Bombshell (Monstrous Ink #2)

Chapter 11

E ffie’s lips moved against mine as she twisted in my arms so we were chest to chest. Her green hair was curled in long waves that I wanted nothing more than to wrap in a fist and hang on to while we made love.

Earlier tonight I’d been brooding over the day while the rest of the Monstrous Ink staff enjoyed themselves. It was meant to be a welcome party for Byrne who, despite me still not liking his fucking personality, was a damn good body piercer.

There had been no joy in any of it for me though.

No, my thoughts had been preoccupied with a certain five-foot-two witch who had looked devastatingly beautiful when she came down the stairs… only to go to the damn charity gala that I’d been hearing far too much about over the past week.

The bastards usually spent the weeks leading up to their gala ‘cleaning up’ the streets which meant bothering the homeless and pushing them out even though they had nowhere else to go—which was ironic as hell considering the whole point of the gala was to raise money for the needy. Besides that Arsenio had also been constantly bombarding me with new, and increasingly more ridiculous offers to sell my shop.

Monstrous Ink and The Dive were the biggest line of defense for all of the smaller shops on the Wharf—so if I gave in we were all fucked.

It had been putting me in a foul mood which was only made worse by Effie telling me at the last minute that she agreed to go for her friend, the very daughter of the man who’d been making my life a living hell amongst all of the other bullshit I was dealing with.

We’d snapped at each other as she was gathering her things and it had been bothering the fuck out of me all night.

My instincts had been screaming at me to go and make things right with my mate—especially because our bond was unsealed. It was like a million tiny little alarm bells going off in my head all at once trying to warn me that I was letting my mate slip from my grasp because of my stupid temper.

“Rather than look like a thundercloud all night,” Daphne had finally leaned over to shout over the music of the Dive, the Shirley Temple she’d been nursing all night cupped in between her hands. “You should go put on a nice outfit and apologize.”

“Apologize?” I’d said, frowning at the pregnant woman. “Why should I apologize?”

Daphne just rolled her eyes at me. “If you have to ask yourself that question, Dallan Elder, then you are more stupid than I thought. ”

She then turned away and proceeded to ignore me until I finally got up and left. Clearly I wasn’t good company for the rest of my staff..

After that I’d gone down to stand in the grotto I’d painstakingly redecorated. The one that I’d been planning on showing Effie today before she told us she was going to the gala.

I’d decided right then and there: fuck it . I was done being angry, I just wanted to see her. To touch the perfectly curled hair that had bounced so enticingly when we’d been arguing and to cup her perfect little ass that was being shown off in the black dress she was wearing.

Just imagining other men staring at my mate had been enough to make me change into nicer clothes and use my water magic to take a shortcut to where the Port Haven country club was.

And luck was with me tonight because Effie was on the balcony when I arrived, arguing with her friend.

Odette Sidhe looked too innocent to exist on this mortal plane and her words were naive at best as she tried in vain to ignore Effie’s reasoning.

I couldn’t imagine being trapped in that fancy mansion for my entire life. My parents had believed in me becoming independent from a young age, going so far as to leave me alone for extended periods of time so that I knew how to survive on my own should anything happen to them.

Of course, that was in the times before the Accords and we never knew when our last day Earthside would be. Especially my mother who’d nearly been burned at the stake several times in her long life.

She knew life was precious and fleeting more than anyone else and had wanted to make sure I knew what to do in the event that they died.

Odette, on the other hand, would probably struggle if she was ever left on her own.

Not that Arsenio would ever leave her alone. The normally pompous asshole seemed to soften into mush when around his only child and it was probably because her existence was so rare.

A faerie child—especially a female one—was like winning the biggest lottery on this planet.

I was pretty sure Arsenio would hang onto his child until something finally made him take his last breaths and if he kept up his holier-than-thou attitude and kept trying to buy my Wharf then I was going to kill him myself.

“You,” Effie said, bringing me back into the moment. “Are distracted. Am I not enough to get your full attention?”

The sultry way the words rolled off of her tongue made me shudder with anticipation because, after all, make up sex was the best kind of sex.

“Is this dress yours?” I asked, tugging at the stretchy black material that showed every slender curve of her body.

“No, it’s Odette’s.”

I reached down and began to rip the dress, the sound of fabric tearing filling the room as Effie’s squawk of protest did little to stop the destruction. “Hey! ”

“She can afford a new one, lass,” I rumbled as I pushed the ripped fabric away from her shoulders only to realize she wasn’t wearing a bra… or underwear. In fact, the only thing on her body now was a pair of dark, heart shaped nipple pasties which looked too good to be true. For a brief moment I was worried I’d somehow hit my head on the bottom of the ocean and this was all a hallucination before I died.

“Jesus fuck, Effie,” I cursed under my breath. “You weren’t wearing any undergarments?”

I suddenly wanted to go back to that damn party and beat up every man I saw until they forgot the memory of her.

“This dress doesn’t really lend itself well to panty and bra lines,” Effie explained, glancing down at herself. One of her vines uncurled from her back and snaked around my arm before I could begin to peel one of the pasties away from her nipples. “Hey! What are you doing?”

“I want to see your nipples, lass,” I told her, my voice low as I pushed against the extra appendage and used my nail to peel up the edge of the pasty before gently pulling it off, listening as Effie hissed out a breath.

The nipple underneath was a rosy, chapped pink and it stood at attention from the sudden sensation of the adhesive being ripped off.

“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked as I went for the other.

Effie glowered up at me. “Remind me to rip some nipple pasties off of you next time. ”

I grinned at her. “As long as you’ve got the right shape for me, lass. I’m partial to stars.”

Then I pried the other one off, pulling another hiss from the woman in front of me.

Effie’s vines slid up the front of my shirt and down my pants, tugging at the fabric as her hands brushed mine aside and she returned the undressing favor. My nice slacks and shirts fell away in strips of fabric.

“Oi.”

“You can afford new ones,” Effie told me sweetly as she began to walk backward, her vines pulling me along with her.

I thought she was heading for the bed, but instead she veered away from it until we were standing by the hanging chair.

“Sit,” she commanded, her vines helping me until I was sitting on the plush cushion and she was stepping in between my legs.

Then she dropped to her knees and I knew what her goal was.

“Effie…” I warned. “If you want me to last all night you might not want to start there.”

Effie fluttered her dark green lashes up at me. “I think you’ll last all night no matter what I do, or is your age finally getting to you?”

Then she gripped my half-hard cock in her fist, giving it two firm pumps to get the blood really flowing to the appendage before she opened her mouth and closed her lips around the bulbous head .

The inside of her mouth was hot and warm and she bobbed halfway down the length and back up, her fist clenching just tight enough around the base of my cock that I nearly came right then and there.

I leaned back amongst the pillows and finally gave in to the urge to bury my fingers in her still coiffed hair, gently tightening my hand on her scalp just enough so that Effie could feel the sting that I knew she loved.

Her tongue swirled around the ribbed surface of my cock, stuttering along the ridges as she glanced up at me with hungry green eyes.

“You’re a minx,” I managed through gritted teeth, my thumb rubbing circles into her scalp, urging her on.

I didn’t want to come, not yet, but the sensation of her mouth was almost too much as my hips began to stutter forward to meet her hungry little lips.

“Lass.” I gently tightened my grip on her hair, making her slow down until she stopped completely.

Her eyes flashed up to mine. “I wasn’t done yet.”

She leaned back on her heels, wiping the lip gloss that had smeared during what she’d just been doing.

“If you keep that up then I fear you’re going to suck the soul right out of me,” I told her as I gently gripped her jaw in my hand and leaned down in order to bring her lips to mine. “Now get up here.”

Effie didn’t argue and instead crawled up into my lap, her hands cupping my face as she deepened the kiss .

Her tongue swiped along the edge of my bottom lip, looking for an entry that I was only too happy to give her.

Meanwhile, my hands were sliding down the expanse of her back, brushing past the base of her vines and feeling the muscles that controlled them twitch in response. The vines in question were surprisingly resting slack, brushing against the floor as she climbed further up in order to straddle my lap.

Effie usually kept them curled tight to her, even when she was asleep, so the realization that they were relaxed right now sat warm and low in my stomach.

Gently, I reached down and slid my fingers into the juncture between her thighs, finding her already moist and ready.

But I wanted to return the favor first.

The swinging of the chair made it a little bit awkward to swap our spots but somehow I managed it as I slid down the width of the seat so that I was between her thighs.

Effie rarely allowed me the pleasure of tasting her—one of the many rules and boundaries she put on our time when she was busy trying to convince herself that what we did together was just business.

The handful of times she had let me, though, were so good I could still hear the sweet sound of her cries ringing in my ears as if it had happened only yesterday.

Having tentacles on my face definitely gave me an edge when it came to things like this—case and point Effie’s huff of anticipation as the largest tentacles that lined my jaw gently pried her thighs a little further apart .

Effie didn’t protest and when I looked up the line of her body I found her head propped up on one of the ridiculous throw pillows I’d painstakingly placed this morning as she waited for me to start.

All of her boundaries and rules had evaporated at some point and it made hope swell in my chest as my tongue darted out and slid up the line of her cunt.

As always, Effie tasted like heaven and her cries were just as divine as she threw an arm over her head and sucked in a heaving breath.

That noise was like the crack of a gun at a race, giving me all the permission I needed to taste her more fully.

The tentacles on my face that were holding her thighs open slipped up to join my tongue, the tapered tips prodding at the clenching entrance of her pussy until they managed to slip inside.

The appendages had always been sensitive, similar to the vines on Effie’s back, and the tightness of her entrance sent shivers of pleasure skittering down my spine, making my hips jerk with the need to be inside of her.

Effie’s clit was stiff under my tongue as I worked it back and forth, feeling the muscles in her thighs twitch with each pass as my tentacles worked to stretch her and get her ready for me.

“Dallan—” Effie said, her voice loud as she reached down to block my tongue from her clit. “I want you inside of me.”

“In a minute…” I told her, using one of my tentacles to nudge her hand away, but Effie would not be dissuaded .

“No, Dallan, now!” she demanded sitting up and nearly sending both of us careening off of the swinging chair. Her green eyes were lit with a blazing need as she pulled my face away from her cunt and began to tug me back up to her again.

…And I followed like an obedient dog, sliding up her body and feeling each curve and divot of it until our hips were aligned again.

I managed to plant one foot on the floor for stability and Effie’s vines joined it until the swinging was minimal and we wouldn’t risk a concussion caused by overzealous thrusting on my part.

Sliding my hand under her back, I brushed past the bases of all of the tentacles on that side until I reached the curve of her ass and then her thigh, lifting it and wrapping her entire leg around my waist.

The motion brought the head of my cock to her weeping entrance and we were ready.

“Are you ready, Anam Cara? ” I asked, the endearment slipping out of my lips before I could stop it.

Previously, Effie had never let me get the words out before, usually bringing her hands up to my lips to stop it, but now her face became almost thoughtful and I couldn’t help but reach out to brush against the bond we shared.

Normally, when I got too close, I could feel the rising swell of her panic, but tonight I just felt a sort of acceptance as she nodded before bringing her hands up to grip my shoulders .

Everything about tonight felt soft and different—like the rest of the world outside and all of its problems didn’t exist.

Tonight it was just me and Effie. That was all that mattered.

I pressed the head of my cock inside of her, my tentacles having done their job to stretch her out because I was able to sheathe the entire thing inside her with ease.

Each ridge of my cock was caressed by her hot inner walls, like she was made for me which—I guess as my mate—she was.

Effie let out a little gasp as I began to thrust.

“Too tight?” I asked, worrying that I was going too fast.

But she just shook her head and rolled her hips up to meet my next thrust.

“Not fast enough, fish boy,” she teased, trying to get a rise out of me.

“Cephalopod would be the more correct term, lass,” I shot back.

Clearly she was fine and ready to go if the twist of her pussy was an indication and so was I.

My next thrust was much rougher and made the both of us moan.

Later, after we’d christened every inch of this bedroom from the window bench, to the floor, to the swing a second time, we were finally quietly lying together and Effie was tracing circles on my chest, trying to follow the clouds of color shifting underneath my skin.

“You called me your soulmate,” she said quietly, her voice hoarse from all of the screaming she’d just done .

I wrapped coils of her green hair around my hand and held it up in the dim light, watching as the gossamer threads of it slipped through my fingers before I answered her. “I did. Does that scare you?”

Effie shrugged. “It all scares me, Dallan. I don’t… I don’t always feel like I can be that for you. You deserve someone less fucked up. Someone with less baggage.”

I scoffed, lifting my head so I could get a better look at her face. She was wearing a neutral expression, but one prod on our bond and I could feel the sheer level of self-doubt that was wafting off of her. “Lass, that isn’t how mates work, at least not with us Cthulhus. It’s not like it’s something I can just shut off.”

Effie sighed. “But don’t you need to, I don’t know, carry on the race? I know there aren’t that many of you left.”

I’d never talked about children with Effie before. I always figured it was one of her unspoken boundaries because it was such a touchy subject.

Most children of a Cthulhu parent and a parent of a different race tended to come out looking like most Cthulhu. Our genetics were just more dominant which also meant that it was hard to carry a child like me to term.

With Effie’s birth happening the way it had, I wasn’t sure how our genetics would play together, but I knew I would love that child regardless.

But, if Effie never wanted any children I wouldn’t mind that either. As long as she was with me I was sure I could face any sort of future. I was just happy she was actually talking about it out loud with me.

“It doesn’t matter much to me either way, Effie,” I told her, holding her even closer to me so that her ear was pressed to my chest so she could feel the beats of my twin hearts.

Effie was quiet for a while, seemingly deep in contemplation before she spoke again, changing the subject. “So how does a mating bond work for you Cthulhu? You’re all so secretive about how it works. Do you bite your mate? Like Cash did with Daphne? Or is it like the fae who have to do a whole long, crazy ceremony?”

I chuckled. “No, Lass, I won’t bite you to secure the bond nor will it be complicated like what the fae do. You know our mental connection?”

Effie nodded and I felt her consciousness on the edge of mine. It was the first time she’d pushed back on it since discovering its existence nearly a month ago.

“Well, we open ourselves up to it completely and it tethers us together as mates. I would be able to see through your eyes and you would be able to see through mine—it would almost be like stepping into each other’s bodies as our souls entwine and become one.”

“So we could technically do it tonight?”

There was a note of urgency in her voice that had me frowning. Before she’d been so reluctant to even talk about our relationship and now she seemed to want to jump headlong into it ?

She must have felt the distance between us the same way I had today after our argument.

Pulling her up so we could look at each other, I made sure she could feel my affection for her through the bond. “We could, but there is one other thing I haven’t told you about a Cthulhu mating ceremony.”

“And what’s that?” Effie asked with a frown.

“It’s very, ah, loud ,” I said, trying to find the right word for it. “Especially if both parties have magic within them. My mother is, as you know, a witch and apparently half of the village she and my father lived in could feel it—even the humans. It took everything for her and my father to convince them it was an earthquake.”

“And if we do it you think everyone in Port Haven will feel it?”

I snorted. “Lass, I think everyone on the West coast will feel it. You are a much more powerful witch than my mother.”

Effie rolled her eyes at that. “Tell that to Alexander. I’m still learning basic elemental magic as a grown adult. I still can’t seem to get the hang of anything but Earth and Fire. I wish I could do what you did tonight with your water magic.”

It had taken me nearly a century to perfect my water abilities. It was a rarity for my race to have any abilities outside of the inherent magic that the Cthulhu possessed, but thanks to my mother I was able to tap into the same latent elemental magic that she used, but only water. It was too far outside of my nature to be able to use anything else .

Lifting my hand into the air, I whispered the old incantation that my mother had taught me and pulled moisture from the air, cupping it in my hand. “I don’t know much about fire and earth magic, but I do know that water and air can be fickle. You can’t force it to happen. You have to go with the flow.”

Effie shot me a dry look. “Dallan, you’ve known me for almost fifty years. How often have I ever just ‘ went with the flow .’”?

She had me there, but she was never going to learn how to use the full extent of her powers if she kept this attitude.

“Here,” I said, holding the ball of water out to her. “Don’t think too hard about it, Eff, just let it happen. Alexander is far too deliberate with his magic and that’s how he teaches you, but magic—especially elemental magic—is all about the feeling. The element of water is supposed to be calm and centered, so just breathe in deeply.”

Effie looked as if she wanted to argue with me for a moment, her fingers curling inward on my chest like she was about to refuse me outright, then she finally sighed and sucked in one long breath.

“And let it out,” I told her.

She did as I asked.

“Close your eyes and do it again,” I whispered softly, trying to keep my voice level.

Effie pushed on my chest until she was half propped up on one elbow. “Is this supposed to be helping? ”

“Yes,” I said simply. “Now close your eyes and breathe in again.”

With another huge sigh, Effie’s eyelids fluttered shut and she breathed in deeply again.

“And out.”

The air left her in a whoosh.

“In,” I instructed, lifting the ball of water up in preparation for my next step.

“And out,” I finished as I gently placed the water in her palm, holding my own breath as I fully expected the water to lose its shape and splash all over the both of us.

“In,” I said one more time as Effie, oblivious to what I’d just done, breathed in again.

“Open your eyes and breathe out.”

Effie, at the very least, looked more relaxed now as she opened her eyes. All of the tension that seemed to have gathered in her shoulders thanks to our earlier conversation was gone as she looked at me with a slack, content expression.

Then she looked down at her palm and gawked at the water there.

“Don’t panic or you’ll lose it.”

“Am I doing this?” Effie asked, raising her palm up to her eyes so she could look at the water.

“With a little bit of help,” I confessed. “It’s a bit like magical training wheels, Lass. Eventually you’ll be able to pull water out of thin air yourself—hell if you get really good at this you could even make yourself invisible. ”

Effie’s green brows lifted. “Really? Isn’t that super advanced magic?”

It was, but as I watched her pass the ball of water from hand to hand, it occurred to me that in the entirety of our lesson, Effie hadn’t uttered the words of a spell once.

I had a feeling that she was far more talented than any of us could imagine, a fact that worried me as Alexander, and more importantly, Arsenio put her in their sights for something . I just didn’t know what and I had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the unseasonably warm temperature in the bay.