Page 16 of Misbehaving With Minotaurs
I don’t know why I said that, because, the moment I do, the triplets pepper me with a barrage of questions so fast and furious, I find myself scattered trying to remember the first of them.
“Funny,” Lou says with a saucy look. “I could swear I saw Vikand in his office at about that time yesterday afternoon.”
The triplets’ heads swivel toward me as I try not to look surprised at Lou’s comment.
I’m mercifully saved when Alo, Iggy and Miriam enter through the back door. Iggy holds a hellhound pup under each arm, their little bums dangling as he zips through the air and greets the triplets.
Thea and Wren ooh and ah over the puppies, but Morgan turns to me with a motherly look. “Don’t think you’re off the hook that easily, Catherine. I wanna know what happened. Was it fab? Was it not fab? What’s he like in bed?”
I snort out a laugh at that. “Not all succubi sleep with a partner on the first date, you know.”
“Oh, but some do.” Manorin ducks down to enter the kitchen, his tall horns nearly scraping the roof. He shoots a wink at Morgan and Lou.
I jolt and freeze.
The room goes silent as Thea and Wren spin on the barstools. I can’t see their faces, but Thea drops the chips she’s holding in one hand. They clatter to the floor as Manorin watches their descent, a pleased-looking smirk on his face.
Perhaps it wasn’t my best idea to introduce the Hectors to him. He’s going to charm them to death and th?—
Well, isn’t that exactly why I invited him here? Although, I’m not sure how public he’s planning to be about why he’s in Ever for the next few weeks. I assume he wouldn’t want news that he’s hunting around to get back to Hearth HQ. Although, if it did, beloved as he is there, he could probably wrangle a pay increase.
Maybe that’s his end game anyway.
“You must be Manorin,” Wren says smoothly, standing and putting her hand out for him.
Manorin’s never been to the human world that I know of, but he’s interacted with enough humans in his role, so he takes her hand easily, shaking it with care.
“You’ve gotta be the Hector triplets.” He glances to Alo. “You I’ve met, so this must be your kiddo and lovely mate?”
Miriam rounds the island as Iggy settles on her shoulder, nearly dropping one of the hellhounds. Minnie lumbers tenderly after Miriam, snuffling at Miriam’s wings as if to say “give them back to me!”
Miriam takes the puppies and looks at me. “Is it okay if I set them down here, Catherine? They just peed outside, and somehow, they’re already potty-trained.”
Manorin drops to a knee and lifts his hand out toward the closest puppy. It yips and growls at him, then just as quickly steps forward and tentatively licks his enormous fur-covered finger. He remains quiet as Minnie joins him.
I think it surprises us all when she flops down at his feet, rolling over and kicking her back legs up in the air for a scratch.
Manorin laughs, a deep, hearty noise that pebbles my wayward nipples—nipples that should be misbehaving for Vikand when I see him next.
The enormous minotaur reaches down, careful not to poke anyone with his long horns. He rubs Minnie’s belly with rough, thorough intensity. Her tongue lolls from her mouth, and Morgan looks over at me suggestively, nostrils flared as she attempts to hold back a smile.
Iggy hops off Miriam’s shoulder and flaps toward Manorin, landing on one of his horns. Crimson eyes flick up to the young gargoyle and crinkle in the corners, even as Alo rounds Miriam and grabs his young son.
“Ig. You can’t just land on monsters, kiddo. It’s not super polite, right?”
“I don’t mind,” Manorin offers, patting his horn. “If you wanna come back, I’ll tell you all about the pit hells in my home haven of Pine Gulch.”
Iggy shoves out of Alo’s hands and zips back to Manorin’shorn, alighting on it and grabbing the tip with one hand as he wraps his tail around it.
Manorin stands and moves to the side of the island where nobody stands, crossing both arms as he focuses upward on Iggy. “Pine Gulch is also here in America. Have you learned what human state it’s in?”
Iggy nods and hops up and down excitedly. “Yeah! Montana! Big sky country.”
Manorin snorts out a laugh that jiggles his nose ring. “That’s right. It’s so big and wide open, all you see is sky. Anyhow, our sheriff had a hellhound for a while, and some dumba—err, idiot—brought a pit bull with him when he moved to Pine Gulch from the human world. One thing led to another, and now Pine Gulch has a pack of pit hells. Half pit bull, half hellhound.”
“That’s genius!” Iggy shouts. “What are they like? Do they have fire rivulets? Do they bond to monsters like Minnie did to me?”
“They’re a bunch of big sweeties, honestly,” Manorin says with another deep laugh. “A little smaller than hellhounds and a bit louder. They talk a lot, and they’re sillier, as a general rule. They do bond like hellhounds.”
