Page 41 of Mate of a Monster

He’s gone, cold air snapping me back to reality where his warmth was moments ago.

His chuckling rolls through the wooden door.

“Asshole!” I growl, throwing at it as if it’d do anything.

I’m mated to a damn beast. I almost laugh, the thought so ridiculous. But somehow the world feels right, like the truth has been buried in my mind and only now has enough confidence to appear. And I mean, it makes sense. We’re both here, and my people seem to think he’s worth a damn—so my instincts can’t be complete shit, right?

I rip the sheets off my body and make my way to the dresser, finding it filled with leathers of all styles.

“Meet me at the Tavern.” His voice is as clear as if he’s still in the room with me.

“We need to get to Zev,” I reply, pulling out the first items I see and shoving them on.

“And we have said we will,” he growls, so low I feel it in my belly. “But there’s something we must complete first.”

Could someone like him understand my chaos? My thirst for danger?

I’m not so sure. Guess we’ll find out.

“So, are you impressed, my little mate?” he asks, gesturing in front of himself. The tavern spreads out before us in a display of wood-carved furniture and flashing lights. Heavy rock music pounds through the speakers.

“Maybe a little.” My fingers find the back of his neck as I slowly lower myself to his lap.

He doesn’t move, allowing me to do with him as I will.

“I bend for no one, not even you…” he declares, obviously sensing the rush of power coursing through my veins.

“We’ll see about that,” I tease, leaning in to him and drawing my tongue over his jaw. He tastes of some kind of nectar, sweet enough to be addictive, but enough spice to confuse me. “Since all you do is bore me.”

“It’s better when sheep don’t know they’re lining up for slaughter.” He pauses for a moment. “Chaos is just noise. Subtlety, my little pet, now that’s dark arts.”

His hand clamps my ass, yanking me forward. The chair groans, nine feet of horned arrogance and me balancing like a circus act. For the first time I feel every rigid inch pressed against denim and leather. Heat, promise. Big enough to split me in half and make me thank him for stitching me back together with his tongue.

Challenge accepted.

I roll my hips, dragging leather across obsidian skin. A low growl vibrates through his chest into mine. He doesn’t blink, just watches, gold horns flickering in the strobe. I lean until our lips graze, sharing breath, letting him taste the need riding my tongue.

“Subtlety?” I whisper. “I’ll write my name on you in bite marks. Nothing quiet about that.”

His fingers flex, nails scoring through leather. “Careful, mate.” His grin deepens. “I bite back.”

Please fucking do.

Music howls, lights stutter, blood still seeps across the floor and nobody here cares—too busy fucking toward their own demise. I savor their ignorance, power flushing my skin. Then he shifts, pressure right where I’m soaked, friction sparks lightning straight up my spine. I inhale, drowning in burnt sugar and brimstone, drunk on a demon who smells like mine.

Another rock of my hips, another inch of him answering. The room tilts. I clutch his shoulders, nails scraping gold that flakes away, revealing human flesh beneath. Mine. Air leaves in ragged gasps.

“Still think evil needs chaos?” I pant against his jaw.

He licks the shell of my ear, forked tongue flicking. “Keep moving. Let’s see who breaks first, your restraint or my patience.”

Sparks explode around the coiling pressure growing in my stomach, and a laugh rips out of my mouth like a wild creature riding the edge of surrender and war. “Spoiler, horned beast, neither of us breaks. We shatter together.”

With every rock of my hips, I draw his pants down and he does nothing to stop me. Sex fills the air, intoxicating, but it’s him I want.

All I want.

He draws his tongue out, tearing my shirt off while keeping a possessive hand at my back. “Don’t fucking turn around. No one sees this but me.”