Page 33 of My Monster’s Keeper

Becky

H e tastes of darkness and death, and I moan and open my mouth as that huge tongue slides into me. I arch my back, pressing up into him. He removes his tongue from my mouth and growls.

Fuck, that’s hot.

I get even hotter when he snaps those sharp teeth in front of my face and hisses.

I’m not wearing clothes, but I couldn’t care less. In fact, it’s better this way. I spread my legs wide and pull him down until my hips cradle his. He pauses, looking startled, but then presses me more firmly to the mattress.

There’s a burning heat inside me, a reckless desperation to have my mate. I’m out of control, and I don’t even care.

Puppy snarls again and looks positively feral.

“He’s not done this before,” Frost says, and that breaks through my ardor enough to make sense. For a split second, a self-preservation shines a light down.

“You’ll stay?” I ask.

“Of course.”

Good enough for me.

Puppy lifts off me and snarls as he flips me until I’m on my hands and knees, ass presented to him.

My whole body aches to feel him over me, pressing on me. But he doesn’t. He moves up to the side where he can see my face. He reaches out with black tipped talons and grips my jaw in a hold I can’t break and turns my head towards him.

I almost ask what’s going on when I feel something cold drag up my leg. I try to glance back, but I can’t move.

Tail, I suddenly remember. He’s got a tail, and then it’s there, stroking my core, probing and flexing. I gasp .

I spread my legs and arch my back, opening myself up further. A tiny voice inside of me screams that this is insane, but I stamp the voice dead and moan piteously for more. I am so ridiculously wet, but I can’t seem to find the will to care.

All at once, the tip of the tail slips inside me. It’s different from his tongue. His tongue is muscle, hot and wet, the tail is cold and scaled and has a smoother texture. He drags it in and out, over and over, until I’m thrusting back against him, whimpering and pleading.

“Puppy,” Frost warns.

My Grim hisses, drags his tail out, and brings it down with a slap on my pussy. I yelp, and, before I can think of anything to say, he lets go of me and moves behind me, gripping my hips and dragging me back to him.

I’m suddenly nervous. This seems like a forever type of thing. But he’s pushing inside, and I groan. He’s not big like Stix was, but he’s longer. He pushes forward until he’s buried inside me, his nose pressed into my shoulder.

A low thrum of his vicious growl is the only warning I get before he bites deep. I let out a muted cry of pain, clenching the sheet in my fingers.

We stay like that for perhaps thirty seconds where the want, the need, grows until I’m on fire, and then he pulls out and thrusts in. He’s like an animal, thrusting harder and faster, trying to puncture my insides.

His claws dig into my hips, holding me in place until he climbs back up my body, wrapping his arms over my shoulder. His tail comes up underneath me and grips my breasts, squeezing and releasing and squeezing some more.

I’m almost in tears, panting, when something changes. He starts getting bigger, not everywhere but in one spot. I try to look back, ask, but the words won’t come out, and Puppy’s speed increases.

“Oh, fuck! Oh, shit! What the fuck!” I scream as that bulge gets bigger and bigger, pressing on my g-spot, sending fireworks of pure feeling sparking around my body. Puppy growls, still trying to thrust but now no longer able to move.

He sinks his teeth into my shoulder and manages to thrust half an inch deeper, dragging that thing inside me.

I shatter, howling as my body clamps down on it, only to be triggered again.

Puppy roars into my shoulder. Hot liquid squirts into my insides.

It’s hot. So fucking hot. I rock back, keening as another movement sends another wave of pleasure through me.

My legs shake, and I’m seeing spots, but I feel good. No, I feel great.

What was that ?

“It’s called a knot,” Frost says from the wall. “It’s a very special appendage that Grims are known to have. Alphas have one, too, but not like a Grim.”

I turn my head slowly in his direction. “How do you know?”

“It’s a sad tale. I’ll tell you one day, but not today.”

Puppy growls, and, somehow, I know that it’s directed at Frost, not me. He shifts his body around me, curling tighter.

“He can’t move from you now. You’ll be stuck together until he deflates,” Frost says.

I narrow my eyes, sure he’s teasing me, but when I pull slightly against Puppy, I realise we are joined. Further, it seems to enrage him, and his teeth sink into my shoulder deeper. Strangely, it doesn’t hurt; it feels nice. Almost comforting.

But, holy hell, that feels so good when he flexes inside me. I let out a guttural groan. Which only encourages him.

Frost chuckles and walks out of the room just as Puppy starts thrusting again.

***

I feel different. I can’t place what feels off, but there’s a whole lot of weirdness, including memories of seeing someone with horns in a white veil.

I vaguely remember dark landscapes of rolling hills and dark forests. A towering building in the distance.

Wilder is gone. When I asked where, Stix said that he would be back and evasively changed the subject by finger combing my hair into his fist and yanking my head back so he could plunder my mouth.

I wasn’t complaining, but Wilder being absent is like a wound niggling with pain in the back of my mind. I want him back. Now.

A scent of ice hits me, and I whirl in time to see Frost carrying boxes of pizza into the kitchen.

“At some point, we need to learn how to cook,” I murmur, but I’m distracted by the fact that I could smell Frost approaching. That’s not normal, is it?

Stix takes a box and dances around me, staying easily out of my reach. I twirl with him, laughing.

When I turn back, the three of them are frozen, staring at me in wonder.

“What? ”

I cock my head to the side and hear footsteps. I abandon the other three and race for the front door, yanking it open and hurling myself into Wilder’s arms.

“Wilder!”

He wraps his arms around my back, holding me to him.

“I missed you,” he murmurs and lifts me so I can wrap my legs around his waist. His green eyes seem to reach into my soul.

“I missed you, too.” It’s true. So true. I don’t even know who I am anymore, and I don’t care.

He glances at the table and yanks out a chair, tapping my thighs to let go. I do, but, before I can get free, he swings me up into his arms bridal style and sits down. With a deft move, I’m set, straddling one of his thick thighs, facing the table.

We eat in relative silence but comfort. It isn’t strained or weird. Even the undercurrent of danger Puppy normally puts out is toned down.

I wait until we’ve all finished eating to address the room.

“So, who wants to tell me why I feel all tingly and not in a good way?”

The silence gets thick and heavy.

“You saved me,” Puppy growls. “Then it hit you, and your bones splintered inside you.”

I swallow heavily, feeling ill at the thought of my splintered bones inside me. “Did…did I die?”

Stix reaches across the table and touches my hand. “Puppy took you to our home and bartered with the Healer to save you.”

“The Healer?”

“A female of extraordinary ability. She is both far more vulnerable than even the young of our species, and yet, she is extraordinarily gifted. She was able to heal you.”

Stix exchanges glances with Frost and Wilder.

He takes a breath and then scans the room really quickly in a way that makes me nervous. “Also, there’s a possibility that you might, uh, hem, well, absorb some of our skills when we mate with you.”

“You keep saying mate. What does this mean, exactly?”

“Mate means to bond, to be with forever.”

I stand up off Wilder and put some space between us. Mate? Forever? I should be upset, horrified. I should be screaming, appalled. But there’s a tiny smile and a bubble of happiness .

Ridiculously happy is the feeling that comes to mind.

I turn away, lest they see it and notice something shimmering in the air. I follow it out of the house and turn in time to see Hartley coming up the path.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” I say back. He’s covered in tiny little glowing bits of dust. It’s like miniature fireflies. I’m fascinated.

Diablos comes up after him. He’s surrounded by black smoke. Thick and curling smoke that doesn’t seem to disappear.

“Wow.”

I turn back, and my guys look normal, but when I turn back to Hartley, he’s definitely glowing.

“Why are you glowing?” I ask Hartley.

“Oh, well, he just got-”

“She doesn’t mean that!” Hartley interrupts. “We don’t need to share with our friends.”

Diablos pouts. “Wilder!” He bellows completely unnecessarily. “Those Unseelie creatures are gone.”

“I noticed when I got rid of them,” Wilder says blandly.

“Did they say anything?” Hartley asks. “We found one today who was asked about her.” Hartley jerks his head in my direction.

Stix, Wilder, Frost, and Puppy all go still and alert in a way that makes my blood fizzy.

“They keep asking,” Frost says and tilts his head to the side, cracking his jaw.

“Yes,” Stix growls. “I’m more interested in why you keep coming unannounced to our den.” Stix turns suddenly on Diablos.

Diablos huffs and tries really hard to look offended. “I’m your boss.”

Frost and Wilder snort at the same time.

Hartley looks at me, really studies me. “I wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

He pauses, his frown deepening. “I can see that. Can we talk for a moment?”

I glance back at the guys and then nod. “Sure.”

Hartley leads me into the front of the garden, away from the others. “You’re really okay?”

“Yes.”

“They aren’t hurting you or being rude or anything? ”

I laugh. “No. What's the real issue, here, Hartley?”

He looks away, disturbed. “Probably nothing, but I just thought I’d check.”

My former partner folds his arms over his chest and grumbles. His gaze is distant and disturbed.

“You have to tell me now.”

Hartley blinks and gives me a half smile. “Just keep those monsters of yours close to you when you go out.”

I turn, watching him walk away. There’s a seed of disquiet inside me, and the glow around him doesn’t seem quite so bright as it did before.

By the time I get back, Diablos and Hartley are gone. I stay on the porch, enjoying the cold. It’s that temperature where you get goosebumps but don’t start shivering.

Frost sits beside me, his thigh pressed against mine.

I reach out and take hold of his hand, closing our palms together and snuggling up closer to him.

“Are you happy with us?” Frost asks.

“I had Grant, so I wasn’t ever really alone, but I was the one who looked after him.

There was pressure to always choose right and be better to get us out.

I don’t think I have ever experienced what we’re living with.

” My stomach lurches as I look at them. “I think I’m happy.

I feel happy.” Quickly, I turn to stare at him.

“Are you happy? Is this what you want? To tie your life to a human forever?”

“Yes,” Frost says without question or hesitation. “I would tie us together until forever this very moment.”

My heart races, and I bite my lower lip, fighting a smile. “Me, too.”

Frost kisses my temple. “We don’t need to rush. We have the time.”

“That’s not fun,” I tease. “All right then, Frost. Tell me about your home. What was it like?”

“It was cold and miserable. We didn’t eat like this.

We ate in big, elaborate banquets that were political dances and mires that could create and destroy alliances between one plate and the next.

Here is where I belong. Here is home,” Frost murmurs thoughtfully.

He turns to me and smirks. “But you really need to see the castles. One Fae lady actually built a castle out of ice. It was magnificent. Sadly, the stupidity of building a castle out of ice meant no one could live in it.”

“Why? ”

“Well, let’s just say a few people learned to specialise in skin grafts and amputations. Also, there was a sudden spike of beings suddenly called to healing, in particular, bones and internal injuries.”

I snicker just imagining it.

I lean closer as he talks. He puts an arm around me and tells me all about his world.