AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe it was because I was partially a monster myself, but I was attracted to them. They were strong and muscular, and most of all, they cared for my thoughts and feelings. They were not the animals we had been told they were.
But the fear of being seen as an ugly creature was still there, lurking in the back of my mind. I would have to be naked in front of them, utterly vulnerable.
“Um… I can’t do it here,” I confessed. “I don’t like being nude in the open. I want privacy.”
Draven’s breath ruffled my hair. “That is why we have the dens built into the trees,” he told me. “We build the nests so our mates are comfortable.”
My face felt super-heated, and it had nothing to do with the roaring bonfire.
“Come,” Torr said decisively. “We will show you, and if you want us to stop, all you must do is say so. You are the one I have chosen. Nothing will be done that you do not desire.”
I didn’t get to say another word before Draven rose, cradling me in his arms. The Beast carried me past the bonfire, and climbed one-armed up the branch lattice that led to the knothole.
I noticed immediately that my nest was different. The blankets had changed, and it smelled clean now. I supposed Torr had taken out the dirty blankets while I’d washed.
It eased me a little to know he’d made such an effort on where I slept and would presumably mate with them (my mind skittered over the word, accompanied by an embarrassment I couldn’t shake). Draven lowered me into the clean blankets, and I took a breath, already fighting the urge to cross my arms over my chest even though I still wore a dress.
“I… what should I do?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“Exist,” Torr growled. “Just be here in this moment.”
I nodded, my hands trembling a little as I decided to get the most frightening part over with before I could run out of here screaming.
I knew I wanted them, and if that made me a monster, so be it.
I yanked my dress over my head and threw it aside, and stood in front of them almost defiantly with my chin raised. I had to force myself to keep my arms at my sides.
Torr took me in from head to toe, his eyes caressing every curve. “Beautiful.”
I exhaled, feeling almost seasick from veering between terror and desire. Draven reached out, stroking a claw delicately over my hip. “You were afraid of us seeing you like this? But why?”
“Because… I’ve never been fully naked in front of… males before,” I stuttered out. “It wasn’t allowed.”
Torr’s head slowly tilted to the side. “It is more unnatural to not want to see your future mate.”
That made sense to me… if we were going to be paired off and married anyway, why would it be such a crime to want to see the person you would be with? But we were told it was a sin, and so it was… I had a memory of a few years ago, when a young couple had been caught sneaking back from the Wood.
They had been punished severely, all because they had wanted to take each other in, and drink in the sight of their lover.
The way of the Beasts made more sense, despite that lingering fear.
I told myself it would all be okay. The Father was not here to beat me for this sin that wasn’t a sin.
“Lay back, Salem,” Torr instructed me. “Be comfortable. This is not meant to frighten you.”
“Will it hurt?” I asked, obeying his instructions. One of the older girls in the village had told us it hurt.
He let out a low laugh. “No. It will not hurt at all.”
I felt even more exposed once I’d laid down, arranging myself comfortably on the pillows with a Beast on either side. Draven ran his hands through my hair, over my shoulders… and finally down to the curve of a breast. The pad of his thumb brushed one of my nipples, and it hardened under his touch.
I sucked in a breath, my muscles tensing up.
“Relax,” Torr whispered. He buried his snout near my neck, and I felt his warm tongue flick out against my skin.
He worked his way downwards, and when his tongue ran over my other nipple, I found myself gripping the blankets with white-knuckled fists.
Both of the Beasts were rumbling low in their throats, a comforting sound, and I got my first sight of what I’d eventually be taking inside myself.
