Page 42 of Monster's Pretty Bride

The fire has burned low by the time I wake.

I shift slightly, blinking past the dim, flickering glow, adjusting to the thick silence of the room. My head is clearer now, my body no longer wracked with shivers.

I realize that I’m still in his arms.

Still tucked against the broad plane of his chest, still wrapped in the heat of his body like a protective cocoon.

I go still, listening to his breath. It’s even, deep, slow.

He’s asleep.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen him sleep before.

Naranus exists in perpetual control, a beast that never lets his guard down, that watches, waits, anticipates the next threat before it comes.

Yet here he is. Vulnerable. Exposed.

I could kill him.

The thought slithers through me like an old whisper, the mission buried in the back of my mind rearing its head.

This is the moment.

The perfect moment.

End him.

I carefully pull my arm back, fingers hovering just inches from his throat, from the vulnerable column of his neck where a single press would mean his end. He’s already injured, I don’t need the enchanted dagger to end him.

He wouldn't even feel it.

But I don’t move.

My fingers curl away instead of closing in. My breath hitches, my stomach twisting as I force myself to think.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.

I shouldn’t hesitate.

I shouldn’t be questioning this.

But his warmth lingers on my skin. His body bleeds protection even in sleep, even after everything, even after he’s thrown me to the wolves and forced me into the fire.

He’s saved me.

Over and over again.

My chest tightens, hard and unbearable.

Why? Why does he do this?

He speaks to me with sharp-edged cruelty, taunting and mocking, reminding me of my place beneath him. But then he turns around and catches me before I fall. Holds me close when I am barely holding on myself.

Why is he like this?

I exhale sharply, shaking my head. I can’t get lost in this. I won’t.

Instead, I shift carefully, pulling away without waking him, ignoring the way my body misses the warmth the second it’s gone.

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