Page 18 of Monstrous Heat
A sound escaped my lips. A squeaky, hiccupy moan. All too easily, I could picture him taking me doggy style. Shoving my head down into the bed. Pulling my hair. I bit my lip to keep from moaning again. When he backed off the bed and hauled me back upright, I wanted to sob with longing.
Which scared the shit of out me. How could I want him so badly, this stranger, this alien, that I knew nothing about? It wasn’t reasonable and sure as fuck wasn’t normal. It wasn’t like me to ogle a man so openly. To let a man come on me and rub his semen into my skin like a moisturizer. And then quake with the force of my lust.
I had to be sick. Some kind of jungle fever. Stockholm’s Syndrome, maybe? But he hadn’t kidnapped me. Yet. Not that I knew of. He’d rescued me. From the creature. Himself.
Riiiight.
He sat on the floor beside the bed, but he still loomed over me. “You need to eat first. Your blood sugar’s dangerously low. Didn’t you eat some of the fruit I brought you?”
I gave myself a mental shake. I was staring at his dick again. Still hard despite the semen he’d rubbed into me. As large and thick and hard as I remembered. My pussy clenched so hard a soft grunt escaped my lips.
“Natalie?”
I focused on his eyes, narrowed with concern. “I got one of the bananas but I don’t remember eating it.”
He picked up the discarded banana beside me on the bed and pushed it into my hand. “Eat this first. Get some natural sugar into your body while I bring in the rest.”
I stared at the fruit in my hand a moment. Trying to think. Move. I blinked back tears. “What’s wrong with me?”
He peeled the banana for me and gently lifted my hand to my mouth, encouraging me to take a bite. “Nothing’s wrong. You’ve been through a lot, and I haven’t cared for you properly. That’s my mistake, not yours. I’ll do a better job of making sure I have appropriate food and water for you.”
The sweet banana tasted so good that I couldn’t hold back a moan of bliss. I couldn’t remember a simple banana ever tasting so good before. Granted, by the time I bought a bunch of bananas from the grocery store, they were days if not weeks old, but I couldn’t remember anything tasting so good before.
He stepped outside a moment and came back into the shack with several bags that he lay on the floor. Kneeling in front of me, he lifted my hand up to my mouth again. Silently reminding me to eat.
Tears dripped down my cheeks. If the banana was so good, and I was so hungry, why couldn’t I eat it without him prompting me?
The low rumble rolled from his chest again, soothing this time instead of scary. Almost like a reptilian purr. Did lizards purr? “Eat, baby. You’re safe. Nothing’s going to hurt you now or ever again. Would you like to see what else I brought you?”
Swallowing another bite, I nodded. He opened a burlap bag and rummaged around inside it. Something made my nose twitch. Spicy, warm goodness. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it smelled incredible.
He pulled out a small crock and set it onto my lap. Heat radiated from it and the smells made my mouth water as he took the lid off. It looked like some kind of bean stew with chunks of vegetables and meat. I shoved the remaining banana in my mouth and picked up the crock, my hands trembling with anticipation. “What is it? Where’d you get it?”
“There’s a small village a few minutes away. I don’t know the name of the dish, but other humans were eating it, so it should be safe for you.”
He’d even grabbed a wooden spoon, though it was a bit too large for my mouth. This time, I had no problem feeding myself without his prompting. I groaned with bliss at the first savory bite, enjoying the heat from chiles and the sweet corn and carrots. Maybe a hint of chocolate? A mole sauce. “I’m no connoisseur by any means but I’ve never tasted anything better in my life.”
“We’ll see about that, baby.” He made another low, rattling sound that curled my toes. “I found your bag.”
Blushing at the innuendo, it took a moment for his words to penetrate. “Oh! You did? Where was it?”
“Near the trail where you first saw me.” He lifted another sack up onto the mattress beside me and dumped out my field pack. Along with my laptop and clothes—that I had left back at the base camp. “I followed your trail back to where you were staying and retrieved everything that smelled like you.”
He’d even taken the coffee cup that I’d been using—even though it belonged to the cook. “Your nose is that good? I’m sure that cup has been washed several times.”
“Like I said last night, now that I’ve had a taste of you, I’ll be able to track you anywhere.”
I supposed that explained his adverse reaction to the old shirt I’d borrowed from the previous owner. “How many people were in camp? Did anyone see you, or ask about me?”
Sitting on the floor, he leaned against the bed, bracing his elbow on the mattress beside me. With dark ruby eyes, he watched me eat. “Nobody sees me unless Iwantto be seen. I roared a few times and the village cleared out enough for me to grab some supplies for you. The camp was nearly empty. Just a couple of locals.”
“Probably the guards. One of them was having a baby. That’s why they left me at the ruin in the first place. You didn’t see a stuffy prick walking around camp wringing his hands, wondering where I’d gone off to?”
“No one seemed concerned or alarmed.”
My phone was in the outside pocket of the backpack. So close but so far away. I peeked at him through my lashes, trying to decide if I should risk picking it up to see if I had any calls or texts. If he would care at all. Maybe he didn’t even know what it was.
Setting the crock down on the bed, I reached for the backpack as nonchalantly as possible. I unzipped the middle section first, checking to make sure my camera and map were still there. Then I pulled the phone out. I still had a little sliver of battery. No signal, though I’d received a couple of texts.
