AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I wrap my arms around her and sink to the ground, my knees weak. "Mina," I groan. "My Mina."
"Crulden. Oh my god. Crulden." She chokes back her tears, running her hands over my face. "You can't be here. They can't bring you back. That's too cruel. You can't—"
"It's okay," I promise her, grasping her frantic hands in my bigger ones. "It's all right, baby. I'm here to get you. That's all."
She goes still. "B-baby?" And then my strong, brave Mina bursts into fresh tears, bawling as she wraps her arms around my neck and holds tightly to me. "I m-m-missed you so much. I love you. I'm so sorry I said those things I didn't mean it I just wanted you to be safe." She flings the words out like they're weapons, determined to hit the target with sheer volume instead of precision. "I love you and I never meant them I just needed you to go with them even if it meant I had to stay—"
I stroke her hair. It's filthy and reeks of animal dung, but I don't care. I'm never letting her go again. "I'm here. It's all right. I love you, Mina. You're mine—my mate—and I'm always going to protect you."
"I love you," she says again, and her tear-filled eyes are desperate as she searches my face. "You know that, right? I love you. I love you so much."
And then she breaks all over again.
We sit in the ferns while Mina has her breakdown, and I cradle her in my lap and explain everything. Risda. The letter. Lord va'Rin and his wife. Mina doesn't like to show weakness, so I hold her until her tears dry up and she feels ready to go back. She clings to me, as if terrified I'll disappear again. "What if we go back and he won't let me go?" Her jagged, broken nails dig into my skin. "What if he changes his mind?"
"Then I'll take him out like I did the others," I vow to her.
"You'd do that for me?"
"Mina, I would do anything for you."
She reaches up and touches my face, her fingers skimming my mouth. She touches my lip and then draws back. "I'm dirty—"
"I don't care." I want her to touch me. I take her hand and put it on my mouth again. "Never stop."
Mina reaches out and touches my mouth again, her fingers light as feathers over my lips. "Your tusks are gone. I didn't recognize you at first."
"I hated them. They made my mouth hurt. And I couldn't kiss you properly. So I had them removed. I'm not Crulden. I don't want to be him. I don't want to be a gladiator. So I…changed a few things." I'm suddenly uneasy, worried she won't like the new me. "Is this…all right?"
"What do I call you?" she asks in a low voice.
"Yours," I say bluntly.
That brings a hint of a smile to her too-thin face. Mina looks awful, her eyes hollow and her mouth almost as pale as her skin. She hasn't been eating, and she looks as if she'd snap under a gentle breeze. I'm going to take care of her, though. She'll never struggle again, not while I'm around. Her gaze falls to my mouth and she licks her cracked lips. "I know I'm gross, but I'd really like to kiss you right now."
She's “gross”? She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
I cup the back of her “gross” head and lower my mouth to hers. It feels different, kissing her without my tusks. All the impediments to our mouths meeting are gone, and it's just her soft lips against my harder ones. I kiss her gently, pressing with light, tender nips, until her lips part and she opens up for me. Her tongue darts against mine, and then we're kissing as if nothing else in the world matters. I groan low in my throat, my tongue stroking against hers as I claim her mouth with deep, intense strokes, needing more and more of her. She makes little whimpers of pleasure in her throat, her hands on my shoulders as I kiss her, over and over again.
Mina. My Mina. For her, I'll be the monster.
38
MINA
I don't draw a breath until we're in the ship and it's in space.
It all feels like a dream. Lord and Lady va'Rin, Lord Sir and his stupid fucking vases, and Crulden, holding me tight and refusing to put me down until we're in his private quarters on the ship. Even then, it doesn't feel real. I'm in shock, I think, and I shake like a damned rabbit even after Crulden closes the door to his quarters and I feel the vibrations of the ship's engines blasting through the floors. He's patient with me, though. Crulden just picks me up and takes me to the shower in his room, strips what's left of my slave shift off of my body, and then gently washes me. He soaps my hair and tenderly takes care of me, then rubs a medicated ointment into my bug bites and scratches. He sets me down on the edge of the bed and combs my tangled, wet hair out for me…and I can't stop shaking.
