Ice Lord Incognito: A Cozy Monster Romance (Monsters, PI Book 2) by Ava Ross

Author:Ava Ross [Ross, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Enchanted Star Press
Published: 2024-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

16

ELRIK

“You’re like a spring thaw to my endless winter, both gentle and relentless,” I said as I carried her along the beach and toward the bench where we’d left our shoes.

“That’s so sweet, Elrik,” she sighed against my skin.

“Your warmth softens the ice surrounding my heart, carving out a sanctuary where none existed before.” Now that the damn had let loose, the words poured from me. “My ice-bound soul trembles at the thought of showing you how much you’re coming to mean to me.”

I only paused to scoop up our shoes, handing them to her one by one.

“I can walk,” she said with a laugh.

“Do you want to?” The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel embarrassed. I sensed she was as worried about her reputation as her grandmother.

“I like being in your arms, Elrik.” Her eyes scanned the area. “We’re alone. And I find I actually don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

“I like holding you in my arms.”

“I can’t say that anyone has ever swooped me up like this before, let alone carried me more than a foot or so.”

“Or threatened to dip you into the sea?”

“I wouldn’t have minded that. She’s warm right now. Comforting. We should come here at night and go swimming, though we’ll have to watch out for sharks.”

“Sharks won’t come near a monster.”

“It’s funny. I don’t see you as a monster. The term has changed since orcs and centaurs started moving close to us. Monster was a term used to scare children. Today’s kids will grow up thinking monsters are nice people.”

“You don’t know how much it means to all of us that we’re accepted.” Mostly, that is. There were always a few who sneered when they saw us, and there had even been a few protests in front of our embassy, but in general, we were welcomed into human society.

“I know many were frightened at first. All those stories about the boogeyman haunting our dreams.”

I carried her down the street. We passed a couple, and the male yeti nodded. The male human grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. While many married within their own species like they had before, other monsters had found mates among the humans. It was becoming more and more common to see couples of all sorts of species together.

“Boogeymen are under your bed too,” I point out.

Her eyes widened and her lips quivered, though with humor. “You’re kidding me, right?”

I grin. “Am I?”

“Fuck.”

“Not often.”

“Fuck!”

A centaur trotting by on the street huffed. “Please. Kids might be around.”

“Hey, sorry.” She cringed. “Potty mouth here.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t know the boogeyman is real,” I said.

Her face scrunched in a cute way. “Really real?”

“Really.”

“Hmm.”

At the end of her driveway, I placed her on her feet and stroked her cheek. “Do you want to wait inside?”

“The night’s gorgeous. Warm and sultry. I’ll stay here.”

Talk about incentive to make me hurry. I started up my truck and backed out onto the road, driving to the lot and parking.

In no time, I stood in front of Melly again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.