Page 21 of Minding the Minotaur (Monsters of the Labyrinth #1)

A RLO

On the way home, Sammy is quiet. Staring out the window, she avoids my gaze. I wonder if she’s mad at me or upset after the discussion at Digger’s.

I shouldn’t have let the guys talk about all that heavy shit. It was supposed to be a fun introduction to my buddies, and now I worry it’s been too much for her. Trust Silas to always talk shop. The guy needs to lighten up.

In the front of the jeep, I can see Tippy’s ears twitching. She’s pissed too, that I ate so much food that’s not good for me. But hey, I’m a big guy with big needs, and I lost a shit ton of valuable fluids today.

I touch Sammy’s hand, and she doesn’t exactly draw away, but she certainly doesn’t curl her fingers around mine like she usually does.

A cold sweat breaks out around my scruff.

What if meeting my friends was too much, as well as hearing about all that dark magic.

When I told her about the Labyrinth’s past, I avoided talking about magic because I knew it might scare her.

But now… shit. What if it all gets too much for Sammy and she leaves, goes back to Sparkle?

I try to dismiss the thought. I have to trust in the bond that’s forming between us. Gods, only a couple of hours ago, she blew me with so much love in her eyes. We’ve had a week of pushing boundaries, sexually and emotionally, so much fun and laughter. It can’t be that she wants out.

No, something else is going on.

When we get home, Tippy says pointedly, “Salad for you tonight, Arlo. With lean fish. Small serve.” She huffs off to the kitchen, leaving me and Sammy alone. I take her hand and lead her into the snug, and we sit down on the sofa.

I watch as my human wilts.

“What’s the matter, pet?” I ask gently.

“I—I’m not doing any of this right.” Her face crumples and tears start squeezing out of her eyes. She’s sad as fuck, clearly.

“Oh, babe.” I gather her into my arms, and she sobs against my chest.

“I’m supposed to keep you under control, and I’m just putty in your hands.”

“I’m not complaining,” I smirk.

“Neither am I,” she wails. “I’ve loved every minute of it. But now Tippy’s angry and she’ll tell Otis and then he’ll sack me. And w-we won’t see each other ever again.”

“That will NOT happen,” I growl. “Fuck, I’ll eat lettuce leaves for a month if it stops Tippy telling Otis.” I kiss the top of her silken hair. “What’s brought this on, Pet?”

“I’m just so… sad about all the bad things that happened to m-monsters, in Sparkle and e-every-where. All because of humans.”

Damn, I thought as much.

“Hey, hey,” I shush softly into her hair. I kiss around her hairline, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Then I lay kisses on her eyelids. They’re salty sweet, and flutter at the touch of my lips. I wipe the wisps of golden hair away from her damp cheeks.

She’s letting out these cute little hiccups, and as she blinks up at me, her lashes are clumped with tears and her lower lip wobbles.

“Hey, you know what? I think you’re suffering from Labyrinth overwhelm,” I say. “Remember I told you that can happen. This place takes some adjusting to, and learning its history is confronting. Plus, there’s no sunshine.”

“There’s no sunshine in Sparkle either, it’s fake. At least you guys are honest about that.”

“True, but it’s still a lot to take in, babe. We monsters grow up knowing about the human world. But humans have been sheltered completely from our world. Being here shatters everything you’ve been led to believe.”

“Humans just walk around in a dream the whole time.” She sighs, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Life here is so much more real . It’s so bright and—and fun, despite being underground. You all seem to get along together, and there’s laughter and happiness and…”

“You haven’t gone below level one, babe. It gets grimmer the further down you go.”

“What’s it like down there?”

“I don’t think we need to talk about it,” I say, stroking her cheek gently.

“Please, it actually helps to understand,” she begs.

I hesitate, but her damp eyes plead with me.

“It’s pretty soul destroying. Mining and manufacturing, and long, exhausting shifts.

The only entertainment is in the taverns, and they’re rough places, lots of fighting and getting wasted.

Conditions are much worse than on the higher levels, but the pay is better, so monsters will risk the danger, and accidents.

That’s what happened to Brody’s dad—he worked on level eight in a mine.

There was a rock fall, and he injured his back so badly he’s in a wheelchair now.

Brody supports the family by working up here in the Vault.

Not great money, but it’s safer, and he’s near his dad to support him. ”

“Is that why you paid him to borrow the portal cape?”

“Yeah. I’d have given him the money anyway, but he wouldn’t have taken it as a gift.

But this was a situation that worked for both of us—he retained his pride, and I got the cape.

Though he’s lucky Otis didn’t sack him for it.

Otis knows Brody’s family situation, and he’s got a soft heart in that big green chest.”

“You and Brody both took huge risks.”

“We did, and I don’t regret it, because I met you.”

She hugs me tight before looking up at me out of worried eyes. “Sparkle isn’t safe for you, Arlo. Promise me you’ll never go there again.” She strokes my chest with soft fingers. “I don’t think I could bear to lose you.”

My heart sings at these words. Maybe it’s too soon to bare my soul, but I murmur, “I won’t have to, if you never leave.”

She’s silent for a second. “I’ll have to go back up there after this job ends.”

“I don’t want you to,” I say gruffly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. We’ll work this out, Sammy, you and me.” I lean down, and she raises her mouth, lips quivering, and this time I keep it gentle as I kiss her. Tender. My tongue swirls, tasting her salty sweetness but not getting too passionate, even when she moans and tries to grind against me.

She needs slow, gentle loving right now. “Do you need stress relief, pet?” I ask softly.

She nods. “It’s felt like a big day.”

“A big two weeks.” I nuzzle the shell of her ear. “How about I run you a bath?”

She smiles tremulously through her tears. “I’d love that, Arlo.”

“A pamper package for my minder.” I chuckle. “And I’ll be with you the whole time, so you don’t have to worry about me escaping.”

“We sure are rewriting the rule book.” She laughs.

“There is no rule book. Okay, go take off your kit and I’ll run the bath in my en suite,” I say, gently untangling myself from her. I watch her go to her room with a lighter step and a little smile hovering on her lips.

When she joins me ten minutes later, I’ve put rose petals in the bath and lit candles all round the sides.

She’s wrapped in just a towel, and as she stands before me, she lets it pool at her feet.

I let out a long exhale as I gaze at her luminescent pale skin, her beautiful bodacious body, the curve of her hips and thighs, the nestle of blonde hair at the apex, hiding that jewel between her legs.

Her tits, their big pink swollen nipples erect, are just begging for my mouth.

I salivate. It makes no difference that I had such a huge release at the clinic. My cock is expanding, thickening. My balls hang heavy in the loose tracksuit pants and start to ache with longing.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” she murmurs, eyes inviting.

“If I got in that tub, the water would be over the sides and not in the bath,” I laugh.

She pouts.

“Don’t worry babe, I will be right here, looking after you. Your willing slave.”

“And prisoner.”

I flick the lock. “Now who’s imprisoned? Don’t want Tippy interrupting us.”

She laughs. “At least take these off, let me see you.” She tugs at my loose pants.

I slide them off and she sighs as she sees my cock standing out like a fucking tent pole. She reaches for my member, but before her little hands can wreak havoc, I swing her up and plonk her in the bath with a splash .

She squeals, then slaps her hand over her mouth. Above it, her eyes dance. I’m so happy that her bleak mood has passed.

I reach for the special bath lotion I always use.

“May I?” I ask, squeezing some into my big palm and holding it out to her.

“That smells divine, what is it?”

“Minotaur milk balm. Specially made to soften and lubricate skin.”

“Sounds like you’ve tried it on other girls, eh.” She says it lightly, but I see a little light of worry in her eyes.

“Nope, I haven’t.” It’s the truth—I’ve never wanted to pamper another female like this.

“There’ve been no other girls for a while, to be honest.” I look at her gravely.

“Since this job started, I’ve needed to preserve my seed, so that kind of inhibited my lifestyle.

Couldn’t afford to spill a drop. But now… I feel different.”

“Ah—” She closes her eyes and hums as I massage the milky lotion onto her skin, over her breasts. My breath catches as her nipples turn into hard little peaks. “That’s nice.” I’m not sure if she means my hands, or my words.

I smooth the lotion lower, rub it on her belly, and she moans and arches out of the water.

I spread it around her thighs in circles and let it pool, cloudy in the water.

The air smells of flowers, of springtime—or how we all imagine springtime to be.

I scoop a handful of the slippery, milky liquid and cup it between her legs.

She opens up, lifting her ass out of the water, and I see her clit, swollen and pink, like the perfect rosebud glistening in her slit.

I stroke the lotion on and around it with firm, soft movements and she moans, lips parted, eyes closed.

I watch her face and see the little fleeting expressions, tiny frowns, hear her gasps and sighs of pleasure as her lips part.

I focus on stroking her clit, then ease a thick digit inside her and massage the velvet wet darkness, knowing I’ve found the sensitive spot on her inner walls as she bears down on my finger and her sweet cunt flutters.

I kiss her lips, and her tongue searches for mine and thrusts against it just as her pussy is thrusting onto my finger. I rub the same rhythm on her clit as I do inside her with the pad of my thumb, increasing the tempo and grunting as my own desire increases.

I press my throbbing cock against the side of the cool bath, trying to calm it down.

She’s breathing faster, shallower, little whines escape her, and I bend my head and capture them with my kisses, speeding up the stroke of my fingers until her butt is arching up and down in the water, making deliciously lewd slapping sounds, and she clings to the side of the bath with clawed fingers.

“Oh… co—ming!” she moans as her cunt tightens like a vice around my fingers and her body arches. Her clit swells, and that gush of hot liquid I’m getting to love so much tells me she is indeed coming with a vengeance as she cries out my name in a cracked, desperate howl of pleasure.

Her thighs scissor around my hand and the bathwater turns into a whirlpool as she squirms and shudders in the aftermath.

When she finally relaxes, I remove my fingers, kissing her as she comes down from the high of her orgasm.

She pants out a little grateful thank you.

My cock isn’t going anywhere fast, but it will have to wait.

I huff out a sigh, kiss her again, then stand up. She stares longingly at my huge member bobbing out in front of me. I can’t help a quick stroke of it with my fist in front of her. “You think you could eventually take this monster, babe?” I ask.

She giggles. “Of course I could. I practically ate your hand just then.”

I beam at her. She is an expansive little cavern of need for sure. I’m amazed at how much her greedy little cunt can take. I have easily jammed three fingers inside her on occasions, right up the hilt.

But today was different, it was reverence and worship at the shrine of her beautiful body.

The body I want to claim as mine.

Oh gods of the Labyrinth, I can’t hold out much longer , I think as I reluctantly release my throbbing cock.

As if she’s reading my mind, she stares at my cock with needy longing in her baby blues. “Soon, Arlo?”

I hesitate, frowning. “Just the last of Clarisse’s younglings’ school fees to pay?—”

“I understand,” she says quickly. “I love that you care about your family the way you do.”

“You’ll meet them sometime.” I cradle her hand against my cheek.

“I’d love to.” She hesitates, then says, “I’d like you to meet my mom and dad too, and Clem.”

I snort. “You think your mom and dad would cope with that?”

Her eyes cloud for a second. “I—I hope so…”

My heart breaks a little at her hesitation.

I was about to tell her I love her, that she is more than special, that she is everything, she is my mate, but now I swallow the words.

She’s changed my life, and I want her to be part of my future, but after her overwhelm episode earlier, and now the sense I get that she’s worried about how her parents would view me, the divide between our two worlds gapes wide.

I open my mouth, trying to find words to share my feelings without coming on too strong, when there’s a knock at the door.

Sammy sinks low into the bathwater.

“Arlo?” It’s Tippy’s voice on the other side of the wood panel.

“Yes?” I call out.

“Have you got Samantha in there? ”

“Erm, yeah—I took a bath and forgot my towel. Sammy just brought it to me.”

“My back was turned the whole time,” Sammy pipes up.

“Right-oh.” Tippy sounds amused. “Are you two playing rubber ducky?”

“No!” we howl in unison.

“Well, when you’ve finished supervising Arlo’s bath time, I just wanted to let you know Jax is here. He’s come to see how you’re going, Samantha.”

Sammy’s eyes saucer, and we both stifle snorts of laughter.

“Tell him I’ll be there in a minute,” Sammy calls out. Then she looks at me in horror. “I’ve got no clothes in here, Arlo.”

Now, this could prove interesting.