Page 8 of Wishing Upon a Monster (Monster Brides Romance #40)
“Oh, you don't have to carry my bag.” I reached for the brown circle bag.
“I wish to,” he said simply, shocking me .
Rocio smirked, “I’ll leave you both to it. Have a good evening, Rorie.”
I waved goodbye awkwardly before turning back to the inky monster god.
My fluster sank in. I had no one to distract me, nothing to fiddle with now that my purse was gone, and even my hair was now too short to twist. I slipped my hands into my pockets, surveying the Br?ndmand in front of me sheepishly.
“I like the pants,” I said, my lips curving in relief.
He pulled on the black linen-looking pants, a gold button flashing below his belly button as they slid down low on his hips, revealing his Adonis belt.
He looked like a man, sort of, his limbs were where you would expect, but longer than they should be, his feet and hands strangely humanoid, but again stretched, his face as otherworldly as it was on my first inspection.
His round red eyes trailed down my body as I surveyed his.
Vicki is right. I’m not dead, either, but for someone who has been asleep for hundreds of years, he’s very fit. Like a swimmer or a dancer. Do gods dance?
“Rocio suggested pants and showed me an image of a modern pair on her phone. Curious things, phones. I should like to have access to this internet .” He grinned, his sharp teeth reminding me that, as humanoid as he looked, he was not in any way to be mistaken for a ‘son of Adam.’
“That can be arranged, that is, if you are coming home with me?” I shifted, deciding that if I didn’t walk to my truck, we would never leave. “I have a pump house which leads to my well, or a guest room which would have better access to my internet?”
“Yes, I will dwell with you, wife. Wells are good for traveling, but not much else,” he said, and followed me to my cherry red Ford F150 .
“Wells are for traveling? I thought you lived in your well?” I stopped just outside my truck bed; thankful I had removed the soil I had bought over the weekend to my shed. “It would be easier if you sat in the back as I drove us to my cottage. It’s not very far from here.”
Olan climbed into the bed of my truck, the vehicle dipping as he settled in, leaning against the back window, his knees drawn up so that he fit.
Seeing he was as comfortable as he could be, I opened my door and started up my truck, turning the rock music off so I could concentrate.
“Wells are for traveling?” I asked again, aiming my thoughts towards him as we pulled from the parking lot to the right.
“Wells are for traveling, min guldklump .
I do not have to exist with form if I do not wish to.
My kind use wells on Earth––portals—to visit many cultures to grant wishes.
When we aren't traveling, we sometimes choose to just exist as consciousness. Someday, perhaps, you will wish to slumber with me, in the warmth of the Void.” He said that with such fondness, I wondered if the Void was like Br?ndmand heaven.
“Not quite.” He replied. I swore I could hear his amusement in my mind, his voice still rusty. It was like he was whispering in my ear.
I shivered. “ Perhaps.”
We traveled in silence another five minutes before I pulled up to my cottage.
My acre and a half was surrounded by gray stone half walls.
I drove my truck along the well-worn tire tracks through the shaggy, dormant centipede grass.
My house was built with similar stone to the walls, two stories high, with a maroon metal roof that sounded like dancing pixies at a revel every time it rained.
I had left the front porch light on, and the little, magic, blown-glass mushrooms that dotted the path from my carport to the porch were charmed to glow after dark .
“Here we are,” I thought, turning the truck off and unbuckling. The truck shook, and my door slowly opened, causing my hand to fall away from the door handle. I blinked stupidly at the monster carrying my purse and holding my door open for me.
“Your conveyance is fascinating. Is the metal enchanted?” he stepped back.
I slid out of my truck, moving out of the way so he could shut the door.
“It’s not enchanted; it’s mechanical. I’m not a mechanic, so I can’t give you all the details, but I can get you set up with my laptop, which is bigger than a phone and can connect to the internet and all the answers you could want.
Wait––you speak English, but can you read in English? ”
“You inadvertently taught me English when you wished. It is a part of our nature to be able to understand the beings that make wishes. Reading is, however, a different skill, one that your Cuélebre gave to me, for a price,” he admitted.
“What was the price?” I led us up the path to my front porch.
“She wanted our firstborn, but I thought that was too much,” he said with such nonchalance that I tripped.
His arms wrapped around me like steel bands, setting me back on my feet like I weighed nothing, his mouth close to my ear.
“Careful, min guldklump, I only jest. I have much gold, and it was a simple thing to give her a handful of Svend Tveskaeg coins. She assured me they would be worth plenty in the world today. Our future children are safe.”
The feel of his warm breath on my ear sent a shiver down my spine. Not an entirely unpleasant quake, to be honest. Oh Boy.
“Or girl. I am not one to dissuade a gift,” he replied, letting me go.
“That’s–– that’s a future Aurora and Olan conversation,” I said, walking up my front steps to unlock my door. “What I’d like to know now is how to control what thoughts I share with you.”
He leaned down over my shoulder, whispering in my ear, “I like that you are willing to talk about our progeny later, instead of dismissing the thought altogether. If you wish it, I will teach you to block your thoughts from me.” He pushed the door, the golden knob sliding from my immobile fingers as the door arced open.
I couldn't move, my heart beating wildly as he kissed my temple before withdrawing, the smell of bracken filling my nose, "All I ask is that you practice talking with me through your thoughts every day.
It's how we speak to our mates. I can appreciate humans do not do this, but I would like to meld our cultures, as it were.”
I turned my head, looking up into his ruby gaze inches from mine. “Okay,” I agreed, “I wish it too.”
His grin was sharp, his eyes pleased, and I wondered if I had agreed to more than learning a new skill.