Page 84 of Monster's Pretty Bride

I smirk, because I can. Because my body is on fire, because this moment is real and raw, and I’ll take every last drop of it before it slips through my fingers. “Is it working?”

She glares, but it’s ruined by the way her breath shudders as I press my lips against the sensitive spot just beneath her jaw. My fangs trace over her pulse, feeling it pound against my lips. I could take her throat between my teeth right now, claim her the way my instincts demand.

She should be fighting me. Should be pushing me away. She doesn’t.

“I hate you,” she whispers.

“Lie.” I bite down, just hard enough to make her gasp. Just hard enough to feel the way her body arches against mine. “If you hated me, you wouldn’t have kissed me first.”

She swears, tries to push me away, but I grab her wrists, pinning them against the cold surface beneath her.

“Why did you come here, Eryss?” I ask, voice rough, laced with heat and something deeper. Something more dangerous.

Her breath stutters, her chest rising and falling fast. “I—I had something to tell you?—”

She doesn’t finish. I don’t let her. Because the war is outside these walls, and she came hereto me.And I’m selfish enough to take every last second with her. To make her feel everything I feel.

Her body is pliant beneath mine, her legs parting as I settle between them, grinding against her. I can feel every inch of her, her curves fitting against me as if she weremadefor this.

She shivers, her eyes slipping closed for half a heartbeat before snapping open. “Naranus…”

I kiss her again, swallowing her words, drinking in her sounds. My name on her lips is a curse, a plea, a battle cry.

I run my hands down her sides, feeling the shape of her beneath my palms, memorizing every shudder, every gasp.

This is mine.She is mine.

Yet, I amhers.

She has unraveled me from the inside out, turned my world to ruin, and I don’t evencare.

If this is the last time I touch her, if this is the last time I breathe her in, I will make her feel it. Feelme.

I grip her thighs, hoisting her up onto the table, her back arching against the cool stone as my mouth traces a path lower. I need to taste every inch of her, to mark her, toruinher for anyone else. Because there can be no one else.

Her fingers sink into my hair, her voice breathless. “Naranus?—”

“Say my name again,” I command against her skin.

She gasps, but shedoes.

I grin, dragging my fangs over her collarbone, watching the way she writhes beneath me.

The world outside these walls doesn’t exist. The war, the blood, the impossible choices waiting for us… none of it exists.

Onlythis.Onlyher.

Her breath is ragged, her body trembling against mine. I drag my mouth back up, capturing her lips again, kissing her until shebreaks.Until shegives in.

Her breath hitches as my lips trail lower, leaving a searing path down her neck, over the swell of her breasts. My claws catch on the fabric of her tunic, tearing it away with a single, sharp motion.

The sound of ripping cloth is drowned out by her gasp, her nipples hardening under the cool air of the chamber. I don’t hesitate. My mouth closes over one taut peak, my tongue swirling around it, teasing, tasting. She arches into me, a low moan escaping her lips as her fingers tighten in my hair, pulling me closer.

“Naranus,” she breathes, her voice trembling, her body writhing beneath me. “You’re—ah—you’re impossible.”

I chuckle darkly against her skin, my fangs grazing her nipple before I move to the other, giving it the same attention. Her hips buck against mine, seeking friction, seeking more. I feel the heat of her pussy through the thin barrier of her clothes, and it drives me wild.

My cock throbs, straining against the confines of my own covering, demanding release. But not yet. Not until she’s begging for it.

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