Page 28 of A Monstrous Claim, Part 2

She nods, her jaw clenched tight, and her next question catches me completely off guard. “Are you going to miss me?”

I tense, her words bouncing around inside my head.

Will I miss being able to call her to my room whenever I please to devour every inch of her body? Will I miss the way she stares up at me as she takes my cock? Will I miss the softness and warmth of her skin against mine as she’s curled against me?

My chest tightens, but I keep my discomfort off my face. Being vulnerable isn’t in my wheelhouse, and I don’t need my feelings interfering with the plan we’ve already set in place. If I tell her how I feel, if I’m honest with her and myself, she might try to beg me to let her stay.

I can’t risk it.

I can’t riskher.

“I’m glad you’ll be far away from the bloodbath that’s bound to happen.” I step closer to her, leaving mere inches between us, and stare down into her wide eyes. She’s stopped moving, rooted to the spot as she fearlessly meets my gaze, but her arms are still folded tightly over her chest.

“That’s not what I asked,” she says, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

I draw a finger along her jaw, gently nudging her chin up and brushing my thumb along her bottom lip.

“Will you miss me, Rafe?” she asks again, causing my chest to tighten even more.

The demon blood in my veins is on fire, drawing me toward her and her human essence. It craves to destroy, to consume her until she’s nothing beneath my touch, and I finally drop my hand to lessen the temptation.

“Is that what you want to hear?”

She frowns. “I just want the truth. I want to know how youfeel. You’re impossible to read.”

“Good,” I say. “It would spell danger for us all if I wore my emotions on my sleeve the way you do.”

“Then say it out loud,” she urges, and I know she’s desperate to hear those words. I just don’t know if I can give her what she wants, what she craves.

Keeping my distance is a habit I don’t think I’ll ever be able to break. I’ll fight for her. I’ll kill for her. But I don’t trust myself with the intimacy she wants.

I’ll just end up hurting her.

I’m protecting her by keeping my distance, and I have to remember that.

Once this is all over, things will return to normal. Devyn will return and be with me once again. She’ll rule beside me.

That has to be good enough.

“You want me to hear me say I’ll miss you?” I ask, arching a brow. “Is that why you came to see me?”

Blush darkens her pale cheeks, and she nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I just want to know I mean something to you before war risks tearing us apart. That’s all.”

How can she not know her importance to me? Surely she knows I wouldn’t give another woman the time of day the way I have her.

“Obviously you mean something to me,” I say.

“It’s not obvious if I have to ask.” A mix of emotions flickers in her eyes before she looks away.

Feelings. They make strong men weak. They cloud judgment and distract people from important things… like war. I’ve never had many feelings, aside from anger, pride, and determination, but even now as I stare at her profile, there’s a flutter in my chest.

“You’re important to me, Devyn,” I say before I can stop the words from spilling out, and I immediately regret them when her head whips in my direction with a hopeful expression. “This mansion will be a little less exciting without you here, but you have to leave. The farther away from here you are, the better. You understand that, right?”

The light in her eyes dims and she nods. “Yes.”

I don’t like disappointing her, but this is the way things have to be.

When she returns, maybe things can be different. Maybe then, without the burden of an impending war clouding every one of my thoughts, I can tell her how I feel. Maybe…

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