Page 28 of Bianca and the Monsters

I know I’m gaping in a pervy way but I’m not even slightly embarrassed. “What did you do?”

“With Pennie and Nico’s guidance, I pushed Archie into a rut and then ran for my life.” He winks at me. “Let’s just say, being caught no longer troubles my nightmares, but it definitely figures into many decadently dirty dreams.”

“Will you tell me how?” I ask, a giddy fluttering in my heart.

“When you and Archie are ready—especially if he holds back from you, which we all think he’ll do—Pennie and I will help you, and Nico has the ability to bring Archie back from a rut if necessary.”

“You all seem perfect for each other—that’s really beautiful.”

Bastien teases his feathered fingers over my nipples and then trails them over my belly, causing me to bite my lip. “We complement each other and we love our lives together, but having you here...” He kisses my nose. “We’ve been waiting for you and everything before looks different now that you’re here, like all of us together might actually have a chance of being worthy of you, where each of us individually would never be.”

“I don’t like the idea thatI’mso lofty that any of you would ever feel not good enough to be with me. I’ve felt not good enough most of my life and I don’t want that for you. Do you think we could let that stuff go and just move forward and discover who we could be together?”

“We can try.”

“Good. Now, get me ready, Bastien, because if we stay here much longer, we’re never going to make it to breakfast.”

“Of course, Mistress, as long as you let me please you a little first.”

“Not saying no to that.”

Chapter21

Archie

“Archie, sit down,” Pennie says with a groan, but I can’t comply. I just can’t. Everything needs to be perfect.

Every time I look in any direction, I observe something that could be made better, regardless of the number of times I’m mocked for believing that doilies have a perfect positioning. It’s not that I think Bianca will abandon my family because of an askew doily, but I don’t know how else to show her how grateful I am that she came. That she looked at my giantpurplenessand didn’t frown or run in terror. We told her not to fear and she’s not afraid. But maybe she should be.

I should leave. Everything is going so well for the others. Pennie’s entire presence is different than I’ve ever seen or felt. There’s a divine sort of peace in him after his time with Bianca, a softening of the edges he’s always maintained. The edges he’s been unwilling or unable to release after being shaped by some truly horrendous experiences. The ripples of all the darkness he’s known are barely noticeable now.

Nico stands beside me and mutters, “I know what you fear and what you’re feeling—I feel it too. But trust her, trust us, trust yourself.”

I clench a doily that would shriek if it could. “The scent of her—Nico… I had no idea. None. That she would… I don’t want to be a feral beast with her. What if she comes in here and I’m overwhelmed? What if I terrify her and you all lose her and everything else because ofme?”

Pennie rises from his chair and moves toward me, while Nico sets his hand on my shoulder and gives me a firm squeeze.

Nico’s lovely melodious voice attempts to settle me. “I can overwhelm all your olfactory senses, as you well know. We tested this. Bastien pushed you into that rut and I brought you out. And Pennie is more than happy to clobber you, and I would help, but only for fair Bianca—I certainly wouldn’t derive as much joy from accosting you as Pennie would.”

Pennie smirks. “Everyone has to have their own special hobbies, but Archie, you’re missing something. She could have been terrified of me, but she wasn’t. She’s courageous and we waited until she was ready for a reason. She’s…wonderful, worth the wait, worth the fear in your heart. I believe she will settle it in a way we’ve never accomplished.”

I grumble, “If she were terrified of you, you’d stop. I would just want to take her more roughly. You know what my kind are. We can dress ourselves up and take over a land, pretend we aren’t the base monsters we’ve always been, but at our core, we are darkness.”

“Poppycock,” Nico blurts, rolling his eyes while deliberately using one of my favorite expressions. “Yourkindbrought law to the wilds. Yes, there was conquest. There were ruts. There was much fighting. But after, your kind built our society, which is why you still have this castle. The Clumberton name still means something, even to the current queen. What your distant kin did anddois not your responsibility—it never was.”

I wish I could believe that, but what my distant kin did brought our world to this dark place and I can’t help but feel responsible. If I’d killed him during the last war, he wouldn’t have been alive to kill the queen’s daughter. All of this is on me, as it will be if my family loses their safe harbor because Bianca is justifiably terrified of me, when she would happily live her life with the others.

I couldn’t bear it.

Bastien clears his throat. “May I present Mistress Bianca?”

My four stomachs sink at once and I turn to face the most beautiful woman alive in any dimension.

Dressed in a perfect gown, white with a delicate floral pattern in gold and silver, she stands with her chin high, her blue eyes bright and filled with mirth, her cheeks rosy. She is springtime dew, hope and love and promise.

I want to bow and delicately kiss her hand, but a rumbling, feral growl emerges from my core when the first scent of her reaches my nose. I can’t stop myself from menacingly stomping toward her. Bastien’s eyes are wide and he clings to her, this woman who only raises her chin higher at my approach.

Pennie steps between us and Nico’s fragrance becomes overpoweringly awful, but I’m still moving, about to shove Pennie away when Bianca darts between us.

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