Page 14 of In the Monster's Wake
Chapter Five
Jasper had been surethat someone was watching him, and he’d been right.
He slammed the monster against the wall and cocked his fist to punch him.He didn’t care why this guy had followed him to the bathroom.The monster had, and it couldn’t be good.
Jasper’s fist never landed.The monster reached up and cupped his hand around Jasper’s knuckles.It was dark, but something told Jasper that this wasn’t the monster he’d fought at the park.For one, the monster’s arms seemed to be of normal length.
The monster was way taller than Jasper and muscular, but he was graceful.His skin was a light moss green, and his long hair the color of the ivy that grew on the side of the house where Jasper had grown up.The monster’s eyes are a striking shade of gold and glowed faintly in the darkness of the hallway.Large, dark antlers sprouted from the monster’s head.He reminded Jasper of a garden—he even faintly smelled of leaves and earth.
The monster moved quickly, just like the one at the park had.He turned them around and slammed Jasper’s back against the wall, and even though it wasn’t the same monster as the one in the park, Jasper acted on instinct.
He kicked his knee up, grinning when it impacted with the monster’s groin.The monster squeaked, but it wasn’t enough for him to let go of Jasper.Itwasenough for Jasper to finally manage to punch him in the face, though.
The monster stumbled back, still holding Jasper’s fist.Jasper tried to shake him off, but the monster’s hold tightened.Unfortunately, that meant that Jasper had to fight with his non-dominant hand, which complicated things.
He kicked upward again.The monster curved his body to the side, making Jasper miss.For some reason, the monster chuckled.
To hell with Jasper’s non-dominant hand.
Jasper punched the monster again, grinning when he felt hard bone under his knuckles.The monster yelped and caught Jasper‘s second hand, too.For a second, Jasper thought that this was it.He was about to die.
Instead, the monster slammed him against the wall again.He pinned both of his hands above Jasper’s head, exposing him.
Then, he kissed him.
Jasper’s brain short-circuited.For a second, he didn’t understand what was happening.He could feel soft lips against his and a tongue pushing at him to open.He shouldn’t do it, but he moved on instinct.
The monster’s tongue pressed into Jasper’s mouth.For some reason, the monster tasted of candy, making Jasper groan.The monster pressed against him, pushing their bodies flush together with not one inch of space between them.The sounds of the club smoothed out to a background sound that was easy to ignore.Gone were the loud music and people talking.
Jasper could smell the monster.There was a hint of sweat and candy like the monster tasted, but also something smoky and appealing that made Jasper want to throw the monster against the closest flat surface.
Wait.The monster had thrownhimagainst the closest flat surface.What the fuck was Jasper doing?
He bit the monster’s lower lip.The monster yelped and jerked back, but he didn’t let go of Jasper, even when Jasper fought his hold.Jasper was pinned, and he was at the monster’s mercy.He doubted anyone would hear him if he screamed.That didn’t mean he would go down easy.If this monster had followed him to hurt him, he’d find out that Jasper wasn’t that easy to hurt.
* * * *
THE HUMAN WAS A SPITFIRE, and Archibald loved it.He even loved that the human had bit him.
“Why did you kiss me?”the human demanded to know.
“Well, I didn’t think you’d stop punching me long enough for me to explain, so I thought that startling you would be a better idea.”
“And you kissed me?”
Archibald pressed his fingertips against his lower lip.It ached, and when he looked down at his fingers, he saw blood on his skin.
He smiled harder.
“I didn’t want to punch you like you were punching me.It didn’t seem fair.”
The human scowled.“You don’t think I could take you in a fight?”
