Page 17 of Monsters in Love

He even plunges the thick head of his cock into my pussy, stopping when he meets resistance. “I cannot wait until I can be fully sheathed within you,” he says. His shallow thrusts timed with his quick fingers over my clit makes me come around his throbbing hardness. My body takes him in deeper, fluttering around him. “That’s it, my good girl. Soon, you will take all of me.”

I come again at his hot words, and with a grunt, he spurts inside me, filling me so full, I’m gushing liquid in not too long. He loves working the excess into my skin. Something about marking me with his scent. I’m just happy that I don’t feel sticky.

Bronn gathers me up onto his lap, searching my face once more. “While we rested, the labyrinth reset itself. We are now a few paces from the temple.”

“One of the first portals,” I say, like an eager student. Some of his information sunk in, despite being overwhelmed with lusty hormones.

He rewards my answer with a forehead kiss. “Exactly. It will be just a few paces and then a few minutes to activate the portal. Then, we will arrive at the Nexus. There we will see to your health properly.”

“Why do I have a feeling like you’re preparing me for something?”

“Because I am,” he replies. “The Nexus can be overwhelming for those who are uninitiated. It is easy to get lost. But know that I will always find you, okay? You can always ask any Taurine guard to page for me, and I will be at your side in moments.”

He must feel the same thing I am. That once we step out of this little nest we created for ourselves, everything will change. Real life will intrude, and we will have to adjust to a new normal.

Or at least, I will. This is all normal for Bronn. I’m the one that’s the outsider. The new girl. I’ll be the one who tries to fit in.

Again.

But I don’t want to spoil the moment. He is happy and nearly done with this bit of his mission, which should have ended hours ago. I plaster a smile on my face and place a chaste kiss on his stern mouth. “No need for the pep talk, chief. I got this, and will follow your lead.”

Bronn cradles me once more, the brambles and thorns curling back to reveal an exit. “As a beginning, I had to touch the thorn, maybe even let it prick me a little. Now, it’s second-nature for me to will the vines open or close.”

He lets me try on a small curl of thorn. It wraps itself around my finger and then lets go.

“It likes you,” he says. Even though Bronn has repeatedly told me this is merely technology, older one at that, it’s nothing short of magic to me.

Especially when the landscape has completely changed from last night. Before, we were walking through a densely overgrown forest knotted with thorny brambles everywhere that formed a sort of hedge maze.

Now, the way before us looks like the heart of a mature rainforest jungle.

“The labyrinth really shifted overnight. One of these days, I’ll need to figure out how this is mechanically possible,” I say.

Bronn squeezes me. “I will be happy to arrange your education.” Something draws his attention away. A blur of movement makes me gasp.

He’s already running before I can shout, “Look out!”

A black pile of fur and claws lands where we had been just moments before. It is a four-legged beast with three sets of eyes, a long, baboon snout, and a gaping maw full of teeth that looks like jagged knives.

I describe what’s after us to Bronn. “I knew they had hounds with them,” he mutters under his breath. He takes something out of his utility belt—a small steel ball the size of a marble—and flicks it over his shoulder without a backward glance.

The ball bursts open on contact, and spreads a wide net with fine filament in the air. The hound is caught in the trap, along with the two others that had been in some kind of invisible stealth mode.

The temple is straight ahead. Its architecture reminds me of a Mayan temple with four sets of stairs leading up to a plain building that looks like a covered pavilion. Thankfully, there aren’t as many steps here.

“The portal is located just on the platform. You will see it when you crest the stairs.”

“And?” I ask. He makes it seem as if I would do this alone. “You’ll be charging up those steps with me, too, right?”

“Yes, but only after I am sure our pursuers are neutralized. I cannot let them know how to get to the Nexus.”

Well, hell, when he says it like that, neither can I. “Just throw me down, I can run up from here.”

He gives me a side eye, but at least it’s accompanied with a little smile. “Just touch the portal. Tag will be manning the connections. Do not go until you see him.”

I don’t intend to go into the portal until Bronn’s with me, but I keep that part to myself.

Bronn tosses me toward the temple, and I land squarely on the smooth paver stones that lead toward the stairs. I dash up it and slap the portal.

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