Page 14 of Lessons with the Mothman (Monster Smash Agency)

CHAPTER 14

Victoria

I tried not to scramble around the table as Elias packed up his things.

"I should head for the bar," he said, and it was the first thing he'd said in the two hours he'd been camped at the far end of the table.

"I'll walk with you," I rushed out, too determined to care how desperate I sounded.

Elias paused, holding the door open for me, and I inched just out of Stanton's reach, his hand raised out of the corner of my eye.

"I was hoping we'd take the time to discuss—" he started, eyebrows raised.

"We do meet tomorrow," I reminded him, barely looking over my shoulder. "And I need to get to my library shift."

For a moment, it seemed like he might push the issue, but I continued on my path to Elias, sure that he was holding my stare. Even with those bottomless black eyes of his, his gaze felt like a beacon to aim toward. The safe call of a lighthouse in the dark.

"Very well. Tomorrow then."

I might pay for that tomorrow. Phillip had been a bit of a pest during the interview, not quite undermining me but coming close. That, or he had a very inconvenient sore throat, because he kept clearing it meaningfully as I asked questions.

Elias was silent as I reached him, and we slid out into the flow of traffic in the hall together, our sides not quite touching. We reached the stairs, a crowd of students rising up against us, and someone jostled me into Elias. The back of my hand brushed his and I twisted my palm, clasping his hand in mine, my chest tight until he wove our fingers together.

"Why does he make you uncomfortable?" Elias murmured, ducking his head just enough to keep his voice low.

We shouldn't have been holding hands. There wasn't any justifiable reason for it, except that I wanted the touch. I'd never even really liked holding hands before. And even now, with Elias, it was slightly awkward. But the truth was that what I really wanted was to be wrapped around him somewhere private, and if I couldn't have that , then I wanted this, clammy and unfamiliar as it was.

"The affair," I answered, my eyes squinting as we stepped outside into the glaring sun as it lowered itself into the trees.

"Oh. Oh . That is…" Elias made a strange sound at the back of his throat as he led us down the steps. "Awkward…considering…"

I laughed, and my vision eased enough to see Elias's antennae curving down, his shoulders creeping up. I interpreted it as sheepish.

"Yes," I agreed, finding myself grinning. "I nearly refused you."

He coughed, but I had a feeling it was covering up a laugh. With the crowds dispersing around us, our hands unlinked slowly, and we turned to face one another, safely out of the way on a patch of green lawn. In another few weeks, the grass would be thinned out from all the student traffic.

"It wasn't remotely the same," I said softly, wondering why I was trying to reassure Elias.

He nodded and shrugged. "All the same…we'll try something different next time. Unless you want?—"

I shook my head quickly. "It was perfect, but not for that reason," I said, grimacing and looking around us.

We were talking in half confessions, and it wasn't really making anything clearer. But there was no one familiar around, and certainly no one listening.

"The most arousing part was how much thought you put into it, and how much you listened to what I asked you for," I admitted.

Elias was generally too hard to read, but I caught his surprise, the bright lift of his antennae, and the way we leaned into one another slightly. His hands wrapped around my wrists, gentle but commanding too, and warmth rushed through me, my eyelids growing heavy with the weight of heat in my core.

"I can't wait for next weekend. I need you to tell me when you're free next. Email it. I'll take care of the rest," Elias said, his voice low.

I can't wait …

My breathing was labored as I nodded, strangely dizzy and hot. There was a tree behind me, and if Elias had told me he was going to fuck me against it in that moment, I would've said, "yes, sir."

"Now. You can tell me this is none of my business, but I'm going to ask anyway," Elias continued, his tone clipped tightly enough to rouse me from my stupor of lust. "Is Stanton harassing you at all currently?"

I sucked in a breath, a refusal sharp on my tongue, and then forced myself to relax and think. "No. There's tension, but I think it has more to do with us ignoring our history, or trying to work around it."

Elias's stare was hard on my face, but he considered my answer for a long moment. "I couldn't tell if he was being exacting or obnoxiously disruptive."

My lips quirked and I ducked my head, staring at the gold pelted fingers wrapped around my wrists. "Both, but I don't think he's punishing me through the study or anything like that."

Elias nodded slowly. "Your work is too good to be impeded."

Don't swoon, Victoria , I warned myself. "What are we going to do next?" I asked, my voice embarrassingly breathy.

"Bar, library," Elias said, pointing at us each in turn.

"You know what I meant," I said, and my breath caught as our hips brushed. When had we stepped so close to one another?

Elias's wings flared out at his back, and I imagined he was shielding us from view. "You'll see," he said. My lips pursed in irritation—categorically not a pout—and Elias's grip on my wrist suddenly tightened, snapping me against his chest, his soft fur collar and hair so smooth against my cheek as he hissed in my ear, "Don't look at me like that, or I'll put you over my knee right here and show everyone what a cock hungry little whore you are."

I staggered, gasping for air as he released me, his stride smooth and long, carrying himself away too fast for me to go crawling after him, begging him to follow through on the threat. "Email me," he shot over his shoulder.

How does Thursday the 5 th suit your schedule for our next meeting?

- Vic

I've been hard since I emptied into you. I need a better offer than next week.

- E

"Okay, who the hell are you fucking?"

I startled, my head jerking up from my phone to gape at Lyle across the table from me. "No one— What?"

Lyle's eyebrows rose. "I've known you for years. You've never been this horny. Not even when I was inside of you."

"Lyle," I hissed, searching around the library, but everyone was deep in the stacks and he hadn't spoken very loudly.

Lyle smirked. "Is it one of your interview subjects?"

I sighed, shaking my head as I lowered it down into the crease of the book I'd been failing to focus on ever since opening Elias's email. "No. Why? There isn't— Are people talking?"

"No! No, no, nothing like that," Lyle said, gentling his tone to reassure me. "I just think other species are better in bed than humans and figured you were reaping the benefits."

I looked up from my book. "Why do you say that? Or think that? Can you?—"

Lyle lifted his chin and stared down his nose at me. "I'm not participating in your study. It's not…" He mouthed the name, "Stanton?"

"God no," I huffed, falling back into my chair. "You know this isn't any of your business, right?"

"Did you meet someone at Nightlight?" Lyle asked, head tipping.

I laughed. "Lyle, no, st?—"

But it was too late. Lyle's lips parted in shock and he leaned forward, slapping his hands to the table and catching the attention of a few students browsing the shelves.

"It's him ," Lyle breathed.

And even though that was too vague a statement to really confirm or deny, I flushed warm. I'd given something away as Lyle had said "Nightlight," probably. Not in my face, but some flicker of arousal at the mention of Elias's bar, the thought of him.

We were both silent for a long stretch, staring at one another, my eyes narrowed in warning, Lyle's wide in some kind of surprise or fascination or delight.

"I'm going to ask this, and I want you to remember that it's me, not your family or Brett or any of those types, and that there's no judgment?—"

"Lyle, you're pushing it," I said flatly.

"Did you pay?" he whispered, leaning in close.

I sighed and shook my head, mostly in annoyance, but it worked as an answer to his question too I suppose.

"Okaaaay," Lyle said slowly, and for some reason he looked even more excited. His voice lowered. "Did you get off?"

My heart skipped nervously in my chest. Nearly. I nearly had. And somehow, that might've been better than if I magically had at the first provocation. "I told him I didn't want him to try."

Lyle nodded. He and I had broached that issue together when we'd briefly tried to have a fling, but as passion had quickly fizzled into friendship, our interest in one another sexually had amicably waned. "It was good though," he noted, already aware of the fact.

"Really, really good," I breathed out, and Lyle softened, his smile huge but genuine. "It's not related to the study at all."

He shrugged. "I'm not sure it matters, but I figured as much."

I sagged into the chair a little deeper. "We role-played," I whispered.

"Mmm, kinky," Lyle said, nodding appreciatively. "You know he's kind of like the equivalent of a reclusive socialite to other species?"

"How can you be both a recluse and socialite?" I asked.

Lyle waved his hand. "He has status. Influence. That he rarely uses."

I opened my mouth to tell Lyle about Elias's house, all the carefully arranged rooms that reminded me of the miniatures at the art institute, and then shut my mouth again. Somehow, that seemed like a more private detail than what we got up to while fucking.

"It's not very personal," I said, which didn't feel quite true. Elias knew as much about me now as Lyle did, actually, and Lyle was my best friend.

"As long as you're having a good time," Lyle said, and then grinned. "And you tell me the occasional fun detail."

I snorted and tried to return to my work, but my phone was burning against my palm, Elias's short email demanding a response.

"I need to go check my work schedule real quick," I murmured, sliding up from my seat and heading for the desk. Lyle's smile was smug and too knowing, but it was pointless trying to be subtle around him anyway.

It was too late to call off or swap work nights with any of the other library staff, but I didn't have to come in until four tomorrow and I didn't have any classes during the day. I opened my phone and found another message from Elias, this time a text.

I'm going to use my fist instead of your cunt if I can't have you tonight.

My body answered the threat with a surprising clench in my core and a flare of heat that rose all the way up into my cheeks.

I can be at your house by 9pm.

No makeup. I'll provide everything, including the clothes. Expect a long night.

Any hints?

I spent the next three hours waiting for an answer that never came.