Page 67 of Monster's Pretty Bride

But I don’t.

Ifreeze.

Slowly, far too slowly, my body betrays me.

The heat of him, the steady rhythm of his chest, the strength beneath my fingertips, it lulls me. Encloses me in warmth I haven’t felt insolong.

My breathing evens out. My muscles loosen.

His grip doesn’t falter. His warmth doesn’t fade.

Before I can think about it, before I canfight, my eyes slip shut.

I fall asleep,on top of my captor.

31

NARANUS

There’s omething warm on my chest. Somethingsoft.

I wake with Eryss in my arms.

Her breath feathers against my collarbone, her delicate weight pressing into my chest.Dangerous.

Every instinct screams at me to push her away, to remind her,remind myself, that she is the enemy. That I should not crave the shape of her against me, the way her fingers are curled into the hard lines of my torso as if she belongs there.

But I don’t move.

I don’t push her away.

Instead, I breathe her in.

The fire that burns in her magicless body is still there, trapped beneath flesh and bone, smoldering. A wild thing leashed. She doesn’t trust me, and she shouldn’t. Butgods help me, my grip tightens anyway. I can feel the steady drum of her heartbeat, the faintest shift of her hips against my thigh. She is warm, alive, despite everything trying to take her from me.

I shut my eyes for just a moment.Just one moment more.

The door slams open.

My body moves before my mind catches up.

Eryss is wrenched from me as I snarl, rolling us both off the bed. My wings flare, my body still sluggish from my injuries, but my claws are up, bared, ready to rip whoever dared enter.

Thryx.

He stands there, unflinching. “Warriors are inside the stronghold.”

I freeze.

Eryss stiffens in my grip, her fingers curling against my chest as she tries to twist free. My pulse spikes, not because of the fight waiting beyond these walls, but because of her.

I release her.

She steps back, breathing uneven, but she doesn’t run.Not this time.

Thryx’s golden gaze flickers to her before returning to me. “Drenir’s men broke through the southern watch.” He tosses me a set of clean armor. “They came looking for you.”

Ofcoursethey did.

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