Chapter 33 Just A Monster
Xiaoyu
I can’t tell if it’s light or dark out when I finally emerge. I don’t know what it looks like from the outside, but being inside him isn’t as terrible as it sounds. In fact, it’s the complete opposite, although I would need time to recover before going in again.
I’m sore, but it’s a happy kind of sore.
I still feel the remnants of the ecstasy Datu gave me.
A tremble hiding beneath the surface of my skin.
He carries me over to my tub, filling it with water.
I’m still coated in that thing that surrounds his guts—probably stomach acid.
It smells good, though. I even want to lick it.
“Go ahead. It’s supposed to taste good, too.” He says this with a heady look in his eyes that is just pure male satisfaction.
My eyes flick toward him. “Right.” I say as I lick my arm. He isn’t kidding. It tastes similar to my favorite dessert. Sweet, succulent. “Mmmmm…”
“It is not a drug. It just tastes good.” He reassures me quickly. I notice when he is unsure of himself, he smokes up. Literally.
There’s a moment of silence as I think through his words. “Did you know you were drugging me?”
“Just my pollen.”
“Then I think that’s the only thing that matters. There was nothing we could have done to prevent it.”
His violet eyes become a vivid pink, not the soft baby pink…
“What are you feeling right now?”
“I do not understand it myself. Dreigg—the ice serpent—has softened after his last sacrifice.”
He must be talking about Laura. I keep wondering what happened to her.
When we'd met her and the serpent Dreigg on our way back, she'd been tight-lipped about him, the glowing form of a man lingering just within our periphery.
The crazed haze I'd been in would have made me protective of her, but there was a content air about her that made me pause enough to reevaluate my actions.
Whatever she'd been through, it must have been good.
“I learned that if there is a feeling you cannot shake, whether it be fear or wanting someone you should not, that is love.”
“Fear? How so?”
He chuckles as if embarrassed. “I came here prepared to grovel, beg, apologize, pick another form, even be rejected. That is my fear.” He gathers me in his arms, settling us in my small tub.
Water spills over, but we don’t care. “I learned that it is better to reach for what I want than do nothing at all. And right now, it is not relief I feel…it’s something stronger.
It is a feeling that I have arrived somewhere I have always been wanted. ”
It sounds oddly like destiny, but I know he would never accept this. For that, I know exactly what he means. “Acceptance. That’s what you feel.”
He washes me and soaks himself more in the tub.
It seems silly, but I don't shower to get rid of the slickness remaining on my skin.
I don't want to. After drying me, Datu brushes my hair that touches the middle of my back.
His chest keeps making this low-pitched growling sound as if he is hungry or moaning in satisfaction. I can't tell.
Turning around, I cock my head at him. No words, just a look.
Cupping my chin, he sweeps his thumb over my lips as if imagining smearing something. The sounds from him becomes a thousand wailing voices. It should be terrible, but I know it's his way of talking to me. He mouths along with the monstrous snarl inside him:
My face becomes extremely hot as my eyes water once more.
Heart beating a strong, erratic rhythm, I lean in to kiss him.
There's nothing carnal about this one. I've become accustomed to leave out my emotions to protect myself that giving in feels…
pivotal. Freeing. Emotions, they aren't punished anymore. Starting today, they are rewarded.
"You came at a time when I'd given up on love."
Datu places one hand over my heart. "You could not find it because that love was meant for me." His self-assurance used to bother me, but now, it's endearing, knowing he says it to make me laugh. Whether he believes this or not, I do not care. His words ring with truth.
I cackle, palming his face and shoving him playfully. "Arrogant bastard. You know what? Yeah, I guess that's true."
As the rain slams down my roof, the silence becomes peaceful. It's not a shield anymore. My mind drifts back to Esoterra. When I'd left it had began pouring rain. “I've been wondering—is it still raining there?” I don’t have to say it out loud. He knows my question.
He stops rushing my hair, hands settling against my back. “Enough to invigorate Esoterra.”
My hand squeezes his thigh before I lean against his naked chest. “Tell me what happened after I left.”
“Raging storms and change. I think it was what we always needed. What I needed, too.”
I feel this in my soul. The standstill is a slow death. “What changed?”
“Do you remember the Providers coming back to life?”
“All of them?”
“Yes. The sprouts have survived, thanks to your departure.”
If leaving Esoterra had been the answer to saving them, I would have done it again.
It doesn’t mean leaving didn’t hurt me, it just made the decision to do so easier.
This is staggering information, and it gives hope to Esoterra.
A world is not sustainable without everyone’s help.
Symbiosis and synergy in biology is just as important as love and support in society.
“How does reproduction work now?”
In the mirror, I see his smile’s reflection. “Your friend Sunshine is with child with Lakan’s sprout.”
Gasping, I turn around to hug him. “Oh, my god, this is great news! Not just for them, but for all of you guys.”
“Truly a miracle.” His eyes were shining, suspiciously glassy.
I cup his face, kissing him straight on the mouth. “What’s wrong?”
“The price for change had not only been you, but my godhood. Will you still accept me as I am? Just…a monster with large teeth?”
My heart flutters inside my chest. “I will accept you in any shape, any form. I am made for you, and you for me.”
His lips seal over mine—his kisses frantic yet tender, completely devoid of any skill. I laugh against his mouth as he bites my chin.
“In my nothingness, you are everything, my sweet girl.”
When I kiss him back, he’s serious. He holds me tight like he’s afraid I might disappear at any moment. There’s an intensity in the air that causes the tips of my fingers to spark against his changing skin. I clench my thighs together, feeling heady. Too heady, something must be wrong.
“Your body calls to be bred.”
I can’t do internal math with his hand on my pussy. “Do it, then.”
Realizing this is the first time we’re doing it on an actual bed, I push him back with a force that surprises him.
“I’ve never had you in my mouth before.”
“Yes, you sliced it off before we could continue.”
My face is warm as I lay between his legs, stomach down. He looks so human…
“I think I know what you need.” Immediately, he shifts into his other form, the Terra one with the gaping snap-trap and foxglove cock. Unfortunately for me, it’s two cocks now.
I didn’t ask questions, I just suck the top one while my other hand strokes the lower one. I don’t know how I made it happen, but the little bell-traps of his cock closed into buds sloping up. His hands push me to take him deeper into my mouth, until I feel him at the back of my throat.
Datu releases a husky groan. A real sound, not just something I hear in my head. The rattle in his voice is titillating. He sits up before grabbing my face and devouring my mouth.
“Mine. All fucking mine.” He snarls before rolling us over, slamming me down the bed. He is impatient when he fixes his top cock over my opening so the other can smoothly glide between me and the sheets. “Moan for me, my sweet dreamer. Don’t hold back.”
I do as he says, and he’s there, all over me. Invading me like he owns me. He’s not laying his claim, he’s trampling over my control and conquering. His body doesn’t ask for submission—he just takes it. An ultimatum I can’t negotiate.
Everything I feel is pure, feral pleasure. He makes those wordless animalistic sounds until the headboard knocks against the wall with a forceful rhythm.
“Datu! Fuck!” The wet sounds grow louder as he pillages, His thumb abuses my clit, but I’m beyond feeling pain. Every single cell in my body cries, begs for him to cum inside me.
Sweat drips all over me and with a roar, he claims my mouth for more than a kiss.
I taste his cum through his mouth while my walls clench around the sting of his cock.
His trap snaps close, biting into my cheeks, injecting dizzying bliss.
I'm locked against him. I have never thought it felt this good to be trapped like a prey.
It doesn’t hurt, but I still have to breathe through it. “God, what is that?” My eyes nearly roll back at the cocktail of endorphins, oxytocin, dopamine…or maybe just the tall glass of Datu.
“Barbs to guarantee inception.” He grunts. “I forgot to tell you. Does it hurt?”
Shaking my head, I feel him dripping down my thighs as he rides out the remnants of his orgasm.
“Is it a Terra thing?” I can barely form a coherent thought.
“A foxglove cock thing.” Even in the throes of climax, he manages to wink at me.
This moment doesn’t seem real, and as soon as the thought crosses my mind, he hears it. He doesn’t have words, but he leans down to kiss me again. This time, a deeper, calmer, more intimate kiss.
“I love you.” I finally tell him against his lips. I feel safe as I say so. Datu and I are so used to hiding behind masks that sincerity's unfamiliar. I know my feelings will not be used against me. To me, it's an exquisite ache in my heart. A good kind of hurt.
“Thank you.” One look at his eyes tell me he feels the exact same thing.
I realize Datu likes taking care of me. He learned how to cook in the three days he’s been around.
He eats, too! A whole ton that we have to go grocery-shopping more often than not.
At first, it was jarring to me, but as time passed, I got used to it.
He snacks a lot like it's a hobby. Despite what he says, he enjoys masticating like us sub-people.
Every time we go to bed, he always brushes my hair.
When I get off work, he is always there waiting for me by the campus garden.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I ask while he braids my hair, cross-legged on the bed.
“I am thinking of a word to describe you…and beauty is not it.”
I flinch, but he hugs me instead. “What?”
“No, it is nothing bad.” He chuckles against my ear, taking the form of the human again.
His face is much clearer to me now. Thick arching dark brows, piercing dark eyes, full kissable lips.
“What you are is beyond beauty. You are what words can never express. Killing me, eating me alive at the mere sight of you.”
My heart stutters as if taken aback. No one, and I mean no one, has ever said I was beautiful.
“My gut twists and turns because it hungers for you. You, the affliction I would force upon myself.”
I grin, but tears fill my eyes. “Is that your way of telling me you love me with all your gutty works?”
Datu smiles wide, but he doesn’t think this is silly. “I love you with all my gutty works, yes.”
He wipes away a drop, only to be followed by another. It's been hurting me for almost twenty years, but I have to ask him even though I already know the answer. "Did you…kill him?"
Bright eyes flashing sharply, he returns my words with a solemn look. "I killed and ate many people. Use your words to ask specifically, Xiaoyu. No more obscuring the truth."
My hands move to hide my face in shame, but he beats me to it. "No, don't do that. What happened to him, he deserved it. His end should not hold weight in your heart."
"So, did you kill my stepfather? M-my abuser?" I hiccup, but he keeps me safe in his arms, hugging me to him.
Pressing his a kiss on my temple, he replies, "I ate him, Xiaoyu. It wasn't a dream. You saw me in my true form eat your abuser alive. He isn't in hell, but in a place much, much worse." He is unapologetic as he says this.
"P-please. Keep him away from me. And other children."
"He isn't going anywhere, my sweet dreamer. He's in the promised land."
"Thank you for protecting me."
Instead of answering, he slams his lips against mine. It shocks me how warm they are. Unlike before, they were always cold. I fall into him, and my heart flutters when I fit just right in his embrace. Just right. Datu, my Goldilocks zone.
“I left you flowers on your table.” His voice tickles my mind while he's busy kissing me.
Pulling away sharply, my eyes find the bundle on the table and I choke.
“Datu, you have to be careful with leaving these kinds of flowers around. These are foxgloves. These are poisonous to me when ingested.”
“Don’t put them in your mouth then.” His grin is cheeky. He looks so carefree about it that something must have happened.
Inspecting the bouquet of foxgloves, I see several of his teeth cupped by the soft bell petals. A beautifully horrendous gift.
“Each tooth symbolizes all the years we have together. I regrow them easily, and I never run out. If you run away, my teeth will chase and catch you."
Suspiciously, I eye him. “Are you saying I’m immortal?”
Mouth spreading into a smile, he looks unnaturally wicked. Handsome in a very deceiving I’m-going-to-eat-you-once-you-get-close-enough way.
“I do not think it is too much to ask. For you to stay by my side until I am toothless and expire in starvation.”
“You’re stuck with me.”
“Does that mean you will return with me? To Esoterra?”
I kiss his cheek. “Wherever you are, I will go.”