Page 19 of Monster Married
Inkiri wrapped his arms around me and pulled my back snug against his front. “Are you happy, Sadir?”
“Yup. Happiness achieved.” I leaned back against his solid form. Fellisse and Lissir were chatting a stone’s throw away, clearly giving us some privacy, or as much as could be had when it seemed to me as if the whole city was out here celebrating.
Seeing so many people this happy, this unburdened, made the sadness of irretrievable loss tug on my heart. Earth had nothing like this now. I pushed back the emotion. I didn’t want to be sad on my wedding day with everyone doing their best to make it special, maybe even Vergis.
“That makes me happy too.” Inkiri bent forward to nuzzle my neck. “You smell so good, Sadir. All mine.”
I reached up and managed to find one of his horns and hold on. His dark growl rumbled through me.
“What if we stay here?” I asked, surprising myself.
He cocked his head. “You want to stay in Esaka?”
“I—maybe not this exact place. I don’t know. Maybe where you lived before you came to Earth? I meant here. On Aër. We could…find a nice place to live. With nice people around, where there’s good food.” I needed a place where there were no singing stones, no sad reminders of the lives lost, no cults, no people who would shoot at us. I was reasonably certain I would be able to make it without my cute cat socks and my phone so long as those conditions were met.
Inkiri clicked, and it sounded surprised rather than comforting. “You would want that, Rory? I meant to talk about it eventually, when you’d gotten more used to me, and I better at understanding what you need, but… There’s no need to pick now, or to pick Aër. Vergis’s father hardly ever returns these days, and I do quite enjoy Earth.”
“Well, sure.” My mood fell at the prospect of returning to Earth, where the monsters were. “No rush. Just…” I turned around and hugged Inkiri to me, going up on my toes until I was as close to eye level with him as I would ever get, which meant my nose almost reached his chin. “It’s a lonely place though. Earth, I mean. And dangerous.” I gave him my bestest damsel eyes. “I really like it here.”
He looked at me with affection softening his expression. “It must’ve been so hard for you, those two years.” He clicked. “I wish I’d found you sooner, kept you safe. Made you happy. Shielded you from all the bad things.” He rocked us back and forth on the balls of his feet like I’d seen Nokim do. “But didn’t you say you wanted to meet Donna? There is your family as well. Also, Sadir, if magic runs inside you, and if it comes from Earth, learning about that will be better than ignoring it.”
I buried my nose in his chest and inhaled his scent—musky, slightly sweet, already familiar. Why did he have to be so sensible, understanding, and supportive? Why wasn’t he the kind of guy who just accepted that I was going to be accommodating?
Of course I knew he’d never be like that. He was far too nice; had been ever since he’d found me and hadn’t made a single move to eat me. That made me think of him eating me out, which was not the train of thought my mind was supposed to be on.
I rested my chin on his chest. “I really just want a quiet life, you know? If that’s even possible with you being a secret prince and all. But I do like it here on Aër. Everyone’s so friendly, apart from the cola ash people, of course.”
Inkiri chuckled. “Hove was so very excited to improve his English through talking to you, but I’m thinking maybe we should get you to learn some Lugarra if you want to stay here longer. And don’t call me a secret prince. I’m not. While I still serve in the Raiken, I cannot take on House responsibilities, in addition to which, I’m not hangu. In my House, only hangu can hold the very influential titles.”
Huh. That was surprising. “So you aren’t really a prince after all?”
“Not like the ones you have in your stories. Or maybe, yes. Do you know the one with the sleeping princess in which the prince cuts down the roses and kisses the princess awake?”
“Sleeping Beauty? You’re like Sleeping Beauty?”
Inkiri chuckled and bent down for a kiss. “You’re like Sleeping Beauty, and I am the prince who does nothing more than garden and kiss the person he adores awake so that person can rouse a kingdom from slumber and give it life. Though it’s very questionable and not considered even remotely proper behavior here on Aër to kiss anyone you find sleeping. Especially not random strangers. It’s not something I would do. Ever.”
“Oh, is that a de-hornable offense? Would it get you sakkir-ed?”
Inkiri laughed. “I suppose not quite, but very nearly, and rightly so. Maybe I’m nothing like a human prince at all, although I’m my hangu father’s only child. He has two hangu spouses, and there are a few siblings who are much more princely than I.” He clicked. “Perhaps you’ll meet some of them, in time.”
I shrugged. “You’re my prince. I don’t want one of your brothers.”
His gaze softened. “You were my Sleeping Beauty until this morning. And then you finally woke up again and came back to me.”
We were having another movie moment, clearly, his big hands steady on my back, his warmth keeping the slight chill of the evening at bay. He leaned in, and I tilted my head to meet his lips.
“Oh, look how adorable they are!” Nokim hollered on my left, much too close.
Vergis snorted. “Yes. Saccharine.”
With that, my movie moment with my horned prince was foiled yet again. It was really not right how that kept happening.
Fellisse and Lissir came back over as Nokim and Vergis handed out tankards full of the local booze.
“This is…?” I looked at the milky drink sloshing in my cup.
Vergis smirked at me. “You’re gonna love it. It’s called fennie.”
