Page 25 of Minding the Minotaur (Monsters of the Labyrinth #1)

S AMMY

Being carried on the back of a minotaur travelling at speed is something else.

I cling to Arlo’s back, bury my face in his thick pelt and inhale the gorgeous smell of him, musky and sweet and salty.

To my surprise, Arlo proves to be an incredibly smooth ride. His bulky muscles act like springs, cushioning me from the jarring of his hooves on the rock floor.

There’s nothing to see, very little light in this part of the Labyrinth, so I press my face against his pelt and close my eyes. I may even drift off a little. Finally, we slow down.

Then we stop.

My eyes drift open.

The first thing I notice is that we are no longer in tunnels. Arlo has stopped on the edge of a vast arena and there is light, but not from sconces. It’s dappled, tinging everything with a soft green, and I see an expanse of silver shimmering ahead.

“Is that… water?” I ask .

“Yes. Welcome to One Moonbeam Lake.”

Arlo crouches down and I slide off his back. I look around in awe, acclimatizing to this magical place.

“It’s… so beautiful,” I murmur, gazing at the lake, and the soft blanket of greenery on the rocks that surround the pool.

They are plants, I realize, cascading off the rock walls.

And around them are dancing pinpoints of light.

And that’s when I realize that the light in here is actually coming from these tiny gleaming moving things. Thousands of them.

“What are they?” I turn to Arlo in amazement.

“Fairy moths. They always gather here to feed off the plants, and their lights help the greenery grow. It’s a win-win.”

I sniff the air. It’s sweet, fresh, and evocative. It reminds me of the orchards in Sparkle where we grow fruit, but infinitely better.

My ears detect a soft dripping sound. Arlo takes my hand and leads me to a trickle of water running down the rock into the water, then another.

“It’s like your golden fountain,” I say.

“Except this is natural.”

“How do you mean?”

“It’s not pumped here artificially. It filters through the rocks from above and finds its way into the pool.”

I laugh. “Arlo, don’t be silly.”

“Really it does. It falls in tiny drops, like…” He frowns, thinking. “Like your tears, but from the sky.”

“The same sky that has stars and a moon?”

“Yes. It has clouds, too.”

“So now you’re telling me that the Earth cries?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“I’m really not sure I believe you, but it’s a beautiful story.”

We sit down on a rock near the little cascade and watch the water glimmer as thousands of tiny moths skim the surface. And then Arlo leans in and kisses me.

“Shall we eat? Or swim first?” he murmurs against my ear.

I pull back, eyes wide. “Arlo, there could be something nasty in there. Something that could bite, I mean.”

“Maybe, but nothing that could harm you. We’ve all been coming here for centuries.”

“Yes, but how many humans have swum here?”

“You could probably count them on one hand.”

“Exactly. So maybe there’s a human-munching monster lurking in the deep, just waiting for me to get in the water.”

Arlo laughs heartily, and the sound echoes around the cave’s walls.

“Yeah, the monster is me.” Then he rolls me over and tickles me, and we’re both laughing now.

His lips cover mine, our tongues glide together, and we grow serious.

The need in me that I’ve kept under wraps is ready to burst out.

But then my stomach makes a loud growl, and Arlo’s gives an answering one, and we burst out laughing again.

“Food first, I think, little one.”

I grin. “Yeah, we may need some sustenance for the afternoon’s activity.”

He chuckles as he brings out the sandwiches, another bag of chips, and the drinks.

We have a little of the wine, and munch on the food, gazing at the beauty around us.

I look up and see a hanging garden of crystals, glistening in the light from the moths.

It feels like they are congregating, as if to show us the sights better.

“Stalactites,” Arlo supplies. I’ve never heard of such things, but they sure are pretty.

When we’ve washed down the food with wine and water, we undress, gazing at each other.

Arlo is such an amazing creature. Beautifully honed, despite his size, every muscle as if carved out of stone.

I take in his handsome face, the nose ring, his huge horns curling up over his soft brown ears, and those dark, dark eyes, filled with lust and love…

I see his eyes panning my body, so full of admiration that my heart swells.

I know in this moment that every cell of this guy worships me, and that makes me love myself.

I realize that over these last few weeks with Arlo, my confidence has soared.

All my negative appraisals of myself have disappeared.

Because he loves me, every bit of me, just the way I am.

“Fuck you’re gorgeous.” Arlo strides forward, lifts me up against his huge pecs, and carries me down into the water.

“No Arlo, no.” I giggle playfully, pummeling his chest, but he squeezes me tighter.

“My little human is going in.”

I squeal as the cold hits me, but his arms are warm and tight around me, his chest strong and protective against my skin, and as we sink into the water, I realize that it’s not so very cold, and the texture is like silk on my body.

He bends his head and kisses me, and I feel his cock harden against my hip. I wind my arms around his neck and kiss him back, my breasts nudging his chest and my nipples hardening with the friction of his heated body.

I scissor my legs around his pelvis and we’re kissing, deep and long, and then with a laugh he lets me go and I sink into the water, over my head.

Green is all around me, bubbles of water, and my blonde hair flies loose, floating around my face as I roll onto my back and give myself up to the magic of it all.

I close my eyes and take in the amazingness of being buoyed in this water for several minutes. When I open them, Arlo is gazing down at me.

“Your tits look fucking amazing like this,” he growls in appreciation.

“You could partake if you like,” I say flirtatiously, and he sweeps one big palm around my boob, bends his head and sucks each nipple into a hard, needy peak. Pleasure builds at my core, an insistent drum heralding what’s to come.

“I think it’s time we went back to dry land,” I say pointedly.

We swim back and return to where we undressed.

Arlo has even thought to bring a towel. He dries me gently, then himself, and then we lay down on the rock.

We don’t need words as we trace each other’s faces, and gaze into each other’s eyes.

It’s romantic and beautiful. As his hand slides lower, and mine too, I trace every cord of his neck, the ropes of his shoulder and bicep muscles.

I run my hand down every ripple of his hard abs and he groans.

He does the same to me, sliding those big gentle digits down my throat, stopping at the hammering pulse there, pressing gently with the pad of his thumb before thoroughly exploring my breasts, cupping them as if they are exotic fruit.

Then, bending his head, he finally sucks my swollen nipple into his mouth.

Fireworks explode inside me. As I groan and arch on the rock, he turns his attention to my other breast.

His hand slides lower, dips between my legs, then away. I try to capture it by scissoring his hand between my thighs, needing his touch on my swollen little bud, but with a low husky laugh, he moves his hand away, gently pressing my thighs apart.

“Not so fast, my needy little human. I need to prep you to take my cock.”

He moves down, settling his head between my legs, his horns forcing my thighs to stretch wide. His tongue laps everywhere around the soft hair of my pussy, but not quite there .

“Oh goddess,” I groan as I grab his horns, guiding him toward my clit, bucking and rotating my hips, but still he teases. I feel the lightest flick of his tongue on my clit and a fire of need hits my core, making me jerk and writhe .

“Please, Arlo,” I beg, and the sound echoes around the rock walls.

“Not yet, my pet. You have to be really hungry for this cock of mine.”

He returns with focus, while his hands reach higher, kneading my breasts, thumbing my nipples.

I feel so hot and swollen and desperate that I’m begging, gasping. “Suck my clit… Please… suck… Lick… all of it…”

He chuckles, then gently nips my clit with his teeth. So lightly, so barely there, so tantalizing. Then he blows onto it gently, his breath sweet and hot. Then nips. Then…

“Arlo!” I scream in outrage. “I need… you… to…”

And then ah, fuck, finally … his thick tongue glides a path along my cleft and the relief is palpable as my clit spasms, and teeters on the edge.

But just as I’m almost there, he’s gone again, his tongue a mercurial being, as he kisses around the inside of my thighs.

I writhe and whine and grab his horns, trying to maneuver his head back, but he’s so much stronger than me, and determined to keep up the onslaught.

Edging me higher and higher.

And then one hand has left my breast, and a digit is around my entrance, circling.

Then another. He slides them inside me and I lift off the rock again, seeing stars as he strokes my G-spot.

His thumb pad lands on the bud of my clit and he’s rotating it while pumping with his two thick fingers.

Every nerve cell is on fire now, my cunt swollen and so fucking desperate to come.

He splays one huge hand behind my butt and lifts me up so that his tongue and fingers can gain full purchase.

“More… harder,” I beg in a growly voice. It’s so strong, this need, it’s almost painful. Heat floods my core, spurred on by the delicious slurping sounds he’s making, and his grunts, so dirty and so beautiful. “Faster,” I gasp as my orgasm builds like a roiling storm inside me .

“Fuck Arlo, oh god, I’m commmminnng!” I babble as my release hits, and the sound bounces across the cave as I come so hard I think my body will disintegrate and be swallowed up by Arlo’s beautiful mouth.

As I pant and quiver in the aftermath, he licks away the come around my thighs with low grunts of approval. “That’s it baby, that’s it. So sweet. So beautiful.”

But I’m not finished.

My orgasm has made me want more.

I’m sated, but not satisfied.

“I need your cock in me,” I beg.

“Are you sure, pet?”

“Yes.”

“Are you ready for me to claim you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you are my mate,” he growls harshly, eyes suddenly blazing.

“I am your mate.”

He rises above me with a triumphant bellow, fisting his huge cock. Even in the dim light I can see how dark the two big veins mapping its engorged surface are.

He pumps it again and a spring of pre-cum slides down the side and drips onto my pubes.

The smell is beautiful, a salty tang. My nostrils flare.

I watch as he takes the lube and liberally covers his cock, rubbing it up and down, then scoops a handful inside my pussy. It’s cool and tingly on my already sensitized nerves.

He moves over me, his eyes dark with desire. My pussy contracts in anticipation, so very ready to take him.

“Gods, you are perfect.” He pins back my pussy lips with two fingers, prising me open, pumping another digit inside and opening me wider, with sounds so lewd it makes us both laugh.

Then his cock head replaces his fingers at my entrance and already I feel the stretch, the heat of him on my sensitive folds .

I arch up to meet him, and he steadies himself, his powerful thighs pinning my hips on either side, his dark hair and the huge balls hanging like ripe fruit. I want him so bad it hurts, but in a good way, a way that I know is going to be completely satisfying.

He thrusts gently, and lets out a low, ecstatic groan. I feel the stretch, but it’s not painful, it’s the satisfaction of being filled. Completed. Arlo is everything I’ve ever wanted. And he’s all mine.

“Ready, babe?”

I nod, and he deepens the thrust. My legs come up around him, binding him to me, and I cry out. He stills.

“Okay?”

“Yes, yesssss,” I sob, pulling his mouth to mine in a kiss that takes no prisoners.

His lips engulf mine and the kiss robs me of speech as his tongue thrusts in unison with his cock, impaling me at both ends.

His hands slide behind my ass and lift me up, and then he’s rearing up, a masterpiece of beauty, his limbs slick and taut as he thrusts harder, taking me to the edge once more.

As his cock moves faster against my G-spot, the fire builds inside me. I’m filled to the brim, and every sensation is almost too much, too good, until it’s breaking me apart.

With a long, low whine, I come hard, clenching his cock with my pussy.

Arlo tenses above me. “Fuck!” he growls. “Oh, babe, oh fuck yeah…” And with one last pump, he throws back his head and I feel his release fill me.