Page 16 of Monster Mate

If that was true, he’d be the luckiest monster in the dimension. “My home is your home.”

A red flush rose to her lovely cheeks, telling him she’d definitely caught the way his voice had lowered, and she’d heard his hidden message loud and clear: anything he had was hers. Because his home wasn’t this place or any place.

It was wherever she was.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Roxie had wrestled her Frankenstein’s bride hair into a messy bun and anchored it with a plastic chip clip (Riordan didn’t have hair accessories in the house, but he had plenty of snacks that needed to stay fresh). After slipping on a pair of Riordan’s sweats and rolling the waist and cuffing the material around her ankles so they stayed up, she started making breakfast.

Riordan had argued ferociously that she needed to sit down, take it easy, and let him cook. But after he’d saved her life, moved her into his home, and given her the best night’s sleep she’d ever had, the least she could do was whip up some pancakes and bacon for her monster.

Even thinking of him as a monster was starting to bug her. She decided right then and there that she was going to refer to Riordan as a man in her inner dialogue from then on. Calling everyone who wasn’t human a monster just wasn’t fair. Especially when she’d seen firsthand just how awful and evil human men could be.

But anyhoo, she’d eventually told him she was going to cook and there was nothing he could do to stop her. He’d grumbled, but saying no to her seemed to be outside his comfort zone.

He was now sitting at his oversized kitchen island, watching her cook. She could feel his eyes on her back, and knowing he was watching her so closely should’ve made her uncomfortable.

The way her ex watched her had always made her a little edgy. He’d looked at her like she was a prized possession. Something to be owned and controlled.

But having Riordan’s eyes on her was different. It made her feel…kind of tingly. Appreciated. Valued.

Wanted.

In other words, he made her feel things she’d never felt in her whole life. How sad was that?

“What are your plans for today?” she asked as she flipped a pancake in a cast iron skillet that probably cost more than a week’s worth of groceries.

She glanced over her shoulder when he didn’t immediately answer, and his eyes jumped from her ass to her face.

No wonder she’d felt tingly. He’d been staring at her ass the whole time.

A lot of men would’ve pretended they hadn’t been looking. Riordan didn’t bother. He did have the grace to look a little chagrined, but he merely met her steady gaze with a sheepish, lopsided grin and a little shoulder shrug as if to say, “Yep, I was staring at your ass. Sorry, but I’m not sorry.”

She turned back to her pancake, giving it another flip. If she wasn’t careful, the heat in his eyes would burn their breakfast.

“If you felt up to it, I thought we could go out and get the replacement things you need for yourself, Winston, and Waldo,” he said.

Roxie frowned. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do that for weeks. Not until the insurance money comes in.”

“Roxie.”

Good God. Her name on his lips sounded so dirty. Like, downright filthy.

She turned around, spatula in hand, and squeaked in surprise to find him right there. How the hell did someone that huge move so quietly? He was like a ninja or something. Then she remembered he could teleport, which explained a lot.

Riordan was so close that if she took a deep breath, her nipples (which were as hard as the marble counter at her back) would’ve poked into his chest. The heat of his skin wafted over her, and it was like stepping into a hot shower on a frigid day.

Heaven.

Was she going to hell for having sexy thoughts about a demon in a renovated church?

Meh. Totally worth it.

When she failed to lift her eyes from his chest—that smooth, hard, muscle-y chest that was right there, begging to be touched—he slipped one taloned fingertip under her chin, tilting her head up gently.

She swallowed hard as her eyes locked on his golden gaze. “Roxie, I have plenty of money. I don’t want to keep arguing about this. Please let me help you. You’d do the same for me if I needed it.”

Weirdly enough, that was true. She’d only just met him, but she was very quickly realizing the list of things she’d do for him was long…and sketchy. She’d do some seriously questionable shit if it made him happy. “I would,” she agreed in a whisper.

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