Page 109 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

Milo leaned back, looking into those familiar peridot-flecked eyes.

“Are you okay?”

Grievance just… blinked at him. Like he was content to sit there and stare at Milo, as though he were the center of the world.

“My love, you’re making me nervous. Say something.”

Still, Grievance didn’t speak, but a concerned expression twisted his face, and he nuzzled into Milo’s neck, offering a gentle, reassuring growl.

“Oh, my poor monster,” Milo said with a sigh, running his hand down his mate’s long, thick hair.

The drug in that muffin had obviously returned Grievance to his more primal state of being. He would likely stay that way until the effects wore off.

“When I get my hands on Rowen, I’m going to beat him senseless.”

Grievance stiffened under him, and a threatening growl rose from his chest. Milo couldn’t help but grin. Even as a beast, he didn’t like the baker.

“Shshsh,” Milo said, soothing his monster. “Nobody is here. It’s just you and me.”

And without prompting, Grievance lifted Milo in his arms, standing easily as though Milo weighed no more than a feather. Silently, he laid Milo onto the bed before sliding onto him like a living blanket, using Milo’s chest as a pillow. Milo smiled and began playing with his mate’s hair until the Chimera’s breath grew slow and even.

“Good night, my love,” Milo said, the pain from their mating mark still pulsing.

He found he didn’t really mind.

Milo woke to the sensation of something heavy being dragged across his body. It slid smoothly over the blankets, as though it had no texture to catch on the fabric.

Then came the sound of something moving, no—gliding?—across the wooden floor.

“Nng?” Milo groaned, blinking awake and rubbing sleep from his eyes. He felt like he’d only slept for a couple of hours.

And Lanterns, his body knew it.

Every muscle felt heavy and thoroughly used, but the soreness between his thighs was considerably harder to ignore. Their last session had left him aching in places Milo didn’t know could ache. Apparently there were limits to what even an enthusiastic witch could withstand in one night, and Milo was beginning to suspect he’d found several of his.

Something moved across him again. Milo froze. That was not Grievance’s leg. It was too heavy. Too long. And it was still moving.

Slowly, Milo lowered his gaze.

The blankets rose over something enormous stretched across his lap. It shifted with a slow, heavy glide.

Like a snake.

But that was way too small a word for what this was. Like, not even close. A garter snake was a snake. A viper was a snake. This was the sort of thing ancient civilizations carved into temple walls as a warning to future generations.

And it was currently in his bed.

On his lap.

The enormous serpentine body glided effortlessly across his legs. Smooth, dark scales caught what little firelight remained in the hearth, flashing almost black before revealing warmer shades beneath—deep charcoal and smoky brown broken by strange patches of ivory and muted gold.

It kept going.

And going.

Milo stared as coil after muscular coil passed over him, the body gradually narrowing until it tapered into a long, pointed tail. The tip slipped silently over the edge of the mattress. A moment later, something heavy dragged across the floor.

Milo stopped breathing. His fingers tightened around the blanket, pulling it to his chest.