Page 161 of The Monster and the Masochist

I scowled at her, crossing my arms grumpily over my chest and flexing somewhat intentionally to remind her that I was still a badass… Even though I had a slight issue with creatures of the eight-legged variety.

I’d finally had the good sense to pull on a t-shirt and a loose pair of boxers, so at least I wasn’t hiding behind her soaking wet and naked now… but still… that definitely hadn’t been one of my… cooler moments.

“Am not,” I grumbled, intentionally making my voice lower, but she just laughed.

“You are.” She smiled, pinching my chin and leaning forward to brush a kiss over my lips. “And I think it’s cute as fuck.”

This made me smile, and she pulled back to look at me, her brown eyes shining.

I scoffed, feigning annoyance I didn’t really feel.

“Don’t get used to it, baby girl. That just… caught me off guard.”

Cass shrugged, tightening the silk belt of her robe around her narrow waist.

“I don’t blame you. I don’t like them either.”

I gave her a shy smile, and I brushed her long, dark hair back over her shoulder before leaning in to drop another soft kiss on her cheek.

“But you didn’t let that stop you. You came barreling in there with a gun and a vacuum, ready for war.”

She leaned her forehead against mine and sighed happily as I continued to run my fingers gently through her hair.

“I told you I wouldn’t let anything hurt you, Theo. That includes spiders.”

As silly as this entire situation was, her words sobered something deep inside me. It was a small thing, what she’d done, and from the outside looking in, we probably just looked like two idiots overreacting to a stupid house spider, but…

It was proof, wasn’t it?

Cass hadn’t been lying when she promised to be there for me when I needed her. She was obviously just as afraid of spiders as I was… but still, she’d come running.

The memory of how fearless and determined she’d looked when she’d burst into the bathroom in her gold silk robe, clutching a handgun that she clearly knew how to use…

She’d thought I was being attacked or something, and her first instinct had been to murder whatever it was that was scaring me.

Christ.

What a fucking woman.

Heat pooled low in my gut as my body regulated, and the imminent risk of death by spider faded into the background.

My fingers curled into the roots of her soft hair as I remembered how she’d looked at me before I’d gone to shower. Suddenly, I wanted to tear that pretty robe right off her body.

She must have read my intentions on my face because she gave me a devious smirk before pulling away from me.

“Let me put my gun away before we do… that,” she murmured, dropping a quick kiss on my lips and slipping past me to head back to the guest bedroom. “Also, you missed one of your boxes; there’s still one in the closet in here,” she called back to me, and I frowned, falling in step behind her.

I missed a box?

I’d been pretty sure I’d unpacked all of them already… Unless she was talking about…

Oh, fuck.

My brain made the connection, and I realized what box she was talking about seconds before I stepped into the guestroom. She was already reaching up to grab it from the top shelf in the closet, and I almost choked in my rush to warn her about its contents before she stumbled upon a bunch of shit I wasn’t sure she was ready for.

“Wait! That’s…”

But it was too late.