Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(70)

“That sounds very wise,” she says, the bed dipping just barely, as she slides in beside me and nervously clears her throat.

I haven’t gotten to the wise part yet, or the reason for this carefully worded monologue I cooked up in my head. That’s just the intro, but clearly it’s a good start, if I do say so myself.

My eyes flick to hers, always fascinated by the changing dynamics in her gaze.

“You said you’d listen. How about I tell you a story, Violet? A story about cruelty lying in the hearts of the ones who truly believe their sins only made them better men of faith, honor, and most ironically, civility. The truth about how monsters are made.”

She nods. “Can the story wait?” she asks, tugging nervously on the ends of her sleeves, drawing my attention there.

She doesn’t usually have nervous tics. Is lying in a bed with me that—

“It’s just that…I was thinking we may be able to capitalize on this rare moment you and I are completely alone,” she hurries to add, moving closer to me on the bed—so close that my mouth waters. “And I’m too tired to keep pretending like I’m strong enough to stay stubborn.”

I glance at the door, determine it’s impossible Idun slipped by me and somehow swapped out with the real Violet. Then I decide I genuinely love Violet’s unpredictability when her lips clumsily fuse to mine, surprising me even more.

Her hands immediately start working my buckle free, as I shift my body to cage her in under me on the bed. I carefully nip her lip just enough to check her blood, while also letting her shove her somewhat chilly hand down the front of my pants with a highly suspicious amount of eagerness.

A breath hisses out of me when the taste of pure Violet hits my tongue, and I groan into her mouth, no longer second-guessing, as her timid, somewhat surprisingly unpracticed hand grabs me just a bit roughly.

It’s the first time I’ve been touched by her…by anyone other than Idun.

She could probably twist my danglers off and I’d still be unmanned at an embarrassing rate, because I can’t believe this is finally happening.

I hate that I have to tear her hand away, and I swallow her groan when I pin her hands above her head.

“Hurry and get inside me,” she says next to my cheek.

If not for the painful pulsing in my bollocks, I’d swear this is just a dream.

Her teeth bump mine when she starts kissing me again, and she wriggles like she’s working her legs open wider.

I’d have taken a turn with my bloody hand if I’d known this was in the realm of possibilities so soon.

“Violet,” I groan as she gyrates her hips, her hands still pinned next to her head as she drives me out of my damned mind. “I’d rather not be disgraced the first time I get to have you, and it’s been a while, love.”

Her head falls back, and her eyes stare into mine as her lips start to thin.

“So you chase me until I give in, and then you run? Who really likes being chased, Arion? I’m okay with this being quick.” If her eyes weren’t so sincere, I’d swear that was a jab.

My left eyebrow cocks up, and I mentally wring Damien’s neck for jinxing me. “I’m only fast when I need to be, Violet,” I murmur against her shoulder as I slowly start working my way down her front, pushing the shirt up.

“W-what are you doing?” she stammers as I work my body lower, bringing her legs up over my shoulders, as I stare up at her eyes.

My lips twitch. “They’re failing you if you have to ask that question, love,” I tell her as my lips fasten onto—

Her startled cry is the only warning I get before her hands yank all too insistently against my hair, and her hips start going wild as she makes a series of random, somewhat worrisome sounds in various pitches from high to low.

Damn good thing I can’t smother to death.

I don’t even get to show off my skill before she starts shouting in disbelief. “No!! No, no, no!”

Confused all to hell, I rip my face away, just as she cries out in what sounds more like pain than pleasure, and I freeze, too stunned, baffled, and frankly horrified to do much else when her back bows off the bed and her eyes screw shut.

A cold sense of awareness washes over me in the next instant when salt violently explodes from her body, grating against my skin. I don’t even flinch as I stare down, shaking my head in sickening disbelief, as I slowly back away.

A knot twists in my gut as her eyes blink and widen on me, her flushed skin quickly paling. Shoving a hand through my hair, a little panic seizing my lungs, I shake my head harder.

“No,” I say sharply, slapping the side of my head. “No, no, no, no.”





CHAPTER 21





VIOLET


Arion has the phone on speaker, and I can hear everything he’s saying to Vance on the other side of the door, as I finish towel-drying my hair to the best of my ability.

A whisper so light that I barely hear it catches my attention, as a slight chill slithers up my spine. The whisper sounds weirdly inside my head.

“Thanks for leaving the door open. Clearly you really want this,” is the next ghost of a whisper I barely hear, again sounding dangerously close.

Frowning and feeling reasonably creeped out, I turn to grab my coat from the counter, and freeze as my eyes collide with my own gaze in the mirror.