Page 58 of My Monster’s Keeper

Her breathing gets heavy, and I grind myself into her, slow, sensual twists of my hips. I listen for every change in breathing, and I find myself flirting with madness. Her soft gasps and this need to have her. It drives me into forgetting everything but her. I suck onher neck, leaving my mark on her skin. She tilts her head, giving me more space, giving me more room to ruin her skin.

I’m addicted. I’m on my knees.

I hear the others arrive inside and try to pull back from the edge. It takes a moment, but I get my faculties together.

I walk us forward to the door and pull it open. She leaves my embrace, slipping into the house, but she doesn’t go far. Becky turns, her eyes tracking my movements.

“You know what we are,” I whisper. “We can’t change that.”

She shrugs. “You can change some things.”

I frown, and she claps her hands, her eyes gleaming.

“I’ve brought you some information to watch about human females.”

She brushes her hair back over her shoulder and reaches out to the wall, tapping her fingers nervously.

“You’re going to watch it. Most people have to at some point.”

I nod my head. “I will study it intently.”

With a nervous smile, she disappears into the house. When we’re all gathered, she points to a room we’ve seldom used.

“Come and sit.”

“What are we doing?” Puppy asks.

“You need to learn about humans,” Becky says firmly. She waits for us to sit and then presses play. A huge screen starts playing some awful tinkling music, but then the humans appear.

***

I stare at her, my mind going over everything I’ve learned. Humans are strange creatures. Their biggest strength is their curiosity and ingenuity. Their weakness would appear at first glance to be their bodies, but considering how many things are out to kill them, the fact they can survive to a hundred is a miracle.

But women. Human women. They bleed once a month, but, even in pain, that doesn’t stop them; they go through hormones during adolescence and then later in life that give them appalling side effects and, to top it off, they birth live children.

I still can’t get the images of the live birth out of my mind.

Puppy’s scales are standing on end, indicating his unease. Wilder’s staring blindly at the black screen, and Frost staggered from the room minutes after it finished.

“And now that I’ve brought you four to a standstill,” Becky says with a grin. “Anyone want to order Chinese?”

I look back at her and glower. But the image of the sweaty mum crying as she held her spawn to her chest appears, and Becky’s face superimposes it. I stop, my mouth open, my thoughts scattering as my body fills with a yearning. I’m so lost in thought, I’m not even sure when she left the room.

Wilder staggers up and shoves past me. “Human women are warriors.”

I nod my head in agreement, but I’m still thinking about her carrying my child.

We find Becky sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. She looks up as I enter the room and pull out a chair to straddle beside her.

I exhale through my nose. “You would like us to stop treating you like you are weak.”

One eyebrow raises, and she drops her head in a yes. “That’d be awesome.”

“Okay. But if you are in pain, you let us help you. That’s the deal.”

Her spoon freezes halfway to her mouth. “What do you mean?” Her voice gets a little bit higher with the panic she’s trying to hide.

“That’s our deal, Becky Dawson. If you are hurting, let us help you.”