Page 63 of Captured By the Monsters
When he pulled out, I swallowed and smirked at him. “You know I’ll never back down,” I teased.
His usual smirk was present, but this time his eyes softened as he answered, “I know, gem. That’s why you are perfect for us.”
My heart swelled with affection, and as he took a step back, I focused on how my body felt after being filled with their cum. It definitely staved the need enough for me to focus on something other than the need to fuck them immediately, but the undercurrent of pins and needles was still vibrating beneath my skin.
It wouldn’t last long.
Rowen offered his hand and I took it, pulling myself to my feet.
“Let’s go to the crystal so we can say you’ve been presented, and after that, we can go home and figure out a better solution,” Rowen suggested, squeezing my hand.
Nodding and squaring my shoulders, I squeezed his hand back, ready to get this over with so we could move onto more pressing matters. I was immensely grateful that his touch didn’t create a haze of lust that overrode my brain from the touch, but I wasn’t naive enough to think it would last long.
Silently, Rowen led me down a hallway nearby while Axton and Sylan followed. “I passed the crystal on my way to find you. It isn’t far.”
Although I had only been here less than a week, the idea of returning to the peaceful grotto home my monsters had built for me sounded like heaven. I was aching to be back in the warm water and safety of our haven.
When we reached the end of the hall, I looked around nervously, wary of this space that actually looked like a dungeon. The walls were lined with holding cells, hanging manacles, and other objects I couldn’t identify.
Did they torture prisoners?Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me because of the savagery I had seen since being in their land, but I wanted to think of their kind in a positive light. Deep down, I knew they weren’t all bad—my Trifecta was proof of that—but desperation and mortality had warped them into what I saw today.
My eyes tore away from the manacles and towards what lay at the far end of the large expanse of the room—a giant peach-colored crystal backed by a stone wall. Even in the darkened space, it seemed to emit a radiance of power without energy to fuel it—I couldn’t imagine what it looked like fully intact and glowing.
I was in awe of being in front of the piece of their land that single-handedly could change everything.
Still holding my hand, Rowen tugged me forward until the crystal was towering directly in front of us. Pulling at my hand to place it on the crystal, I began to shake, nervous as hell.
Gently, he placed my palm on the surprisingly warm surface. I swore I could sense a pulse—albeit very weak—deep within it. It was as if it was truly alive and thrumming. Sylan put his hand on my shoulder and Rowen followed suit, but when I felt Axton at my back, I withdrew my palm.
Something about the situation had my heart pounding in my chest and my stomach churning.
“We have to know, Sera,” Sylan reminded me gently, and I nodded my understanding.
Put your big girl panties on to prove you aren’t the Queen so we can get the hell out of here. Simple enough.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I put my hand back on the crystal once more as Axton’s hand came to rest on my lower back.
We were here. A Trifecta and their destined mate, awaiting judgment by this crystal.
How had this become my life? I felt like I was in one of the fantasy books I used to read.
The moments that followed were tense with silence. I held my breath and waited. After a minute, the air whooshed from my lungs in relief at it not lighting up, but when I caught Sylan’s sad look, it melted away into guilt.
Was it wrong of me to be happy I wasn’t the Queen, when that’s what these lands needed? I wouldn’t have the first idea of how to be a queen, especially when I was still learning the ins and outs of this society. How would I have led them?
“I’m so sorry,” I offered to my Trifecta, their eyes sweeping over me as I dropped my hand and turned around. “I know you still had a small thread of hope, despite knowing the odds were slim.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for, my gem,” Rowen murmured and stroked my cheek gently. “Come on, let’s go tell the leaders you’ve been presented so we can go home.”
As a unit, we all began the trek out of this room to go back upstairs when, suddenly, Sylan stopped in his tracks. “Axton, were you touching Sera’s skin?”
“What?” my gold-eyed monster questioned as he turned back to look at Sylan.
“Were you touching her skin when we just presented her to the crystal?” Sylan repeated, his silver eyes alight with curiosity.
“No, I was touching her dress, but the thing is so sheer, I might as well have been touching her bare skin, right?”
“We have to be touching her skin,” he reminded Axton, sighing deeply.
