Wait, no, bad Cora.Stop thinking about monster dick, it’s seriously becoming a problem.
“What do you want?” I rasp out, and I have to clear my throat the first time I try to say it.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Nero asks, his white hair hanging around his shoulders. “I’ve been following you, watching you, and studying the way you’ve cowed these three to your every whim.” He comes closer, his fingers brushing along my jaw. “Look how you’ve brought them together,parum anguis. Look at how they fight for you. The magic under your skin is fighting to come out. You only need to shed your flesh and release it.”
I blink. “You’ve been following me?” My eyes trail over to Bracken. “You knew he was.”
Grimus jerks his gaze over to Bracken, where he sits bored out of his mind.
“Of course I knew,” Bracken admits, rolling his eyes. “I sense every creature around us at all times. How could I not know?”
“And you didn’t think to inform us?” Grimus snarls, angry.
“He wasn’t a danger.” Bracken shrugs. “Not to anything but Goldie’s nether bits.”
My cheeks flush at his words, at the way Nero’s coils move closer, hugging me, comforting me, or…is it a promise?
“You’ve made deals with these three,” he says, his fingers touching my shoulders and then running down my arms in a caress that makes goose bumps rise in his wake. “Now I’d like to make a deal with you.”
Zetros takes a step forward, as if prepared to rip me from Nero’s arms, but Nero shoots him a look that freezes him while his coils tighten around me. I suspect Zetros doesn’t pause because he’s afraid so much as he realizes I’m in the line of fire. All it would take is Nero changing his mind and then I would be squeezed up human mush, and I quite like not being mush.
“What do you want?” I ask, my voice hesitant. How many deals can I make before I have nothing left to give? How many times can my magic be tasted before I’m an empty shell?
Nero smiles, and though there’s a flash of fang, the smile is charming and soft, nonthreatening. “I ask only for your company,parum anguis, for as long as you desire to give it. In return, I give you my protection and my assistance.”
“Oh, you noble bastard!” Bracken exclaims with a roll of his eyes. “You’ve always been more dependent on charm than brains.”
Nero, instead of being insulted, grins at the fey, as if they are old friends.
My brows furrow. I’m sure this is a trick. “That’s it?” I ask. “That’s all you want?”
“Friendship, companionship, trust. Those aren’t things we can barter with. I would much rather win your heart by normal means than have to make a deal for it.” He shoots his gaze over to Grimus, who only snorts and looks away. “Do we have a deal?”
I study the snake who, when I first came to the Dead Lands, seemed like such a threat, but now I realize he’d only been playing. Standing here, between his coils, I feel no animosity, only comfort, and I wonder if, in my panic, I’d seen him as something far more dangerous than he is. That’s not to say he isn’t a monster and capable of great destruction, but he is no danger to me.
He never was. I know that with a certainty that scares me, as if something deep inside me already recognizes him.
Gently, I lay my hand on the coil closest to me, and he closes his eyes as if it’s the best thing he’s ever felt. “I can’t promise you my heart, Nero, but I’ll accept your deal.”
His eyes pop open, and the smile that lights up his face makes my insides flip in a dangerous way. He leans down, his sharp jawline pressing against mine as he touches his lips to my cheek. “You won’t regret it, Cora,” he whispers, his breath warm against my skin, and the way he says my name makes me blush. “The things I’ll make you feel…”
My face immediately flushes harder at his tone, at the cocksure way he’s teasing me, and I have to clear my throat again to speak, much to his amusement.
Here I thought I would have to worry about my organs around all these monsters, but in fact, I think I might have to worry about my virtue.
“Care to let me out?” I ask, gesturing to his coils.
With a languid grin and a promise in his eyes, he slides away, leaving me free to step forward without fear of being wrapped up again.
Grimus grumbles, his eyes narrowing on Nero in annoyance. “This is becoming a habit.” His gaze drops to my cheek, where Nero kissed me, as if it offends him, which shouldn’t please me as much as it does.
“It seemed like an easy deal to make,” I murmur.
“Yes, especially knowing how much the naga wants to fuck her,” Bracken announces. “Then again, it’s not such a secret that we all have the same thoughts.”
I flush scarlet again and shoot him a look. “Shut up.”
Bracken’s grin widens. “Surprise, surprise. Goldie wants to fuck him too. You really have a thing for monsters, don’t you, little human? Can’t say I blame you. Monsters do it better.” He drags his hand down his chest suggestively.
