Page 96 of Monster Daddies

“Ellie, moths have wings. Mothman remember? Of course I’ve got wings. That’s how I took you from the yard—which, as I said, wasn’t intentional. Bright light in my face triggers certain racial instincts. And when added to the mate connection… well, it led us here.”

“That’s impossible.” She shook her head, although dangling upside down as she was, it just made her dizzy.

“It’s not impossible. Just a few minutes ago I yanked you off the ground to get you away from the burning oil. You flew in my arms, and this time you weren’t passed out. You can’t ignore the evidence just because it doesn’t fit your worldview.”

She did have a vague recollection of being up in the air, and she hadn’t figured out a rational explanation for it yet. But when she did… it wouldn’t involve flying men. It had all happened so quickly, and there had been a lot going on.

Too much for her to accept any bizarre circumstances shemighthave experienced. The shadows that had scared her, the fire, and then, yes, she did remember…something, but she’d been frightened and confused. She’d pushed it out of her head until he brought it back to her attention. “I-I don’t know what happened.”

He sighed and was quiet for a couple of minutes as he carried her. There were so many things she wanted to ask, but her position wasn’t conducive to a conversation. There was also a level of snark building that was bound to get her another smack, if she opened her mouth too much while she was jackknifed over his shoulder. Since her ass was still burning, she decided just to remain silent.

Ellie’s eyes had adjusted as much as they were going to. There was still no visible light for her to use, so everything was an inky blackness that had swallowed the world. When they reached the cabin, she only knew because they ascended three steps and then he set her down in a space that was somehow even darker than the outside world had been. If that was even possible.

“Stay still. I’m going to start the fire, so we have some light.”

She took a couple of steps forward anyway, and her hip bumped something hard. She let out a startled gasp, but quickly realized it was the table. From there she made her way around the room with slow, careful steps. Her arms flailed in front of her, as she followed a mental map. She eventually found the sofa and flopped down on it.

And then hissed in a breath as she belatedly remembered her sore backside.Fuck.

“You’re really not very good at following orders, are you, Ellie?” His voice came from right in front of her and she jumped.

“Not really, no,” she admitted. “Would you obey if you were in my situation?”

His low chuckle seemed to resonate in the darkness. “I dunno. I might ifmyass was on the line.”

It wasn’t a very subtle threat. She was getting used to them now, but they still made her insides do funny things, especially since she now knew they weren’t idle. And her body was reacting in such strange ways to all of it. She could admit, if only to herself, that she was rattled.

“You’re not the boss of me,” she blurted.

You’re not the boss of me? Oh my god, I sound like a child. She cringed as her face flooded with heat.

A laugh burst from him—not a low sexy one, but a loud bark of amusement. “Sweetheart, you are something else. Not what I expected by a long shot. I bet that mouth gets you in plenty of trouble, but I do love the attitude.”

He loved her attitude? “What an odd thing to say. I don’thavean attitude.” The thing was… her mouthdidn’tget her in trouble, not usually. She’d never been the argumentative type, preferring to retreat rather than fight. But something in him brought out a whole new side of her.

She wanted to challenge him. Wanted to push. Wanted those threats and warnings, but she couldn’t explain why. Sure, it was hitting her hot fantasy button, but he wasn’t exactly a safe choice to try to play these games with. So why?

It was just one more confusing item to add to a long list.

There was a series of thumping sounds as he dropped a pile of logs onto the stone hearth and some scraping as he arranged them. She knew that, because a second later a match was struck, and she could see him starting the fire. A fresh smell of pine filled the room as he touched the flame to the handful of dried leaves and needles he was using as kindling.

“It should warm up soon, and give us a little light—sincesomeonebroke my oil lamp.” He sent a pointed look in her direction, before he stood and wiped his hands off on his jeans.“I’ve got a spare lamp packed away. If I go and look for it, can I trust you to be here when I come back?”

Ellie was too tired to make another attempt. And, realistically, it had been hard enough to leave the first time. It was unlikely she’d be able to force herself to try again. “I’ll be right here.” He didn’t look convinced and after a second, she added, “I promise.”

Lium gave her a long searching look and then nodded. “Fine. I’ll be right back.” He left the room, using the only door that didn’t lead outside.

Chapter Eight

It was clear he didn’t entirely trust her. Which was fair since she didn’t entirely trust him either, even though he’d saved her life twice. And she was curious about the other room, but not enough to get up and go look. Promise aside, she was just worn out.

He didn’t need to be worried; she wasn’t going anywhere. Until she’d sat down, she hadn’t realized how frazzled she was from the terrifying race through the woods. It was all catching up with her now and she realized she was trembling. It was probably the last of the adrenaline surging through her.

The warmth of the fire helped a little. She leaned in and held her hands out, because unlike her ass… they were cold.

There was something cheerful about the crackle and pop of the flames. The way they moved was almost hypnotic and she started to zone out as she watched the flickering. She lost track of time for a while, but eventually he came back, and there was a clatter as he thumped the new oil lamp down on the table.

“I knew I had one somewhere. It was tucked up in the storage loft.”