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“That’s what I’m telling you. It’s fake. Just a kink I’m into.”Apparently, along with half a dozen others.
He sank onto his ass, staring at me with his giant eyes, his bulb emitting a pale blue glow. “I sure hope no invisible monster comes by to breed my ass,” he repeated, making me blush harder.
“I just like to pretend,” I said, rubbing my shoulder. “I, um… I don’t have the right parts to make babies, and I don’t know if I even would. It’s just hot to imagine it, you know?”
Besides, considering my weird genetic soup, there was a good chance I was actually sterile, kind of like breeding a horse and a donkey. What little research I’d done into it suggested that was probably the case, though I didn’t know for sure. I’d never chanced it with a girl, and with guys… Well, it didn’t matter, did it?
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, so now you know I’m a complete freak who fantasizes about monsters laying eggs in his ass and impregnating him. So, um, yeah. How’s it going?”
He snorted, and I didn’t blame him. My attempts at pillow talk were pathetic.
I fell back against the mattress with a sigh, lacing my fingers together over my chest. “Yeah, I know. I’m kind of a mess. I don’t know what’s wrong with me or why I’m so fucked up, and I’m sorry you have to deal with it. I’m just…I’m weird, okay? And that’s not going to change.”
Ghost made a small sound in the back of his throat and curled up on the mattress next to me, his head resting on my chest,one arm curled protectively over my ribs. It was comforting, I supposed, and kind of nice. Most of my sex partners fucked off as soon as possible after we were done. Even when I was with Robert, I didn’t stay to cuddle because it was too risky. I didn’t want to fall for someone. My life was too messy to have a real romance. I had too many secrets that could hurt other people. The last thing I wanted to do was pull someone else into my crazy web of lies.
I lowered my arm around his shoulders and gave him a gentle squeeze. “Do irqed mate for life?”
“Mate for life,” he parroted back at me and snuggled in against me harder.
I frowned, unsure of what to do with that information. Sooner or later, we were going to have to confront the whole mated to a monster thing and figure out what that meant, and how it worked. I didn’t know if I wanted our arrangement to be permanent, but it was really working for me, at least for the time being, and Ghost seemed satisfied.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t sure I was ready to settle down permanently with anyone, least of all someone I couldn’t go out with or introduce to my friends. I’d seen what falling for a monster could do to someone’s life. Charlie, Hotdog, Phoenix, and Chris were all in varying degrees of hiding. I was already isolated enough from the world. Did I really want to make things worse for myself?
I looked down at the monster cuddled up against me with his big, sharp teeth and his long claws. It didn’t matter to me what he looked like. He’d been sweet so far. When he wasn’t trying to murder my pop and his mate, that was. Even then, he had his reasons. Ghost was fiercely protective of me. That might cause problems too.
Whatever, I thought and closed my eyes.I’ll deal with all that shit tomorrow. First, I’ve got to get some sleep, and then getthrough a day at work. Then I'll figure out what to do with the monster in my bed.
“I’m sorry, Ghost, butyou can’t come with me. I have to go to work.” Axel kept saying that word, but I didn’t like it.Work. Work meant leaving all day, and I didn’t want him to be out of my sight.
I gripped my head, trying to rub the burning from the inside of my skull. My brain was on fire. I’d been away from the water for too long, and I needed to go for a swim, if only to relax. Needed to fish and sink into the dark where it was quiet.
How could I do that if my mate wasn’t with me?
“I still don’t think you should go,” said Honor. “It’s not safe.”
For once, I agreed with the small, angry human.
Axel sighed and spun his keys on his finger, glaring at Honor before palming the keys. “I have expenses I need to cover. I’ve got four mouths to feed now instead of one, and I don’t know if you know this, but pot really doesn’t pay all that well. Plus, I like my job.”
“Groceries and job satisfaction ain’t worth your life, kid,” Honor said, folding his arms.
I grunted in agreement.
My mate rolled his eyes. “For the last fucking time. If the government was after me, don’t you think I would’ve noticed by now? I’ve been out here, living my best life for years just fine without you. I don’t need you looking out for me now.”
Ziggy wrung his hands, glancing between the two of them. “Things might be different now.”
“Why?” Axel snapped, shooting the t’chl a hard glare. “Because you two showed up at my doorstep? If any Men in Black show up at my door, they’re here because you led them here.”
Ziggy shrank back.
“Hey!” Honor’s lips pulled back in a snarl. “Don’t talk to him that way!”
“And this is why I need to leave.” Axel sighed and scratched his head, messing up the way he’d tied his hair back. “I need space to think. Just…Fuck. I’m going to be late. Take care of him, okay?” My mate gestured to me.
I huffed. The human and t’chl care for me? Unlikely. T’chl weren’t even good swimmers.
Axel walked up to me, and I bent down to let him pet along my jaw, leaning into his soft touch. “I know you don’t want me to go, but I have to. You can pass the time out in the lakes, or maybe watch some movies, if you want. That might help you learn some new words so we can talk better. Better than whatever weird educational videos Parker was making you watch.”
