Gone with the Monster

by Lila Dubois

  “Damn it,” she yelped from her upside-down position.

  Runako carried her through the living room, through a short all-stone hall, and back into the large scary cave. He flipped her off his shoulder and forced her down onto the altar. She smacked him a few times, grunting in frustration, as he re-attached her shackle.

  “Better,” he said, when she was once again tethered by her left ankle.

  “You suck,” she muttered, all maturity.

  He grabbed her right ankle, forced her legs apart, and then shackled it to the other corner of the altar with a manacle that appeared from nowhere.

  “Much better,” he said with a smile.

  Margo scooted down until she could draw up her knees and press them together, which she did while glowering at him. Runako sighed. Margo started to grin, then wiped it away.

  If she were being truthful with herself, she was having fun. The banter, the escapism, the ever looming possibility of sex—all this was fun.

  Runako cupped her chin and forced her face up. “You are…difficult.”

  “Yep,” she said, unable to hold back a smile. He was the most fun of all. “Seriously though,” she added, “what gives with the other room? Why can’t I be in there?”

  “I arranged the other room for Michael, so he could bring Jane here.”

  “So what, he was going to kidnap her, bring her here and…?”

  “Keep her until she agreed to be his mate.”

  “So Michael and Jane are mated now, like Luke and Lena?”

  “Yes.”

  “What does mated mean anyway, I mean to your people?”

  “A mate is a partner, like a husband or wife.”

  “And you guys mate for life, and if your mate dies the other one dies, and when you mate with them you are magically bonded and can hear each others thoughts?”

  “Er, what? No. Where did you get these ideas?”

  “Um, I read a lot.” Margo cleared he throat. “So Michael told you he didn’t need the cave?”

  “I went there to assist him in kidnapping Jane, but he’d revealed his monster form to her, and she’d agreed to be his mate. I’d done much work here, and did not want it to go to waste, so I decided to come for you.”

  “I’m just a random pick out of the unmated girls?” Margo said, getting worked up again.

  “No. I’ve told you already that I find you very desirable. I was…unsure of approaching you in your world. When I had an opportunity to bring you to my world I took it.”

  Margo wrapped her arms around her thighs and rested her chin on her knees. There was a beautiful simplicity to his logic.

  This whole thing had to end, and soon, as she had work to do, but for tonight it wouldn’t be so bad to stay. They were probably somewhere near Big Bear. Worst case she could steal some of his clothes, hike down to a town and call one of the girls to come pick her up. It’d take three hours for them to reach her, max.

  With her escape firmly in mind Margo smiled up at him. “Didn’t you have something planned for post-bathroom?”

  Runako cocked a brow. “I thought you were resisting.”

  “We can play big bad monster later. Let’s do this.”

  Runako smiled, his eyes glittering. “I’m glad you want me. I was unsure.”

  Margo blinked in surprise. Sure she’d done her share of telling him to go to hell and that she didn’t want to be here, but she’d initiated the first kiss, told him how hot he was. Could he be insecure too? Guilt swamped her, though it was quickly replaced by anticipation as he undid the cuffs on her ankles.

  Runako hovered for a moment, his hand poised to put the shackles back on, but there was no need. Margo leaned back on her elbows and slipped her legs around him, drew him to her. Runako climbed onto the altar, then came down on her, covering her mostly naked body with his half-clothed one. She hadn’t realized how cold she was until his hot chest touched her breasts and belly.

  Margo slid her arms around his ribs and hugged him to her, reveling in the intimacy of skin-to-skin contact. He buried his face in her hair and whispered, “It is good to be held.”

  Margo nodded her agreement, her throat constricting with tears. She could feel his loneliness, or maybe it was her own. She turned her face, searching for his kiss. Their lips met and touched, in a kiss—simple and desperate.

  Her hands roved over his back and slipped to his waist. She worked the waistband of his pants, and he lifted himself, allowed her access, all without breaking the kiss.

  When they were loose Margo used her feet to push his pants down to his knees, then ankles. He kicked them off. He lowered his hips—the hot, hard length of his cock resting against her sex, with the thin barrier of her thong separating them.

  He cradled her head in his hand, and his lips went to her neck, to the spot she’d taught him she liked. She couldn’t quite reach his cock, so she settled for stroking his back and belly.

  His free hand was at her breast, first holding, rubbing, then finally his fingers were on her nipple. He stroked and flicked the tight peak, sucking her neck all the while. The pace was slow but Margo could feel the tension in him, could feel that he desired her, that he needed her.

  She rubbed his cheek with hers, and he paused for a moment, hugging her to him. Tears once again tightened her throat. It had been a long time since she was held. Amidst all the bullshit of dating and the games of sex, it was easy to forget how intimate an act it was. But here, in the hushed cave with its flickering firelight, what passed between them was pure.

  “I need you,” she whispered.

  “I need you,” he said.

  Margo reached down, pulled aside her thong, and Runako entered her.

  “Go slow,” she whispered, her body stretching.

  “Am I hurting you? I’ll stop,” he said, brushing her hair from her face.

  “I’m okay.” She cupped his cheek, looking up into his beautiful eyes.

  He dipped his head, kissed her again, small rocks of his hips bringing him even further into her.

  “Now,” she whispered.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t.”

  Runako pulled back, then slammed into her, seating himself fully within her. Margo tilted her head back, reveling in the feeling of fullness.

  She hugged him to her, and could feel the small shivers that shook him. Had he come? Apparently premature ejaculation wasn’t only a human problem—

  Runako pulled out and slammed into her again. This time he did not stop. He fisted his hand in her hair and ravaged her mouth as he thrust.

  Margo nearly cheered, but was too distracted by his kiss, which had moved from her lips to her neck. She wrapped her legs around his back and held on as he thrust.

  She wasn’t going to come like this. She always needed direct clit stimulation to come, but this was so good she didn’t care.

  His cock was thick and smooth inside her. He was thrusting so deep that their bodies met. She could feel his balls against her ass, his belly rubbing her clit…

  Her orgasm took her by surprise. She hadn’t planned on it, hadn’t been waiting for it, hadn’t been forced to give him hints to help him get her there. Her orgasm was a gift from him, a sweet surprise.

  He thrust in, rubbed her clit with his body, and she was done. Margo’s back arched as she tore her mouth from his to gasp in air. Her whole lower body had drawn into a tight spiral then released in a glittering wave of pleasure. Her nails raised welts across his back and she scrambled to hold on to something, anything, as her body spiraled and swooped, out of her control.

  Runako let out a groan of his own as her body clamped down around his cock. He wrapped his hand over her shoulder from beneath, then jackhammered into her, her orgasm bringing him within inches of his own. Margo screamed as his thrusts rubbed her orgasm-sensitive clit, and Runako came, the sound of her pleasure the final stimulus.

  Chapter Eight

  Runako stretched himself awake. He was satiated afte
r sex, and it was tempting to fall into a true sleep, but it was dangerous. The spell that held him in human form was tenuous, and he was not fully experienced with remaining human for long stretches. Luke had told him how, after spending the night with Lena, he’d been unable to hold his human form while he slept, and Lena had woken up next to a Monster.

  Though Margo had seen his true form, he did not want to scare her by having her wake up next to a Monster. Besides, he might roll over and crush her.

  Rubbing a hand over his face Runako sat up.

  Margo was standing beside the stone platform, wrapped in the blanket with her purse in hand.

  “Thanks, that was great. No, it really was.” She smiled wide and looked him over. “We’ve got to do this again in L.A. Maybe we’ll even go out to dinner, work our way backwards to coffee. Anyway, this was great but I have to go, so either drive me into Big Bear, or I’m going to walk, and if I break my ankle trying to walk down a mountain in these heels I’m not going to be happy.”

  She wanted to leave him?

  “Big Bear?” he asked.

  “Yeah, Big Bear, you know the place we are? Okay maybe we’re not in Big Bear, but we can’t be far, they’re the closest mountains to L.A. that might have caves.”

  “You want to leave? You think to leave right now?”

  “Can we not get back to this? I’ve had a really good time. A really good time. You’re, you’re… Me apasionas.”

  “Why do you think you can leave?” he asked, genuinely curious. They’d been over this.

  Margo sighed and shook her head. “Come on, hot stuff.”

  “My name is Runako. Though I like the pet names you use I don’t want you to forget my name. I thought you understood. Perhaps I overestimated your intelligence.”

  He rose from the stone platform. She looked him up and down.

  “You cannot leave. You are still my captive,” he said.

  “Fine. I’m leaving on my own.”

  Margo turned and walked towards the entrance to the cave.

  “Did you think you could leave because you had sex with me?” he asked. He wanted the answer to be no. If the answer was yes it would make her the conniving, cowardly, liar he believed humans to be. He’d been…touched by their encounter. There had been tender moments at the beginning, moments in which he’d felt like maybe it would all be okay, maybe he wouldn’t always feel so alone.

  “No,” she said firmly, turning to look over her shoulder. “I slept with you because you are sexy and fun and smart. I slept with you because I wanted to, because we both wanted it. Not because you kidnapped me, not because you chained me up. Because I want you.”

  “Then why are you leaving?”

  “Because you can’t just kidnap me. I don’t think we’re going to see eye to eye on this subject, so let’s drop it. I’ll walk into town, call one of the girls to come get me.”

  Runako leaned back against the stone and waited. Margo disappeared into the tunnel at the mouth of the cave.

  Margo reappeared. “Hold crap it’s dark in there!” Opening her purse she pulled out her cell phone and powered it on. Flipping it open she disappeared into the tunnel once more.

  Runako waited a few minutes, then followed her.

  He found her where he expected to find her, at the mouth of the cave.

  Her eyes were wide and dark as she turned to look at him. “Where are we?” she whispered.

  The mouth of the cave offered a breathtaking view of endless rows of sharp, snow-capped mountains. The mountain ranges were so expansive they appeared to stretch to the horizon. The sky above them was steely grey, the earth all around white. Deep in the valley between the mountain they stood on and the next was a belt of evergreens, but the shadows cast by the mountains were so deep the trees appeared more black than green.

  “This is not Big Bear, this is not anywhere in California,” she said, voice rising on each word. “Where are we?”

  “The Rocky Mountains.”

  “The Rocky…oh HELL NO. ¡Tú eres insano! There is NO WAY.”

  Runako let her rant. She threw her arms up, switched back and forth between the human languages English and Spanish, and finally, in an act of questionable intelligence, started out of the cave. Her first step had her sinking thigh deep into snow. The blanket she wore as a toga was little help, and she gasped and cursed in the cold.

  But she kept going. Six steps away—he was counting—she slipped and fell in the snow. Margo shrieked.

  Runako sighed and slipped off his pants, tossed them backward into the tunnel. With a grunt of pleasure he released the spell holding him in human form. In under a minute he was back in his true body.

  His legs were longer and stronger in this body. His thick skin did not feel the cold as a human’s would. He strode into the snow and plucked Margo from her snowy hole.

  “I don’t need your help,” she said as he lifted her, careful not the catch her with his claws. The blanket fell off as he picked her up.

  “Yes, you do,” he said. Margo was cold to the touch. He turned and with two hard beats of his wings lifted them to the entrance to the cave. He folded his wings tight to his back and ducked into the tunnel.

  Margo squeaked as the dark descended around them. Runako squeezed her lightly and carried on. He could see in the dark.

  Once back in the cave Runako carefully set Margo down. She was shivering. Runako left her there, then dragged one of the heavy stone basins of burning oil closer to her.

  The added light illuminated her caramel-colored skin. Margo was sitting, her mouth open, ready to comment, but as he reached for her the comment died on her lips and she cowered back.

  Runako ran the back of his claw down the center of her body. Margo sucked on her lower lip. Runako took a deep breath, and shuddered. She was aroused, he could smell it, but she was also frightened, and he found the mixture intoxicating.

  He had a moment of panic, worried he’d become a creature who fed on another’s fear, a low and base being, but Margo shivered in pleasure, and her knees parted slightly.

  She was more aroused than afraid, and that fear was not fear for her life or mind, but of the unknown, of the Monster.

  “Spread your legs,” he demanded, and she obeyed.

  He stroked the inside of each thigh with his claw, then carefully pressed the rounded back of his claw directly against her sex. Margo gasped and twitched. There were no nerve endings in his claws, but he could see and smell that she was wet.

  “You are frightened,” he said.

  “Yes, of course I am. You’re…you’re not human. I know that, I know that. But it’s different, you not being human, when we’re naked and your claw is on my pussy.”

  Runako smiled, showing teeth, and Margo made a little squeaking noise. He stopped smiling. Considering the number of teeth he had in this form that probably wasn’t the most reassuring expression.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” Margo whispered.

  “Do what?”

  “Be with you, when you’re like this.”

  “You find me unattractive?”

  “You could be the Brad Pitt of Monsters and I’d still be freaked out. I mean. It’s just…it’s just a bit much.”

  “This body is far superior to my borrowed human form.”

  “If you say so, but we’re just not…compatible. And I don’t mean in an I-saw-my-therapist-and-I’m-dealing-with-our-issues way. I mean that thing,” she pointed towards his groin, “is not going in me.”

  Runako looked down at his hard cock. He shifted to better compare its length against her body.

  “Gack. It’s like a baseball bat.” Margo said as his cock swung above her.

  “It most definitely would not fit inside you,” he agreed.

  “This conversation is ridiculous.”

  “You find my cock ridiculous?”

  Runako shifted the claw against her sex, rotating it so that the curved inner surface cupped her sex. The tip of his claw slid between the gl
obes of her ass, parting them.

  “Ahhhh. That’s not what I said.”

  “What if I want to have you like this,” he shifted his claw, wiggling it side to side. Margo licked her lower lip and arched her back. “There’s nothing you could do to stop me from doing anything I want with you. To you. Any way I want.”

  Margo looked up at him, really looked at him, not slightly above his head as she had been doing. “You can do whatever you want to me. Whatever dirty, naughty thing you want.”

  He liked this woman.

  “That’s right.”

  Runako kept his finger in place at her sex, then leaned over her, planting his other hand by her shoulder, his claws tangling in her hair. He loomed above her, casting her in shadow. He waited until her breath slowed before he unfurled his wings with a snap.

  Margo screamed as they flared behind him, midnight blue in the firelight. Runako lowered his head, as if he would kiss her, but at the last moment veered to her breast and licked it.

  “Rough, rough tongue!” Margo exclaimed. Runako licked her other breast.

  Her hands fluttered to rest on his shoulders, her fingers curled back slightly, but as he continued his attention to her breasts, her fingers relaxed.

  Her eyes were closed he noted, and her lips occasionally twitched, as if she wanted to say something. Remembering the way she’d reacted to his words, he decided dirty talk—a concept much explained by human porn—was in order.

  “There’s nothing you can do to stop me. You’re mine. I’ll do whatever I want with you. Touch you however I want.”

  “Yes, oh yes,” she moaned, eyes opening.

  “You can beg and plead if you want. I might like that, to hear you begging for your freedom while I play with you. But I won’t let you go. I’ll keep you, for as long as I want you.”

  “Why? Why me?”

  “Because you are so very beautiful. And you are fierce.”

  “Then why do you want me submissive?”

  “Why do you ask so many questions?”

  “Please,” she said, running her hands tentatively up his neck. “I want to understand.”

  “The submission of a woman who is fierce and proud is more potent, more desirable, than the submission of a meek woman. To posses a fierce woman is the greatest pleasure.”