Page 43 of Mate of a Monster

Another wave builds as my hips slam down, taking all of him, splitting me open. Something fractures deep in my belly, but I don’t care. The pain only turns to pleasure.

To heat.

To want.

Mine.

I suck in a deep breath. The concrete behind the headboard blisters and cracks, black flames crawling up the wall and blending with the sound of our slapping bodies.

With an almost too gentle palm over my throat, his fingers flex over the mark seared over it. Electricity zips sears through me as my gaze flicks upward to the cracked mirror hanging above the bed.

His hand fits perfectly. Every ridge, every callus molds to the jagged scar like it was carved for him. Just like it did when me and…

Wait, but—

Consciousness is near, so close. Everything’s burning around us in dark fire that eats the room with a hunger that matches our own, claiming us both. Black smoke continues pouring off my skin, rolling down my arms as the world slowly disappears into the darkness.

My core clenches, I gasp. I can’t breathe.

It’s right there, an insatiable burn rippling through me in a slow, violent wave of heat. Red, everything’s red. The room catches on fire. Everything burns. I tilt, he holds me in place, and my eyes open onto his.

Molten hell of—flicker.

Blue…

Bright, piercing blue. Not right. Not him.

The Nightkin’s mouth spreads to a smirk, blurring in and out. I’ve seen this smirk before. My chest tightens, blood bubbling up my throat, coppery and thick, choking me as I try to speak. His face hardens, liquid gold melting, glitching. Blue eyes lock on mine.

Too familiar.

“Do you understand now, my little monster?” he rasps against my lips, but his voice…

“Oh my god.”

My strength fades, limbs heavy as lead. Blood spills past my lips, hot and endless, painting my chin, pooling beneath me. I can’t hold on. The room spins, the mirror’s reflection blurring. His face, those eyes and that voice burn into me as the last shred of light slips away.

“Legend?”

Chapter Nine

Haide

A gasp rips up my throat as I arch off the bed, pain exploding through my body. It’s like someone’s reached inside me and is trying to rearrange my organs with a rusty fork. I curl into myself, biting back a scream.

That’s when I see him.

The Nightkin. He’s there, but…not there. His massive form flickers like a bad hologram: gold horns dimming, tar-slick skin losing its sheen. Those eyes—red again, thank fuck—lock onto mine, wide with something I’ve never seen in them before. Fear.

“Yes,” he growls, voice echoing strangely.

He doesn’t finish. His body stretches and distorts. My chest caves in like a magnetic field, pulling him in.

“Stop!” I yell, though I don’t know who I’m yelling at. The Island? The universe? My own fucked-up body?

The castle around us groans, stone turning to dust and the walls crumbling.

“Open up, Hellpet. You know how much I like to be inside you…”