Page 26 of Monster Married
“You did? Just for me?”
“Yes. You look very happy about that, Sadir.”
“I am. That’s super nice, Ink. Thank you. How does this soaking work?”
“I’ll show you.” He motioned for me to go ahead toward the sinks, then slid the door closed after us.
“This is all communal normally?”
He hummed. “Yes. That’s normal, at least for soaking. Everyone can still wash in their rooms.”
“And…” I looked around the room. “No bathing suits?”
He chuckled. “No, Sadir. We don’t need those. We’re not afraid of being naked in front of others here.”
Inkiri’s arms encircled me, and before I knew it, he was wrapped around me, his horns close to my face, his breath tickling my cheek.
“I’m not afraid of being naked in front of you,” I told him.
“That’s good. And are you afraid of seeing me naked?”
I turned as red as a millet bean for no good reason. “I’m not afraid of you, naked or otherwise. I mean, I was a little bit afraid of you when we first met, but you can’t possibly blame me for that, not when you came in with your big sword out, handling it like a total sword pro.” Was there a pun in there? Probably not. I’d had a little bit to drink and was probably imagining things.
“You know I like your sword, obviously. You’re good with it. And I like seeing you naked. You’re good naked. I’m just not used to you—or me—getting naked in the bath with other people without bathing suits being involved, but that has nothing to do with me being afraid of anything.”
He chuckled. “If you say so, Sadir.” He pulled my pretty new scarf aside and kissed my cheek, his expression turning serious. “Before just now, you’ve never said you like me naked. And I appreciate you saying that. But, Sadir, I know I look different, and you don’t have to pretend, especially not if the barb is too painful after all.” He hugged me. “At the Hill of Tara, I realized how fragile you are. Of course, I knew before, when I saw you huddled there in the women’s changing room and so scared of that beast. But when I carried you in my arms and you didn’t move, I… You didn’t speak, and it didn’t seem as if you could hear. You have no idea at all how scared I was for you. All the things I would have bargained away if I could only hear you say my name again.”
My throat went tight. “Inkiri.”
He trembled. So did I. “Tell me what you want of me, Rory. I will give you whatever it is.”
He was baring himself for me emotionally, letting me see more than any physical nakedness could show, and I was so damn close to crying again. People never did that. Or at least, they’d never done it with me. And yet, Inkiri opened himself so easily. That was trust. As far as I understood the concept, it was love.
“I… Stay with me. Don’t ever leave me, okay? Please?”
“I won’t leave you, sweet thing, not unless force or magic or death make me.”
That did it. He had me in tears again. “Can you not mention death? Like, what good ever comes of jinxing something? No more talk of death.”
He clicked. “The truth doesn’t jinx this oath I give you, Rory. My precious mate. I’ll be at your side until a force I cannot overcome prevents me, and even then, if I can, I will return. Happy tears?”
I leaned against him. “Sort of, yeah. I’m not good with romantic gestures, I guess.”
He chuckled and ran his fingers over my back, this time noticeably stopping where the shirt was tied to tease those knots. His fingers slipped beneath the fabric and brushed my heated skin.
“People will think I abuse you.”
I snorted. “People don’t know anything.” I wiped my face before looking up into Inkiri’s ink-dark eyes. The slit pupils were wide, and this close, I felt the reason for that pressing against my belly. “What do you want from me? I mean, if we’re basically entering into a marriage here, it’s give and take, right? I’ll be honest and tell you upfront that I don’t know how to make a marriage work, because all I ever saw was my parents going and doing their own thing. It’s funny really. They never argued all that much and just basically agreed to ‘split their assets sooner rather than later.’ That’s what they called getting divorced.”
“With a true mate, that isn’t how it works. Assets…that’s of some relevance, since the benefits of them are shared here on Aër, though never things themselves. Dividing things when people don’t want to be together anymore has become more of an issue with fewer and fewer true mates finding each other, that is true.
“Tell me, Sadir, you said you have a certainty inside of you about you and I being mates?”
“Yes. It’s like…when I was out, after the stupid Stone, there wasn’t any doubt at all. I still feel that way. I can’t make sense of it. It’s not like a crush or like I think you’re hot—although you are. You’re mine, and I’m yours, and that all sounds like absolute truth to me. Even when I say it out loud.”
He nodded. “It’s the same for me. It has been the same since the moment I felt the mate call in my bones, even if I had no idea who you were back then. Why did your parents get divorced?”
I thought back to when I was a kid. Or a teenager. It wasn’t like either of my parents had been at home a ton, and the people most present in my life had always been the au pairs if they were good, and of course Gran.
