Page 211 of Monsters in Love

There was movement behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to see Tamara twisting the sheet around her body to cover her nakedness.

“Oh.” Nico raising an eyebrow. “You move quickly, old friend.”

I stepped to the side, blocking Tamara from his view until she was ready.

“Well, you’ve had your fun now. She must return with me to the retreat. Her people are looking for her.”

As he said those words, I could practically hear them above us, though I knew it was nothing but his magic.

“They are searching the woods, and we wouldn’t want them to find this place, would we?” One eyebrow arched, the rest of his face remaining impassive. He knew he had the power here, but what he didn't know was that I couldn’t let her leave. Without her I would grow heartsick.

“Find an explanation,” I growled. “She stays.”

Nico’s wings twitched, morphing from coat to feathers and then back again, the only sign that my demand even slightly ruffled him.

“You know the rules,” he hissed. “You know how we stay hidden.”

I could feel Tamara behind me now. She reached out and slid an arm around my waist, ducking under my arm so that we were side by side, connected. I glanced down at her, saw her force her breath in, long and slow, before exhaling in the same way. At least in this form Nico wasn’t as intimidating as his monster self.

“You're the guy from The Nest. The owner,” her voice wavered slightly, the dig of her nails into my skin the only other sign of her nerves. She was so damn brave. So fucking beautiful. I had to tamp down the urge to fight Nico right here for her because I could tell she didn’t want to go either.

Nico inclined his head. “And you need to return to your own kind.”

“What happens if I don’t want to?”

Nico’s fingers twitched as though they would revert to claws any moment, then he forcibly relaxed them.

“Then you put Kavi at risk. You put me at risk, not to mention the countless others reliant on this safe space. I cannot allow that to happen.”

The threat was quiet but clear, and it reverberated in my brain. The fur on my legs bristled, and my ears twitched, my tail flicking violently. It took everything in me not to lunge at him, to find a weapon, to cleave, to claw.

Tamara circled to look at me, her hair still tousled from sleep, the sheet clinging to her perfect body. She placed a palm against my bare chest and I could feel the warmth of her. The strength of her.

“Kavi,” she said.

My heart shattered with the pain in that one word. The tension in my name.

“No,” I said, gripping her hand, drawing her to me with the other. “You cannot go.”

“I don’t want to,” she whispered. “But I have to. I can’t risk anything happening to you. I’ll come back. I’ll find a way. This is where I want to be. With you.”

My breath was ragged in my chest, and I shook my head.

“I promise,” she said with so much strength that I had to believe her. She rose on her tiptoes and placed a hand on each of my cheeks, kissing me long and slow, not caring that Nico was there. I claimed her with my lips, crushed against her, tasting a drop of blood from her mouth or mine I didn’t know, didn’t care. We were bonded, and I just had to trust in that.

Trust in her.

I ducked my head as she retreated, pressing my forehead to hers. “I will see you soon.”

“You will,” she said.

And then she stepped away from me, reaching for what remained of her clothes.

Tamara

It wasn’t that I wanted to go. Because I didn’t. My heart ached as I left Kavi behind, and I could practically feel his anger at Nico, his loss at my decision. I just hoped he knew my promise was true. I would come back. Nothing would stop me from doing so.

“You understand that if you speak a word about this to anyone else, I will be forced to discredit you or silence you?” Nico didn’t bother to look at me. Clearly he expected to be obeyed without question; and truthfully, I had no desire to go against it. No one would believe me anyway.

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