Moth (Monstrous, #5)

by Lily Mayne

“Chill the fuck out, Hunter. And don’t talk about him like that. I swear to god, if you’re an asshole to Moth I will knee you so hard in the balls you won’t be able to fuck Edin for a month.” Hunter blinked at me. “Wow.” Edin chuckled, leaning in to nuzzle his face. “Not used to being put in your place, eh, josdo? Well, except by me.” He shot me a conspiratorial smirk. Hunter turned pink. “I wasn’t—I’m not going to be an asshole to him.” “You’re an asshole to everyone,” I said flatly. “But you’re gonna be on your best behaviour with him. Aren’t you?” “Alright,” he muttered like a petulant kid, wrapping his arm around Edin and gripping the side of his kilt.

“You’re almost as fiery as Hunter. It has been a delight having him and Edin here with us.” I snorted, not sure the others would agree. “And the Soul Eater and Danny, right? Hunter said they showed up a while ago.” “Ah, yes.” He chuckled. “Interesting pair.”

“You’re just going to leave me behind after everything?” I repeated in a croak. Moth’s face tightened, and for just a second before he masked it, longing shone in his pale eyes. “What—what do you mean? Did you… want to come with me?” I choked out an incredulous laugh. “Of course I want to come with you! I want to stay with you. Hasn’t that been fucking obvious?”

“Even though you don’t feel the same, I…” God, I needed to shut the fuck up. “I think you’re perfect just as you are. You don’t need to change or hide any part of yourself for someone else, Moth.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was ragged when he broke the kiss. “I didn’t think you—I got… scared. What I wanted to say was that… that… how I feel about you is—”

“I thought I was in love with Ghost,” Moth whispered, because Ghost was standing right over there. Watching. “But I never felt like this about him. How I feel about you. I’ve never… felt like this about anyone.”

“Don’t make me say it,” he mumbled. “Everyone’s… watching.” I let out a shaky laugh, tugging him closer. “Hell no, slayer, I’m gonna make you say it.” Moth glared at me without heat. “Such a shithead. Fine, I…” He swallowed again, but lifted his chin and stared at me with a determined expression, even as his voice wavered when he said, “I love you.” My face hurt from how wide I was grinning. “Yeah? So you’re gonna let me tag along with you?”

“I love you too.” I buried my face in his neck, breathing in his scent. “I love you, Moth.” He let out a weak, relieved chuckle and pressed his mouth into my hair. “Shithead.”

“Damn, Charlie,” Rig hollered, shattering the moment. “How’d you manage to break the ice queen?”

“Deepthroating,” I called back, which made Moth give my stomach a weak shove. “Holy shit, no kidding, right?” Rig’s brown eyes were lively as he dragged Gloam over to us. “The first time Gloam—” “My love, why don’t we let Moth and Charlie… talk?”

“I told you, Charlie!” I could see his fangs flashing in the dark even from this distance, a huge grin on his face. “Enjoy yourselves!” My face went hot even as I chuckled. Moth turned bright pink. “Uh, yeah. Thanks,”

“You love me, huh?” He huffed. “Shut up.” “And you were gonna just leave without me,” I added, pinching his side and making him jump. “You ass.” He went pink. “Sorry.” “I’ll forgive you if you take me back to your safehouse.” I wrapped my arms around him and tugged him closer with a grin. “And fuck me in that big bed like you did in New York.” He licked his lips and dipped his head to kiss me, hands sliding under my shirt to palm my lower back. “You want to live there?” “Hell yeah. But we can keep visiting the camp and wandering the Wastes. We’ll also have to visit Edin and Hunter at the homestead.”

“By the way, I don’t recall you ever deepthroating me.” He smirked. “For the record.” I burst out laughing, remembering what I’d said to Rig. “No? We’ll have to fix that.” I pushed him back and crawled over him. “Since it’s apparently how I broke the ice queen and all.” Moth’s cheeks went pink as he glared up at me. “I swear to god, Charlie, if you start calling me that…” I sat up to pull off my shirt. “I promise I won’t if you get naked.”

“Well, you might want to get away from me sometimes when I piss you off too bad. I know you like your privacy.” He gave another tiny shrug, tracing a long finger over my collarbone. “It’s different with you.” Then he glared up at me. “But if you hum all the time…” I laughed, dipping my head to kiss him. “I’ll try not to.”

“Will you teach me to read?” Moth asked quietly, laying his palm on the centre of my chest and stretching out his long, tattooed fingers. I nuzzled into his hair. “Of course.” “I tried, but it’s just… meaningless shapes. I can recognise numbers okay, but…” I remembered seeing the stack of books in his safehouse, and I’d been able to teach him poker. “I’ll teach you.” I kissed the top of his head, leaving my mouth pressed there so he could feel my grin. “Then I can leave you dirty notes.”

He still irritated the shit out of me sometimes, and I was still getting used to his teasing and blunt way of speaking, but I just… wanted to be with him all the time. Even when he was annoying me. The moment I saw him, I wanted to kiss him or touch him in some way. I just wanted him next to me.

I wasn’t so sure I was all that interested in getting to know Hunter better, but I’d do it for Charlie. It weirded me out a little that he seemed like he was… proud to be with me. Like he wanted to show me off. To show everyone that I was his.

“Ah.” He shot me an impressed look. “A cagin. A tough foe. You are very strong, Moth. Don’t worry about the lack of horns. You don’t need them.”

“Well…” Edin glanced down at Hunter, then gave us a sly look. “There may be somewhere we’re going before we return to the homestead. But it will require some work, so we’ll be here for a while.” Charlie’s brow furrowed. “What? Go where?” Hunter cleared his throat and sat up. “Danny and Wyn told us something. When they got here.” “Told you what?”

“Have you ever been to our world, Moth?”

She’s not scared of Wyn—but she is scared of Aury—and has taken a liking to Lilac. Rig is jealous.