Chapter 10 Notto
NOTTO
Know when you can’t win a fight. There’s nothing stupider than rushing in when you know you’re going to be slaughtered. You deserve that death if you’re that self-righteous.
B“Do you know why the libraries are beast-free and always stocked with basic necessities to live?” I ask Rainer.
He gives me a wary look. “No.”
“Because we, monsters, know that humans are distrustful of us. Most won’t go near the bases where their chances of survival are greatest, so we created neutral spots and keep them stocked with what you need to live another day.”
He doesn’t like it when I tell him all the ways that monsters are trying to keep humans alive. I go one further and add, “It’s fae magic that keeps the beasts out and witch magic that keeps the ill-intended out, meaning monsters who would use these spots to hunt humans or vice versa.”
Rainer stares at the large library. We’re in Shar-Lot, and the library here is a hub for all the humans and monsters alike who need some reprieve from the world. There are other secrets within libraries, but those are secret for a reason.
We spend a couple days on Base 6, and I make it a point to introduce him to several humans and monsters alike who were the victims of the human group that hunted and tortured monsters.
Keary decides to average it out and begins introducing him to humans who mated with monsters and carried monster babies.
You know, willingly. Not the victims of Silence.
He’s far more willing to believe that humans have been the victims of monsters than the opposite. I’ve specifically been choosing victims with visual scars to make sure he understands that this wasn’t just a mind game. There were physical consequences.
Their scars are visible for the world to see, but there are far more that dwell deep under the skin. Just as the trauma they still carry a century later hasn’t faded.
This library is several stories tall. We take our cue from Kaida and let her lead us to an unoccupied area.
In some places, there are permanent residents of the libraries, both monster and human alike. Monsters try not to let them freeload, though. If they’re not somehow contributing to something, then they don’t get the benefits that others’ hard work offers, free of cost.
Those who tend to stay in the libraries full time take care of the libraries, much in the same way librarians used to, and they also keep the grounds clean. They upkeep the buildings as best they can and attempt to keep the dust and decay away from the books.
Libraries are the one place that humans actively tried to keep from being destroyed. Churches? Buh-bye. Government buildings? See-ya. Hospitals? Eh. They were raided for supplies, but their usefulness was quickly used up.
But libraries held knowledge. They held histories and science and stories. They held directions on how to rebuild civilizations. They also held warnings for what brings humans to the brink of extinction over and over.
This time, it was idiots in office who refused to believe what we were telling them was happening. They didn’t want to believe in monsters’ existence, even when we stood before them and offered them proof. They didn’t want to believe that they were as vulnerable, as weak, as we told them they were.
They didn’t want to believe that monsters could and would destroy them if given the opportunity.
Silence saw that opportunity and exploited it. The cities that fell first were the ones who refused to believe the truth.
Now what? Now, we’re left with people like Rainer who can only see what’s around them, struggling to exist after pods of monsters kill entire colonies. His knowledge of the world is passed down from oral history.
Even when humans access the tools within the libraries, they’re not reading the histories. Even if they were, the truth of this particular history isn’t widely spread within the libraries. Who’s going to publish it? Who’s going to teach it when there’s no organized schooling?
I don’t blame him. Much like Leema, he classifies all monsters the same, and I’m not sure I’d be any different. Especially if I were a victim in either of the ways they are.
“I’m going to find a shower,” Rainer says, allowing Kaida to lead him to the bathroom.
I nearly call after him that the showers only exist in these bathrooms because monsters installed them after the fact. Libraries weren’t equipped with fully functioning bathrooms when originally built.
“Why do you keep doing that?” Keary asks once Rainer is out of the room.
“Just to make sure he knows the world isn’t as black and white as he thinks it is.”
“It’s not his fault. That’s how he was raised,” Drystan says.
“We’re showing him the truth, yet he’s still reluctant to believe it,” I point out.
“I don’t think he’s reluctant. I think he’s overwhelmed,” Keary says. “You’re failing to show him the evidence of what Silence did to humans.”
“I don’t need to show him that monsters can be cruel.
He already knows that. But he still thinks, on some level, that monsters are worse than humans as a whole, and that’s not the case.
Humans are still fighting amongst themselves to determine who holds the most power in their pathetic little colonies instead of uniting and fucking rebuilding the world around them.
The human sees that monsters are flourishing in the bases and gets mad because he feels like we’re keeping the humans from thriving.
I’m proving that monsters, who owe humans nothing by the way, are still providing sanctuaries like the libraries to help them survive. ”
“You’re so clinical,” Drystan says as he leans against my chest. I wrap an arm around him. “I think we should just plop him in the middle of a mixed family and let him absorb the truth for a couple weeks.”
Keary sighs. “Let’s just grab some food while he’s showering so we can eat when he gets back.”
I’m annoyed with Keary’s obsession with this damn human. It’s fucking frustrating. Keary belongs to us—to me and Drystan—something he’s refused for decades, and now he’s got a damn human trailing around us like a fucking puppy.
I hate everything about it, including the fact that I don’t hate the human like I want to… and I really want to.
I don’t follow Keary and Drystan to get food. Instead, I make sure we have places to sleep tonight with all the luxuries I miss the most when following Keary around, like blankets and pillows. I miss my bed more than fucking anything, but I’m not willing to stay away from him.
The ache in my chest that is the equivalent of my monster pining is far too strong now. Funny how we talk about the stubbornness of water monsters when we have the most stubborn monster in existence as our should-be mate!
Keary and Drystan are still in the kitchen when the human returns. I’m not sure where the lut is since she didn’t follow him back. I watch the human through the stacks of books as he sets down his bag. He’s now in fresh clothing, his hair damp.
He looks around, taking in the library, then he turns and starts meandering down an aisle. With nothing else to do right now, I follow him from a distance. I’m still trying to figure out why Keary won’t let him go. Why is he keeping this particular human?
My first thought is that his monster is reacting to the human in the same way our monsters react to each other. Meaning, they sense their mate. It’s a weaker feeling with humans, but it’s no less undeniable than it is among monsters.
What’s most infuriating is that Keary’s obviously willing to see where it goes with the human, whereas he’s been telling me and Drystan no for decades. It only makes me want to hate the human more. What if I pushed a shelf of books over on him? What if I pushed him off the roof of the library?
The fact that these thoughts haven’t caused me to be violently expelled from the library means they’re not at all true convictions. I have no interest in actually harming him. I don’t want to harm him… which only further solidifies that he is part of this family. Another reluctant individual.
The human stops a few times to read the back of a book or look at a cover.
I pause where he did to examine the same books, trying to figure out what catches his eye.
My methods for dissecting a human are far different from what the asshole humans did to monsters.
I don’t want to see what physiologically makes him up.
I want to see what mentally makes him tick.
Every tiny bit of information leads to more insight, even if I haven’t made sense of it yet.
I turn the corner and stop in my tracks when Keary is there with his arms folded across his chest. Oops. Busted.
“Stop stalking him. He’s not your prey,” Keary demands.
“I’m keeping him safe.”
It’s a weak lie. I’m not even trying. Keary doesn’t call me out, but he makes a pointed look around. I can just hear his words. We’re in a library! I smirk, though I try not to.
“Why are you—”
“I’m getting to know him through his interests,” I say before he can ask me the same question he’s already asked me a couple times now. “You’re not willing to let us get to know him through his mouth, so this is the next best thing.”
Keary’s eyes narrow. That was simply a jab to see what his reaction would be. I can feel his possessiveness spark as his nostrils flare.
I glance around, finding that the human has meandered deeper into the labyrinth of aisles than I thought. I wasn’t paying attention anyway. Stepping closer, I press my hand to Keary’s chest. He takes a step backward until his back is against the side of a shelf.
“Why are you so obsessed with him?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “Have you asked yourself that?”
“He’s hot,” Keary answers predictably.
“Uh huh. I’m not sure that’s the reason your monster is telling you.” I step closer, putting my face in his. Keary determinedly keeps his arms crossed. “Is it, Keary?”
He huffs. “My monster is a horny beast,” he mutters. “Yes, that’s what he’s telling me.”
“You’re not even trying to lie convincingly now. Why is that? Why are you willing to let your monster dictate your actions toward this human but not toward us?”
I don’t let him answer because I know it’s only going to make him angry. He’ll push back. He’s gone so far as to leave us behind when one of us has pushed too hard.
I drop down to my knees in front of him, digging my hands into the elastic of his pants to tug them down.
Immediately, his eyes flare gold. He is a horny monster.
He always has been. The only way he ever lets Drystan or I get close is when we’re offering up orgasms. Anything personal, anything intimate, and he raises a wall taller and thicker than that which surrounds the monster bases.
His arms fall to his sides, and he wraps his hands around the edges of the shelf as I pull his pants down.
Keary’s dick is magnificent. It always has been the most splendid thing I’ve ever seen, a true work of art. There’s no wonder why ancient civilizations erected golden cocks at the top of monuments. They’re just sexy.
I lick the tip, digging my tongue against his slit, making Keary inhale. He loves having his slit played with. I’m rewarded with a burst of precum on my tongue.
His thighs are fucking strong. Thick. I brace my hands on them, enjoying the way his muscles flex under my touch, and push them apart so I can get at his balls more easily. I always begin with his balls. It’s the quickest way to make him vocal, and once he’s vocal, he doesn’t quiet down.
His balls are sweaty. I stick my nose in them and inhale. We’ve been walking a long time today, so I’m ecstatic that he’s sweaty. I love the smell of him, the taste of him when he sweats. Hell, I love it when he’s clean too.
The left nut hangs a little lower, and that’s always the one I begin with. I suck it into my mouth and listen to his sharp inhale. Giving it a little suck makes him groan quietly in his throat. Oh no, Keary. Quiet isn’t going to work for me.
The louder he is, the more I’m convinced that he’ll figure out that I’m exactly what he needs. I’m just what he wants. His monster will wear on him more and more with each orgasm.
I suck a little harder. His hands dig into my hair to keep my head still, and he pushes his hips forward. I suck his balls, switching back and forth between the two, until he’s whimpering. It gets louder and louder until it’s a borderline constant whine.
That’s good. I’ll take that. Libraries are supposed to be quiet, after all.
Now, I get to the main event—his spectacular golden rod. Deep into my mouth it goes. Right past my uvula and down my throat. Keary gasps, his hips jerking hard, shoving that sexy thing down deep.
I’ve learned a trick over the years. If you keep your eyes open and focus on anything at all, it’s impossible to gag. I stare at his blurry navel while he fucks my throat. There are days when I force him to let me do what I want to his dick, but today, I let him take control.
It’s been a while since this poor man got off, after all. He’s been so busy babysitting his human pet. So I let him fuck my mouth until he spills down my throat. I’m pleased when his orgasmic cries echo off the bookshelves. Yep, totally worth it.
I’m not entirely surprised when he pushes me off him, nor am I surprised when he yanks his pants off, glares at me, and grabs a book at random off a nearby shelf before making his way back to the others.
He’s going to bury his face in that book for the rest of the night.
Both as a nostalgic pastime but also so he doesn’t have to look at me.
That’s fine. My words will ring in his head for the next few days.
Why are you willing to let your monster dictate your actions toward this human but not toward us?
I’m not sure he even knows what the reason is, but I need him to figure it out.
I’m tired of our little family being incomplete because he’s the most stubborn fucking monster in existence.
Luckily, I’m just as stubborn, and I will fucking have him.