Page 15 of Claimed By Her Monsters
Mick’s nose skims down my neck. He inhales, long and indulgent. “So good.” He nuzzles into me, and the rough scrape of his stubble against my skin makes my blood sing. Another sniff, a fond, almost drugged sigh. His words slur, “Sweet. Warm. Like smoke curling off the fire.”
I lift my chin, tilt my head, to give him better access.
“This okay?” He murmurs, dragging his lips along my skin.
“Yes.” The word leaves me before sense can catch it.
He presses a soft kiss to the tender skin of my neck. The moan slips out before I can stifle it. I shouldn’t want this. He’s Alister’s friend. He’s huge, overwhelming, and yet my body responds, heat unspooling low, shame curling with it.
Mick trails his tongue lower to my collarbone which he licks, and I moan louder. I want to look over, to know if Alister is watching this, but I’m too scared of what I’ll see.
Will he be disgusted? Disinterested? Turned on?
I don’t even know how I want him to respond.
Mick groans against my neck, then bites down gently, a nip so soft I doubt it’ll even leave a mark.
I force myself to look over at Alister then, needing to know what he’s thinking.
Alister sits on the couch, with his legs splayed, his shoulders loose, the picture of practiced boredom. My stomach sinks, sad and strangely disappointed.
He doesn’t care.
That’s when I lift my gaze to his face and my heart stops beating.
Alister isnothappy.
His handsome face is a mask, frozen in place, but his eyes…his eyes burn with a furious, primal, possessive rage. So terrifying that I’m suddenly scared for Mick’s life. Tension fills the air.
Unaware of the danger he’s in, Mick licks the place he just bit. His lips lift to hover over mine, every movement broadcasting he’s about to kiss me.
I can’t move, trapped in Alister’s dark gaze.
Right before he kisses me, Mick inhales, and…his whole body locks up.
“Wait.” His voice sharpens. His eyes snap open, wide with alarm. He sniffs again, not sexy this time, but focused. He’s quick, desperate, a hound on a trail. His nose touches my cheek, my throat, burrows into my hair like he needs to test every part of me. He inhales once, twice, a final deep drag, and jerks back, eyes wild.
“Fuck.” Every muscle in him seizes. Horror floods his face, sobering him faster than a bucket of ice water dumped over his head. “That’s not smoke.” His voice is strangled. “Alister!”
From the couch comes a low, clipped, “I know.”
Mick shoves me back like I’m a loaded gun, panic rising. “Alister!”
“I said, Iknow,” Alister snaps, jaw tight. “I smelled it when she cut her finger. It’s in her blood.”
“What?” My voice cracks, fear raises the tiny hairs on my arms. In the fireplace, there’s a crackle as flames lick higher like it’s feeding off my emotion. “What’re you talking about?”
Mick’s wild gaze flicks to Caspian. “Caspian?”
Caspian doesn’t even flinch. “Her aura is red, getting darker all evening.” He stares at me, unblinking. “She’s about to awaken.”
Mick flinches, all his jolly bravado gone. His voice drops, guttural, horrified. “Oh my God.” His big frame trembles, his skin turns pale, every scar etched in sharp relief. “She’ll kill us all.”
My chest caves. “No!” The word rips out of me. “I’m not—I wouldn’t—I’m just me!” I look at each of them in turn. “Please tell me what’s going on!”
Mick swallows hard, eyes brimming with terror. His answer hits like a hammer against an anvil. “It’s not smoke, what you smell like.” His voice cracks. “It’s brimstone.”
My blood turns to ice. “What the hell does that mean?”
