Page 73 of Forgotten Monsters
A light chuckle warms his face. “True enough.”
“I was afraid you’d never wake up.”
“I’m here, witch.”
We exchange a quick kiss, and I leave my patient to the shaman’s expertise.
When I return to the bedroom, Cole has already started to change into the clothes Helena prepared for us. After taking a quick shower, I join him by the bed. A thundercloud still drapes his features in shadows, his mouth curled down.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“You have no idea how stupid he acted while you were gone,” he says, adjusting his tie.
I discard my towel and slip the black dress over my head. “It’s Flynn. I think I havesomeidea.”
Sequins weigh down the skirt of the dress, but the shiny embellishments grow sparse around the waist and only pepper the button-down neckline.
A sigh blows through my husband’s mouth, his gaze fixed on the corner of the room. “It’s like he was trying to kill himself by accident—and everyone around him.”
I walk over to him and stroke his shoulder over his black button-down shirt, the edges of his scars visible over the turned-down collar. “It’s okay to be upset. Give it time.”
Cole pries a big jewelry box from his closet, clears his throat and angles it toward me.
I bite my bottom lip. “What is it?”
He smiles mysteriously as I open the box. Copper, silver, and gold threads, arranged to resemble roots, form an elegant, absolutely beautiful crown set with rows and rows of precious stones.
My breath hitches. “Cole, it’s…”
“Yours.” He helps me put it on right, over my wild, colorful curls.
I stand on the tip of my toes to kiss him. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”
A discrete tear shines in his eyes, and his gaze darts to the ground for a split second. “I never thought I’d feel like this again…”
“Like what?”
“Happy.”
I link our fingers. Shadows caress the foliage of the Hawthorn, moonlight bathing the interior courtyard as well as the king’s bed. Our gazes lock, the burning sensation in my chest growing into a dizzying pressure.
“You came back and took it all in strides, and even though I have been here, been King, for a decade, my entire world suddenly feels…completely different.”
Eyes closed, I press my forehead to his. “I feel that way, too.”
Cole crushes me to the window with a searing kiss. “A part of me still wants to kill you, you know? Just letting you this close to the Hawthorn…” his hands shake on my hips.
“I know. I kinda want to burn it,” I say, half-teasing, half-not.
He wraps a soft hand around my throat and kisses my neck. “Don’t joke about that.”
“The distrust between the Kings is ancient history. The magic will just have to get on board with its new reality.”
We make out until we’re both out of breath. I’m back to kissing my nemesis, but I remember this feeling all too well when it comes to Cole, and I don’t hate the familiar thrill in my bones.
He grips my ass and presses me hard against his erection, ready to make me his again. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I wasn’t the same as before.” He holds both arms above my head, and the metallic foliage above the windows suddenly snake along the glass to snatch my wrists.
His amber eyes pulse in the night. “I’m darker.”
