Page 62 of Minding the Minotaur
I can wait until tomorrow.
ARLO
I tiptoe down the corridor to wake Sammy early. It really makes no difference down here in terms of the light, but somehow I have a body clock that always tells me it’s morning.
It’s going to be a long day to get to One Moonbeam Lake from here. I hope Sammy is up for it, but if she isn’t, I will carry her. And then I will run through the Labyrinth like I’m possessed.
Because I know what awaits us at the end.
Yesterday, I made sure my finances were in order. That all the nieces’ and nephews’ school fees were paid up. Braces, too, and family medical insurance for the next year for Mom and Dad, which will also cover Clarisse’s medical care while giving birth. Checking on my finances made me realize I can afford to quit the clinic completely, not worry about work for a few months even if I’m careful.
I won’t sell my sperm anymore.
That’s all going to be reserved for my girl.
Outside Sammy’s bedroom door, I steel myself, brace my shoulders. Today is the day we consummate our love.
I knock, but there’s no answer, and when I walk in I find her snoring gently, her mouth slightly open, her arms splayed and one juicy breast just falling out of her nightdress.
I salivate, and my cock obligingly does what it always does around Sammy.
It sits up and begs.
I try to ignore the tug in my groin.
I’m prepared. Enough lube to drown us both. Water, food. (I raided the pantry and found a stash of sweet chili and sourcream potato chips, which made me wonder if Tippy had a secret little junk food stash of her own.)
I also have a bottle of bubbles made from grapes grown in our market gardens. It’s a bit rough, but better than nothing to celebrate with.
So yep. We have it all.
Gently, I lay a kiss on Sammy’s brow, nuzzle my snout around the shell of her ear, trace a big digit across her jaw, over her sweet, round cheeks.
Her eyes spring open.
She smiles. Stretches. Reaches for me.
“Arlo,” she sighs. I imagine enjoying this greeting every morning for the rest of my life.
She sits up and I go to kiss her, but she clamps a hand over her mouth, mumbles between her fingers, “Morning breath.”
“Don’t care.” I prise her fingers away gently and kiss her on the lips. Her breath tastes like I imagine summer would.
“Get dressed, babe. We need to leave before Tippy realizes we’re not here. Or Otis decides to do an early check-in.” Otis hasn’t been over for several days, but knowing Otis, today will be the day he does. He won’t be happy if he finds we’ve absconded together, but one thing I know, if Sammy and I are fully mate-bonded, he’ll not be able to send her away. I will claim my right to keep her here by my side. Mate bonds are considered sacred even between species. Just because it hasn’t happened between a monster and a human in recorded history, in my mind it makes no difference.
If anything it makes our situation even more sacred and magical.
I watch her with longing as she dresses in the spare clothes she brought with her. A cute dress covered in tiny flowers, a sweet cardigan, and little flat pumps.
She looks so freakin’ adorable. She ties her hair in two bunches. “Just so you can pull it out when we get there.” She smiles. It’s virginal and definitely designed to make me hornyas hell. It works—I have to readjust myself to avoid my dick being strangled.
And then we tiptoe down the corridor to the front door, and out into the laneway at the front of my house, skirting along the rock wall and avoiding the early morning traffic areas. We pass the street where the clinic stands, a pale blue, luminous box.
I gaze at the sign of the Human’s Serpent lit up above the door.
“Good riddance,” I mutter under my breath
Taking her hand, we continue on through the trade area, and out into darker places, where there’s only the occasional wall sconce. Monsters lurk, doing jobs, tidying up the rock walls, sweeping the paths.
