Page 2 of Snowed in: With the Alien Tentacle Monster

"Where are you?" he called out inside his mind. "I'm here. I've come for you."

This was not how it was supposed to go. His mate was supposed to be right there at his destination so he wouldn't have to bear this desperation for long.

Something had gone wrong.

Valen was smart enough to realize that much.

But the urge to mate clouded his mind and made it impossible to figure out exactly what had gone wrong.

He spotted something that looked like a habitat, bright and inviting. Was this where his mate was?

It had to be.

Logan's cabin was warm, a stark contrast to the frozen landscape outside. He shuffled into the kitchen, movements mechanical as he filled the copper kettle and set it on the stove. His fingers, still cold from the forest expedition, fumbled with the tea canister.

The strange metallic object from the woods lingered in his mind.

What the hell could it be?

Steam began to rise from the kettle. Logan grabbed a mug, but just as he was about to pour the hot water, a movement outside the kitchen window caught his eye. Something bright was moving toward the cabin.

Logan froze.

The kettle whistled, shrill and sudden. He grabbed it reflexively, turning down the heat. Through the window, the odd shape of light was getting closer.

Whatwasthat?

Logan set down the kettle and went toward the door. Should he grab his firearm? No, this might just be kids playing a prank on him.

He looked out the window once more, but couldn't see the thing anymore. Still, he had to investigate. He had to know what that was.

And when he opened the door, he came face to face with it.

Logan had no words to describe what he saw; it seemed as if the northern lights themselves had descended from the heavens and coalesced into a ball of swirling energy to greet him at the door.

Then something extraordinary happened; the mysterious thing began to change, taking on a more definite shape. A torso emerged, followed by a head with striking topaz eyes. Where arms and legs should be, six primary tentacles formed instead, four on the bottom and two on his torso, blue with pink suckers. Smaller tentacles emerged from its shoulders and back.

Logan's breath caught in his throat. His body tensed, caught between the instinct to flee and stunned awe.

Holy shit. There was an actual tentacle monster on his doorstep.

Maybe this was it. Maybe he'd finally cracked.

A hysterical laugh bubbled up in his throat as an odd realization struck him. This thing, whatever it was, looked exactly like the monster he'd read about in an erotic story three weeks ago. And what that monster had done with those tentacles…

Nope. Not thinking about that right now.

"I..." His voice failed him. The being's skin glowed bright, its tentacles reaching out to him.

Logan should run. He should definitely run. But he found himself rooted to the spot.

The first touch against his cheek wasn't gentle. It was hungry, searching,urgent. The moment the tentacle made contact, Logan's mind flooded with foreign sensations as if he could feel exactly what the alien felt:Need. Want. Mine. Mate.The intensity of it made his knees weak.

This was a monster, and by all rights, Logan should be scared shitless.

Instead, he was overwhelmed.

There was so much longing in that touch it was difficult to process anything else.

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