Page 86 of Monster. Me.

Marlow lets out a muffled groan, and his semen splashes against the wall as he climaxes while tightly knotted, his tunnel rippling around me hard.

"I'm sorry, baby," I blurt out, convinced that this experience might be a bit too intense for him even if he instinctively orgasms. Marlow is tight, and a knot inside could mean a hell of discomfort.

But I only hear ragged panting as a stream of cum continues to flow over my fingers as they squeeze his cock. Marlow shivers in pleasure with his mouth open and eyes clenched shut, tight as a string.

"You… you… you've knotted me," he moans out.

I leave a wet, apologetic kiss on his naked, sweaty shoulder.

"Yeah, sorry about that… but like I told you, sex with you is different. This is the first time I've ever expanded my knot. Never before."

"Really? You have never…"

"No. You're the first."

Everyone in the ABO community knows that a knot only expands if there is some kind of emotional bond between partners.

And Marlow knows this. I feel his hand slide down the side of his body to find mine, interlacing his fingers with my own. There is something incredible about this gesture; a silent understanding between us deepens, along with his acceptance of what happened and the intimacy we share, all of which are so rare and precious to me.

I press one more soft kiss to his cheek and whisper quietly.

"You mean so much to me, Marlow. My soul… it chooses you."

He doesn't answer, but his fingers tighten around mine even more.

◆◆◆

Now Marlow comes to see me every day, sometimes several times a day. And I can see the effects in him: the magic of my inner beast works beyond my control. Marlow's body has awakened. He's aroused, restless, and constantly hungry for me. As we make love in a tangled, sweaty mess of limbs, he admits he's started spraying himself with a strong deodorant to mask his pheromones.

He has noticed not only Rupert staring at him, but other alphas subtly sniffing the air whenever they get close, as if the surge of hormones in his body is drawing them in, much like someone entering the pre-heat phase.

But I know that's not what this is. My magic isn't simply triggering a pre-heat. Instead, it creates hidden heats, subtle enough not to overwhelm, but strong enough to increase the libido. I don't bring it up; there’s no need. I had a vasectomy, so it doesn’t matter anyway.

Whenever he slips through the ventilation shaft and throws himself into my arms, burning with desire, I simply give him the relief he craves and let the wave pass.

So yes, we make love a lot, but not only that.

We also talk, and those moments are truly delightful.

Already on the first day, after he shifts back following a petting session, we end up in bed together, fucking passionately, and later, wrapped up in each other, we open up to each other.

That part I enjoy just as much as sex. Nobody ever listened to me.

Nobody ever cared. He does.

I tell Marlow about my childhood in Finland, near the Russian border, on a cherry plantation.

I tell him about my brothers, and I had five of them in total.

The two oldest, Korr and Briar, were lucky enough to look human, despite also being shifters.

But the triplets, me, Thorn, and Skaar, were a strange group… each of us different, but none of us could show ourselves among humans.

I tell Marlow about the day my parents were killed and my brothers and I were shot. I tell him also about the young alpha camp, a depressing place full of violence and competition between young orphans, then about escaping that terrible place and starting work as a carpenter… and finally about the persecution following Calsing Island events.

Marlow also opens up. He says his dad escaped from Russia, where his ancestors were hunted down and experimented on. And talks about the fear it instilled in him and the forced secrecy, about feeling alien in his own body, like he wasn’t born the way he was supposed to be.

At first, he thought it was because of his shapeshifter nature. After he shifted for the first time, shocked and scared, he ran to his dad, only to be shut down immediately. His dad had a very strict policy: nobody was allowed to talk about their abilities. He was terrified that one of his sons might end up in a place like the one I’m in now.