Page 17 of Monster's Obsession

The bridge suddenly jiggled and jumped beneath me. My brain hit all the panic buttons, adrenaline shooting to the sun and back.

I screamed, backing into Tempest, shuddering. “What the fuck’s going on?” I cried out, my fear so heavy that tears filled my eyes. I was about to tumble into the abyss.

With Tempest’s tight grip on my waist, I twisted my head around to him, only to find him staring at something behind us. A blue bug with at least a dozen feet, standing as tall as a Great Dane, stepped onto the bridge, not pausing either as those long, spiky legs struck the bridge.

The hideous creature unleashed a screech, its three black eyes blinking at us in unison, mouth opened and filled with serrated teeth that he snapped at us.

What in the world was that, and why was it moving so fast toward us?

“Oh, you better get moving,” Tempest warned, his voice darkening. “The Tylepede has just challenged us to a battle if we don’t get out of its way. And the challenge involves wrestling it.”

“But…I-I. What?” I couldn’t get words out, yet the bridge kept shaking, and when the thing started charging, something came over me.

Panic.

I lunged forward and ran, finding bravery and energy where seconds before I had none.

Leaping off the bridge, I swung around, recoiling to give it space. My mouth dropped open when I saw Tempest and the giant blue bug strolling across the bridge, shoulder to shoulder, swaying like two drunk friends as they laughed at me.

That fucker. He’d tricked me. I rubbed at my chest, my heart still racing from getting across that death trap.

Once they reached me, the bug made another noise that sounded more like it was blowing a raspberry at me, then it scuttled away.

“Real funny,” I called out after it.

I raised my gaze to Tempest, who grinned like the devil, and I wanted to shove him off the bridge.

“You lied!” I accused him.

That evil grin on his human face shouldn’t do anything but anger me, but his conflicted expression confused me.

“It got you to cross the bridge, didn’t it?” He snorted the smart-ass comment.

I tensed all over. “That’s not the point, and–”

He didn’t even wait for me to finish talking before he swept me off my feet so fast that I lost my breath. With me cradled in his arms, he murmured. “We need to move faster and you’re too slow.”

My face heated, my head and body warring because after all these years of having sex with him, I couldn’t get my body to stop craving him. He didn’t say a word though to imply he was similarly affected; he was just his usual aloof self.

He took off and we moved at lightning speed, heated air buffeting against me, tugging at my pink hair. And I couldn’t stop wondering what had brought on this change in him…Tempest was never kind to me.

When we finally came to a stop, my head spun. “We’re back home,” he stated, setting my feet back down right in front of the enormous monster castle, its lofty towers, with the balcony circling it, casting a shadow over the city.

A terrifying growl pierced the air from behind me, and I jumped, bumping into Tempest.

I twisted around.

“Blake!” Creed called as he burst out of the front doors that lay smashed open, his eyes wild with panic. “You’re safe.”

Before I got the chance to respond, let alone think through a response, I was in Creed’s arms, being swung around, his kisses peppering my face. He seemed to have missed me, but where had I’d been? The longer I remained attached to him, inhaling his deep masculine scent that drove me crazy, I started to remember things.

A huge battle outside the castle, my monsters furious, and attacking… “Steele,” I gasped. Then it came back to me how they tried to catch him, to kill him. My heart splintered.

“It’s okay,” Creed hushed me, still holding me close to him, even if my feet were now on solid ground. “Steele won’t hurt anyone for now. I thought I lost you.”

“He’d never hurt me.” I pushed off Creed, wincing at the hatred behind his voice. “Why would you lose me?”

But Creed didn’t seem to hear me as he turned abruptly toward Tempest. “Where’d you find her? Did you take her?” The accusation rang through the air, but it left me desperate to know too, considering I couldn’t seem to remember what happened after the battle.

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