Page 13 of Minding the Minotaur (Monsters of the Labyrinth #1)

S AMMY

We eat lunch seated opposite each other in the rather quaint dining room, with its heavily carved wooden table and sideboard.

There are sconces on the walls, of course.

I’m already getting used to that part of living down here, and the way everything smells slightly earthy and cave-like.

Tippy brings us food and points out the nutritional content of it all.

Arlo seems supremely disinterested, but nods politely, and we eat hungrily.

The food is strange, with many flavors I’ve not encountered before, but surprisingly delicious.

The rest of the day passes in a flash.

It’s the weirdest thing. If it weren’t for the uniform and the official badge I’m wearing, I’d just think we were hanging out together. Like on a date. But not. Obviously.

There seem to be few rules other than staying close to Arlo and, as Otis said, keeping him out of mischief.

I have to admit, there’s a fair bit of mischief I’d like to get up to with this big horned guy. Especially after watching him work out in the gym for an hour just now.

I sat in a corner throughout, reading a magazine on fashions for different species, which would have totally fascinated me if it weren’t for the distraction of Arlo pumping iron.

I couldn’t help glancing at him every few minutes.

Watching him get sweaty, the pelt sticking a little round his neck and his pecs and abs, which are remarkably smooth and velvet brown, working up a sheen.

I don’t mind admitting that my gaze was constantly drawn to the line of hair thickening at the waist of his boxers and the large bulge of his cock and balls.

On occasion, when lifting a really heavy weight, he’d let out a grunt and there was no denying it, the sound zinged straight to my pussy.

By the end of the hour, there was a definite damp patch staining the crotch of my pants.

I really can’t explain it as anything other than raw, primal chemistry between us, combined with a sense of ease in each other’s company. It’s like we just click somehow. Truthfully, that feeling was there from the moment our eyes locked in the DeVines parking lot.

Now, as Arlo strolls over, his nostrils quiver, his dark eyes darkening even more as they appraise me. I know he’s scenting me, which is even more of a turn-on. I have to say, he smells good too—warm and musky and chock full of male pheromones.

I stifle a sigh of longing.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he husks, swinging the towel over his shoulders.

“Sure,” I say, my eyes following him as he swaggers off, hungrily taking in those massive shoulders tapering to his waist, red boxers slung low over lean hips, and that thick tail swinging lazily behind him.

I squeeze my thighs together to stop the flood.

Things calm down a little after that .

We spend the afternoon in the snug and Arlo teaches me how to play a couple of card games, Rummy and Go Fish. Sure, I’ve played the odd card game, and we bid on blackjack at Sparkle casino, but playing intimately like this is very different, and much more fun.

“Where did you learn all these games?” I laugh, as he beats me, yet again.

“Big family, lots of evenings to while away time. We played plenty of games.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Six younglings in total. Three boys, three girls.”

“Are your parents still alive?”

“Yeah. They live at the other end of level one. I see them most weekends. and my siblings are happily settled, except for my sister, Clarisse. She’s a breeder, just loves having kids to different guys. And I pay the maintenance.”

“Where are the fathers?”

He does a thumbs down.

“Dead?!” I say, horrified.

He laughs. “Nah. Just living the bachelor life on other levels. There’s a lot of drinking and carousing down there. Clarisse goes there regularly to have a good time, and invariably comes back knocked up.”

“Oh my. How many levels are there?”

“Ten, and then there’s the Pit. Don’t even ask what monsters hang out there.”

“Cripes!”

“Mostly we all mix together fine. Levels one and two are multi-species families with kids—that’s where the eateries and markets and commerce take place.

The wolves pretty much hang out on level three in their packs.

They can be a bit savage if you get on the wrong side of them.

Then below that, it’s manufacturing, then mining.

The lawless regions are right down the bottom in the Pit.

Ogres, behemoths, nagas, some nasty poisonous arachnids and other hybrid monsters that don’t even have names.

But you’ll have no contact with them, so don’t worry.

They rarely escape up to the higher levels. ”

“Right.” I laugh a little shakily.

“And you?” he asks, shuffling the cards and glancing at me with genuine interest. “Do you have family?”

“Just Mom and Dad and me. It’s rare for humans to have more than one kid.” I don’t add that these days, many couples don’t even achieve that.

He’s silent for a moment. “That must be lonely.”

“You get used to it. And there’s always things going on in Sparkle—entertainment, shows, movies, concerts.”

“Yeah, I saw all the billboards the time I landed in a shopping mall. Blew me away. It looks like one big party up there,” Arlo says.

“Even fun can get boring if—” I stop myself abruptly from saying, if you don’t have someone special to share it with.

“If…?” He quirks an eyebrow, and I sense that he’s thinking of a different kind of fun altogether.

I shrug. “If you’ve done it for your whole life.” I focus my attention on Arlo dealing the cards.

He has lovely hands and forearms. Big and meaty, but also refined in their movements as he swiftly deals out the cards. Now I’m getting a bad case of arm porn lust, to add to all the other things about his body I lust after.

This time, I beat Arlo. But I’m pretty sure he lets me.

“I guess we should call it a day,” I say finally, reluctantly, as Arlo gathers up the cards once more. The wall clock tells me it’s close to midnight.

“Yeah, you must be tired,” Arlo says, putting the cards away.

“Kind of,” I lie. I’m actually horny as hell. “It’s been a lot to take in.”

We stand and face each other awkwardly. Arlo scuffs a hoof and strokes a horn; it’s cute, endearing. “Glad that we got to, er, find each other again. Even if the circumstances are kind of weird.”

“So am I. And I’ve enjoyed today, you’ve been very easy to, um, guard. Goodnight, Arlo.”

“Goodnight.” He hesitates, then ambles over to the door and holds it open for me to pass through first.

“Guess you’re going to lock me in my bedroom?” He quirks an eyebrow.

“Not if you promise you won’t escape,” I say, mock stern, but I think I’m just trying to delay saying goodnight.

He gifts me a deliciously cheeky grin. “I promise. But you can check in on me later if you want.”

I snort out a sound that’s more like a giggle.

The Buggins blush lights my way out the door better than any sconce.

After I’ve checked that all the windows are firmly secured, I go to my room, take off my jacket, slide off my pants and stand in front of the bank of screens, just in my shirt and panties. And then I switch the screen to Arlo’s bedroom.

It feels naughty somehow, but I remind myself it’s part of my job to keep an eye on him.

It doesn’t take a second to locate him. He’s standing right in front of the camera, and by the smirk on his lips, I’m pretty sure he knows I’m watching.

And boy, do I watch as, oh so slowly, he undresses.

He pulls off his shirt first, exposing his huge pecs and bunching biceps, then flicks open his belt.

Bit by bit, he slides his pants down his humungous thighs with those large hands of his.

I gawk at the roped muscles of his quads.

He steps out of his jeans, leaving them pooled on the floor, and now his hands slide to his boxers.

My breath catches as I take in the formidable bulge.

But then, the tease, he turns his back as he flicks them off, displaying his rump instead.

His ass is so cheeky, so tight.

His tail flicks, and I can’t help a little gasp as his butt muscles flex in unison.

And then he swings around and gifts me a full frontal.

Mesmerized, I watch his hands smooth down his abs to the thicket of dark hair at the apex of his thighs.

His cock stands proud, velvet smooth, dark brown skin tight and shining, the head large and dark red in contrast. Lazily, he sweeps his palm along its length, then cups his taut balls.

A little moan escapes me as, with the other hand, he toys with his member, big meaty digits flipping over the frenulum and rubbing a circle over the tip.

A little fountain of precum oozes out of the slit and down the side of his cock.

Unable to bear the throb in my pussy, my fingers slide inside my panties.

Wet, wet, wet.

I locate the hard bud of my clit and start rubbing it frenziedly, all the while staring at his cock as he languidly strokes it. Everything inside me is hot and achy with need, and I gasp, teetering closer to release.

Just a few more strokes… and I’ll pitch over the edge.

Meanwhile, Arlo walks closer to the camera, cock in fist, eyes heavy lidded and seeming to stare right at me. His lips curl into a sensual smile and he licks them with a thick pink tongue.

The fact he knows I’m watching is even more of a turn-on.

Imagining that tongue right where my hand is, I groan, my fingers working my core faster, feeling the pleasure build. I’m gasping, panting, biting my lip… But then, my fingers slow.

Wouldn’t it be a terrible waste.

To come.

With him staring at the camera like that, out of those beautiful chocolate eyes, while stroking his beautiful huge cock? He could be staring into my eyes. He could be touching me .

I could be touching him .

Suddenly my own hand is not good enough. I need Arlo to bring me off.

I let out an expletive and dash out of the room, down the corridor, and burst into his bedroom.