Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Atlas
She was my match.
In every way, she was my match.
It took darkness to fall, for my pounding heart to calm and me to fully concentrate on her to realize it…
But Kassie was truly mine.
When the Lycan described meeting his mate, he spoke of lightning strikes.
Others mentioned electric currents racing through their bodies.
My experience was different—like sinking into a warm bath after years of standing in a cold rain, the constant hum of anxiety in my chest finally quieting to silence.
…And the salve to soothe my aching dick.
The Slenderman had probed her dreams and revealed her secret fantasy: being ravished by a monster that climbed through her bedroom window in the night.
Could I become that creature for her? Her scent alone drives me to madness…
a frenzy so intense I would destroy my collection of toys within hours if I tried to satisfy it any other way.
Her body lying nearly naked before me. The throbbing between my legs has become unbearable. I couldn't wait any longer… I needed to mark her with my scent, claim her as mine in the most primal way.
I leaned in, her scent filling my nostrils, a mix of sweetness and something uniquely her. It was intoxicating, making my head spin and my body ache with a need I'd never known before. I could hear her heartbeat, steady and calm, a rhythm that called to me, begging me to synchronize with it.
I reached out, my hand hovering over her shoulder, her skin bare and inviting. I wanted to touch her, to feel her warmth, to make that connection my body craved. But I hesitated, a voice in the back of my mind was whispering caution. She doesn't know me, doesn't know us, not yet.
Her lips parted slightly, a soft sigh escaping. It was too much. I couldn't hold back any longer. I let my hand rest on her, gently, softly. Her skin was hot, burning into mine, searing me, branding me. I was hers, utterly and completely.
“Atlas,” she whispered.
I paused.
Shit, did she think it was me? Did she think all of it was real? The only reason I felt bold enough to do any of that was because she thought it was a dream, the only way I had the confidence to…
“You look like Atlas… from his costume…”
I sighed in relief, and she reached for my face and cupped it tenderly. It was more than I deserved. I had almost given myself away.
My cock twitched and rubbed against the warmth of her thigh.
Right, right. I had a mission to accomplish: cover her in my scent to claim the need to mate her. It would calm me until I could…
What? Tell her what I truly was? That she was my match, and I couldn’t let her go, ever?
No pressure.
I pressed the underside of my cock over her slit. I let her feel the ridges of the coils that wrapped around my shaft on her clit. She gasped and reached for me, pulling at the hair around my neck. “Atlas, my Atlas.”
I released a primal sound from deep in my throat, pulling back and driving forward again. The scent of her desire coated me, growing stronger with each movement, filling the space between us.
Her nails raked down my back, sending shivers down my spine. I could feel her heartbeat quicken, matching the rhythm of mine. The room filled with our combined scent, a heady mix that was driving me wild. I could feel her, every inch of her pressed against me.
“Feels so good, oh, fuck!” She cried out.
I longed to press my forehead to hers in that moment, but towered too far above her.
She solved this by bringing her lips to my chest instead, a gesture that was going to fucking ruin me.
My tongue found her ear, teasing the sensitive skin there while the coils that had been wrapped around my shaft began to unwind, seeking her warmth, exploring her entrance with gentle, probing movements.
“What the fuck is that?” she gasped. Kassie reached around to my back, her fingers touching the base of my wings. I arched my back, the sudden zip of pleasure from her hands made me come undone too soon.
I tried to hold back, to keep some semblance of control, but her touch on my wings was something I hadn't expected.
It was sensitive, too much, and it shattered me.
My body convulsed as I spilled myself onto her, my seed hot and thick, marking her.
The room filled with my scent, a deep, musky smell that mingled with hers.
My wings fluttered behind me, my body still rocked against her. Her pants came quickly until she gave the softest moan. Her arms went limp and lay back into the mattress so she was more… pliable.
I groaned when I saw that her hair was messy, her eyes were half open, and her lips were parted. She looked exhausted, and while I had my seed all over her stomach, I could go again easily.
I was still hard, and my cock was still jerking. It almost hurt, and I felt the tiny coils that wrap around my dick slithering to the seed and trying to put it inside her.
My eyes brightened and reflected off of Kassie’s cheeks. Seeing her swollen with a mothling made me feral.
Kassie laughed lazily. “Why are you tickling my belly button?”
I gazed down at her stomach, and out of my cock there protruded a single, smaller coil. It was longer, wiggling at being close to her skin.
That’s new.
What do I do with that?
Instead of panicking, I lowered my head and rubbed my face into her breasts. She laughed, and her hands ran through my hair, her fingers danced through my antennae, making me instantly sleepy.
I purred, my wings drooping behind me as she continued to pet me sweetly.
“Best dream ever,” she said quietly. Her movements became slower.
I hesitated, torn between letting her drift off and my desperate need to cocoon her within my wings. Nothing soothed me more than sleeping with my wings folded around me, and the thought of cradling her inside made my chest tighten with longing.
Not wanting to wipe my scent from her, I shuffled her in my arms. She groaned and held tight to my body as I situated us both on the bed, my wings carefully wrapped around us, her legs carefully tight around me.
I enveloped her completely within my wings, creating a private sanctuary where the only illumination came from the soft glow of my eyes, casting gentle shadows across our intimate cocoon.
Her eyelids fluttered closed as I whispered, "Rest now," and within moments, the rhythm of her breathing matched mine as slumber claimed us both.
I swung my axe for the third time. The tree was massive in circumference, yet I’d already carved through nearly three-quarters of it. As it began to lean, the weight shifted against itself, and a crack split through the wood. I watched it fall into the forest, landing with a heavy thud.
When I turned back to the stump, another tree was already growing from it. Give it until the end of the year, and it would stand just as tall as the one before it.
This forest would never be empty; there was too much magic woven into it. Though it looked dangerous within its depths, there was goodness beneath the shadows.
I heard heavy swoops overhead. The small sliver of sunlight that broke through the canopy, now opened by the fallen tree, cast a moving shadow across me. It could only belong to another Mothman.
They were loud, so it could only be one person. Lucien.
“Hey, why are you hiding out here? And why don’t you answer your phone?”
I walked toward the fallen tree and set my axe next to it. It fell over instead.
Lucien walked up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Kassie texted me for the tenth time. She’s worried about you.”
I turned to face Lucien, his red eyes gleaming with concern. "I didn't mean to worry anyone," I said, running a hand through my hair, still sticky from the night before. "I just needed some time to process."
He raised an eyebrow, his antennae twitching slightly. "Process what exactly? That you finally found your match and you're scared shitless?"
I rolled my eyes, picking up the axe again, needing something to do with my hands. "I'm not scared," I lied. "Just... cautious."
Lucien laughed, a sound like distant thunder. "Atlas, it's like you are watching paint dry. You're in deep, man, and you know it."
I swung the axe, splintering a nearby log. "She doesn't know me, Lucien. Not really. She thinks I'm some fucking dream."
He sobered at that, his wings folding neatly behind him. "So, tell her. Make her see the truth."
I leaned on the axe, the handle creaking under my weight. "And what truth is that? That she's stuck with me forever? That my dick had literally wrapped itself around her?" I shook my head, the coils around my shaft stirring at the memory. "She deserves better than that. Better than me."
Lucien stepped closer, his voice low. "Better than a Mothman who would tear the world apart for her? Better than someone who would rather die than see her hurt? You're an idiot, Atlas."
I looked away, unable to meet his gaze. He was right, but fear held me back. Fear of rejection, of disgust. Of losing her. Why couldn’t I be more confident like everyone else.
Grrr, I’m a monster, I take what I want. Rarr.
Lucien sighed, clapping me on the back. "Look, just talk to her. Tell her how you feel. The rest will work itself out. And for Night’s sake, text her. She thinks I am the one making you work hard. She threatened to spray furniture polish in my eyes if I make you work anymore."
I smirked. That sounded like her. She was one for violence in those games she played. To know she would stick up for me, gave me the warm fuzzies.
But would she really like the idea of Mothman… in real life?
Things were different when it was real life… weren’t they?
When I first met the mayor, he was… off-putting.
And other monsters I met, while some of their forms were… different, I came to understand them; they were nice.
“Maybe you’re right,” I began. “I need to tell her. Need to speak with her about all of it. She reads those books about monsters, and falling in love with them.”
Lucien made a face that could only be described as a are you fucking serious.
“Atlas,” he groaned and looked up to the sky.
The wind shifted—just slightly—but it was enough to tell us we weren’t alone. We both turned from the fallen tree to find not one, but three monsters standing behind us.
It was not who I wanted to see in the slightest.
On the left was the Headless Horseman, his broad shoulders cloaked in midnight fabric that billowed like smoke around his absent neck.
His stallion, black as pitch with eyes like burning coals.
Plumes of steam erupted from the beast's flared nostrils with each snort, dissipating into the cool forest air.
The Horseman's gloved fingers pulled back on the worn leather reins, causing the material to creak as it tightened.
On the right stood a Skinwalker. Wet, obsidian limbs writhed beneath a half-attached bearskin, the pelt's empty eye sockets drooping while its massive paws dangled.
The creature's own eyes, oily black marbles, peered through misaligned holes in the stolen hide.
With each labored breath, the bear's muzzle twitched, and the thin needles of its own teeth appeared, as it continued to wrestle with the skin.
The Skinwalker snarled, not appreciating me staring.
Sometimes I forget my manners.
Hollow stepped forward, his long arms swishing at his sides like pendulums. "I figured if I tracked Lucien, he'd lead me straight to you, Atlas. You've been quite the elusive Mothman, lately."
Boo, I’m the topic of today’s discussion.
Hollow’s voice dropped to a dangerous growl.
"There is a woman tearing my town apart, brick by brick, looking for you.
She's threatening my citizens, disrupting businesses, and why?
Because a certain Mothman couldn't be bothered to send a single text after bedding her.
Do you understand how this makes me feel, Atlas? Absolutely. Fucking. Livid."
I shuffled my feet against the forest floor, my wings drooping behind me. "Wait—you're saying she's actually looking for me?"
The mayor's eyes bulged as he gestured wildly.
"What do you think happens when you mark someone and disappear?
She's been prowling the town for forty-eight hours straight, following your scent like a bloodhound.
The pheromones you left behind have her in a frenzy.
Yesterday, she nearly dislocated the butcher's shoulder just for suggesting you might have left town. "
My dick twitched. "Really?”
Lucien nudged me. “Dude, that’s hot.”
“Don’t talk about my match like that,” I snapped.
The mayor's face contorted with rage. "Find her. Now. Take her to your cabin and don't let her leave until this... situation... resolves itself. The last thing this town needs is a human in heat trying to mount every vertical structure she encounters!"
I pranced on my feet, my wings fluttering. Maybe she would be so horny she won’t care that I really am a Mothman.
Lucien cleared his throat, antennae twitching nervously. "Not that I'm questioning your judgment, Mr. Mayor, but what's with the entourage?" His eyes darted between the Horseman and the Skinwalker, who seemed to loom larger by the second.
Hollow’s eyes narrowed to slits. "Let's just say that woman mistook me for you in the dark, and I barely escaped with my dignity intact."