Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 065

Mike frowned. "Seems a bit extreme, but the only goblin I've met is Tink. She's nothing short of amazing."

To hear him refer to a creature like a goblin as anything other than disgusting awakened all sorts of feelings inside of Velvet. Would he ever see her as something other than an eight-legged freak? She was perfectly aware that he had a touch of arachnophobia, she could smell his fear when they had first met. That scent had already disappeared, and she wondered if it had to do with the other night when he had touched her.

She thought about the strange moment they had shared. A sexual current had run through her whole body, and it had taken everything in her power to keep her hands off of him. If she hadn't heard the gargoyle's arrival, she didn't know what would have happened.

"The house sounds interesting. Dana told me about your spat with the fairy queen. And did you really tame Cerberus? How did you manage that?"

His cheeks turned red. "Quite by accident. Yuki cast the wrong spell on Cerberus and..." he waved his hands around as if trying to come up with more words, but failed. A yawn escaped his lips, and he rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, I promise that you aren't boring. Just need sleep. I'm only a weak human after all."

I don't think that, she thought. "Have a good night, then."

"You, too." He gave her a little wave and then disappeared around the corner. She waited a minute for him to come back, but it wasn't meant to be.

The tree line was almost a hundred feet from the cabin, but she reached it in moments. Hidden in the darkness of the pines, she pulled out the shot glass in her front pocket and examined it.

It was Mike's semen. Preserved for Dana as a means of keeping her sane, it contained his viable sperm. Spittle had formed in the corners of her mouth as she pried the cap off, her brain no longer in control of her limbs. She inhaled its scent, and her human eyes rolled up into her head.

Synapses that had never fired before lit up her brain, and she saw flashes of children. They were all daughters, but had Mike's hair and his goofy grin. She saw dozens of them, each one a possibility. Some were lifting giant stones while others built intricate webs. It was like standing in the middle of a storm, but each blast of lightning was illuminating the future.

"Oh gods," she muttered, then held the cup to her mouth and sucked down the contents. The cool liquid warmed her belly, and the flashes intensified. Some offspring moved with lethal grace, others struck from the shadows. His children would be powerful, their combined biology a perfect match.

Her mind focused on a little girl who looked different than the rest. Her hair was willowy and twisted about in the wind. She looked up at Velvet with deep brown eyes that were a mirror image of her own father.

She gasped, the shot glass forgotten as it fell and landed in the snow. The image was gone, and she had to see this girl again. Would her child have her father's humanity, or her mother's ruthlessness? Without hesitation, she removed the lid of the next shot glass and slammed its contents.

The images came anew, but now she saw the girl standing over a fresh kill. It was a brown bear, and she was sinking her fangs into it. Now the girl was climbing a tree without making a sound. Now she was—

Gone. Blinking rapidly, Velvet hurried to drink the next one. Several minutes passed as she contemplated this mystery child, an ethereal being that reminded her of both Mike and her father. Her heart swelled with pride to see her standing defiantly above a giant chasm with a meticulous web built beneath her.

When she ate the last of Mike's semen, she had one final vision. It was her daughter, standing inside of a large building filled with books. She was an adult now, and she was standing on the ceiling with her hair hanging below her and a book in her hand. The Arachne looked up and their eyes locked. Startled, Velvet's daughter dropped her book.

The book fell almost twenty feet before the Arachne reached out with glowing fingers to summon it back to her.

"What is this?" She was back in the forest now, and she knelt down to examine the shot glasses, hoping for just a little more juice. This new Arachne had been using magic! Was such a thing even possible?

She had to know more, to see her offspring again. Was this how her mother had experienced it? Had she seen her daughters so perfectly in her mind's eye?

What, then, of the others she had seen? For decades, they had spoken about how it would be up to Velvet and Eulalie to decide whether the Arachne went extinct. She was aware that her mother had willingly smashed hundreds of her own eggs to ensure children able to resist the instinct to hunt humans for food. Would she have to do the same?

Her belly churned as she stumbled around the side of the house. She felt drunk, a sensation she tried to avoid at all costs. Alcohol never mixed well with her spider biology, and she felt more sick than relaxed. Only it wasn't booze that had her all messed up.

It was him. She could smell his scent, sense his presence through the walls of the building. Standing outside her father's bedroom window, she could see Mike in bed, his face buried in a pillow. The door had been closed and it was dark inside. If she opened the window, she could get inside.

Something shifted at the foot of the bed. She shook her head in surprise, wondering how she could have missed the three-tailed fox curled up at the foot of the bed. She had no idea that Yuki could change shapes like that, though she had wondered. Wouldn't it be nice if she could become human and walk among them as an equal rather than an abomination?

She was panting, and her heart hurt. Tears formed in her eyes as she watched him shift beneath the blankets. Something inside of her had snapped in the last couple of days, and her entire world now swirled around this man that had walked into her life.

Her mother had warned her multiple times about the drive to mate. It would be an overwhelming urge that would eat her away from the inside as she lost control. However, it wasn't only Mike that she was fixated on, but the girl from her vision. This unborn child could be her father's legacy, and she refused to let that die.

If she bit Yuki while she was a fox, would it be enough to knock her out? Maybe she could mate with him, then run away after. If Quetzalli and Bigfoot didn't catch on...

Uncle Foot. He would know, and he would come looking for her. Eulalie could be made to understand, but her uncle never would.

She let go of the window and ran. It didn't matter where she went, she just needed distance. The air was cold, and she held her jacket tight against her body as she sprinted through the woods. The long branches of the pines hungrily grabbed for her flesh, but she twisted through the gaps in their foliage with ease.

When she was almost a mile from the house, the trees in front of her exploded as Abella dropped through them from above. The gargoyle's face was twisted up in anger as she opened her wings wide, blocking Velvet's path.

Velvet came to a stop, her feet sliding in the snow.

"I saw what you did," Abella said. She held up an empty shot glass accusingly. "Tell me why I shouldn't crush you."

Instead of answering, Velvet bared her fangs and bull-rushed the gargoyle. Abella looked surprised, but held her ground. When they collided, the two of them crashed through the trees and tumbled down a hill.

"Leave me alone!" Velvet didn't bother striking Abella. There was nothing her fists could do against her stony hide. Instead, she twisted around the gargoyle and pinned her wings together with a pair of her legs while covering Abella's eyes. Abella stumbled around, her swishing tail pounding through the nearby bushes. Once the gargoyle was off balance, Velvet swung forward and down, executing a throw that tossed Abella into a nearby tree.

On impact, the snow in its branches fell, burying Abella. Velvet scrambled to get away, but the gargoyle burst free and tackled her from behind. Stony fingers closed around Velvet's neck and squeezed.

"You were ready to fuck him, weren't you?" Abella's breath was hot against Velvet's ear. "And when you were done, you were going to eat him!"

Velvet pulled out her sword. In its collapsed state, she drove it down into Abella's thigh. Sparks flew when the sword slid across stony flesh, and Abella howled in pain. Velvet twisted around to put the blade between them.

"I was not going to eat him!" she yelled, the blade held to Abella's throat. "Please, just let me go!"

"No!" Abella's eyes flicked to the blade. The magical blade was capable of injuring her, and she was wary of it.

"If you think you can choke me out before I use this on you, you're sorely mistaken." Velvet's whole body was tingling now, fire burning in her limbs.

"I'm not worried about a little scratch." As if to emphasize her point, Abella tilted her face to reveal the large crack that went over her eye. It glittered in the moonlight, as if filled with dark crystals.

Velvet pointed the blade at herself and unfolded it. They were close enough to the ground that the point of the blade buried itself in the snow. The sword tried to unfold, but the handle got caught in Abella's open mouth and pushed her off the ground.

When Abella let go, Velvet slid behind her and grabbed the sword. She pinned Abella to the ground and placed the tip of the blade at the base of her skull.

"if you try to get up, all I have to do is press." To emphasize her point, she leaned on the blade. "It's called leverage."

Abella went still, her wings relaxing.

"All I want is to leave," she said. "To get some fresh air, some perspective. You don't know me, but I'm guessing you know my kind. Well, guess what? I don't even know my kind. My mother made sure of that, bless her hearts."

Abella growled down in the snow.

"And you know what else? My mother would want me to kill you. Because despite her enlightenment, she was still a killer, because it's what she needed to be." More tears now, hot in her eyes and cold on her cheek as they froze. "And so was my father. He was a killer, too. Never wanted to talk about it, but it's true. Both of them did it, and they would do it again to keep us safe.

"But you know what? Because they had to kill, they spent their whole lives teaching me to be better than them. To live a life where I didn't have to make that decision. And right now, I am so confused, everything is spinning. Yes, you're right. I do want to fuck him, I can't help it. But kill him? Take his life just to eat? He called a goblin amazing. Have you ever seen one? Of course, you have, you live with one. Right now, all I can think about is mating with him and letting him fill my belly with his seed, and that's fine, it's whatever. But do you know what I want even more than that?"

Abella tilted her head, as if to hear better.

"I want him to think I'm amazing, too." She lifted the blade and stepped off of Abella's back. Before the gargoyle could say anything or move, Velvet folded up the sword and ran.

Mike opened his eyes and let out a sigh. He almost didn't want to know what time it was. Once he knew, he would start that mental countdown about how many hours he could still sleep and feel rested. He wanted an early start, because he planned to hike to the edge of the boundary and try to get some cell reception. It wasn't unexpected for him to be gone this long, but he definitely needed to check in.

When he picked up his phone, he squinted when it lit up.

"Ugh." He set it back down. It was almost one in the morning, and he was no closer to sleep than he had been an hour before.

Part of the problem was his current bedmate. While Yuki was able to collapse herself into a cute little fox, Quetzalli was an absolute bed hog. The cabin only had one queen-sized bed. With Bigfoot on the couch, he'd offered to sleep on the floor, but Quetzalli had insisted they share.

He held still for a minute, listening. There was a slight breeze outside, and he occasionally heard the creaking of floorboards. His best guess was that Dana was pacing. He felt bad that the poor girl could no longer sleep, and wondered what he would do if saddled with so many extra hours.

Quetzalli shifted in bed and said something in her sleep. Though the words were unintelligible, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise just before he got zapped. Suddenly wide awake, he slid out of bed and put on his pants and shoes.

Yuki opened her eyes and sat up. She tilted her head out of curiosity.

"Can't sleep," he explained. "But don't worry, I won't go far."

She yawned, then set her head back down and watched him with one eye as he walked out of the room.

Out in the living room, he saw that Bigfoot was asleep on the couch. Several empty beer cans had been stacked in a pyramid on the nearby table and an old VCR had been hooked up to the TV. Harry and the Hendersons was playing on mute.

"He thinks it's hilarious." Dana stood in the kitchen, an e-reader in her hands. "Trouble sleeping?"

"A bit. Quetzalli keeps taking the blankets."

She nodded, then set her reader down. "I'm not surprised. I've seen her sleep. She tosses and turns a lot. I think she dreams about flying around and chasing storms. She's totally into you, by the way."

"I kind of figured." He smiled and sat down next to her.

"If you know, then why haven't you fucked her?" Dana raised an eyebrow.

Taken aback by the boldness of the question, Mike felt his cheeks begin to burn. "I kind of thought that you two were a thing and didn't want to cross any lines."

"I appreciate that. But we're not officially anything. My heart belongs to Alex." She sighed and shook her head. "I sometimes wonder if I'll ever fall in love with someone else. Coming to grips with my situation was difficult enough, but I find myself wondering if romantic emotions are frozen in time like the rest of me."

Mike frowned, old feelings of guilt regarding Dana bubbling up to the surface. "I wish I could help," he told her.

"You help plenty. It can be weird sometimes, but I know your heart's in the right place. As for me and Quetzalli, that's just for fun. Lily helped me fill that void for a while, but Quetzalli likes to cuddle after." She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "This will sound silly, but when I'm holding her after sex, I like to pretend that I'm feeling the same things she does. Practicing for when I have those feelings again."

"I don't think that sounds odd at all. You're doing the best that you can in a shit situation, it's all you can hope for."

"I guess." She looked over at Bigfoot. "I'm guessing a couple more days will see him on his feet. Then we can figure out who is going and who is staying. As far as the Nirumbi are concerned, they seem like a done deal."

"Maybe." Mike thought back to that intense feeling he had experienced outside. He had his doubts, but had no evidence.

"If you rub her back, it will help her relax," Dana offered. "She's really into getting rubbed, in case you were wondering."

He laughed. "I feel like you're trying to sell me on having sex with her."

"Have you ever seen those movies where a teen girl talks about her crush all the time and it's super annoying? I've been living in that movie, but all the talk is about sex with you. I could use some peace and quiet."

"And you'd be fine with that?"

"Would I have brought this up if I wasn't? Seriously, Mike. Please fuck her. I'm tired of answering questions about heterosexual sex. Oh, but a warning. She gets extra zappy when she comes."

So do I, he thought.

"So other than a dragon-sized bed hog, what's the real reason you're still awake?"

"I don't know what you mean," he replied.

"I know your scent. You've smelled differently all day, and I'm getting a whiff of something else right now. It smells a lot like pepperoni burps, but I think it's anxiety."

"Oh," he replied. Dana was right, there was something else keeping him up. Ever since that moment in the barn with Velvet, he had been unable to get her out of his mind. In fact, he had walked away from their conversation about goblins only to get some distance. He hardly knew her, and the intense attraction was a little frightening.

"Oof, there it is. Whatever the problem is, you're thinking about it right now." Dana waved a hand in front of her nose and scrunched up her face. "Is it something I can help with?"

"I'm not sure." He pictured the way that Velvet looked when she had been standing next to him outside. She had absent-mindedly twirled her hair in one finger while they talked. When she looked at him, he felt like he was getting lost in her eyes. She was his perfect tomboy fantasy. A woman who had lived her life in the forest, with beautiful auburn hair and a sweet smile that made his knees feel weak.

From the waist down...he didn't even mind so much. He supposed part of that was due to the fact that she was covered in soft hair. Her sister's sleek, shiny body was far more intimidating to him.

And what about when he had touched her and his entire body had become ultra-sensitive? His magic had never done that before. In the last few months, he had experimented with his own abilities, but it was definitely limited.

He called the abilities and traits he had gained from the others his extra-human abilities. The banshee scream was the most obvious, and the endurance he had received from Zel had been a godsend on their hike. He attributed his strength in the Dreamscape to Lily, and the fact that his cum practically sparkled now was definitely the fairies.

But there had to be other traits hidden away, ones he hadn't discovered yet. Having no fear of heights was something he had received from Abella, but he would never have known about it if he hadn't taken a ride on the Jabberwock. Was this weird sensitivity related to one of those? Perhaps one of his gifts was reacting to Velvet's presence? It was impossible to know.

"Where does Velvet sleep?" he asked. They had been given a tour of the downstairs, but he hadn't bothered going upstairs yet.

"That's...not the question I expected. The Arachne sleep upstairs." Dana pointed at the loft. "It's weird up there, kind of like the house. That whole bigger on the inside thing. When you go up there, stay out of Eulalie's room. She'll get pissed if she finds out you messed with her computers."

"Is she some kind of—"

Dana practically leapt across the table to push her finger against his lips, preventing him from saying webmaster.

"Just don't. It's too obvious," she warned.

He snorted and stood. Dana watched him ascend the spiral staircase to the loft. Somehow, despite climbing the stairs, the ceiling didn't seem any closer. In fact, the space in the rafters looked large enough for several Arachne to move about. He wondered if Eulalie and Velvet had used the area as a playroom, able to move about without disturbing the earthbound residents below.

From where he stood, he could see into the first floor. Bigfoot was snoring now, and Dana had put on headphones. He walked along the railing, trying to picture what it was like to grow up in such a place. In a dark nook along the far wall, he saw Emery tucked away in something that looked like a nest. The little imp was asleep, the silver dollar Mike had given him clutched in his tiny claws.

An entire life had been lived here by the Arachne family, and he wondered what the next step for the daughters would be. If the Nirumbi had been dealt with, they could return to their normal lives. He suspected that Eulalie was interested in the house, but Velvet had too many emotional ties to this place. It wouldn't be hard to connect the two by portal, but that was a discussion for another time.