Page 26 of Monster's Obsession

Well, hell. I couldn’t very well have the conversation I needed to have with Daruka with wolf boy dogging my steps. Not to mention, she was already gone by the time I made it into the great hall, and my next class started in less than ten minutes. Not that I really cared whether I missed Charms and Potions, which I’d taken for three years and pretty much had memorized.

“Damn it.” I bypassed the stairs, heading toward the main entrance. I needed air. I needed to breathe in the fresh grass, the potent flora planted on the school grounds. My elf nature was desperate to get to the outdoors so I could de-stress and recalibrate.

“Where are we going?” Krishna asked as he slipped out behind me.

“I hadn’t actually intended for there to be a ‘we’ in the equation,” I muttered.

“Oh. I—”

I had no idea what he said next. My entire focus was taken up by the sight of Daruka on the bank of the moat. She was mostly hidden underneath the wooden walkway that connected the castle to the grounds beyond the water, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed her if I weren’t so damn hyperaware of the woman.

But notice her I did. I noticed as she shed her blazer, then her shirt and bra, revealing a pair of spectacularly bouncy breasts. They were large, really large, with blue tips the same color as her hair. Miles of perfectly smooth, creamy flesh I wanted to bury my face in. Or my dick. Underworld help me, what I wouldn’t give to fuck those breasts.

“Holy—” I clapped my hands over Krishna’s eyes while I let my own feast and then feast some more.

I swallowed thickly as she unlatched her skirt and let it drop to the ground, and why in the hell was the woman undressing out here on the school grounds? I couldn’t tear my gaze away to check to see if anyone else was watching. Son of Sam, there had better not be anyone else watching.

She shoved black panties down her legs, and if I didn’t already belong there, I was most certainly going to hell for watching her like this. Except she’s the one who decided to shed all her clothes in the middle of the day not fifty feet from the front door to the academy.

Seriously, why was she doing this?

She stepped to the edge of the mossy groundcover that curled over the edge of the moat and then did a graceful swan dive right into the murky water.

A moment later, a blue-green fin burst from the depths, the scales catching in the sun and sending sparkling stabs of light at my eyes before the fish’s tail slapped the surface and disappeared.

I dropped my hands from Krishna’s face.

“Did I just see—”

“No,” I practically growled. “And if you tell a soul, I’ll eat yours.”

He audibly gulped. “Right. I didn’t see a thing. But where’s Daruka?”

I pointed at the rippling water.

He stared over the edge of the bridge. “She’s in the moat? Did she fall? Shouldn’t we, ah, help her?”

I sighed. This kid was so clueless. “She’s a mermaid, Krishna.”

His eyes bulged as he searched the surface for signs of a half-woman, half-fish. “Seriously? Holy cow, I wondered what she was. The way Selina talked about smelling incense, I thought maybe she was a demon, like you.”

I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head. “She is, Krishna. She’s half demon, half mermaid.”

“Whoa,” he said rapturously. “That is so cool.”

I had to admit, the kid was right. Daruka broke through the surface, headfirst, her blue hair flattened against her chest, hiding those beautiful boobs from my pleasure-seeking eyes. She leaped into the air, as agile as a dolphin, exposing the lower half of her body. Her milky skin faded into blue-green scales just above her ample hips, which narrowed into a shimmering fish tail that seemed to wave at us before it disappeared beneath the surface again.

And I couldn’t miss the abject joy on her face before she dove underwater again.

So this was how Daruka unwound.

We were more alike than she’d probably ever be willing to admit. I preferred to be in a meadow or the woods, but it was still outdoors, and there was always a lake or a river nearby.

It was peaceful. And soothing. And kept our volatile demon natures in check.

And honestly, I needed to let her have this peace. Maybe, afterward, she’d be amenable to talking about that ridiculous show in the dining hall. But right now, I was being a voyeur, and honestly, that was only fun when the other person was aware and playing along.

“Come on, Krishna.” I grabbed the kid by the sleeve of his blazer. “Let’s get to class.”

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