Wyn (Monstrous, #3.5)

by Lily Mayne

“I have no idea. All humans are just bags of meat and bones, anyway.” Danny dropped the frame back on the nightstand and shot me an adorable scowl, just like I knew he would. “I’m just a bag of meat and bones, am I?”

“Wyn?” Danny wrapped his arms around my neck and tugged gently at my hair. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong.” I gave him a kiss, then another, unable to stop myself. “I just love you.” I said it to make him smile, and it worked. Danny grinned up at me as he clasped my face between his hands, thumbs absently tracing the thin, raised ridges across my cheekbones. I shuddered at the feeling. I was sensitive there. “I love you too, Soul Eater.”

He leaned forward to press a kiss to my mouth. “Wyn, you romantic son of a bitch.” I rolled my eyes. “Focus, my sweet.”

“It would be worth it. For the time I had with you.” Danny’s face softened. “Wyn…” He leaned forward to kiss me, his mouth warm and sweet. I clung to his lips, for as long as he would let me. Then he moved back. “And you’re really… willing to do that? You’re getting the raw end of the deal here. You’d be…”—he swallowed—“halving what’s left of your life. For me.” That made me wheeze out a grating laugh. “Trust me, Danny, I am not getting the raw end of the deal.” I wrapped my arms tight around his middle, pulling him closer. “I get you.” “Oh my god, Wyn, you’re being so romantic today.” Danny threw his arms around my neck and grinned widely at me.

I rolled my eyes. “I think you are the only being alive who would ever consider my voice anything other than hideous.” “Hey.” Danny’s hand smacked my side weakly, and I wanted to smile at his indignant defence of me—even against myself. “Nothing about you is hideous. You’re the best.”

A reason why the very essence of me had strained for him, desperately reaching out the moment I had seen his face for the first time. I had imprinted on him without conscious thought in that moment, my blood pounding for him. He was mine. He was always supposed to be mine. I had just needed to wait for a long time to find him. But the wait had been worth it.

“Now we just need to figure out how to get you past all the mines. Are you opposed to me carrying you?” Danny made a face, cheeks flushing. “I mean, I’d rather not. It’s kind of demeaning. But if it makes it easier—” I reached over and stroked his cheek, cutting him off. “If you don’t want to, we won’t do it. I’ll make it so you can walk through the tear with your dignity intact.” Danny flushed deeper and gave my middle a half-hearted shove. “Would you want to hang uselessly in the air while your powerful monster boyfriend fucked shit up in his cool black smoke form?” I blinked. “Did you want me to actually answer that?” I asked sincerely, and Danny laughed.

“Maybe I can help?” He eyed the military in the distance. “I know I don’t use it often, but I do have combat training. I could distract them while you—” “Danny.” I turned him toward me and cupped his face. “My sweet human. You know I love you, yes?” Danny looked uncertain—and a little suspicious. “Um, yes. I love y—” “But you were a terrible soldier,” I cut in, trying to keep my voice gentle. He stared up at me, lips parted in disbelief. “What—No, I wasn’t!” He grimaced, even as his face flushed. “Okay, maybe I was.” “It’s just not your calling,” I told him, stroking his cheek. “There’s no shame in it.”

He exhaled a sharp breath. “Please be careful, okay?” I could hear the worry in his voice. “I love you.” “I will.” I rested my hand on the centre of his chest to feel his heartbeat. “I love you, too. I won’t be long.”

I solidified and patted the hood. “I brought you a car.” “Yeah, I… can see that.” He still seemed to be recovering from the shock as he bent down to grab his gun and bat. “That’s real sweet of you, baby, but I’m not sure it’s still goin’ to work after you dropped it like that.”

“I will protect you with everything I have, Danny,” I told him, tightening my grip on his fingers. “I’ll look after you.” Danny’s shoulders untensed. “I know.” He sounded calmer, and I could hear the smile in his voice. He looked at the tear again. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“You know if I tell anyone all the sweet shit you say to me, no one’s gonna be scared of you anymore.” I bared my teeth in a not-quite grin, leaning my head down to graze them over the shell of Danny’s ear. “Then you better not tell anyone.” He laughed. “I won’t. I promise.” His elbow nudged my stomach. “Can’t have that carefully cultivated reputation as an unfeeling, bloodthirsty murderer being damaged.”

“So.” Danny grinned up at me again as he waited for the bottle to fill. “What’s the plan, baby?”

“I’ll bitch the whole way back to the human world if you don’t take me. Just so you know.” “I assure you, I’ll keep that in mind.”

I kissed the top of his head, breathing in the scent of his hair. “I love you.” Danny chuckled, slipping his arm beneath my coat to wrap around my waist. “I know. I love you, too.”

Danny took it without questioning further, which made me both love him even more and also flinch internally. Living in the Wastes had changed him somewhat, making him a little tougher and more world-weary, but he was still sweetly naïve. And unflinchingly loyal to me, trusting me implicitly. It made me forever grateful that he wanted to be with me, because the thought of him falling prey to anyone who would take advantage of his gentle nature made me want to murder things. All the things.

The realisation that I might get to have this for the rest of my life made my throat ache. I held him closer and pressed my nose and mouth to the top of his head, content to breathe him in for the hours that he slept.

“Yeah. Our good deed for the day is done.” Danny kept his arm around my waist as we started walking, glancing back at the nask. “Don’t get eaten, little guy.” “We’re supposed to do a good deed every day?” I muttered.

He watched me a moment longer, then grinned. “Do you think you’d kill me if I dragged you into this pool fully clothed?” “Yes,” I answered immediately, and Danny burst out laughing as he pushed away from the edge and waded a few steps back.

“Did you think it would be something more dramatic?” I asked him, mouth twitching. Danny gave a small smile and shrugged. “Honestly, I had no idea what to expect.” I lifted the bowl. “We drink this, and if it works, it will tether us. Our lives.”

“So you just cut your life short because of me. You’re going to die young because of me.” Danny was crying now, and it gutted me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you do this for me. I just…” He shook his head, mouth trembling. “I didn’t want you to be alone after I’m gone. I didn’t want you to feel that pain. But I should have thought about it more. About what it meant.”

“My sweet.” I cupped Danny’s face, trying to keep my voice as patient as possible. “I wanted this more than anything in the universe. To be with you always.” I leaned in and kissed him. “You haven’t taken anything from me. You’ve given me a gift.” Danny’s breath hitched against my cheek, but he seemed to be calming. He let out a slow, trembling breath.

“It’s so weird thinking about you as a little kid.” Danny grinned over at me. “Sometimes I just think you must have emerged from the earth as a fully formed adult. I can’t imagine you as a tiny, cute little baby Wyn.” I wanted to hunch with embarrassment. “We probably aren’t very cute to human eyes when we are infants.” “I bet you are.” Danny swayed closer and nudged my hood aside with his nose to kiss my cheek. “I bet you were fuckin’ adorable.” “Shut up,” I grumbled. But he wouldn’t, teasing me mercilessly until I finally shut him up by pulling him to a stop and claiming his mouth for long, long moments.

Danny grunted. “Yeah. Humans kind of suck, huh?” I swayed closer to him as we walked. “Some of you are nice.” He grinned over at me. “Some of us?” “One of you,” I amended. “One human. You.”

Danny burst out laughing. “What about Edin’s friend Hunter? He was nice. And his friend seemed nice too—Charlie.” My lip curled in disdain. “He was an oaf. The other one I barely interacted with.” Danny rolled his eyes. “He wasn’t an oaf. And he was clearly so gone for Edin but he didn’t even realise it yet.” He paused. “We should go find Edin when we get back. To tell him this worked.” I side-eyed him. “Why?” “In case he and Hunter want to go to that place. With the gods.” “They’re not gods,” I said absently. “And I am fairly sure the human oaf made it very clear he would not be staying with Edin, now that he has his friend back.”

The whole time, I had been asking myself what the fuck I was doing. Why I was sitting there in that pathetic little cell instead of just freeing all the other creatures and joining them in massacring every human in that base. Why I was wasting time, hungrily devouring any little scrap of information that this faceless soldier would give me about himself. Why I was uncharacteristically desperate to see his face, to see all of him, to find out who he truly was.

I hadn’t understood it, but I hadn’t been able to stop myself. And then when I’d seen him, it was like some part of me that had always felt lodged or slightly out of place, even though I’d never noticed it, suddenly shifted. I felt whole.

“I love you, Wyn,” he said, voice slightly hoarse. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’m so glad I met you. And that I get to spend the next few thousand years with you,” he added, grinning up at me. My throat ached. I swallowed convulsively, wishing I still had my coat on and my hood up to hide how vulnerable I felt as I stared back at him, unable to control the naked adoration that I knew was showing on my face. “I love you, too.” I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him tighter to me. “You were always meant to meet me. You’re mine.” Danny grinned again and kissed my chin. “I never really believed in fate, or soul mates, but… I think you’re mine.” “I am yours,” I said, tone domineering as I dropped my hands to palm his ass. Danny choked out a laugh and circled my neck with his arms. “Okay, fine, sorry. You are my soul mate.”

hips. The wet sounds of him fucking me were obscene, and I loved it. I loved him. In that moment, it hit me that I would have him—I would have this—for the rest of my life. Our lives. My throat closed up with emotion, even as everything within me tightened from the accompanying burst of pleasure at the realisation. I would have him forever.

“How long do you want to stay here?” I asked, sliding my hand up to cup the nape of his neck. “I don’t mind. It’s nice here.” Danny shot me a crooked grin as he knocked his shoulder into my arm. “This is kind of like our honeymoon, huh?” It took me a moment to realise what he meant. I huffed. “I suppose.” I looked over at him. “You mean like… we are married?” I tried very, very hard to ignore the intense squirming sensation in my belly. It wasn’t nerves. It was just… anticipation for his answer. Danny’s throat went a little splotchy. He shrugged uncomfortably. “I mean, if you don’t mind that term. It’s probably a human construct, right? Marriage? I was just being silly.” His nerves made something hot and sweet pierce my chest. “But you are human,” I said, turning him to face me and smoothing my hand down the back of his head. “Which means it might be important to you. And it is. Yes?” Danny fidgeted. “I mean, I’d never even thought about it before but… I like the idea of being married to you. In whatever way that is. Is that stupid?” “No,” I rasped immediately, stepping closer and cupping his face in my hands. “I like the idea of it too. Whatever we want to call it. Joined. Tethered. Married.” Danny beamed up at me, hands slipping beneath my coat to stroke my scarred back through my shirt. “Yeah? Me too. I don’t care what we call it.” For once, I wished my hood was down so I could smile back at him. We were in public though, so I didn’t lower it. Instead, I stroked my thum...

“I can give you a ring,” I said quickly, pulling my hand back to slip off the one on what humans called the ring finger on my left hand. I was sure that was the marriage finger. I didn’t want to ask and look ignorant, though, and Danny didn’t correct me, so I was probably right. “Oh, okay.” Danny’s voice sounded soft with nerves, and his throat was still splotchy. “I—Only if you want to—” I ignored him, taking his left hand and slipping the ring onto his finger. Cradling his hand in mine, I stared at the ring now sitting snug on Danny’s long finger and swallowed, glad he couldn’t see how ludicrously happy it made me seeing it on him. I tore my eyes away to look at him when Danny grinned up at me, a blindingly brilliant smile, before he looked down at the ring on his hand.

My heart melted even as the dread worsened. If it had been tooth-achingly sweet, it would have been easier to just force down. “Looks real good,” I said, lifting it carefully from the wrap. “Thanks, baby.”