Page 37 of Break Out the Girl

The air around his scales suddenly shimmers and the black coils melt away, forming back into a human shape.

Then François is kneeling on the dirt floor, eyes still glued to mine.

“Aurora, I am a monster, but I would never hurt you. You have to believe that.” I look at the dead guard on the floor, then back to François’s worried eyes.

“I-I trust you.” I reach out and pull him closer. “Even though you’re a fucking massive snake, I really believe you won’t hurt me!” As I watch the tension leak out of him, I can’t resist prodding him with my finger. “But a giant-size-changing snake? What the fuck?”

“A basilisk, ma petite. King of the serpents.”

Well, of course, François wouldn’t be anything less. “What’s the French word for Basilisk?"

“Basilic,” he replies, pronouncing it bas ee leek.

“François de Vaux, basilic. Roi des serpents. It has a certain ring about it.”

He pulls me into his arms until I’m basically sitting in his lap. “I forget you have some of my language, petite. It will make our time in Paris even more enjoyable.”

I snuggle into his body as I give him a reminder. “I’m not going to Paris with you, François. But if you decide to take up your room in my currently totally-imaginary house, we can still speak French from time to time, d'accord? You can even be in charge of the house coffee situation. La situation concernant le café.”

A rumble comes from deep inside his chest. “You offer me a chambre in your fantasy home, but I would only be content to sleep wrapped around your body. I think your other housemates may dissent.”

I find myself wriggling even closer against the King of the Serpents, my cheek resting against the worn fabric of his blue sweatshirt. “Let’s not worry about the future just yet,” I murmur. “Freeing Sky, and all of us getting out of this mess unharmed and uncaptured is enough to be going on with.”

“Whatever you command, Aurora. I am at your disposal. Though I may have to crush a few more enemies any moment, but that will be pas de problème.” He grins.

It’s the first time I’ve seen an expression like that on François de Vaux’s face. “You should smile more, I like it.”

François’s gaze softens further, and it ruins me.

The first time I met François de Vaux, I’d erected an impenetrable wall between me and him. And now it crumbles to dust.

I’m still fucking confused, especially that I have feelings for three men at the same time, but I know that the words he’s confessed to me are real.

As real as my reaction to his touch.

His kisses.

The metal shed groans as a blast of icy wind hits it. The noise makes me zoom back to reality.

We’re on a sex-traffickers secret island, while being fugitives on the run from the law.

Relationship dilemmas and newly awakened sexual feelings have to go on the back burner.

Burner.

I eye the row of red gas cans London had pointed out. We really should burn it all down.

But first we need to know where Sky is.

“Shouldn’t we have heard from Tally by now? How long do we wait until we go find them?”

“Trust the wolf,” François answers me. “He knows what he’s doing.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh, so you’ve changed your mind about Tally then? I thought you hated him.” I watch him carefully, interested in his response.

He shrugs. “I have never hated him. I’ve been jealous, yes. Felt superior, obviously. But not hate. It’s apparent that he is competent—and dedicated to you. That sits well with me.”

“Wow, look at you being all grown-up and explaining your feelings!”