Page 9 of Monsters (Vengeance #3)

Gray

“ A dyen!” I let out a small cry right as his teeth clamped down on the space between my neck and shoulder.

An electric shock filled my entire system and my eyes fluttered shut.

His scent of ash and cinnamon had me falling into an almost sleepy state.

I felt all the energy and need for dominance flush out of me momentarily as a ridiculous amount of peace and contentment filled me.

Adyen’s soft lips pressed against the mating mark and my eyes opened.

Woah. Holy shit.

His eyes were black with power and his primal energy wrapped around the two of us as he placed a gentle kiss on my lips.

I wanted to deepen it but he just kissed my face in small light affectionate brushes.

I couldn’t speak and for once nothing concerned me.

I couldn’t worry because my mate would take care of it.

Mate? This was some trippy shit.

“Gray,” he murmured gently. “Open your eyes, sweetheart.”

My eyes fluttered open as I looked at the handsome bastard. A grin spread onto my face as one of his eyebrows shot up. I just feel so cozy and hazy, how could I not smile at him? My body was safe and warm, trapped under him. This homey, almost languid feeling worked its way through my bones.

“You’re so handsome,” I placed a finger on his nose and poked gently.

His dangerous white teeth flashed as his body rumbled with laughter. I frowned. “Why are you laughing at me, big guy?”

“Because you’re fucking adorable.” He watched me with a soft look. “And I’m not laughing at you, lil brawler. I just had no idea how the mating bond would affect you.”

I hummed as his energy coursed through me. I spoke, resting a hand in the center of my chest. “I can feel you inside of me.”

That sounded way dirtier than I’d meant it. Oh, well.

He smirked. “Oh? What does it feel like?”

Instead of playing into his devious glint, I kissed his nose. “Like magic and love. Like us.”

Adyen stilled but I was already falling asleep. I felt him wrap himself around me as he rested his lips against the bite. It sparked under his touch. He murmured a series of soft words that made my heart soar but knew I’d forget in the morning.

The one feeling that was undeniable? The one I wouldn’t forget? Adyen was mine.

My dragon. Forever.

I figured I would only sleep for an hour or so.

I woke up to the sound of voices, humored but hushed. Rhodes's accent was nearby as he presumably spoke to the man wrapped around me. “You put the mating bite on her?”

“Of course I fucking did, I wasn’t about to ask twice.”

My jaguar chuckled. “You know how difficult it’s going to be until you complete the bond right?”

He buried his nose in my hair. “I know.”

Rhodes was silent for a minute and then he spoke quietly. “I wish it worked like that for naturalistic shifters.”

“Have you ever heard of any cases where the mating wasn’t paired with sex?”

“Not that I’ve heard of and I don’t want her to ever feel rushed.” He murmured in a rough voice.

I felt pain surge through my heart at his sad tone and before I could stop myself, I squirmed against Adyen and caught him off guard.

In my sleepy state I thought it was a good idea to crawl into Rhodes's lap and curl my head in his neck to show my affection.

After a frozen moment, Adyen chuckled quietly and Rhodes wrapped his muscular arms around me.

“Good morning, kitten.” He whispered softly.

I purred with pleasure at the sound of his voice and it was echoed by a small meow. I would have laughed but my body was too relaxed. Lunatic crawled into my lap and it made a cute little tower of cuddling. Rhodes, Lunatic, and me.

Adyen continued to laugh. “Oh god, I need a fucking camera.”

“I got you,” Taylor said with a rolling chuckle. “Now, that is what I call a Christmas card quality photo.”

“Let me see,” Rhodes said his voice amused but filled with something else. Something more emotional. I could briefly see the twins relaxing near the living room area but I was to sleepy to say anything.

My eyes opened as I peeked through my hair to see a photo on Taylor’s Earth realm phone.

In the photo, Adyen sat laid out on the bed with his arms behind his head laughing.

Rhodes looked down at me affectionately where I was curled into a small ball in a massive shirt.

Lunatic, the sassy bitch, had her eyes on Rhodes while sitting on my lap as if daring him to say something.

I fucking loved it.

“Print out a copy of that.” I whispered and Rhodes squeezed me affectionately.

“So, I love this,” Athens chirped, “but baby, it is almost nine in the morning.”

Oh, crap.

I jumped up. Rhodes grunted. I immediately looked at Neo who watched me with an intense yet affectionate look from the end of the bed near where Taylor sat. Athens stood and offered me a cheeky smile.

“I missed the meeting,” I frowned and looked at Adyen. The cocky bastard smiled. “You did this!”

He chuckled. “I don’t feel guilty. You look well rested for the first time in weeks.”

“We took care of the meeting, baby,” Athens added.

I started to be sassy. Instead, I yawned and brushed the bite mark by accident. The unintentional brush caused Adyen to let out a low rumble. Rhodes grinned. My lips curled at the edges. I winked at Adyen before my eyes trailed to the window where the sun brightened the fall day.

“What did they find?” I asked quietly.

“Nothing.” Taylor sighed, his voice gruff. “Absolutely fucking nothing.”

So the fire had either been set from afar and exploded or the person responsible had been incinerated right there on the spot. Either scenario was awful.

I felt like I was missing something. I felt Mario was going to do something besides attacking directly.

An assassination attempt and a bomber were not quickly made decisions.

It was in these moments that I was glad my good friends were either here in the castle or on Earth realm.

I didn’t want Vegas being caught in any more of this after the coronation.

I wouldn’t forgive myself if her or her boys were hurt.

My protective side had already claimed them.

Wait.

Oh, shit.

“Colliard,” I hissed as Neo grunted. Neo and Athens’s traitor father had escaped but not after seeing who I was close with at the coronation. Who I cared about.

Nevermind. The Earth realm wasn’t sounding safe enough.

“We need to get Vegas and her men here,” I stated my frown growing, “I don’t trust Mario to not go after them.”

“We would have to portal into the Earth realm,” Taylor stated in a serious tone, “and then portal again all the way to…where the fuck do they live?”

Everyone paused as we realized we had no fucking idea.

“Get your brother,” I encouraged. Taylor disappeared in a cloud of red smoke and we waited in a comfortable silence for less than a minute.

“Maker!” Palo hissed. I snorted because the demon looked like he had just woken up, his shirt unbuttoned with…lipstick on it? My lips parted.

“So...” Taylor had the biggest fucking grin. “You will never guess who the fuck I just found in this man’s bed. In all fairness, I have to give you more than one guess, because it wasn’t just one person.”

“Bobby?!” I exclaimed. Good for them!

I was jealous. Marabella was getting more action than me.

Palo offered his brother a dark look. “What do you need, brother? And, yes, Your Majesty, it seems that the three of us have worked out our differences.”

So formal.

Then Athens lost it to laughter. “Yeah, I’ll bet you fucking have! Tell me was that before or after the two of you...”

I punched his shoulder to stop him from uttering the dirty words he was about to spew out. The mage fell to the floor in dramatic, mock pain. I focused on Palo. “We want Vegas and her men here for safety reasons, we are going to portal but we need to know where in the heck they live.”

Palo’s eyes lit with humor. “Boston.”

“Oh!” I nodded. “That’s a groovy place to live.”

“Who the bloody hell says ‘groovy,’ Gray?” Rhodes questioned.

“Shut it, kitten man,” I nodded towards the kitten boa wrapped around his neck. He narrowed his eyes and my mouth twitched in a teasing smile. I totally wanted to see what he would do.

“Should I let them know you are coming?” Palo asked.

My lips peeled back. “No, I think it will be way funnier to surprise them. Best case they are just lounging around. Worst case, we interrupt an eleven-person orgy. Who knows! Either way, it should be a blast.”

“They are an interesting group,” Neo added with a thoughtful expression.

“You mean fucking crazy!” Palo growled. “Those ten mad men, specifically and including my cousins, are actually insane. Like on Tamara and her men’s level. I know they seemed nice here but let me just tell you the things I’ve been told and seen.”

Taylor snorted. “Why does this surprise you, Palo? Have you met Edwin? Or, better yet, Byron? Our cousins are the very definition of unstable. Fun, though. Really fucking fun to hang out with.”

“Wait. Who is Tamara?” I asked Adyen because he was the only one looking at me.

Everyone got suddenly quiet at that question .

“I really don’t know how to explain that mess,” Palo frowned.

“I’ve got this,” Athens smiled and looked at me. “Tamara and, far more specifically, her demonic husbands are nightmares. I mean they are very literally the inspiration for the seven deadly sins.”

“They also act like children,” Neo drawled. Mirth danced in his eyes.

If Neo thought they were funny that was probably bad. He isn’t amused easily and when he is? Well, it probably isn’t a good thing. He flashed me a smile as if he knew my thoughts.

“Essentially,” Rhodes sighed, “they are extremely powerful and don’t give a bloody hell what happens to anyone else. For example, Tamara has made it so that Cain is not allowed to kill anyone, which is difficult considering his wrath, unless she places them on a list.”

“Why?” I raised a curious brow. I already loved this girl.

“The story goes, now mind you they’ve been around 200 something years, that she flirted with a couple of shifters and he slaughtered all of them.”

“Because?” Adyen asked clearly not having heard this story.

“He was jealous that they were talking.” Palo finished the example.

Well, shit.

“Yeah, I’m going to need to meet her,” I offered a devious grin.

All my men narrowed their eyes at Palo who put his hands up. “That was supposed to scare her off, not make her want to be Facebook friends with them!”

I stood up and offered a morning stretch.

“Come on, boys! Let’s go bother Vegas!”

I was totally using this as a mini-vacation.