Page 32 of Monsters Carve Thrones

I smirked, resting my head against the leather seat. “You know I’ve never been good at that.”

He didn’t look at me, but I caught the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m in the mood,” I murmured, “to feel alive.”

That did it. His smile cracked wider. It was dark and delicious.

“Both times,” I said softly, voice like a sin, “when you took me on the cocktail bar roof… and when you broke into my apartment wearing that fucking mask…” My hand ventured between my thighs, fingers swirling lightly over my underwear.

His jaw flexed. I kept going, loving the way it made him unravel.

“You made me feel both scared and alive. And it was the best fucking thing I’ve ever felt, Rafe.”

He chuckled, low and full of heat, turning the wheel as we approached the exit. “If you want tofeel aliveagain,” he said, voice dropping to something lethal, “I’ll fucking do it.”

I turned to face him, eyes glittering. “Promise?”

He glanced at me then, and it was the kind of look that made my spine arch. His voice shifted, and the air changed. “If you want this,” he said, slower now, sharper, “just know that you’ll get it. All of it. But handle it with the grace of the goddess I know you are. Got it?”

Goddess.

The word settled between my legs like friction. I nodded once, lips parted. There was something in his tone I couldn’t quite place–like he was warning me of a high I wouldn’t come down from. Or maybe an experience that would have my heart racing with fear or adrenaline.

And I didn’t care.

I couldn’t stop staring at him. His black, tousled hair. The curve of his jaw. His razor-sharp side profile, barely lit by the flicker of city lights.

Then I saw the rain. It began in soft taps across the windshield, growing heavier by the second.

“It’s storming,” I said.

Rafe didn’t even flinch. “How fitting,” he murmured, casually adjusting his hips as if he was getting hard. “Give me your underwear.”

I stopped teasing myself, my fingers freezing. “What?”

“You heard me, baby,” he murmured, his eyes darting to me quickly before returning to the road. “Give them to me. Now.”

The authority in his voice triggered a wave of goosebumps over my skin. “Yes,sir,” I purred, slowly pulling my red thong down my legs.

He held his hand out, and I placed them there. Without a word, he pocketed it. “Good girl.”

I bit my lip, clenching my thighs together.What was he planning?“I like this already,” I giggled.

His face remained serious as he pulled onto a dark drive leading to a Victorian mansion. Something about his energy was off-putting in a villain kind of way. It reminded me of when I first met him. When I actually was a little scared of what was going through his mind. He was wild and unpredictable. And a fucked up part of me... missed that.

The moment we walked through the arched doors, I felt eyes burn into me. They were the kind that stripped you and measured your worth in blood or diamonds. The kind that didn’t blink when someone vanished in the middle of the night.

Rafe’s hand rested protectively on my lower back. He guided me forward with quiet command, and I followed, heels clicking across marble, head high. “Keep your head up,” he murmured under his breath, voice brushing my ear. “You walk in with me. You carry weight. Let them feel it.”

I nodded once, steadying my breath.

The room was a cathedral of decadence and shadows. Velvet draped the walls, crystal chandeliers flickered aboveus, and everyone seemed to be dressed in black. I could sense power, wealth, and death in the air. Men in tailored suits. Women in silk with dead eyes. People clutched drinks, laughing too easily, watching us.

“This doesn’t look like a formal meeting,” I said, my voice low.

Rafe smirked slightly. “This isn’t a sit-down meeting, baby. It’s a monthly gathering. The monsters come out to drink and discuss their empires.” He leaned in closer. “I just have a few to speak with.”

The room pulsed with whispers as we moved. I could feel the ripple we left behind. The sharp stares. I wasn’t sure if they were more afraid of him or intrigued by me. Perhaps both. Music played, a slow, seductive rhythm. I recognized a few people beneath the dim lights, including one that made my spine stiffen.