The sea beneath moonlight.
Storms rolling over dark water.
But Sten wasn’t cold at all.
He was heat.
Blistering, consuming heat.
The kind hidden at the center of blue flames—the hottest part of a fire.
And gods help me, I was burning alive inside his arms.
His body pressed tightly against mine as he pulled me flush to his chest, and every hard line of muscle beneath his clothes contrasted so sharply with my softness that it made me dizzy.
I noticed everything.
The strength in his arms.
The width of his chest beneath my palms.
The way his tail tightened possessively around my waist, as though holding me close had become instinct.
Monster.
The word should have frightened me more than it did.
He was absolutely a Monster.
Horns curling from his head.
Glowing eyes.
Tail wrapped tightly around me.
A growl vibrating through his chest that sounded far too dangerous to belong to anything human.
And yet—I’d never felt safer in my life.
That realization hit harder than the kiss itself.
Because my entire life I’d been taught Monsters were things to fear.
Things to avoid.
Things capable of destroying girls like me.
But Sten held me like I was precious.
Like he was terrified of hurting me.
And maybe that was why my heart cracked open for him completely right then.
His tongue slid against mine, deep and slow and devastatingly deliberate, and a soft sound escaped me before I could stop it.
Gods.
I had been kissed before.
