Monsters and Shifters and Men, Oh My! Paranormal Menage and Multiple Partner Romance Stories

by Giselle Renarde

  Budd ruffled his son’s hair. “Hey, who pissed in your Cheerios? You’ve been moody all week.”

  “I’m not moody.” Vincent swatted his father’s hand away. “I just…” He looked to Artemis, and then quickly away. “Never mind.”

  Budd rolled his eyes and said, “Teenagers!”

  Artemis smiled meekly as Budd headed back into the house. Vincent called after him, “I won’t be a teenager for long.”

  Alone in the driveway, Artemis stared beseechingly at her boyfriend’s son. “I’m sorry, Vince. You know why I can’t stay.”

  “Yeah, I do.” He hopped off his father’s ride and stood so close their noses nearly touched. “I know why, but my dad’s not going to. You need to tell him you’re leaving. You need to tell him why.”

  Her shoulders fell. “I can’t, Vince. I just can’t.”

  “So you’re going to bail on the rally and Dad’ll be looking for you all day and asking me if I know where you are, and I’ll have to pretend like I don’t know you’re packing all your shit when you’re supposed to be painting pets.”

  “He won’t suspect you. Why would he?”

  Vincent talked over her. “And then we’ll get home after the rally and all your stuff’ll be gone and you’ll be gone, and…” Vincent went suddenly silent. “Do you even know how depressed he’ll be if another woman runs off without telling him why?”

  She took a deep breath, and her heart rattled. “You can tell him when I’m gone. You’re right. He deserves to know.”

  The boy’s lips pursed so hard they turned white. His cheeks went scarlet as he said, “Well, what about me? I don’t want you to go.”

  Artemis didn’t know what to say. She was so moved by the sentiment she struggled not to cry.

  “It attacked me, too,” Vincent whispered. “I know you’re the real target, here, but it possessed me, too. It made me do things… to you…”

  She bowed her head, wiped away errant tears. “I’m sorry, Vince. I have to go.”

  “Don’t.” He took her by the arms and held her, forcefully. “Don’t leave us.”

  “Vince…”

  She turned away so she wouldn’t have to look at him, but he followed her gaze, met it, and said, “Don’t go.”

  Did he realize he was breaking her heart? Maybe she deserved it. She was obviously breaking his.

  “I’ll come to the rally,” she said. “I’ll set up my easel and do my pet paintings, just like your dad wants me to. I’ll be near you all day, okay?”

  “And then what?”

  She sighed. “I don’t know. What am I supposed to do? I can’t bring clients into the house without them thinking I drugged them, and their pets, and did god-knows-what to their passed-out bodies. I’m lucky Dafoe didn’t call the police.”

  “Do you think he believed you were all possessed?”

  Artemis shook her head. “He seemed pretty convinced I raped his dog.”

  Vincent grimaced, and Artemis stared at his lean young face until the statement just seemed… funny. Hilarious. She started to laugh, and her giggles were so infectious Vincent caught them. By the time Budd came out of the house, they were laughing so hard tears rolled down their cheeks.

  “What’s so funny?” Budd asked with a smile.

  Artemis shook her head. She couldn’t stop laughing.

  “Okay, well Vince and I are heading out. You’ve got your map? You know where you’re going?”

  She nodded as they boarded their bikes and rumbled down the driveway. Even after they’d gone, she was still struggling to contain herself.

  And then, from the house itself, a callous voice asked, “What’s so funny, darling?”

  All at once, the laughter fell away. Artemis scrambled into the driver’s seat and started the engine with shaking hands. She couldn’t take any more of this. It was too much. Much too much.

  * * * *

  Budd wasn’t kidding about bikers loving their pets. By three in the afternoon, Artemis had snapshots of three dogs, two birds, a cat and a ferret, plus more than a dozen interested inquiries.

  As she stood in the rejuvenating sunlight, painting a terrier from its photo, a short woman with long greying hair approached from the side. Artemis was used to bikers watching her paint and asking questions, so she paid little notice at first. It wasn’t until the woman touched her arm that she felt an intense emotion she couldn’t name. The emotional reaction was like despair and salvation wrapped up in one feeling.

  “You can’t let him beat you,” the woman said. “He’s strong, but you’re powerful.”

  Artemis set down her paintbrush and plastered on a smile. “I’m sorry?”

  When the woman cocked her head, her turquoise necklace drew Artemis’s eye. She said, “You’re living with a bad man. I know it. I been there, too.”

  “No.” Artemis shook her head adamantly. “No, I’m living with Budd, the big Native guy working the gear shop. See? That’s him, over there. He’s a teddy bear, really.”

  The small woman glanced in the direction Artemis pointed, but shook her head. “No, no, not him.”

  She closed her eyes for what seemed like a strangely long time, and Artemis started feeling self-conscious because other passers-by were taking notice. In truth, she didn’t care so much about them. It was Budd. She didn’t want him knowing anything was wrong. And this woman seemed to know exactly what was wrong.

  “He’s a monster.” The woman opened her eyes wide with alarm. “He’s hungry for power. That’s what gets him off, eh? It’s not pleasure, for him. He takes the sex you don’t want to give because it makes you weak and vulnerable.”

  Artemis stared at the woman in disbelief. She wasn’t sure whether to feel dirty and ashamed that some stranger knew what she’d been through, or relieved that someone might finally be able to help.

  In a voice so small she could barely hear herself speak, Artemis asked, “Who is this guy? Is he a ghost or what?”

  “Ghost?” The woman laughed. “You should be so lucky. This guy… he’s a demon. No, that’s not the right word. An incubus would be the closest thing, but more powerful.”

  “More violent,” Artemis added, though she knew nothing about incubi, other than what she’d experienced. Maybe they were all violent. She really had no idea. She laughed.

  “This is no laughing matter,” the older woman warned.

  “I’m sorry. Really. I know it’s not.” Artemis felt more than a little hysterical. Maybe the sun was getting to her. “Just, you know, if I heard this conversation a year ago, I’d think I’d gone crazy. I’d think you were crazy, too. Sorry, I don’t know your name.”

  “Nora.” The woman took her hand and squeezed. “And I hope you know you’re not crazy.”

  Artemis nodded. “This incubus or demon, whatever it is… it’s real?”

  “It’s real, and it’s dangerous,” Nora said, as a new crop of bikers roared down the main street. “Listen, girlie, you need help.”

  “Will you help me?” Artemis shouted over the ruckus.

  “I’m only a sensitive. What you need is a priest! And even that might not work. This guy you got is waaay powerful. I can feel him on you when he’s nowhere around. That’s saying something.”

  Artemis felt trapped inside the crowd of bikers. “I gotta tell you something,” she said to Nora, leaning close. “My plan was to leave Budd today. Not him so much as the house. His son convinced me to come to the rally, but… I don’t know. What should I do? I can’t stay there and I can’t tell Budd.”

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “He’ll blame himself.” Artemis swallowed back a sudden onslaught of tears. She really hated crying in public. “I don’t want him thinking it was his fault. How could he have known?”

  Nora nodded slowly. “Incubi are usually afraid of men. This one’s ballsy.”

  Artemis let out a wry laugh. “That’s an understatement.”

  Could Nora see all the wicked things the demon had done to her? Suddenl
y, Artemis felt naked before the sensitive. When she spotted Budd across the field of leather-clad bikers, her heart hurt so badly she couldn’t stand it. No matter how much she’d grown to love him, and to adore his son, she couldn’t stay in that house. She was bound to hurt the boys. Better to get it over with. Fast, like a bandage.

  Gathering up her gear, she said to Nora, “I’m sorry, I have to go. Thanks for making my mind up for me.”

  The woman looked terribly concerned. “Where are you going?”

  “Home to pack my shit. After that, who knows? Maybe drop in on my sister, maybe live in my car. Anything’s better than living with a demon.”

  As Artemis struggled to take down her foldaway easel, Nora placed a warm hand at the small of her back. “You need to tell him, girlie. Tell him you’re going. Maybe he can fix things.”

  Shoving her unpainted canvases into a bag, Artemis felt the stream of fear she’d experienced that night the demon possessed her boyfriend. “Budd can’t fix this. Nobody can.”

  “He’ll worry about you… what’s your name?”

  “Artemis.” She hauled one bag over her shoulder and picked up her easel by the handle.

  “He’ll worry about you, Artemis.” Nora pawed at her arm, following her into the thicket of bikers. “Tell him you’re going.”

  “I can’t.” Artemis shook her head, fighting tears as she lost herself in the strong scent of leather and kicked-up dirt. Even when she’d escaped Nora the sensitive, she just kept saying, “I can’t… I can’t…”

  Chapter Seven

  All Artemis could hear as she entered Budd’s sweltering house was the sound of her poor heart hammering her ribs. God, why was it so hot in here? Why was it always so hot… except when it was unliveably cold?

  Artemis kicked off her shoes and sped toward the stairs. The moment her bare foot met that hard wood, she felt a strange sensation, like someone was watching her. She froze right there on the staircase.

  “Is somebody home?” she called. “Is someone there?”

  No answer.

  She listened, intently, but all she could hear was the racing of her heart and the heaviness of her breath. Wait, was that her breath? It seemed to be coming from behind her. Oh god, she could feel it on her shoulder, a cold hiss to counteract the house’s humid heat. Her skin erupted in goosebumps, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. The world felt like a different place, all of a sudden. Like if she moved the wrong way, she’d fall off the edge of eternity and tumble into nothingness.

  “Get away from me!” Artemis screamed, turning around so fast her hair whipped the wall.

  Nobody there. Nobody. Nothing. Even the cold air had dispersed.

  “Goddamn.” Letting out a relieved chuckle, Artemis hopped quickly up the stairs. “Now my mind’s playing tricks on me. That’s just what I need.”

  She was still laughing at herself when her hand met the brass knob on the bedroom door. Strange that Budd had closed it. Stranger still that it felt so brutally hot she let go the moment she heard the little latch click.

  That being-watched feeling came back full force when she stepped inside the room that ought to be her refuge. Standing close to the door, she looked around. How had moving in with Budd gone so wrong? It wasn’t his fault. Wasn’t hers, either. Something didn’t want her here… or, rather, it wanted her too much.

  How long had Budd owned this bed? Did he get a new one after Vincent’s mother left? Or had the décor of this master suite remained unchanged in all those years? It was everything Artemis ever wanted, and now she was leaving it, abandoning house and home. Just look at that blocked fireplace: attractive, but functionally useless, a lot like her. And those knick-knacks on the mantle, motorcycle trinkets and memorabilia, then the strange wooden box with words carved all around the sides.

  Artemis felt weirdly drawn to it. As she laid a suitcase on the bed and started packing her clothes, she felt this odd impulse to steal the box. She wasn’t that kind of person. She wasn’t a thief. But as she packed, she kept glancing past the bed, and up at the mantle. It had a hold on her. She couldn’t explain it. The box wasn’t attractive. It probably wasn’t worth much. But she wanted it. Wanted it bad.

  “So take it,” a familiar voice whispered.

  Artemis froze. “Go away. I’m leaving. You’ll never hurt me again.”

  “Hurt you?” The monster seemed offended that she would offer such a suggestion. “I would never hurt you, darling.”

  His hands found her arms. She could feel those hot, sweaty fingers down her skin, leaving invisible traces of nothing. Her flesh rose into prickly peaks where he touched her. Didn’t matter that she couldn’t see him. She knew he was right there, touching her.

  She swatted the air. “Get off me. I mean it.”

  His laughter rang through the room, resounding in the hallway and down the stairs. She couldn’t feel his presence anymore. Had she really driven him away? So easily? Seemed too good to be true.

  When she’d hastily filled one suitcase with clothes, she pulled another out of the closet. After this one, she’d have to move on to tote bags. Luckily, she hadn’t been living in Budd’s house long enough to fully unpack in the first place. All her winter clothes were still bundled in a duffel bag.

  Just as she tossed her second load of zipped-up luggage on the floor, the door creaked behind her.

  “I told you to stay the fuck away!” she called to the demon, but when she turned, she was faced with monster of a different colour. Artemis screamed and jumped onto the bed as Vincent’s prized python slithered into the room. “No, no, no…”

  If the monster was scary, a loose python was terrifying. But Artemis had a sinking feeling this encounter would be worse than anything she could imagine.

  “How did you get up here?” she asked the snake.

  She wasn’t the least bit surprised when it cocked its serpentine head, like it understood, and whipped the air with its forked tongue.

  “Go away.” She threw a pillow at it, but missed. “Get! Go!”

  A familiar laugh rang out from the walls, everywhere at once, and that’s when she knew she’d never escape unscathed.

  “No,” she said, more to the demon than to the snake. “I’ve had it with you. Just leave me alone. Let me pack my stuff and go.”

  The snake shook its head. “Without saying goodbye?”

  Its eyes flashed red, and she said, “Goodbye! There. Good enough?”

  “Don’t I get a kiss?” The serpent rose from the floor, and Artemis fell back on the bed while it grew, as Dafoe’s dog had done. It grew until its head was as big as a man’s, grew until arms sprouted from its sides and legs from further along its body.

  And between those newly-formed legs? Oh god, it couldn’t be. His tail became a cross between a soft cock and a slick tentacle.

  He towered at the foot of her bed, his body tall, erect and motionless but for the slick sway of his cock-tail. It slid across the floor, from behind his snakeskin feet to in front. Then it rose off the ground like a fakir’s levitation. Artemis remained mesmerized as it slapped her ankle, then wound itself around her lower leg.

  The snake man yanked her down the bed, and she squealed, but she didn’t fight. She couldn’t. She was hypnotized by the slick shimmer of his skin. And, in truth, the farther his cock-tail rode up her leg, the more arousal mixed with intense fear.

  Her heart raced. “What are you doing?”

  “Call it a parting gift,” the monster hissed.

  That tongue… god, was it ever long.

  Artemis swallowed hard as his tail wove itself around her waist. That smooth-as-silk snakeskin made her gasp. Why had she always been so afraid of snakes?

  The monster laughed. It obviously heard her thought, because it said, “I’ll show you fear, my dear.”

  The curtains snapped shut. The door slammed. When the master suite went dark, the ceiling changed texture. It wasn’t plaster anymore. It looked like swirling lava. Felt like it, too. The
heat of that molten substance blazed against Artemis’s cheeks. Suddenly, she was sweating all over, and tearing at the scraps of clothing the snake hadn’t already ripped off.

  “Who are you?” she begged. “Why can’t you tell me?”

  When she looked into the snake’s amorphous face, it flashed into different forms: a skull, a swamp creature, a vampire, a wolf, Budd. In a hissing voice, he said, “I can be anything.”

  “But what are you?” Artemis asked.

  That question seemed to upset the creature. A desert wind picked up, sweeping the bedcovers against her feet. She kicked at them, and the snake man reacted intensely. His whole body propelled toward her, his arms reverting to snake-like tails, which wrapped tightly around her naked top.

  “I don’t like this,” she said, though she wasn’t sure if that was strictly true.

  “Yesss, you do!”

  Her heart hammered. She’d never been so afraid in all her life, and yet her pussy pumped enough juice to soak her thighs. Her clit throbbed as the snake man’s slick body landed on top of her. She didn’t know what she wanted, and the hot, howling winds consuming the master bedroom weren’t exactly helping.

  “Stop squirming,” the snake said.

  She hadn’t realized she was squirming, but she stopped on a dime when the creature’s legs wrapped around her thighs. No, wait, his legs weren’t legs anymore. They were tails, or tentacles, just like his arms. Just like his cock.

  His arm-tails encircled Artemis’s thighs, indenting her flesh. The monster yanked them apart, so hard her hipbones made popping noises. She shrieked, trying her damnedest to roll off the edge of the bed. The snake man pressed his body harder against hers, keeping her flat on the mattress. While his legs held hers in place and his arm tails held her torso down, his thick cock unwrapped itself from around her middle.

  “What are you doing?” she asked. “Are you letting me go?”

  Its laughter rang through her body like a bell. She felt it everywhere. And then she felt the tip of that tail pressing between her legs, finding her pussy wet and ready, and plunging inside.