Page 87 of Misfit Monsters
The fox shifter opens his mouth and closes it again. He droops his gaze with an abashed expression. “It wasn’t really you bothering me. You were being kind. I… It’s scary feeling that someone is safe to be around, because if they’re safe then there are other things I might want to talk about, but I don’t even want to think about them, and?—”
He cuts himself off, his eyebrows rising as if he’s surprised himself.
With a rough laugh, he nuzzles my cheek in a way that sets off giddy quivers over my skin. “Like that. But now that I’ve been around you more, I think maybe… it will feel good to talk when I let myself. Better than running away. You let me see that.”
A lump fills my throat. I don’t know everything that’s haunting this charmingly erratic man, but there’s no mistaking the gratitude in his voice.
Is it possible I’ve helped Fen in ways I haven’t seen too?
I touch the side of his face, running my thumb over his smooth brown skin, the arch of his high cheekbone. “Mirage?—”
Before I can go on, a larger form pushes through the bushes. “Peri, are you all right? I?—"
The second he sees us, Raze freezes. His lips pull back with a low growl, his eyes narrowing at Mirage. “What are you doing here?”
I hold up my hand to bring his attention back to me, but the fox shifter has already jerked away. He hunches his shoulders in a submissive posture. “Not getting in your wayor making a play. Only trying to cheer her up. She seemed to need it.”
I suck in a breath to add my confirmation, but Raze’s posture relaxes. He crouches down amid the shrubs, considering Mirage and then me with a twist of his mouth. “I saw you didn’t come to breakfast. Something’s wrong. Who upset you?”
I manage a wry smile. “Mostly just myself. I feel better now.”
“Because of him.” Raze studies Mirage a little longer. “You noticed. It mattered to you enough that you looked after her.”
The fox shifter dips his head in a nod. His eyes gleam when he glances at me. “She’s got a whole rainbow in her. A being that special needs to be taken care of right.”
His words and his gaze send a flutter through my chest. I don’t know if Raze can tell or if he’s simply going by Mirage’s reaction, but he hesitates and then says, “You care about her a lot. You like her… in a lot of different ways.”
Mirage’s voice turns tender. “Sheisvery special. And it’s very enjoyable to show her that. However I can. As long as it’s welcome.”
A heated energy tingles through the air. Raze meets my eyes again, careful and maybe a bit curious. “You enjoy being around him too.”
I reach out to stroke my lover’s jaw. “I do. But it has nothing to do with enjoyingyou, which you know I do, very much. He really was just cheering me up. If anything else would make you upset?—”
Raze inhales sharply, cutting me off. “I think… I think it shouldn’t. Mirage wouldn’t hurt you.”
He pauses again as if grappling with something inside himself. A glimmer lights in his eyes that isn’t so different from the fox shifter’s usual sly glint.
Raze lifts his chin toward Mirage. “She could feel even better. I want to see how she’d look if you kiss her.”
Mirage blinks at him. For a second, I think he’s offended by the domineering request. My pulse skitters.
Then the fox shifter turns the full force of his grin on me. “Would that make you even happier, Rainbow?”
My heart thuds faster, but nothing about the rhythm is fearful now. When I peek at Raze, he’s watching avidly.
I wet my lips. “Yes. I think it would.”
Mirage scoots toward me and teases his fingers into my hair. Anticipation shivers through me.
He tips forward and catches my mouth with his.
The gentle press of Mirage’s lips summons a whole swell of giddiness that wraps around my heart. As I kiss him back, Raze takes a rough breath with a trace of a groan.
The basilisk shifter edges closer and rests his hand on my back with a bloom of warmth.
Then the PA system crackles to life with Shanty’s voice. “The students scheduled for this morning’s trip north should report to the admin room now.”
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