Edin (Monstrous, #2)

by Lily Mayne

“I still don’t get what you see in me, though.” Edin let out a little huff. “You are fierce. And strong. Proud—maybe too proud, but I am too, so I like it.” He smiled at me and smoothed his thumb gently over my earlobe. “And so very loyal. I have never met someone who would go to such lengths for another person.”

“You’re just… good, Edin. Kind. And generous, and selfless. And you…” I flushed, feeling exposed. “You make me calm. You soothe me.” He chuckled. “I certainly didn’t in the beginning. I thought your head was going to pop that first day.” I huffed. “I was under a lot of stress. You just said so yourself!” I paused. “But you were kind of annoying, scratch.”

“That makes me happy, josdo,” Edin murmured, wrapping his big arms tight around me. I felt his jutting cheekbone rest against the top of my head, rubbing a little. “That I can be this for you. That I soothe you.” He paused. “You soothe me too. The restless part of me that has been there since my family was… Since I’ve been alone. You make me feel like I can settle again.”

“What will make you happy, Hunter?” You. You make me happy. I opened my mouth to say it, but the words got stuck at first, feeling so significant that my heart started racing. I pushed through the lump in my throat that was blocking them. “You do, scratch,” I said, voice raspy with something hot that was filling up my chest. “Enough to stay out here?” he asked, tentative and soft, like he was being careful not to come across as forceful or imposing. “Yes,”

Maybe my life out here would still be pointless and achieve nothing other than a hopefully comfortable existence, but at least it would be mine. My decisions. My choices. And I chose Edin.

“I like you with him. You smile more.” My face went hot. When I rolled my eyes, Charlie continued. “You do. You’re happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. Maybe ever.” He nudged me with his elbow. “You romantic sap.” “Fuck off,”

“You want to stay with me?” “Yes.” My voice shook. I slid my hands down the sides of his muscular torso. “I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want to be without you.”

it’s not about giving anything up, scratch. With you, I’ve… I’ve gained something more than I ever thought I’d have.” I stepped closer, until our chests pressed together, dislodging Edin’s hands when I buried my face in the base of his neck. I slid my hands around him and gripped the flanks of muscle framing his spine. “You’re what I’m not willing to give up.” “Hunter.” Edin’s voice was a low, intimate rasp, throbbing with emotion. A big hand stroked down the back of my head, and I felt warm lips brush the top of my ear. “You do not know what it means for me to hear you say that.”

“It was from a bowl my mother had made,” he said. “It was the only thing I could find after the rycke attack that I knew with certainty belonged to her.” His big shoulder jostled me as he shrugged a little. “I wanted to keep something of hers. To remember where I…” He stopped. “Just… to remember.” Pain pierced through the satiated pleasure haze. I slid my hand down his front until it rested over his sternum. “I’m sorry, scratch.” “Don’t be.” Edin kissed the top of my head. “It was a very, very long time ago, Hunter.”

“Anyway, josdo. You distracted me with your beautiful body before I could ask. You spoke to Charlie.” He hesitated. “You have decided not to go back.” I smiled against his chest. “Sorry, scratch. You’re stuck with me.” He chuckled. “It’s what I want more than anything.” My heart melted. “Me too.”

“I have only travelled constantly around the Wastes because I had no reason to stay in one place,” Edin said, trailing his fingers up and down my spine, making me shiver with pleasure. “Now I do. It is peaceful here. It will be nice to stay here. To settle.”

So do not make this your worry. You make everything your worry.” Edin’s deep voice was affectionate. “Relax, josdo. Do I need to make you come again?” I snorted a laugh, suitably distracted. My dick made a valiant effort to show its interest, twitching against Edin’s hip. “Give me a few more minutes, then we’ll revisit that.”

“You owe me nothing, my Hunter. We are even. You have given me much in return.” My heart swelled, but I couldn’t think of anything to say in response that would sound even half as good as that. So instead I just kissed his chest, over the steady thump of his heartbeat, and held him tighter. “But you can pay me back in blowjobs, if you want,” Edin said a moment later, his voice sly. I sighed. “Way to ruin the moment, scratch.”

I loved his voice almost as much as his strong body and his beautiful, interesting face.

He was squeamish about eating creatures from my world, but would happily eat eggs? Like I said—humans were very odd.

“Mm.” I quirked a brow at him, my grin morphing into a smirk. “It looks like hard work. You should take off your shirt so you don’t overheat.”

I leaned in to nuzzle his neck, inhaling the mouthwatering smell of him. Like sun-warmed air and good memories, overlaid with the primal scent of clean sweat from his hard manual labour. It triggered my deep-seated instincts to fuck and protect. To hunt for and feed this man. To take care of him in all ways.

“There’s something messed up about how much the thought of you hunting for me turns me on. Seriously, what’s with that?” “You like me taking care of you,” I purred, leaning in to nuzzle the scar on his cheek. He never even noticed when I did it anymore, so comfortable now compared to the way he’d flinched that very first time I’d touched it. Hunter huffed and gently knocked the back of my head with his knuckles. “So arrogant.” “You love it, josdo,”

I wondered for a moment if love was different for humans. If he meant something different by it. For me, it was an overwhelming sensation in my chest that swelled so big when I looked at him, or breathed him in, or lost myself in his beautiful body. It was a bone-deep instinct to keep Hunter safe. To keep him fed and warm and happy. To do anything, risk anything, to see those things happen.

It was knowing that the pain of losing him, when it did happen, was worth the time that would precede it. Because it would happen; I would outlive him, as much as the thought filled me with bone-crushing despair. But in some ways, I felt like that knowledge made me love him even more.

I don’t even want to think about it 😭

I still could not believe that I had a place in this world that was mine—mine and Hunter’s. I’d had no place, in any world, for so long.

“So, you love me enough to stay out here with me, josdo?” I asked, reaching down and curving my hand over his firm backside. “Eating your mushed up grass compost food out here in the Wastes?” Hunter burst out laughing, the sound deep and raspy. “You don’t eat the compost, scratch.” His cheeks were still flushed, and his amber eyes gleamed with the same giddy joy that was bubbling inside me. “But yes. I love you enough to stay out here.” He tightened his arms around my neck. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”