Page 99 of Noctis

“I wanted to see you.”

The words stilled me.

Rowan’s expression softened. He touched one of my claws, running his fingertip along the curved edge. “I don’t want the toned-down version you made because you thought it would frighten me less. I want this.”

“My true form.”

“You,” he corrected. “Horns, claws, tail, creepy red eyes, and all.”

“My eyes are not creepy.”

“They were when you watched me from the corner of my bedroom.”

“And now?”

He looked directly into them, seeming fascinated by the crimson light reflecting on his face. “Now they’re fucking gorgeous.”

Something inside me shifted. Not my form. Something deeper. In the past, humans had screamed at the sight of me. Some had prayed, fled, or hidden beneath their blankets as if fabric could protect them. The few who had sought a creature like me had only wanted the power they believed I possessed. None had ever looked at me the way Rowan did.

As though I were something to desire.

I’d been so right to choose him.

I carried him to the bed and lowered him onto it, hooking my claws into the jeans and underwear that still trapped his thighs.

“Wait.” He pushed himself upright. “These are expensive.”

“I’ll get you some more.”

“With what money?”

I considered that. “You’ll buy more.”

“Not quite the same grand romantic gesture, is it?”

I let him remove the jeans himself, and then his T-shirt. It left him naked and sprawled across the bed. He looked small beneath me―small, soft, warm, and human.

Mine.

My tail slid up the inside of his leg, making him shiver. It circled his thigh and pulled it outward.

“I’m starting to see the advantages of the tail,” he said.

“I can show you more.”

“Please do.”

I climbed onto the bed and turned him onto his stomach. Rowan turned his head to look back, but I pressed a hand between his shoulder blades. “Stay there.”

The commanding tone made his heart beat faster. I heard the change and sensed the sudden increase in his arousal.

“Bossy monster,” he muttered, but he lowered his cheek to the pillow.

My tail wrapped around one thigh while my hand closed around the other, claws resting against his skin. I spread him open and stared.

“So pretty.”

“I’m beginning to think that’s the only adjective you know.”