Page 41 of A Monster Is Coming

The picnic I’d arranged wasn’t too big—a couple of sandwiches, some pastries. A few bits of finger foods I had organized at the local bakery. Nothing too special, but enough for both of us to enjoy. I’d also foregone the bottle of wine for a bottle of water. Niamh didn’t enjoy soda a lot.

Now, perched up against a tree, Niamh between my spread legs, I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close.

“This is nice, isn’t it?” she asked.

I knew what she was thinking as she’d mentioned it a few times over the past week. Our time in Pickle Quest was coming to an end. What Niamh didn’t know, was during this time, I’d killed an additional two men.

Ivan and this little group of killers had also dealt with several bounty hunters. I didn’t know what the fuck Finn offered them, but their dead rivals didn’t seem to stop them in their tracks, which fucking sucked big time. It pissed me off. And yet, there was nothing I could do about it.

All I could do was wait and hope Niamh stayed pregnant. She wasn’t ready to know she was pregnant, even though I had a feeling she did know.

“Yeah, we’ve been too busy for a long time. It’s nice just taking our time, slowing down.” I kissed the column of her neck. “Enjoying the views.”

She laughed.

Most Sundays we were naked, enjoying the view of each other. It had taken some time, but eventually I’d been able to break down her walls about being naked in front of me. She was so nervous and embarrassed about her body.

I’d spent an entire Sunday making love, kissing, and fucking every inch of her body. I didn’t give a fuck what other men said. Niamh was fucking beautiful, and I loved her large tits, the fullness of her thighs as they wrapped around me, how juicy her ass was. I didn’t want a woman who complained about how I was hurting her and seeing as I wasn’t a small man, that would undoubtedly happen. Niamh could take everything I gave her and beg for more, which was exactly how I liked it.

“There is something I wanted to talk to you about,” Niamh said.

“If this is about us moving, I already figured you wanted to move. Tomorrow? End of this week?”

“You’re not going to ask me why?” Niamh asked, moving so she faced me.

I reached out and cupped her cheek, stroking my thumb across the delicate skin. “Why would I ask you? You have your reasons, and I don’t care, just so long as I’m with you.”

I never watched romance movies. Niamh did, and I kind of picked up a few tips along the way. As long as I didn’t hold back my imaginary feelings for her, and spoke softly, she fell for everything I said.

I cared about Niamh, but I didn’t know what love was. I’d watched the movies with her, but again, the whole concept of love was so foreign to me. Love was a fairytale people spun to keep others in line.

“When do you want to leave?” I asked.

“Tomorrow. I have already handed in my notice. I can wait, if you need to give your notice at the gym,” Niamh said.

“No, that’s fine. We can both go.”

I was aware Niamh had handed in her notice. I’d seen her sneak downstairs late one night, and when she had fallen asleep, I went to see what she’d been doing, and sure enough, she was being thoughtful, even in running away. I still didn’t know how Finn Byrne was able to create such a daughter, but Niamh was nothing like her parents. She was kind, sweet, loving, charming, and everything I knew I should stay away from.

For whatever reason, Ivan had chosen her for me, and when the truth finally came out, Niamh was going to see that she’d been given to someone who would never be able to give her what she wanted. I didn’t do love. I was not her knight in shining armor. I was a killer through and through.

She leaned up and kissed me. “I need to use the bathroom.”

I held onto her hand, and she gave a little giggle as she pulled away, and I tried to hold on, but she let go.

“I’ll be right back.”

I watched her walk away, heading toward the small building near the church where the toilets were. Leaning against the tree, I took a deep breath, and as I did, my cell phone vibrated. I was tempted to ignore it. Whenever my cell phone went off, it usually meant bad news.

Niamh and I were having a good day.

She wasn’t going to be happy for long, if tomorrow she thought we were leaving. The truth was, I intended to drug her and take her back to my sector. I was convinced I had knocked her up.

Checking the caller, I saw it was Ivan. There was that temptation to ignore it completely, but he was the boss, and I still had to answer to him.

“Hello,” I said, being awfully polite.

“Where’s Niamh?” Ivan asked, and he didn’t sound happy.

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