Page 25 of Monster Daddies

She quickly rights herself, and then I hear her break through the door on the rooftop.

Clearly barefoot. As she was this morning.

That should go over real well with Viraat.

Avalon bursts into view, her hair flying behind her, cheeks flushed from the climb and curls wild from her run. She lights up the rooftop like a sunrise in reverse, her joy as loud as a drumbeat in my chest.

She wasn't lying. She's bright enough to make up for any missed time.

Viraat moves first—uncurls from his crouch with purpose.

"Where are your shoes?" he barks.

Avalon skids to a stop in her stockinged feet, blinking up at him with a sheepish smile. "I... forgot?"

He growls low, stalking toward her with his arms crossed, his wings making an imposing picture behind him. "You didn't forget. You kicked them off this morning and then failed to put them on again after slipping. Again. The manor told me how many times you've nearly slipped down the staircase this week."

Her mouth drops open. I can't say I'm surprised, because I did not expect Viraat to share with her the deep connection we have with the house.

"Ittoldyou?" she cried incredulously.

"Yes," he snaps. "Because you clearly have no self-preservation instinct!"

She laughs nervously, bouncing on her toes. "Okay, well, maybe there's been a few close calls... and I've kind of felt like the manor hassavedme a couple of times. But you're saying it actuallytalksto you? Like how?"

"That's not important, Avalon," he growls.

She opens her mouth to continue arguing with him, but from what I know of him, and what I'm learning about her, we'll probably be stuck on the roof for the rest of the night if I allow that.

"As the guardians of the manor, we have a special connection with it. And as it's amagicalhouse, it has a bit more..." I explain to her as I grab hold of her hand and pull her into my embrace, unable to stand the distance between us a moment longer.

She falls into my hug immediately and tucks her head tight against my chest.

We stand there for a bit, Viraat scowling at us, but I'm not helping him out of the hole he dug himself. Even though he's right, and she needs to slow down, he did not handle it the right way.

"But," I say after Avalon's warmth has seeped into my stones, "little human, you do need to be more careful. We've only just found you, and it would be a real letdown if we lost you so early in our courting."

She pulls from my embrace to stare up at me, her gaze filled with awe.

"You're courting me?"

Unable to control it, I kiss the tip of her nose. "You did break things off with your Daddy Drè, didn't you?"

Her adorable face bobs up and down with a nod.

"So then we shall start the process of making you ours, and that starts with courting. And rules."

At first her nose scrunches up adorably, but then she nods again. "Okay, Daddy."

I freeze for just a second. She joked around with it last night, but the sound of that title on her lips, directed at me, warms me even more than her arms wrapped around me.

Viraat grumbles something unintelligible and stalks to the edge of the rooftop, his wings flaring slightly in agitation. But I see it—the way his jaw clenches, the way his eyes soften the moment he looks back at her. He may not say it yet, but he feels it too.

The pull.

The need.

The inevitability of her in our lives.