. “I can invite you to do whatever I want. I’m not very happy that you’re in a dorm filled with grown fucking monsters, but I’m dealing with it. If I didn’t think you’d freak out about it, I’d move your cute little ass in with me.”

“Me?” I squeak. I think my brain is melting. That can’t be right. “You don’t even know me!”

“Let’s remedy that,” he says. My eyes move over his comfortable outfit, so different from how I usually see him. His gray sweatpants and tank top show off all of his muscles, as well as the black tattoo on his bicep of a hand holding a single eye. There are chains at the base of it, and I can’t stop staring at it.

“Remedy?” I ask, having lost track of the conversation.

Samael’s lips ghost along the shell of my ear, and I can feel the way they’re curled into a smile.

“If you feed his ego anymore, they won’t be able to make the doorways wide enough for it,” he teases.

My cheeks are going to be sore from how hard I’m smiling. I have a feeling Samael isn’t wrong, and as my gaze meets the demon in question, his blue green eyes are as intense as always. There’s a difference now, though.

Where I’ve seen distaste there before, I can clearly see possession in them as well.

“I’ll find a way to fit,” Phenex says with a wicked grin, and now my mind goes straight to the gutter. My thighs squeeze together, desperate to hide what my cunt thinks of those words.

My scent matches continue to smile, and I curse in my head, knowing they can tell. Neither does anything about it, continuing to direct the conversation in another direction.

“Why did you apply to this university, Lorelei?” Phenex asks curiously.

Wincing, I put my fork down, knowing that I’m going to sound insane.

“My reasoning isn’t going to make any sense,” I tell him.

“It doesn’t have to if it led you to us,” he says seriously. “You’ve been to four schools in the past four semesters. That’s a lot of moving.”

“It is, and it’s hard to explain,” I say. Fuck, I’m not going to tell them about the fortune teller. That’s just too out there. “Someone once told me that I was going to find people who fit my every need and would be my scent match. I’d meet them by the time I turned twenty-one. If I didn’t, I’d die.”

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