Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters #6)- Kristy Cunning Page 0,200

look.

“You came along during the middle of all this, and I’ve seen you as almost human. You’re very soft, Violet. We keep telling you this, but you don’t understand it. Because you’re soft, I’ve been exceptionally soft toward you. I don’t keep betas around. They stab me in the back. I’m used to soft omegas, who always washed my back for me.”

For the first time ever, there’s a tiny pang of envy. I immediately cast it out, because I love those omegas. I don’t fault him for wanting them around all those years.

“Never once has any woman ever again tempted me into falling in love across these many centuries,” he carries on, giving me a pointed look. “Now I know you’re an alpha. I never would have believed it, and I’m still struggling to wrap my mind around it. It certainly changes all the rules.”

“If you’re a good girl and accept your punishment, Vance will likely take your words more seriously,” Arion tells me, placing another small kiss on the inside of my thigh, while keeping his eyes on mine the entire time.

Damien becomes visible, drawing my attention, as he gingerly strokes my cheek, while giving me a serious look.

“Vance has been duped, deceived, and made to feel inferior all in one night. You claim you’re willing to prove you don’t want us submitting to you. You claim you’re not seeking dominance. You claim a lot, even though you have an unknown amount of power resting inside you,” Damien states. “Yet it seems your monster is indeed calculated and devious, and you already know about our great deal of trust issues.”

I mull that over in my head.

“You don’t want to be feared, so prove you’re willing to surrender to consequences. Your monster is devious. The best way to learn control, is to be humble, Violet. Can you accept your punishment?” Arion asks me.

I hesitate, mostly because it doesn’t make any sense. I’m still trying to learn monster logic. Alpha logic is even harder to understand.

“Orgasm denial on my wedding night is my punishment? For how long?” I ask, trying to be as reasonable as possible, while stretched wide, chained, and feeling really vulnerable.

I knew there were going to be some hurdles to jump once I revealed the truth, which is one of the reasons I held back, so I should have expected at least some backlash.

“Not orgasm denial, Violet,” Emit says, grinning as his lips press to my wrist again. “Delayed gratification.”

I feel weird talking about this so casually, but I aim for steady and in control of myself, instead of a blushing, somewhat irritated, slightly insecure girl.

Damien’s lips stay quirked up on one side, as he adds, “It’ll only feel like punishment for a little while, sweet monster. By the end, it’ll feel like a rather fine reward. Promise.”

“I think I just came,” Anna says from somewhere in the room. “I guess that’s insensitive to say, since you can’t do the same. Hey! That rhymed!”

I’m going to kill her.

“Ever notice how Anna does that any time Violet’s faced with any sort of decision that takes her some serious thought,” Damien notes, making me feel even more vulnerable, since I knew they’d do this.

They’ll overthink and overanalyze every single thing Anna, my deranged, mildly sociopathic monster, says. They’ll inspect the words and actions down to the smallest detail.

I force my thoughts to Vance, and what they just said. I feel the weight of the ring on my finger—the one he gave me when he was offering forever.

I didn’t know then what I’d done. I also didn’t know about it when I planned my big romantic gesture for the Monster Olympics. I was going to enjoy the day, and tell Arion I’d be his, while also wearing Vance’s ring so that no one had to be left out.

I know Vance doesn’t care about things like that, but still…

Not that it matters. All the romance went down the drain when the theme flipped from wholesome monster fun into more of a “Carrie’s Prom” sort of night.

After a host of jarring confessions, bloodshed en masse, and some inventive torture techniques my monster used on an ancient alpha, it’s weird that I can even feel romantic now.

Keeping all my secrets from Jerome was miserable.

Keeping all my secrets from them was worse than miserable. Miserable feels depressed when it thinks of how hard this has been for me to keep this to myself.

They know so much.

They judge so harshly.

They make fickle promises and tend to