Page 12 of Bianca and the Monsters

My shoulders tense and I know I’m grimacing. It feels strange to share their intimate business, but I know that none of us would conceal anything from Bianca that she desires to know. Trusting strangers—monsters, especially—means there can be no secrets between us.

“Is it wrong for me to ask?” she inquires, a care for Taran, for us, that is beyond all my hopes for this first meeting.

“No, nothing you could ever ask would be wrong. Taran’s situation is a little different. He can’t fulfill his own needs and his life is at risk if he doesn’t get the connection his body requires. Pennie and Archie take care of him, but he still desires you above anyone… and if you were to… if you…” I surrender my failed attempt at communication and just stare at Bianca’s lovely, thoughtful expression.

After pursing her lips for a few seconds, drawing my focus to their perfect, plump pinkness, she asks matter-of-factly, “Doescourtinginvolve kissing, intimacy, sex…allthe good stuff?”

My jaw drops, surely revealing my prodigious fangs that I’d been working to conceal.

She grins as she studies them. “Those fangs would be super handy on an ex-boyfriend’s head—no doubt.” Then a sultry spark flashes in her eyes. “You still need to answer my question.”

“What question?” I mumble.

“Kissing? Sex? Courting? Do they go together?”

I am flummoxed. I expected shrieking, shouting, possibly items hurled at my body. I didn’t expect to be fielding questions about sex before allaying Bianca’s justified and entirely absent terror. “Why aren’t you terrified of the monster at your table?” I demand a little too wildly.

“Because the bacon is amazing. Because the feel of your fur is divine.” Her face reddens. “Because I genuinely believe you won’t harm me. And because I asked the universe for adventure, passion, excitement, and to be a princess.”

Her brow furrows adorably. “The old me—we’ll call herMz. BoringPants—would have asked a bunch of questions, demanding all the freaking answers.Shewould have measured a dozen times, chronically assessing why it was safer to stay stuck in a crappy existence. Even one that felt wrong every single minute of every single day.” Her lips purse again and I want to run the soft pad of my finger over them. “I said goodbye to the old me yesterday and today, I’m enjoying breakfast with Mr. Nicodemus Percival O’Henricksbergh. Eleven freaking syllables of amazing.”

Her eyebrows lift and her blue-eyed gaze becomes more potent. “But before we go forward with anything, I want to know whether courting involves intimacy.”

My voice is unsteady as I answer, “With Pennie, Archie, and Taran, yes, it can absolutely include hours of kissing and even more hours of whatever connection you seek. In truth, it should, because intimacy is a powerful portent that a true match exists.”

Bianca’s nails dig into my hand a little harder and I can’t restrain a rumbling purr. My instant concern that I will scare her is met with a huge grin on her face.

“Oh my goodness… I’m imagining lying naked on top of you while you hold me and purr like that.”

Bright. Blue. Blush. I gulp. “That would be wonderful.”

Bianca shakes her head again, seeking to clear her thoughts, though her eyes remain filled with lust. I know my fragrance can be heady and she is clearly reveling in the safety of a scent that can’t be fabricated. I could lie with my words, but my scents can’t be manipulated, as much as I sometimes wish they could.

“You said Archie, Pennie, and Taran. What about you? Courting doesn’t mean sex for you?”

“One true mate. That is all my kind have. If that is you, then after marriage—a claiming ceremony—then yes, but with my kind, there are risks that I’d rather not share right now.”

Bianca considers that and nods. “Okay. So, when do I get to see your castle?”

I can’t help smiling grandly, not even bothering to hide my fangs now. “Whenever you like.”

“Sotodaywe could go to your castle? Will I be trapped wherever your castle is? Is there anything I need to know before I go?”

“Clumberton Castle is just on the other side of a portal of sorts. There are many dimensions to every reality and all we need is a door and someone who knows how to use it. Some dimensions—mine included—have laws about who may enter and how. Your reality is a bit of a free for all…” I chuckle nervously. “… because there are no laws governing entry or departure. It’s why your reality is visited frequently, even inhabited, by a host of beings from different realms.”

I lean closer to her. “Your realm is truly the best. Everyone wants to come here.”

Amazement appears in her eyes, along with some chagrin. “It’s sad, isn’t it? Everyone from outside wants to come here and most of the people living here would choose to get abducted by hot aliens if we had the chance… or hot monsters.”

“Do you enjoy making me blush?” I abruptly ask, knowing even my eyes are most likely pure blue just now.

“I do,” she purrs at me. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all,” I purr at her in a tone I’ve never used before.

“So, your realm—what are the rules about bringing someone in?”

“Only females are allowed to cross the border and only accompanied by a citizen.”

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