Page 41 of Monster's Pretty Bride

I don’t give her time to react before I pull her into my lap, dragging her against me, wrapping my arms around her before she can protest.

She stiffens, her whole body going rigid.

“What the hell are you doing?” Her voice catches, her breath uneven.

“Keeping you alive,” I answer, shifting my hold, making sure her icy limbs press against my warmth.

Her hands push against my chest, weakly at first, then more forcefully. “I don’t need your help.”

I let out a low, rumbling growl. “Stop fighting me, little bride.”

She freezes.

I feel her pulse against my skin, rapid, unsteady.

Her breath quivers, but she doesn’t push me away again.

“Fine,” she mutters, voice barely audible. “But if you try anything, I’ll?—”

I cut her off with a quiet, amused sound. “I’m not the one who climbed into whose bed last time.”

She sputters, pulling back slightly to glare at me. “That was?—”

“Desperate?” I supply. “Reckless? Pathetic?”

She grits her teeth. “It was a mistake. An assassination attempt if you forget.”

I watch her, my claws tracing absently over her back, over the bruises still healing along her spine. “You’re still alive. I’d say that’s a success.”

She doesn’t reply.

For a long moment, we sit in silence, the only sound the crackling fire and the storm outside.

Her body gradually stops trembling, the warmth seeping into her skin. She exhales slowly, pressing her forehead against my collarbone.

She shouldn’t be this comfortable with me.

I shouldn’t let her be. Neither of us move.

Neither of us letting go.

19

ERYSS

Sleep comes easily.

I don't expect it to. My body is a bruised wreck, aching with exhaustion, but I expect my mind to resist, to keep me awake, to keep the tension in my limbs locked tight.

But Naranus is warm.

The heat of him seeps into my bones, steady and unyielding, keeping the cold from taking root in the hollows of my skin. The steady rhythm of his breathing grounds me, his arms around me an anchor I shouldn't accept.

But I do.

I hate that I do.

I drift before I can fight it, my fingers curled slightly against his chest, his heartbeat deep and slow beneath my palm.

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