Page 22 of Demon: Monsterverse
Dirt caked beneath my fingernails as the force at my ankle began towing me. My arms flailed as I was hoisted high until I dangled from the branch hand.
My screaming echoed as I swung upside down and my skirt fell toward my face. I sputtered, smacking it away from my mouth. I needed Tene to never leave my side if this was what awaited me every time he disappeared.
The tree monster shook me, sending my body into a sway, causing my stomach to heave. I was going to vomit. He did it again, and I sucked in another breath to scream.
A spine-tingling hiss floated to my ears, but my continuous swaying didn’t allow me to get a good look at the surroundings.
There was a blue glow!
Tenebrous!
Thank God.
The irony of all that smacked me in the face.
Another shake from my ankle, and my stomach lurched. Blood flooded my head, making it throb.
“Mine,” Tenebrous roared, and a cracking resounded before being drowned out by an alarming screech. I slid onto the ground and rolled, covering my head. Tenebrous had torn the arm off the monster with a vicious twist. My jaw dropped as they battled a few feet away from me.
It screeched, flailing his other arm into Tene, but he quickly swept his lithe body to the side. Dirt plumed as I clawed backward, struggling against the wood fingers still clasped around my ankle. I tried to extricate, but they wouldn’t budge, and all I did was make them sink into my skin harder.
Tenebrous continued the vicious onslaught toward the tree monster. Now that I was on the ground, the tree monster wasn’t as big as I thought. He was leaner and taller than Tene, but otherwise, nothing crazy different from the other monsters I’d encountered.
The tree monster was an apt name. The knobs of his joints were stark, and the barreled torso became leaner toward his ... waist?
My eyes widened. That was one interesting—
I shook my head and forced my eyes away as I scooted another five feet away. Tenebrous wound his tail around the throat of the creature, and then a snap cracked and yellow gushed from his wounds as the tree creature crumbled to the ground.
Tenebrous latched onto the monster, crunching through the bark.
Well, that took a turn.
I blinked as he fed, and cleared my throat as I turned away from him devouring the creature.
I had counted to one hundred by the time the vicious crunching subsided. After a thump, my monster stared down at me, head tilted and yellow smeared around his mouth.
He crouched, nose flaring as his glow fixed on my ankle. With gentle fingers he broke off the creature’s hand and tossed it. I winced at the cool air touching the open wound. I expected that to be all, but he continued gripping it, then yanked my leg up, swiping his tongue across it, collecting the blood.
My lips parted.
Ifeellike I should be grossed out by this, but that was not what was going on.
Clenching my legs together to relieve my throbbing clit, a low pulse coursed up my spine.
His head tilted.
“What is this ... scent?”
What was he going on about?
His tail wound around my thigh, and he forced it to the side so the tip could slide into my skirt, pushing it up my waist. “You fear me, yes, human?”
Such an odd question. It almost sounded like hewantedme to confirm it.
“Ye-es.” I pressed my lips together, attempting to keep my whimper contained. He was just too delicious—
Oh, that was lovely.
