I ignored the voice as I tugged the covers over me and nestled into the crook of his splayed arm. He rolled towards me, the book thunking to the ground, his arms enveloping me, his nose in my hair.

“Hello, Mouse,” he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. My stomach fluttered at the roughness of his voice, at the warmth of his embrace.

Uh oh. The fluttery feelings were moving higher, too.

Nope. That was not allowed. Mission. Priority. That was all I would allow myself to think about.

“No horny devil this morning?” I managed, my throat suddenly tight with nerves.

“Hmmm, I don’t know about that.” He tucked me against him, and … oh! There was the horny devil, prodding me in the backside!

“I meant, horned devil. As in, with the pointy things on your head, and the glowing and the … the tail …” I swallowed, remembering the things dream SJ had done to me with that tail last night.

Heat pooled between my thighs.

“It’s harder to hold that form in the human realm, I’ve found. I must put conscious energy into it. It probably wore off while I was sleeping.” He reached up, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I hope you didn’t wake in the dark …”

I rolled towards him, not wanting to go down that conversation path right now. I needed to keep this … seductive. “I slept very … deeply. I had some interesting dreams, too.” I smiled coyly up at him. “Let’s just say, your devilish attributes were very much the stars of the show.”

His cheeks went pink, which only made that heat low in my belly burst into flames. Unfortunately, it also had those flutters moving closer and closer to my chest.

No, no, no!

“Do you really find monsters as … stirring … as you claim to?” he asked, an adorably confused crease between his eyebrows.

Do not start thinking of him as adorable! I admonished myself.

Too late, the little voice retorted.

“Uh, you have seen my book collection, right?” I tried for a withering tone, but my voice was trembling.

“But … that’s fiction, it’s not the same.” His head tilted to the side, regarding me in a way that had me blushing.

You’re better than fiction, the naughty voice purred. And it was right. The warm hardness of his chest against my boobs … and the warm hardness lower down that was jabbing at my hip … all of that was very much superior to a fictitious character.

“Tell me what you love about your monster pornography,” he rumbled persuasively, his breath hot against my cheek. Goosebumps erupted all over my skin, and I dug my fingers into his biceps as if to ground me.