Page 78 of Monstrous Baby

But because she loved us.

“You begged me to kill you quickly.”

Her lips quirked and she leaned down to brush a kiss over his mouth. Then she turned her head and looked at me. Her eyebrows arched with expectation, her eyes dancing with challenge. Daring me to take the bait.

I surged up into her space, my nose rubbing hers, but I didn’t kiss her. I wanted her to ask me. To give me the words. I needed it.

“I changed my mind,” she whispered, cupping my face with her small hand.

Scowling, I ran through the list of things she might be referring to. Breeding? Moving the nest here?

Me?

She must have read the agonized tumult in my eyes. Her fingers locked onto my nape, keeping me from pulling away.

“I love you, Axxol, designation BGR+, squad Z288C. I meant that I changed my mind about what I said to Kroktl that first night.”

“I don’t get it.” I winced at the bite in my voice. The underlying rage. No, fear. Fear that she might not want me—and then fury at myself for hoping she would love me as much as she loved Red.

“Technically, the first thing I said to the raptor when he caught me was ‘Don’t eat me alive.’” She sagged against me, letting me pull her into my arms. She curled up against me like a warm little kitten with a happy sound, her head tucked beneath my chin. “You can eat me alive any time you want.”