Page 102 of Bianca and the Monsters

I tilt my neck, giving him more access, yielding to all that’s untamed in him, the savage need to mark what belongs to him. He sinks his teeth in and ignites another explosion of sensation that sails through me.

His hands move over my breasts as I arch into his touch. His nails tease along my nipples and then he grips both of my breasts at once, while pounding into me from below.

“Yes, Nico,yes!”

Sometime later, I return from the ethereal land of fully satisfied women, with him still inside me, his knot linking us together. His energy isn’t frenetic anymore and his scent is absolute peace and fulfillment. I could nap here forever. I giggle, remembering thatnappingon him was my first official monster-related desire. Goal achieved, and smutty naps are officially the best kinds.

“I wouldn’t wish it any other way—any of it,” he murmurs, licking and kissing over the bites on my shoulder.

“Me either,” I say, my voice a raspy affair. “Intimately knowing longing and loneliness makes this mean so much more. I’ll never take you or our family for granted.”

“Neither will I, and neither will they.” He kisses my head and his fragrance becomes smugly sensual. “Your screams, cries, and sighs…allof them were decidedly preferable to those sadself-matingsounds you used to make. On my first attempt, I do believe I’m more proficient at giving you pleasure than you were after all those years of practice.”

I laugh so freely my heart dances. “Oh, I’m totally retired from self-mating. This princess has standards.”

Chapter65

Pennie

Ebullient. Exuberant.Buoyant. I chuckle to myself as I continue to annoy my Pendragon pool buddies with my absolute delight about Nico and Bianca’s burgeoning bond. That they took their interlude away from the pool was terribly vexing—I’ve never seen Nico’s kind in the throes of passion. Knowing Nico as well as I do, I believe he will embrace sexual gratification with the same force he embraces love, duty, honor, family, courage. Bianca will be well satisfied; of that, I’m certain.

If I could sigh, or even blow bubbles, I would in celebration of another splendid connection in our family. But bubbles are off my list of attributes. We fully spent ourselves saving Nico. I couldn’t evenre-gemat this point if I wanted to, which I don’t. So, for the foreseeable future, I’m a pool-bound Pendragon. If I had shoulders, I might shrug. It’s possible I might even grouse, just a little. I desperately want to hug my family and revel in their joy, not remain stagnant,waterlogged, andboggy.

Bianca’s song belongs to Nico right now, so I can’t hear her at all. Bastien’s sleeping and Archie is snoring so boisterously he’s rattling the walls. And I’m restless.

I already missseeingthe way I did when I had a body, but one doesn’t need eyes for that. There is something magnificent in that place beyond sight—a kind of knowing when all senses unite to paint with greater depths this masterpiece called life. For that exact reason, Pendragons embrace the peace they experience as gems, conscious of the world and yet not lost in its inherent distractions. Eventually, I’ll get there too, but thewaterswill bechoppyfor a while.

Mirth fills me at my brethren’s pun aversion, which only causes me to paddle harder toward thewaterfallof references to mycurrentfluidity.

What else do I miss?Hmm, yes, fingers to sweep along Bianca’s soft skin, inspiring her goosebumps and exquisitely divine sharp breaths. But isn’t this contact actually more powerful? I healed her wounds, restarted her heart, saved her life, while also caressing every inch of her and making her feel safe and held. All that…withouta body. I’m simply sublime, if I do say so myself.

As it turns out, actual emotional presence and true connection don’t require a body. I’ll adapt to this abrupt change…swimminglyeven; it’s just this transitional phase that presents more acute challenges. If one were to faithfully think it through, I’m a littlewetbehind the ears just now, aren’t I?

I’m simply lapping up their waves of displeasure at me and my flowing humor. I really shouldn’t vex them so, not after what they did for Nico, for me, for my family, for the future of our world.

What the Pendragons gave to heal Nico made me prouder of my formerly—and sometimes currently—savage race than ever. We devoted well beyond what a hundred Pendragons should be able to bear, which means that our kind did something incredibly rare in our epic history. We all came together, every gem in this room, possibly the world, lending their aid to save a beloved and honorable monster from a punishment he never deserved.

It honestly makes me a bitmisty—I’d snort if I could over that one. My pool mates are actively grumbling now. All they want is to reclaim their centered, detached state of being, where they exist but don’t fully live. My extremely active mind decreases the likelihood that they will achieve anything but a lasting state of irritation for many years to come. Maybe in a few decades, I’ll embrace the blank serenity of this form, but right now, I’m like a toddler madly searching for puddles to splash through with carefree abandon.

Perhaps, I can hum all the songs I know about liquid in all its forms—that might take a few years.

I jolt when I feel Bastien’s hand reach into the liquid.

“I can’t feel you the way she does… it’s not as clear without her, but I know you’re there, Pennie.” His voice—the force of his life—is unbelievably sad. I expected him to be overjoyed that Nico and Bianca have consummated their love, that our Nico finally understands the joys of the flesh.

I push my song to him, a light tune, hoping to encourage more words. I’m not yet skilled at interpreting the musical messages and he doesn’t send them as powerfully as Bianca. It’s almost like he’s the instrument and she’s the player. Yes, that makes sense. Tarans are instruments with all the potential for glorious song, but only once their one true player inspires them to finally sing. It’s touching, both lovely and cruel at the same time.

“Pennie, I love my mistress, heart and soul, but I also love youheartandsoul. I can’t imagine living without your warmth and safety always here for me. I know you’rehere. I know you saved us—you saved everyone—but I need you to come back.”

Sympathy fills the pool, coming from even the grumpiest of Pendragons—his name is Gerald. None of them wish to see my family hurting, especially not Bastien, who we believe to be the sole remaining Taran in existence. Protecting him has felt, for all of us, like a sacred duty. Our shameful preoccupation with other affairs allowed us to ignore the plight of the Tarans until we thought them gone forever.

Bastien’s arrival here confirmed more than anything that this castle was exactly where I was meant to be. The only Pendragon not sleeping and the only living Taran meeting in a castle owned by the most worthy and powerful Clumberton, whose roommate could eliminate the king’s guards with his scent. Fate, for sure. No location is entirely secure, but if anywhere in this realm is, it’s here. I wouldn’t have created this jewel-rich sanctuary if it weren’t.

I feel my pool compatriots nudging me toward the exit, as though that’s an option.

Then something inexplicable happens. A tear from Bastien hits the liquid and it causes a surge of power in the pool. Anyone who wasn’t awake from my edgy humor definitely is now, and there’s great confusion and even excitement. When a second tear meets the liquid, the pool erupts in color, just like the radiant hues in Bastien’s feathers. The Pendragon gems in the cavern shimmer brighter, their echoes inspiring ripples on the surface of the pool, a miraculous event I’ve never witnessed.

I don’t understand. Bastien’s cried in my arms in this pool before—the pleasure I gave him often made him weep. He’s also shed many tears from sorrow and longing. The result of his emotional release was never like this.

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