Page 11 of The Monsters We Are
“I wasn’t planning to. So, when am I supposed to meet them?”
“We will all have dinner together at Seth’s Keep tomorrow evening. Why are you pulling that face?”
“I get the feeling it’ll be a fancy affair. I’m not fancy. I don’t know dinner etiquette. I can wave a sword around and impale people and all that jazz. But sit up straight, put a napkin on my lap, and make sure not to pick up the wrong fork? I just get uncomfortable.”
His consort was so competent and self-assured that there were times Cain forgot that, like everyone else, she occasionally felt out of her element. “Seth is old-fashioned in many ways, so he’ll likely aim for ‘tasteful.’ But that doesn’t mean you won’tfitin that environment. And fuck etiquette. No one will care what you do with your napkin, what fork you use, or if you slouch in your seat.”
“I know, but I’ll still feel out of place among all that elegance and shit.”
“You have your own grace—it’s predatory in nature, and it makes my dick hard.”
She snorted, humor lighting her eyes.
Cain caught her face in his hands. “You won’t be out of place. Your place is with me. And trust me, there is nowhere you could go where you wouldn’t fit; where you’d appear to ‘lack’ compared to others—you’re perfect as you are.”
He stroked her prominent cheekbones with his thumbs. He loved to look at her. Loved knowing that this stunning face would never physically alter; that she was frozen on a cellular level and he wouldn’t lose her to the aging process. Watching her age and wither away . . . no, he couldn’t have handled that.
Immortality had changed her. She was stronger, faster, more durable, boasted better reflexes, and healed faster—it was all part of the package. But she’d changed in other ways too. Power sometimes thickened her voice, which never failed to make his inner creature stir in delight. The hum of dark, chaotic magick surrounding her now held a static quality, as if amped up and eager to be released. And her predatory air was so much more apparent, more threatening.
He doubted she could ever again pose as harmless and submissive the way she had when they first met. He hadn’t bought her act. His gut had warned him that there was much more to this witch, and it had been correct. Wynter had been hiding plenty from him but, bit by bit, she’d revealed many of her secrets.
There were few secrets left between them now. She’d had to withhold some things at Kali’s insistence. He didn’t blame Wynter for that, but he didn’t like it much. More, he didn’t like that he had no idea what the deity wanted with or from her.
In creating a revenant that could age, live as a normal person, and return from the dead over and over, Kali had gonefaroff-script. She’d essentially shaped Wynter into a weapon, an instrument of vengeance, and his gut twisted each time he found himself wondering just what Kali would one day ask of his witch.
Cain slid his hands from Wynter’s face into her hair. Black as a crow’s wing, it was soft and long and shiny. A pleasure to fist while he moved in and out of her. “When are you going to move your things here?”
She blinked, seemingly taken off-guard by the abrupt change of subject. “Some of my thingsarehere.”
“Only the bits and pieces you’ll need for staying overnight on a regular basis. I want you to officially move in with me. You said you would. We held off for a while to give you and your coven enough time to properly settle here. Well, they’re settled. So are you.”
“I know. And I’ll move into the Keep soon, I swear.”
“So you’ve repeatedly said. But you’re procrastinating.”
Wynter opened her mouth to object but it would have been a lie. Generally, she wasn’t one to procrastinate. Once she made a decision, she forged on ahead and made shit happen. But in this instance, she felt so torn. She wanted to move in with Cain, but . . . “My coven is still so new. The thought of moving out and leaving them alone like that still makes me feel like I’ll be neglecting them.”
“Most covens don’t live together in one house,” he patiently pointed out. Well, of course he was patient; he probably had no doubts that he wouldn’t get his way eventually.
“I dread what they’ll get up to without my supervision.” The four of them were mentally unstable in one way or another. Correction, inseveralways. Sometimes, she was honestly wowed that they’d lived this long.
“You moving in here wouldn’t mean they’d be without your direct supervision. You’d see them as much as you do now, since you’ll still need to go to the cottage every day to work. Things won’t really be any different for you or for them than they are at the moment, except that you’ll hopefully agree to have dinner here more often rather than always eating with your coven at the cottage. I’d offer for them to move into the Keep so you’d have them close, but I doubt they’d accept.”
“They’d appreciate the offer, but they wouldn’t accept. They love that cottage. But thank you for being prepared to make the offer.” She dabbed a soft kiss on Cain’s decadently carnal—and it had to be said, highly skilled—mouth. “I’ll move my possessions here a little at a time, okay? The slow transition will make it easier.”
Releasing her hair, he dropped his hands to her hips and gave them a little squeeze. “For you or for them?” he teased, his mouth hitching up. “Is separation anxiety kicking in?”
She narrowed her eyes and poked his shoulder. “Hey,youtry being responsible for four highly unhinged people and then tell me how simple it is to leave them unsupervised for long periods. I’m genuinely surprised that they haven’t gotten themselves executed yet.”
His smile widened. “I must admit, I share in that surprise.” He slipped his hands beneath the long tee she wore to cup her ass, his fingertips tracing the lacy edge of her black panties.
“Oh, and when I do fully move in here, you can’t complain about all the witchy stuff like crystals and plants that will be set around this ever so masculine room.” It wouldn’t look so masculine, then.
“Why would I complain about being surrounded by things that represent who and what you are?” He sobered. “Be honest. Are you reluctant to take this step? To live with me?”
She felt her brows snap together. “No, of course not. I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel that way. I’m not leery of takinganystep with you. Surely the seal on my wrist proves that.”
He only twisted his mouth.