Page 26 of Monster's Naughty List
Wait, what?
Pushing up on my elbows, I looked at him in alarm, “Why would you think you owe me an apology for any of this?”
A heavy sigh drifted from him, and he dropped his gaze to my feet as if he couldn’t say the words on his mind while looking me in the eyes.
He continued the foot massage as he admitted, “You may have heard me say earlier that we aren’t technically breaking any rules because you have consented to taking things further with us. But that doesn’t mean we should have accepted what you offered.”
I couldn’t help but feel a spark of anger at his statement. Quickly cutting him off there, I asked, in complete astonishment, “You really think you took advantage of me, despite me giving my consent and thoroughly enjoying everything that has happened here tonight?”
He shrugged his large shoulders before pinning me with bright blue eyes that twinkled with light, “We are in your life at an incredibly vulnerable moment. It's a very emotional time for you as you face all these feelings. Is someone in that headspace truly capable of thinking clearly enough to give consent?”
Despite the waves of soothing power I felt flowing through him into me now, it didn’t change an ounce of how I felt on the inside. I didn’t need his powers to know he was an incredibly kind, compassionate, and loving monster.
“That isn’t how I feel about this at all. Despite being a bit lost on what I want from my life, the way each of you make me feel—evenwithoutyour powers rolling through me—is one of the only things I have been sure of in a very long time.”
Pulling my foot from his hold, I crawled down to join him at the edge of the bed, dangling my feet off the backboard, our legs just inches apart from touching. It was like our bodies had become in sync with each other because he reached for me at the same moment I lifted my hand.
His large hands enveloped my face as he rested his forehead against mine, while my hand came to rest on his forearm. “We have never felt this tug to a charge before, Tinsley. Never. And knowing you felt the same for us has made us lose our heads.”
My voice trembled as I asked, “Where do we go from here?”
There was no point in denying his words. They had seen the deepest recesses of my soul and knew exactly how I felt. I couldn’t hide, and I was immensely grateful for that.
He took a deep, shuddering breath before responding. “I don’t have those answers. A relationship between our kinds has never happened before, and that brings me to an important question.”
Pulling his head back from mine, he rubbed the tops of my cheeks with his thumbs as he asked, “Where do you see yourself in five years? Tell me the image that comes to mind.”
It was like my mother haunted me, after having heard that same question from her for so long. But from her, the question was always accompanied by the continuation of her telling me what my life should be like. A quaint home with a white-picket fence and two kids running around in the yard like perfect little angels while I cooked dinner for my husband.
I apparently didn’t have to tell him what came to my mind because he sighed deeply, as if in pain, as he admitted, “We can’t give you that, Tinsley. I highly doubt our species are compatible for breeding, and we would never want to use you as the first test subject to try that out. You are too special to us.”
Did I even want kids of my own?It wasn’t something I had really thought about, seeing as I worked with kids every day. My students made me feel so many emotions that I imagined a parent would feel. The pride when they accomplished something new, the swelling of my heart when they beamed their unconditionally loving smiles at me, and the tears I had cried alongside them on the last day of the school year, when they were told they wouldn’t be in my class anymore. The bond I developed with them was so fierce, I would do anything for them.
It hit me then.
“I don’t need kids of my own to feel complete,” I answered, squeezing his arm as I smiled gently. “I’m a teacher, and the joy I get from working with them is more than enough. My mom had ingrained it in my mind that kids were something I had to do, but I’m realizing that I give everything in me to my students. I wouldn’t have enough left in my cup for my own, and I think that’s why I went into this profession to begin with.”
His right hand shifted to trail down my neck, coming to rest above my heart as he leaned back in to rest his forehead against mine, “I can feel the truth of that shining brightly within you.”
Closing my eyes, I thought of how it went so much further than just my mom. Society placed so much emphasis on women getting married and having children. When would it change to us being told that we were enough, no matter what path we decided to take in life?
In my mind, my happily ever after was being snuggled up next to these three monsters every night when I came home from work. Living out my every desire and filling their cups up as well as my own.
“You want all three of us in that way?” Rez asked, shock tinging his words.
Thinking of the three Algeah, I realized they each made my heart beat to a different rhythm, but I was utterly addicted to all of them. “Yes, I do. But I also know it probably can’t happen, so there is one thing I want from you all before you go. It’s my only request.”
He didn’t tell me I was wrong in my assumption that we could never have a long-term relationship, but he moved past it, asking, “What is it? If it is within my power, I will give it to you, Tinsley.”
Licking my lips, I admitted, “I want to feel you all at the same time.”
He pulled away from me and stood up, lust flaring in his eyes as he gazed down at me, “Are you sure of that?”
I nodded, and a second later I was swept into his arms as he carried me out of the room. My heart hammered in my chest.
What if they didn’t want this?
What if they refused?
