Page 43 of Charming Her Monsters

I smile, since I’m pretty sure I know exactly what he’s doing.

Arran bursts through the bedroom door, looking downright frantic. “Cheaper by the Dozen? You need twelve guys?”

“What’s this now?” Maxum’s interest is piqued and stands at attention.

Oh, boy. This prank may have worked a little too well.

“Jade… she… wrote—” He stops, realizing he’s been caught crossing my boundary, but he keeps going, unable to deal with what he’s read. “Her female character… she bi-locates to two separate groups of guys and then fucks them all at once! Twelve supernatural guys total in different dimensions! She has to do that because it’s the only way she can ever be fully satisfied.” Arran falls to his knees. “Jade? Do you really need so many? I don’t think my berserker can share you with anyone outside of our pack.”

“Wow.” Maxum strides up to me, challenging me with a look. “You think you can handle that twelve guysanda career?”

Defiantly, I cross my arms. “I have many skills.”

“Juggling cocks doesn’t seem like one of them.” Maxum shrugs. “But what do I know?”

And now I’m wondering if my readers will enjoy a juggling cocks sticker.

“Jade?” Arran holds my hands. “Are we really not enough?”

“You are more than enough.” I caress his face and let him off the hook, because I hope he’s learned his lesson. “Sweet wolfie, I only wrote that whole thing to prank you. I thought you would see it for the joke it was meant to be. I warned you not to snoop in my manuscripts before I’m done with them. I left it open on my computer to be a brat.”

He wraps his arms around my hips and kisses my belly in relief. Next I know, Arran has lifted me up and tossed me in bed. “I need extra snuggles now.”

“Not sure if you deserve them. You’ve been a naughty boy,” I tease.

“I promise I won’t dothatagain.”

They both snuggle with me in bed as I pet Arran to soothe his ruffled hackles. Even though my mind is spinning, once I stop petting him, I instantly fall asleep.

* * *

Becoming lucid in a dream, I find myself standing in a hazy and gloomy forest. It’s oddly illuminated, much like what Osen called his shadowscape. Apparently, this is another plane of existence where incubi and succubi can interact with their sexual meals. With that thought, I’m reminded that was much of what I was to him, a way to feed his power, even in his death. He’d hinted he might feel more for me. Was it a lie, or was Osen only getting caught up in a heated moment?

I don’t know enough about cubi, their personalities, or their abilities. Maybe this is a question for Maxum and Arran. If I have some unusual magical gift with dreams and channeling spirits, then I should know more about this shadowscape realm as I sense they are connected to my power somehow—however loosely.

Thinking he might be here in the shadowscape with me, I reach out with my senses to locate Osen, but I don’t feel his energy. I had become familiar with his presence. I felt his passion and protectiveness, which often blurred into anger and resentment.

His energy has a taste and smell to it—tart cherries and wildfires. He was volatile. A fairly classic romanticized psycho, who would burn down the world for the person he loved, and while it’s all well and good in a book, I sort of surprised myself that I was into it in my real life.

I don’t know if he’s still with me, hidden and weakened by the fight with Rob.

If Osen suspects I betrayed him, and he comes back, will he try to kill me?

“Osen?” I call to the dark corners of the room. “Are you there?”

A breeze tickles over my cheek. Is that the incubus? Or just my mind playing tricks on me?

How far could our relationship really go beyond sexcapades in my dreams? I believed things were taking a positive turn for us until we visited his death spot.

I doubt he could return to the living without a body to inhabit. He doesn’t have a body left lying around somewhere anymore. Or if he does, it’s not viable anymore. I doubt someone would volunteer for him to take over, and I don’t want him taking over my body permanently. I’m not a fan of him taking control, even briefly. It’s scary, and he makes poor choices.

If it were possible, would he need another incubus body to inhabit? Does he need a body that will align with his powers? Here I go again, imagining all the possible threads. We don’t even know if he’s still haunting me. First things first.

He might not trust me anymore, which will be bad for me if he returns. Maybe he wouldn’t even like me if he hadn’t been stuck in my brain.

“Osen?” I call for him again.

Another breeze answers.

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