Page 52 of Demon Monster's Little Human

A slow, lazy smirk curls at the tip of my mouth.

“Enjoying the view?”

Her breath hitches, barely audible.

She glares, but it is weak, unconvincing. “You?—”

“Me?”

Her fingers tighten around the fabric of her dress, as if that will shield her from me. As if I do not already see everything.

I let my head tilt back, the water lapping against my chest, my voice dropping lower. “You’re staring, little one.”

She swallows hard. “I—wasn’t?—”

I laugh, low, dark, sinful.

She goes rigid, her cheeks burning, her entire body betraying her.

She wants to look.

She wants to run. And she doesn’t know which urge to listen to.

Something dangerous and satisfied coils through me at the sight.

She should be afraid.

Instead, she is tempted.

Tempted by a monster. Tempted by me.

I move without thinking.

She gasps as my hand shoots out, gripping her wrist, dragging her toward the edge.

Her pulse races beneath my fingers.

“Dain—”

I pull.

She falls and the water swallows her whole.

22

LIORA

The moment I hit the water it immediately steals my breath, my thoughts, my control. Heat engulfs my body, soaking through my skin, dragging me under for a heartbeat too long. I thrash, gasping, shoving at the solid mass before me, but his grip is iron, unrelenting.

I break the surface with a strangled inhale, sputtering, water clinging to my lashes as I blink wildly, trying to make sense of what just happened. My hands lash out instinctively, shoving at his chest, but it’s like pushing against a wall.

“What in the?—”

Dain’s golden eyes gleam in the dim light, wicked, unrepentant. His grip shifts, sliding lower, wrapping around my waist as if he has any right to touch me like this.

I thrash harder, my legs kicking, but it only makes me more tangled in him, the motion pressing me closer against the hard, unyielding strength of his body.

“You,” I seethe, struggling to find words through my ragged breaths. “You bastard!”

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