Page 73 of Grotesque Love

Once again he forces his thick fingers inside my mouth, giving me no choice but to swallow the bitter tablets and make awkward eye contact with him while I do.

“Sleep well, love.” He plants a soft kiss on my forehead before getting to his feet and leaving, making sure to close the door tightly behind him.

A moment later, the lock snicks softly into place.

Carver clearly doesn’t want me wandering around this evening, but that’s fine with me. I’m not going to be here. I am not his prisoner, nor his pet.

Pushing aside the sheets, I get to my feet and open my window, ignoring the way my stomach cramps and a fresh wave of nausea washes over me.

“Did you miss us, little hellion?” a cocky voice teases, followed by Mal’s large body filling my window, his clawed feet perching on the ledge.

I blink. “Did you always have clawed feet?”

Mal chuckles, a hint of fang flashing, as he’s pushed gently into my room by Jas. “Magic, remember?”

I look at them both, standing in my room, huge with their giant wings, cocks nowhere is sight despite the fact they’re both technically naked like usual. “I still don’t understand how that works.”

They have wings that seem to fold and vanish into slits near their shoulders. Sax has a knot, but it doesn’t always expand. Claws, sharp teeth, all things monstrous – they have these things too. But not always. It doesn’t make any logical sense.

Jas shrugs before wrapping a hand around my waist and placing a soft kiss on my forehead. “Us either. All we know is thatwe can change certain aspects of our appearance – but not everything.”

Sax’s deep voice cuts in, as he hovers outside, waiting for us. “We’ll never be human, little love.”

The three of them stare at me intently. Is that what they think I want? Are they unhappy living as gargoyles and grotesques?

Climbing up onto the window sill, I reach out for him. “Is that something you would want?”

His powerful wings flap slowly, as he offers me a smile that makes me melt a little. “I do not care what form I take, as long as it is one able to protect you.”

“Oh eww,” Mal makes a retching noise from behind me, hands on my hips to help balance me. “Daddy Sax is being all mushy.”

I wrap my arms around Sax’s neck and bury my face against him, breathing in the soothing scent of rain and earthy moss. “Shut it, we all know how you practically glow when he calls you his good little gargoyle.”

Jas chuckles as Mal joins us in the night air. “She’s got you there.”

“She’s not going to be calling me a little anything when I’m finally buried inside that tight body of hers,” Mal promises as finally the four of us head back to the tower.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

JAS

When I climb into the window of our home, Ari is curled up on the sofa in Sax’s lap with his arms around her waist as he shows her the things we’ve added to our sacred space.

Mal, after seeing her in the library, has stolen several books which he’s stacked on the lintel above the fireplace along with several jars of wildflowers. Sax managed to find some floral print bedding and additional cushions, so the bed looks more welcoming and not just like the uncoordinated nest of three monsters. I’d smuggled in a small table and some more soft furnishings, including a canvas painting of the sea, so that the tower feels more intimate, more like home than ever before.

Carver won’t miss these things, he rarely goes into the other rooms in the house outside of his precious west wing, and so they were simply left to gather dust, falling victim to moths and sunlight.

“I wish I could just stay here. Hide away,” Ari says, voice soft and low as she clutches one of the new pillows, holding it against her, almost like it may shield her from everything.

Without the grace the others have, I practically plonk myself down onto the sofa next to them, turning my body to face her.

“You’re safe here.” I rub her leg gently, trying to reassure her, and for a moment I think it works as the corner of her mouth lifts into a slight smile.

“Until dawn.”

The words are like an arrow straight to my heart. If I had a heart. All I know is that her quiet, half-whispered words laced in fear, make my chest ache.

Sax nuzzles his face into her hair, and squeezes her tight. “We will come up with a plan, love.”

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