Page 92 of Monster Daddies

Ellie rolled her eyes. “You kidnapped me, and you’re telling me the most unbelievable fairy tale ever, so I think I get to make the occasional joke.”

A laugh burst from him. “Fair enough,Rose. You’re right, you deserve some leeway, but if you try sticking quarters in the crack of my ass, we’re going to have a discussion.”

Adiscussion? Why did that sound like a threat? Not that she’d actually planned on getting close to his ass, with quarters or without, but for some reason, the way he’d said it made her curious to find out what would happen if she did.

She hastily changed the subject. “Okay, what about my laundry? And this?” She lifted one corner of the quilt and waved it at him. “You made it out of my clothes, didn’t you?”

“I’ll get to that. This is going to go faster if you let me tell?—”

“No, listen, It’s a great story. I love a good cryptid legend as much as anyone, but I want to know about the real stuff. You keep?—”

“Ellie.”

“What? It’s… wait.” Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes narrowed as she stared at him for a long moment. “You-you knew my name the whole time?”

“Of course I did.”

“Then why did you even ask?”

“Because we were introducing ourselves. It seemed polite.”

She could feel heat rising up her neck to color her face. It felt like he’d tricked her. “There’s nothing wrong with me lying to a stranger. Especially a man who kidnapped me.” There was a snap in her tone.

“I’m not going to argue that. Though… I’m hoping you will feel comfortable being honest with me once you understand thewhole story.” He had a kind voice. It was oddly deep, but there was a deliberate softness there, and she could tell he was making an effort to be patient with her.

“Fine. I guess you might as well call me Ellie then.” She was aware that she sounded pouty, but she couldn’t really help it.

“Thank you, Ellie.” He offered her a slight smile. “And I understand you want those questions answered, but the problem is you aren’t going to understand the answers until you believe the ‘fairy tale’ I’m telling you. I’ll try to sum it all up, okay?”

She hesitated and then jerked her head in a quick nod.

“As I said, my people have been here for a long time. I can’t tell you how we first evolved, or where we originally came from. A lot of our history has been lost. This is what I do know,” He paused, as if making sure she was ready to hear it, and then continued, “We can interbreed with humans successfully. The children are either like us, or completely human in appearance.”

“Just in appearance?”

“I’m not really qualified to get deep into the science stuff. Therearepeople who can answer more thoroughly, but yes, theylookhuman. They don’t have our physical features, but they’re still crossbreeds so they aren’t entirely human.”

Ellie, with her degree in biology, knew that. You couldn’t have an offspring that received DNA from only one parent. Not outside of a lab anyway. It just wasn’t how genetics worked. “I get that, what I mean is… you specified appearance for a reason. So, what are the differences?”

He hesitated. “Well, there’s—” He stopped and shifted on the stool. “It’s a little complicated, and it has to do with mating.”

“Mating, interbreeding—” She snorted and shook her head. “Like barn animals? Don’t you have relationships? Date? Get married? Is sex all you care about?”

“Mating isn’t about having sex!” He sounded almost insulted when the words burst from him, but a second later his tone was calm. “Notjustabout sex anyway, obviously that’s part of it too, but it’s more than that. It’s more like a soulmate thing. Mating is when you find the person who is meant to be yours, and you bond with them permanently.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “Oh god… this isn’t one of those mate bond Alpha bullshit story lines, is it? Because I went through a phase where I read a ton of those books and?—”

“Ellie.”

“It is! C’mon Lium, if you’re going to make up a story at least?—”

He cut her off smoothly by grabbing her by the hips and dragging her forward so he could plant his mouth on hers. Whatever she was going to say was lost as a giddy rush of pure bliss rolled through her body and set every nerve on fire.

She’d been kissed before. She was no teenage virgin, but she’d never been kissed likethis.

It was as though there was a straight line through her body, from the place where their lips met, to her clit, which pulsed hard in response. Her skin felt suddenly tight and the nearly invisible hairs on her arms prickled as they stood to attention. It felt like they were on the cusp of something momentous.

She wanted to pull back, to break the connection before it was too late, but her body refused to obey. Instead she leaned in, mouth opening, tongue seeking his. Ellie, who normally didn’t even kiss on the first date, felt like she’d die if she didn’t get more of him. Despite his crazy stories, her stolen laundry, and her own kidnapping, her hands were pulling at his shirt to draw him closer.