Page 18 of Monstrous Baby
NATALIE
Usually I havea plan of attack, especially when I’m undertaking something risky. Like hopping into bed with a hungry, angry T-rex.
Somehow I never had a plan with Axxol. I usually mouthed off a challenge—which the alpha wouldn’t be able to refuse—and then dealt with the consequences. He loved to push my buttons with his snide, dismissive remarks about humans or my lackof genes and intelligence, and I loved to get my digs in about making him grovel.
This time, I intended to make him beg.
He caught me effortlessly, snagging me around the waist and slamming me down on top of him hard enough I lost all the air in my lungs. Encased in granite muscles, slightly taller than Kroktl and just more, everywhere, Axxol could eat me for lunch. Literally. One gulp.
He wouldn’t hurt me. Not on purpose.
Riiiight, I thought, as he snapped viciously an inch from my face. Not human-sized teeth but rows of T-rex razor blades ready to shred my skin off layer by layer.
If he did try to hurt me, Kroktl would stop him. Though that would put us all at risk. The last thing I wanted was for my squad to start fighting, especially over me. A little bit of play fighting would—should—be fine. Axxol said he loved it when I fought back, and the big alpha could certainly take way more damage than I could deliver in my human body. Though I had managed to gouge my nails into his flesh and draw blood.
I’d never hurt Kroktl like that. Never wanted to. Although once they saw the blood on my fingernails, they all wanted me to scratch them up.
I’m more than just human now. With the Myrm cells complete, I carried some of the most powerful technology in the universe, even if I couldn’t wrap my mind around all the science of what the squad could do.
WhatIcould do. Because the same power surged to life inside me. A massive array of transformers and super-charged batteries powered up, casting fiery sparks through my veins.
Making a low, vicious hiss, Axxol started to roll me beneath him. But that would be too easy. I certainly didn’t want to let him win so easily. Once he got inside me…
This little battle would be over before it even began.
Twisting in his grip, I slithered against him, making it hard for him to hold on to me. Since I’m smaller and lighter, he couldn’t press his advantage without using his teeth and claws. For all his threats, he didn’t want to hurt me.
His fingers locked around my throat, his breath hot on my ear. “This isn’t a game you want to play.”
I panted, still squirming in his grip. “Oh, yeah?”
“Don’t make me bite you to hold you still.”
Kroktl growled a low warning, whether to Axxol or me, I wasn’t sure. If my fingernails strengthened to the point of tearing through dynos hide, maybe my teeth could do a little damage too. It was worth a shot, and Axxol’s chest was right there. A nice meaty slab of muscle to sink my teeth into.
I gripped a mouthful of his chest in my jaws, pinching skin and muscle between my teeth.
A roar rolled through him, so deep I couldn’t hear it with my ears. The kind of predator sound that silenced an entire jungle and sent prey into hiding. His body vibrated with the sound, shaking me hard enough to rattle my teeth together if they weren’t dug into his chest.
His fingers tangled in my hair, trying to jerk me free, but I refused to let go.
“Fuck!” He roared again. “Help me get her the fuck off before I kill her!”
Kroktl dropped down against my back, sandwiching me between two huge alien warriors. Solid sheets of pure muscle and vicious power. Raw, predator musk in my nose. Even now, the sharp scent of his raptor made my nape prickle with warning.
Killer. Stalker. Danger.
“If you even think about hurting her, I’ll kill you.” His voice remained even, almost casual, but certainty echoed in everyword. Axxol might be the alpha—but Kroktl was my mate. My first mate.
For a second, I worried Axxol’s ego might object, but Kroktl’s threat steadied him. He twisted his fist in my hair, pulling enough my scalp burned. He rumbled beneath me, deeper than Kroktl’s rattling purr. “I’m going to split you wide open and tear you apart.”
His words made me shiver, not going to lie. But desire mixed with the dread, along with an unfamiliar urge, for me at least. Maybe it was the aggressive bite, or the way I’d clawed him before, but a part of me wanted to bite him so hard I could taste his blood.
:You’re feeling a dynos’ mating urge,:Kroktl whispered in my mind.:That’s a huge fucking problem.:
Anxiety pulsed through me. Dynos? Was I going to shift into a dino-monster too? I didn’t mind their beasts. I’d even ridden on the raptor’s back to get away. But that didn’t mean I wanted to become one too.
Or did he mean it was a problem with the squad? I didn’t feel jealousy in him.
