Kelly Apple's Blog, page 26

Monstrous Short – Even Monsters Like Sweet Things

Even Monsters Like Sweet Things

Cin and Vane

Monstrous

 

Eyeing the horizon, Cin estimated she had about ten minutes before the sun dipped low enough her darling gargoyle would come to life for the night. Which gave her just enough time to park the car and get up the stairs to watch him wake.

Unable to stop grinning, she parked as close to the house as possible and fumbled for the frozen blended coffee she’d picked up for him.

It amused her beyond belief that her big, stony, generally surly mate loved these sweet treats.

And if she made a mistake and forgot to get whipped cream on it, the big guy would actually pout.

Her gargoyle would pout.

A two hundred plus stone monster should not look adorable when he pouted, but Vane did. His lower lip would jut out and his eyes would go sort of sad. And his wings. Oh, goodness, his wings would flutter a little like he was torn between spreading them wide and putting on a dominance display or pulling them tight to his body like he did when he got upset.

Adorable, adorable man.

As much as she loved watching him when he got put out, she’d made sure his drink had plenty of whipped cream on it tonight.

Looking down at the drink, Cin bit back a laugh. Somehow, the tower of cream she’d asked for had managed to stay in place and it rose above the opening of the little plastic lid in impressive proportions.

The leaning tower of whipped cream.

Vane was going to love it.

She’d even had them put the sprinkles on that looked like edible pieces of confetti. A rainbow of colors dotted the tower, cheery against the stark white.

Trotting inside, Cin sent a brief hello in Ari’s direction barely slowing as she made her way to the back stairs. Her friend waved absently from her throne on the couch, her green mate sprawled over a good portion of it as he watched her fiddle with her laptop.

They looked good together, Cin thought as she slowed so she wouldn’t lose the whipped cream tower this close to her destination. Their relationship had freaked her out a little when she’d first met the big green monster, but Liam loved Ari.

Epically.

The type of love she used to swoon over in romance books and movies.

She had her own epic romance now. A monster who was stone during the day and hot, hard flesh when the sun went down.

It had taken a bit of time before she adjusted to being awake during the night so she could spend every moment possible with him, but they were figuring things out.

She’d like to figure out more, naturally. The medusa who worked at the library had told her gargoyles hadn’t always had this ridged schedule. She’d told her there were stories of a time when gargoyles walked in the sun.

It was a nice daydream, but all the tentative inquiries Cin had made had resulted in a whole lot of nothing.

So for now, they were just stories.

Putting aside her musings, Cin slid into the partially enclosed perch at the top of the house and congratulated herself on her impeccable timing.

She had a minute or two at best before the sun went down and Vane woke.

A minute or two to ogle her handsome mate.

Hot damn, she loved this monster.

She could totally understand now why Ari had been obsessed with the monstrous long before she ever met one in the flesh. The males were impressively muscled and so…captivating.

The way Vane stood, his tree-trunk thighs in sharp relief as he perched as if ready to spring, his wings framing the beauty of his body in their half-unfurled state.

Whew. Was it hot in here?

Her man was gorgeous. Utter stone perfection.

Finding a spot in front of him, Cin waited for the moment when his stony façade melted away and he became the monster who wooed her with gentle kisses.

She swore she could feel the flare of magic over her skin when it happened.

A shiver worked its way down her spine when Vane blinked, his eyes falling on her.

“Cin,” he rumbled.

Another shiver, this one from the rough tone of his voice. “Hey, babe. Welcome back. I brought you something.”

His eyes lit up when he saw the drink in her hand. He looked delighted by the obscene amount of whipped cream threatening to topple over the edge.

He might snap and growl at everyone else, but when they were alone, he allowed himself these unguarded moments. He smiled and purred and showed his softer side.

Man, she loved him.

Especially when her big, burly mate got a dab of whipped cream on his nose.

Grinning, she wiped it away, popping her finger in her mouth before he could lick it off. He mock growled and she sweetly swiped her finger through the whipped cream tower and licked it off again.

“You’re playing with fire, little human.”

Pfft. Hardly. Her monster was a big softie where she was concerned. He’d do anything to make her happy, even gladly give up his sweet treat if she asked.

Not that she would. She’d bought herself her own drink and didn’t need to take from him.

“I like playing with fire,” she purred.

Vane’s eyes went hot and she grinned. She did love that look in his eye.

He looked down at the cup, his expression torn for a moment. She got it. She really did. Those drinks were his favorite, but she was his favorite also.

Deciding to play nice, Cin urged his hand up so he either needed to lap at the whipped cream tower or put the drink aside altogether. She wanted him to enjoy it. She’d bought it because watching his eyes light up made her happy.

She could wait a handful a minutes to tease her monster some more.

After all, they had all night to do the things she had running through her head.

All damn night.

The End

Want to see how Vane and Cin finally find one another? Monstrous Matchmaker: The Complete Series gives us their story. (Or grab Operation Gargoyle if you prefer to read it as a serial.)

Missed any of the other shorts? Check out the Series Shorts page and get caught up.

The post Monstrous Short – Even Monsters Like Sweet Things appeared first on Kelly Apple.

What I’m Reading – The Kindle Unlimited Edition

Okay, I’m going to get this out of the way first: I’m a fairly fast reader. Of course, fast is pretty subjective because what’s fast to one person isn’t necessarily fast to another, but I think I can hold my own when it comes to how quickly I go through books.

I only mention this because I signed up for Kindle Unlimited at the beginning-ish of the month. I don’t know why I waited this long…actually, I kind of do. I was trying to mentally weigh the monthly cost against what I’d realistically read. I mean, I have A LOT of books on my Kindle that I’ve already paid for, I should really get to those first, right?

Anyway. I signed up for Kindle Unlimited and…I’m kind of thrilled with how I’m able to zip through some series I started ages ago and had fallen behind on. Sure, sure, the books have to be enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited library, but there are SEVERAL authors I love who use it.

Geez. Just thinking about it is making me giddy.

I’ve been focusing mainly on Sci-Fi Romance and series I’ve fallen behind on, so this is a fairly genre-specific list with a few non-sci-fi books thrown in.

What have I been reading? you ask. Let me tell you.

It all started with Jock Row by Sara Ney. I had read the prequel novella that came out earlier this year and liked it A LOT. I kinda expected I would, though, since Sara Ney’s Douchebag series is one of my favorite college athlete series. Jock Row switched the sport (wrestling in the Douchebag series, baseball in the Jock Hard series), but the books themselves are more about the people than the sport, so it worked. What can I say except I dig Ney’s cocky sports-guys and the women who challenge them.

After Jock Row, I realized the Cyborg Shifters series by Naomi Lucas was in KU and my world shifted on its axis. Not just because of that series, but because I realized a BUNCH of sci-fi romance series I wanted to read were. I might have made a few high-pitched squealing noises. I started with Storm Surge, went onto Shark Bite, followed by Mutt, and then Ashes and Metal, which means I am currently caught up on that series. It feels good to say that, man. It feels good. While the books themselves can be all over the place, it’s a good sort of all over. Engaging with cyborgs of a non-standard variety. I LIKE.

Umm…okay. I just realized if I detail every single book I read, this is going to be a long ass post. So I’m going to sum up a little more and detail out a little less.

Next up was the Galactic Gladiators series by Anna Hackett (I still have a few books to go in this one, as you’ll see). POSSESSIVE ALIEN GLADIATORS ON A DISTANT WORLD! LOOOOVE. I read books 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 (yes, I read this series out of order originally. I do that sometimes.) with 2 books left to go.

Then there was the Dark Planet Warriors series by Anna Carven (I like sci-fi romance authors names Anna, I guess). Books 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 plus the 2 books out in the Darkstar Mercenaries spin-off. POSSESSIVE ALIEN WARRIORS WHO CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE WITH EARTH WOMEN! Yassssssss!

There were a few other books sprinkled in there, but those are the bulk of what I read. When I do the math, the monthly cost for KU saved me A LOT of money. So much.

In other words, it’s totally worth it for me. So I’ll be sticking around until I finish up all the series I can get my hands on and collapse into a reading-induced coma.

If you’re interested in trying Kindle Unlimited for yourself, using my link earns me a small commission fee, as do all the Amazon links in this post. Use those links wisely.

The post What I’m Reading – The Kindle Unlimited Edition appeared first on Kelly Apple.

Monstrous Short – Dinner Plans

Dinner Plans

Max and Siri

Monstrous

 

“My dad wants to get together for dinner next week.”

Max froze at Siri’s brightly chirped statement, his belly filling with dread. It took several moments for his muscles to unlock so he could turn casually in his mate’s direction.

Does he? He thought he sounded as calm as a dragon faced with the specter of a disapproving father could.

His mate’s sire really didn’t care for him.

He never did anything that overtly hinted at that, but a dragon as old as Max knew these sorts of things.

And therein lay the heart of the issue.

His age. Compared to him, Siri was a babe barely out of the cradle. For all she was a fully grown female, he had centuries on her and it made her father wary.

“Yep. He’s reserved the big hall at the complex. We can all shift and do the beastly thing.” Siri’s expression went blank for half a second. “Although if we shift, that means we’ll be eating raw. Blech. Maybe I can talk him into doing it in our human forms.”

Unlike Siri and her family, Max didn’t have a human form. He was all dragon, all the time.

It made things difficult when interacting with others upon occasion. Although Ari and the others he’d met through her didn’t seem to mind figuring out how to fit the bulk of him into wherever they were gathering.

I’m sure your father will make allowances for you lack of love for raw meat, he told Siri.

She flashed her bright smile at him and went up on her tiptoes to buss a kiss against his snout. “That’s nice of you to say, but you’ve met my father. When he’s in his cockatrice form, he thinks all things should be devoured raw.”

Possibly the only thing Max and her father agreed on.

The difference being that Max took pains to make sure Siri had options whereas her father simply told her to suck it up and deal with it like the monster she was.

Chuffing out a hard snort, Max curled a claw around his mate’s hip.

As usual, Siri was dressed in low slung cut-off shorts, the denim so short only the ragged fringe kept her ass cheeks from showing. Her boots had been kicked off when they arrived at the grotto and lay in a heap with her cowboy hat.

Craning his neck, he peered down her skimpy shirt as he drew gentle circles on her skin with the tips of his claws.

“Are you looking down my shirt, you perv?”

Of course. He always would. His mate’s body was a delightful wonderland he would never grow tired of.

“Uggh. Men. Here. Take a good long look at this, baby.”

Her words should have warned him, but when she flipped the bottom of her halter top up to reveal her rounded breasts, Max’s heart stuttered in his chest.

Good gods, his mate was a firecracker.

Firm, dusky nipples stood at attention and he stared at them hungrily until she tugged her shirt back down with a laugh.

“Later, big guy. I’m in the mood to go beast right now.”

Dazed, Max followed her to the edge of the water, salivating as she stripped off her shorts and tiny panties. Her distracting shirt followed and soon she was as naked as the day she was born.

Naked and perfect and…sliding into her cockatrice shape even as she threw a sultry glance over her shoulder.

Huffing out a silent laugh, Max watched her human skin become cream and brown feathers. Her tail curled toward him even as the rest of her body continued to shift.

Without blinking, he slid his tail against hers, loving the downy feel of her feathers giving way to scales that mirrored his own.

He’d been lucky the day Siri had shown up on Ari’s doorstep asking for the nymph’s help in finding a mate. If she hadn’t, Max would still be alone and lonely in his mountain home.

Unable to resist the lure of his mate’s monstrous form, Max sidled closer until he could butt his head under her chin and nuzzle her affectionately. She stroked her head against his, the downy feathers of her crest caressing his scales like hundreds of gentle fingers.

It’s so weird to shift outside, she said quietly in her mental voice.

It’s safe, love. You know I wouldn’t suggest it otherwise.

Another sweet, slow stroke of her head. I know. It just takes getting used to.

Max could understand that. Her monstrous form was rare enough that until recently, she’d only ever shifted in enclosed areas so no one would be tempted to take her and her family as trophies.

Thoughts of her family had him wondering if her father and mother ever dared shift outdoors. He should extend the offer. Ari and Liam likely wouldn’t mind loaning them the grotto for an evening.

He’d do it. Perhaps at the dinner Siri’s father was planning.

They could gather and shift and maybe—just maybe—her father would stop seeing him as a lecherous old dragon and instead see that he loved Siri to distraction and would always put her own needs above his.

Tell your father, he said even as he continued to nuzzle her, we’d be happy to have dinner with him.

Eyes shining, Siri bumped her shoulder against him and preened her wings. You’re the best, baby. I’ll call him once we get back to the house.

That taken care of, Max banished all thoughts of her father and focused on the beautiful, winged form of his mate.

He wasn’t letting all this beauty go untended. Not tonight.

Not ever.

The End

Want to see how Max and Siri met? Monstrous Matchmaker: The Complete Series has their story. (Or grab Operation Dragon if you prefer to read it as a serial.)

Missed any of the other shorts? Check out the Series Shorts page and get caught up.

The post Monstrous Short – Dinner Plans appeared first on Kelly Apple.

What I’m Watching (SO MUCH!)

HA! This post might be better entitled: What AREN’T I Watching.

Seriously. There’s been a lot since the last post. So I should just jump into it, shouldn’t I? OKAY, THEN!

Rampage – This movie is exactly as advertised. Giant critters, The Rock, adventurous shenanigans. If that’s what you go into it expecting to see, you won’t be disappointed. I wasn’t. As an aside, I ate a whole lot of popcorn at this movie. So much. Seeing as how this is the perfect example (for me) of a popcorn movie, that fits, though.

Crimson Peak – Tom Hiddleston getting caught getting a handy is my new default expression whenever something weird happens that I don’t quite know how to respond to otherwise. But seriously, this movie hit all my gothic romance buttons. The look of it was pretty darn cool and I’m kinda in love with how PRETTY Tom Hiddleston is without his Loki wig. (Incidentally, I’ve rewatched Thor Ragnarok a bunch of times since this movie because I get such a kick out of him playing a quasi-villian.)

Fright Night – The remake, mind you. I remember really liking the original so I went into this with a tiny bit of trepidation. I have to say, it was good. David Tennant made me grin. Anton Yelchin made me sad (too soon!). Overall, I liked it. A lot.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter – Another one that surprised me with how much I liked it. Lots of cool shots and neat fight scenes. And Vampires. LOTS AND LOTS OF VAMPIRES.

Avengers: Infinity War – I have SO MANY theories about things. SO MANY. I’m not going to talk about a single one of them, though. For reasons. That said, while the ending was a major gut punch, the rest of the movie was insane, non-stop action. Exactly like I expected it to be.

X-Men: Apocalypse – I’d put off watching this one (even though I owned it) because I’d heard not-so-great things about it. I dunno. I liked it. It was a little insane and a lot fun. (And I was in a very Marvel mood after Infinity War, so it hit the spot.)

(And on the Marvel movie front, I rewatched A TON of those recently. Captain America: Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Thor Ragnarok, Spider-man: Homecoming, Deadpool…DEAR GAWD, it sounds like I just sit around watching movies all day. I don’t. I swear.)

As for TV…

Legion Season 1 – WEIRD SHOW. Like, if I hadn’t had someone encouraging me to keep watching, I probably would have stopped/slowed down midway through. Because WEIRD. I liked it, but, MAN, it took some doing to get me invested in the jumps in perspective, etc. Was it worth it? Yeah. It was. I liked where it went/how it left off, it just took me time to get used to it.

Lost in Space Season 1 – I liiiiiked this one. I was never a huge fan of the original show, but this hit all my sci-fi geek-girl buttons. I had a fierce hate for Dr Smith, but WHO DOESN’T? She’s horrible. This is definitely one I’m interested in seeing where season 2 takes them.

The post What I’m Watching (SO MUCH!) appeared first on Kelly Apple.

Monstrous Short – Coffee and Cupcakes

Coffee and Cupcakes

Ella and Ari

Monstrous

 

Since leaving the nest and joining—at least nominally—the human world, Ella had learned a lot.

She’d learned that coffee was the nectar of the gods and a really good cup could go a long way toward brightening a person’s day. Especially Ari’s if she’d spent her night wrapped up in her Liath Mor mate’s arms.

Right now, Ari was staring blankly at her laptop, a slight frown creasing her dewy forehead.

The nymph might be on the verge of falling on her face in exhaustion—all night sex marathons would do that to a lady, Ella knew—but she looked fabulous, all the same. Blonde hair pulled up in a messy topknot, her skin had the glow of a woman deeply in love who knew she was loved in return.

It was a good look on the firecracker of a nymph, Ella decided.

She wondered at times, if others looked at her and saw the same.

Prodding Ari in the shoulder, Ella handed her a cup of coffee and waited until she’d taken her first sip before trying to engage her in conversation.

She’d learned lots of things since joining Ari and the others, not the least of which was you had to let the caffeine kick in before some people were coherent. With Ari, she didn’t have to wait until she’d drained the mug and started on her second, but she did have to let that first sip hit her bloodstream.

“Holy Mother of Pearl,” Ari breathed after a moment, “that’s good stuff.”

Resting her chin on her fist, Ella grinned. Ari said the same every morning in that same reverent tone.

It was just one of the reasons Ella found her so delightful.

Her sister harpies back at the nest might scoff and claim Ari was just a nymph and shouldn’t be trusted to do anything requiring heavy mental lifting, but Ella liked how forward Ari was. She was terrible at hiding her emotions so she rarely bothered trying.

It was a nice change from all the petty backstabbing among her own kind.

If Ari was upset with you, she told you. If Ari was happy, her ear-piercing squeals let everyone in a five mile radius know.

Ari was loud and silly and the best female friend Ella had ever had.

The best.

“What do you say we blow off work today and go binge on cake and ice cream?” the nymph asked the room at large.

Ella looked at the spreadsheet Ari had been attempting to read before she got distracted by her coffee. It was the same spreadsheet she’d been working on last night.

Cocking her head, she slid the laptop toward her and studied the entries.

One day, Ari had quietly told her she didn’t think she had the chops to be a business woman and it killed her that she was going to be letting down all the supernaturals who had submitted applications to her matchmaking site. In some ways, Ari was right. She didn’t have the patience for some of the more tedious tasks, but her brilliance at finding mates for everyone she’d coerced into signing up with the site was an unparalleled gift and Ella wasn’t about to let her give up.

So she’d taken over some of the more time consuming tasks, freeing up Ari to work directly with the supernaturals looking for mates.

Of course, that meant Ari often felt guilty that she was getting to have fun while Ella was stuck pecking away on the laptop as she built their client database.

It didn’t seem to matter how often Ella told her she enjoyed working with the raw data, Ari still tried to shoulder her share of the work.

Silly nymph.

“I like cake,” she told her boss absently. There. That was where the mistake had been made. A simple enough fix and all the data suddenly lined up.

“Great.” There was a long pause as Ari slouched down into the couch and stared up at the ceiling, coffee cup still cradled in her hands. “Do you think Michael would be a sweetie and swing by that new cupcake place off Fourth for us? That way we could cake without leaving the house.”

Ella pulled herself away from admiring the clean lines of data and snorted out a laugh at her friend. Liam must have really worked Ari over last night if the lusty nymph didn’t want to move today.

“He probably would. Call him.”

It was weird. As territorial as Ella was about her mate, she had never felt a moment’s twinge of jealousy that Ari and Michael had once hooked up.

If she took a long view of it, if Ari and Michael hadn’t done the dirty, things might not have fallen into place the way they had. Ella might still be living in the nest, her harpy brethren her only companions.

Was it weird to know her mate and her best friend had seen each other naked?

Ella choked on a laugh and couldn’t drag in enough air to explain what she found so funny to Ari when the nymph looked over at her.

EVERYONE had seen Ari naked. The woman was shameless and had no hang-ups about her body. She and Liam had been caught doing their own dirty more times than Ella could count.

And Michael? He was a werewolf for goodness sake. He routinely stripped down and went furry around his friends.

Seriously? What was a little nudity and bumping body parts when the end result meant she, Ella, found the mate she didn’t know she’d been looking for.

Now, if Ari decided to set her lusty sights on Michael now, she might have a different response. But Ari was so blissfully happy with Liam, she didn’t even seem to notice sexual tension that didn’t involve the big, green guy.

So they were good. All good. Friends who’d boned. Nothing to it.

When Ari didn’t make a move toward her phone, Ella rolled her eyes and snagged it off the table. Yeah, Liam must have been more vigorous than usual to leave an oversexed nymph like Ari in this state.

“Hey, babe,” she chirped when Michael rumbled out a greeting. “Ari and I are craving some of those cupcakes from the new place on Fourth.”

“And you want me to pick some up for you two degenerates?”

Michael’s voice held amusement and the slam of a car door and his truck roaring to life made Ella grin again. “Would you? You know, if you don’t mind.”

“Anything for you, my winged beauty.”

Ella flushed. He’d called her that last night as he gently stroked her wings and it had made a ball of happiness settle in her gut.

Her man made her so ridiculously happy it was borderline obscene.

“Tell him to get a variety. I want to try alllllll the cupcakes,” Ari said from her boneless sprawl at the end of the couch.

Michael laughed. “Tell her I’m on it.”

Gods above, Ella adored these two. They were her best friends and she had to be the luckiest harpy in the world to have found them.

“See you soon, honey bear.”

She hung up while he was growling about his new nickname, happier than she’d ever thought possible.

The End

Want to see how Ella joined the Monstrous gang? Monstrous Matchmaker: The Complete Series introduces her. (Or grab Operation Werewolf if you prefer to read it as a serial.)

Missed any of the other shorts? Check out the Series Shorts page and get caught up.

The post Monstrous Short – Coffee and Cupcakes appeared first on Kelly Apple.

Monstrous Short – Territorial Leanings

Territorial Leanings

Thisseral and Io

Monstrous

 

Ever since he’d realized Io was carrying his offspring, Thisseral had become territorial.

Not that he wasn’t normally—his lake was his and he wasn’t about to share it with anyone who wasn’t a mate or ally—but knowing he had a breeding mate and a youngling to protect brought out his darker side.

Prowling the edges of the lake, Thisseral hissed at the shadows along the shoreline in warning.

His sharp ears caught the rapid heartbeat of a small prey animal and he relaxed minutely. The small woodland creatures couldn’t hurt him. Not while he was in the water. Probably not when he was out, either.

They were mostly small and fuzzy and lacked the tearing teeth to truly hurt one of his kind.

If he’d been nearer a larger body of water he might think differently, but up here, so far from the oceans, he felt safe enough from what roamed the wood.

The faint thrum of a song reached his ears and Thisseral abandoned his scouting to go check on his mate.

As he expected, Io was in her favorite cavern below the cliff. The entrance was below the waterline and hard to find—hidden enough even a breeding female could feel safe from unwanted eyes.

She had pulled herself onto the rocks above the water and sat caressing the slight swell of her belly, her sweet gaze focused on him as he breached the surface.

Every time he saw her, Thisseral marveled anew that this beautiful creature had chosen him as a mate.

Tonight, her skin glowed the pearlescent blue of a rare underwater gem. She’d been out of the water long enough for her hair to dry and it coiled like a dark blue sheet down her back.

Her beauty stunned him. The first time he’d laid eyes on her, he’d known she was his.

They were as different as night and day, he and his nixie. The paleness of their skin and dark hair were the only similarities. Where she glowed like a living blue flame of water, he was white and black. White skin, black hair, eyes that looked like the darkest parts of his watery domain.

Yet, they were compatible.

Propelling himself forward, Thisseral let his gaze drop from his mate’s luminous beauty to the small, hard bump of her belly.

His child grew within her. His young.

One that he and Io had made during one of their frantic couplings in the first days of their mating.

Awed, he let his webbed fingers feather over the mound and felt the pulse of life within when the young kicked.

Grinning, he looked at Io. “Strong tonight.”

Io’s laugh was soft and low. “Strong every night.”

He knew. He’d been woken up many times by the hard jab of a foot or fin. It was as if the young inside wanted Io for itself.

Possibly, it did.

Water-folk were territorial, after all.

“Did you rest, love?” Her pregnancy had caused some difficulties in the early days when she’d been uncomfortable out of the water.

Nixie preferred sleeping on land while his kind couldn’t leave the water. It had taken some trial and error before they’d found a solution that worked for them.

The heavy netting Io tangled herself in so she could remain in the water while sleeping was anchored to one of the large rocks below the shelf she reclined on now. It turned out nixie didn’t so much prefer dry land, as keeping their heads above water while they slept.

The netting allowed him to coil about her in their sleep—offering him peace of mind—while giving her the illusion she was still on land.

It was unconventional, perhaps, but it worked for them.

Ari had taught him the joy of compromise on that long ago evening when she’d wandered into his lake.

Pushing aside thoughts of the pretty nymph, Thisseral let his fingers skate over his mate’s cool skin until he could stroke her cheek.

She’d been a revelation when they surfaced from the mating frenzy long enough to begin to learn about one another. She loved touch. He hadn’t known how much he enjoyed touching until there was someone there who practically begged for it.

Io took every opportunity to stroke his gills, his tail, the sensitive line along his hip. She delighted in it.

In him.

It hadn’t taken long until he was as addicted to her caresses as she was to his.

Tail floating behind him, Thisseral heaved himself up until he was partially on her rock. It wasn’t the most comfortable position—anything outside the water took getting used to for a merman—but he wanted to lay his head against her thigh and this was the most expedient way.

Her skin was cool beneath his cheek. She made a low thrumming sound in the back of her throat—the same sound that had alerted him that she was awake earlier—and gently pushed the long, dark strands of his hair back until his face was entirely uncovered.

“Are you happy, beloved?” she asked, her voice full of song.

“Yes.” A simple answer that barely scratched the surface of his joy.

Before Io, he’d been alone. He’d explored his mountain home. He’d thought about traveling through the underwater tunnels. He’d listened to the wind and the waves and stayed in his tiny corner of the world.

Then he’d met her and been reminded there was more to life than years upon years of solitude.

Ari had woken him up, but Io had given him purpose. Love. The drive to protect and defend.

On her last visit, Ari had told him she was building him a lake down where she lived. Her mate had grudgingly told him there was a vast, underground water system he would have access to if he and Io decided to join them below.

Thisseral had only grinned at Liam until the Liath Mor had turned away with a rumbled growl.

He did enjoy needling the big Guardian with his knowing smile.

But the nymph’s and Guardian’s words had stuck with him.

Ari had woken him up and now she was making a place for him to raise his young.

It touched him. He and Io had spoken of it since and he thought they were going to do it. They were going to leave his quiet mountain home and take over the lake Ari was building for them.

There was safety in numbers and he wouldn’t turn aside any help when it came to protecting his young and mate.

He could even learn to stop poking at Ari’s mate. Eventually. With enough time and patience.

For now, he would marvel at his mate’s pregnancy and changes in her beautiful body.

Tomorrow, he could plan for the future he could feel coming.

The End

Want to see how Thisseral and Io’s story began? Monstrous Matchmaker: The Complete Series is the beginning of their romance. (Or grab Operation Merman if you prefer to read it as a serial.)

Missed any of the other shorts? Check out the Series Shorts page and get caught up.

The post Monstrous Short – Territorial Leanings appeared first on Kelly Apple.

Looking Back on April

It’s a neeeewwwww monnnnnnth.

I know, I know. This happens every month. It’s weird.

Anywho. I DID STUFF IN APRIL. STUFFFFFF!

The final book in the Grimwood series is OUT. That’s right, Cursed Heart, Lorianne and Alistair’s story hit retailers at the end of April and I’m SO PLEASED to be able to say I have another series completed. WHOO-HOO!

I played around in the Pinnacle Point world for (most of) the Series Shorts for April. I…had forgotten how crazy those characters were. They’re kinda fun to write. And by “kinda” I mean SUPER FUN!

May will have us visiting the Monstrous world for the Series Shorts (every Tuesday, rain or shine!) and I’m busy writing the FINAL (I think) installment of that saga. Did I mention it will be another serialized story? Because it will be. Lots of Ari and the gang getting their groove on.

(As an aside, I *might* be planning a Monstrous spin-off series. Might. I mean, I have an idea, I just need to refine it a bit more. Because ideas like to be refined or something.)

Sooooo….I’m off to continue the next Monstrous Revelations story. Catch you on the flip side!

The post Looking Back on April appeared first on Kelly Apple.

Pinnacle Point Short – A Whole Lot of Something

A Whole Lot of Something

Eugene and Megan

Pinnacle Point

 

When Megan giggled like that, Eugene knew to be scared.

There was just something so decidedly wicked in the little noise it made him afraid. If he’d been the man he was before, his balls would crawl up into his body and refuse to come out for a long, long time.

As it was, the new and improved him had balls so big crawling up into his body was not going to happen.

Ever.

There was just too much of Eugene 2.0 for it to be feasible.

Adjusting himself so his dick wasn’t bent in half from the constricting pants Megan had told him he had to wear, Eugene cautiously peered around the edge of the kitchen and found his worst nightmare come to life.

Megan, the love of his life and (hopefully) mother of his future children, was sitting beside his grandmother, their heads bent close as they huddled around his laptop.

This was not good. Not good at all.

Clearing his throat, he gave Megan a wide, completely unconcerned smile when her head popped up at the sound. “What’s up, babe?”

“Nothing.”

She said it too quickly for him to believe her. And by the look on his grandmother’s face, Megan’s nothing was a whole lot of something he didn’t want to know about.

So he forced his smile to get a little bigger and nodded like he had any say in what his darling did. “Okay, then. Carry on. I’m, uhh, going out for some coffee. Did you want me to grab you anything?”

Megan gave him those big, flirty eyes he couldn’t resist. “Oh my god, yes. One of those macchiatos you got me last time. The biggest size they have.”

Right, because his Megan liked things large. Fortunately for him.

“I’ll have a vanilla latte, Eugene. With that cinnamon sprinkle on top.”

Nodding as his grandmother put her order in, Eugene edged toward the door and freedom. “No problem, grams. Cookie? Cake pop? Scone?”

They both shook their heads, identical expressions of glee on their faces.

Terrified, Eugene bolted for the door and made his escape before he found out what made a twenty-two year old woman and a seventy year old woman get that look in their eyes.

Some things were better left unspoken of.

 

 

The coffee shop was empty and Eugene had his haul in record time.

Naturally. The one time he wanted to have an excuse to stand in line, the universe wasn’t cooperating.

He took his time adding the sprinkle of cinnamon to his grandmother’s latte. He’d done it on a whim once and hadn’t managed to tell her he was the one who dashed it on, not the baristas. He thought they probably would if he ordered it, but it seemed like a lot of work and he wasn’t sure if they’d do it the way his grandmother liked.

So he always ordered her a regular vanilla latte and added the sprinkles at the little topping station himself.

Every. Single. Time.

You’d think being a six and a half foot tall sasquatch-like being with a ripped physique and more than adequate stamina would make him less of a social spaz. You’d be wrong.

You can upgrade the chassis and give the new frame all the bells and whistles, but the same old Eugene lived under the hood.

The only difference between the him from before and the him now was that he had a beautiful girlfriend who was into the same freaky stuff he was.

Which is to say, she liked sex just as much as he did.

Maybe more.

Carefully putting the lid back on his grandmother’s latte, Eugene made sure his rather excessive body hair stayed out of the cup. Which sounded gross when he thought about it, but he had a lot of hair and he had to be careful it didn’t get in unwanted places.

He’d talked Megan into helping him manscape not long after they met, but the itching as his hair grew back hadn’t been worth it. Especially not when it grew back in a matter of hours.

So he learned to embrace his hairiness. Fortunately for him, Pinnacle Point was used to seeing things like a hairy sasquatch walking down the street.

They had ghosts and zombies and an honest to god herd of nightmares living in town already, what was one hairy guy who did data entry?

It was nothing. He was just another person on the street to everyone else.

He kinda liked that about his town. They were scarily open-minded about people’s differences. Even his grandmother hadn’t done much more than give his new hair growth a long look the first time she’d seen him after.

Then she’d sniffed and pointedly announced she’d need to buy those hair catchers for the drains she saw on the home shopping network so her plumbing didn’t get ruined.

Nice, grandma. Real nice.

Carefully balancing the coffees in the tray so they wouldn’t spill, Eugene crept into the town house and cleared his throat loudly before proceeding into the living room. He didn’t know what the two women in his life had been up to earlier and he didn’t want to walk in on anything that would scar him mentally.

His grandmother was still sitting in front of his open laptop. Megan had pulled out hers while he was gone and was typing something with a wicked grin on her face.

Eugene’s laptop pinged and his grandmother looked delighted.

“So I can send Betty and Fawn invites and we can chat right in this little window?” she asked, smiling a smile no man ever wanted to see on his seventy year old grandmother’s face.

“Yep. Or you can use the private message feature built into ChatPoint itself.”

No. Noooo. Megan was NOT showing his grandmother how to use ChatPoint. She wasn’t.

That was wrong. Ten thousand kinds of wrong.

Plopping the coffee carrier down on the table, Eugene circled around and found that it was just as bad as he’d imagined.

His grandmother had set up an account and already had…Jesus, over a hundred followers. What the hell?

“Guys?” he asked, afraid. So afraid.

“Eugene, I’m very disappointed that you never showed me how fun this message site is.” His grandmother looked up and frowned. “Although I guess I should have known by how often you had to wash your sheets.”

Oh god. Someone needed to burst into the room and bash him over the head with a tire iron.

“I’m going to tell my Red Hat ladies about it so we can meet some men.”

Eugene felt a little nauseous. “You’re going to invite all your friends onto ChatPoint?”

“Yes, dear. I already jotted down some ideas for their screen names. Gertie is going to be SexyGMa. Betty will be Ready’N’Willing. Fawn is going to be BambisHoney.”

She cackled over that last one and Eugene just stared.

He was disturbed. So disturbed.

Looking at Megan, he tried to convey just how disturbed with his look. His darling just looked back, her wicked smile in place.

If he didn’t love her so much, he’d be upset.

“I’m going to—” He waved vaguely behind him, suddenly needing to get away. Making tracks, he escaped to his bedroom, leaving his coffee behind.

Sitting on his bed, Eugene tried to wipe the mental picture of his grandmother hooking up with some of the people he’d met online. Hell, he’d been one of the people on that site. Just…no. So wrong.

Megan slipped in, his coffee cup in hand. “If you had seen the look on your face, Stud.”

If he didn’t love this woman as much as he did, he’d hate her a little bit right now.

“Aww, don’t be mad, baby.” She slid onto his lap and toyed with his chest hair. Or maybe it was his shoulder hair. It all ran together after a while. “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

Tonight? Hell no. That was too far away. She’d make it up to him now.

Giving the love of his life a look, Eugene rolled them so she was trapped beneath him on the bed. Megan made one of those needy noises he adored.

“Well, okay then. Maybe I’ll make it up to you now.” Hooking her leg around his hip, she grinned up at him. “Why don’t you go lock the door, Studly.”

Hot damn, he loved this woman.

Keeping his arms wrapped around her, Eugene hopped up and did as he was told. Good things happened when he obeyed his girlfriend’s orders to the letter.

Good things indeed.

The End

Want to see how Eugene morphed into the hairy beast we all know and love? Grab Hard Wired to read his story or pick up Pinnacle Point: The Harker Collection to meet all of the Harker clan.

Missed any of the other shorts? Check out the Series Shorts page and get caught up.

The post Pinnacle Point Short – A Whole Lot of Something appeared first on Kelly Apple.

When the reread takes the cake

(Spoiler: There isn’t actually any cake in this post)

*ahem*

I think it’s far to say I read a fair amount. While I love discovering new authors and reading new-to-me books (OBVIOUSLY!), hitting a series reread is one of those things I ADORE.

There’s just something about rediscovering all the things you loved about a series the first time around that makes my heart happy.

Back in the day, I would try to reread a series whenever a new book in that series came out. Just for clarification, this was back in the days of traditional publishing when sometimes you’d be lucky to get a book a year from an author. I’m not knocking that, but WOW things have changed. Indie publishing gives authors the opportunity to release an entire series within months and that’s FANTASTIC. (seriously, it’s one of the things I strive to do, so I’m totally on board with it.)

The point here, is sometimes rereading the earlier books in a series was almost needed back then. Because it had been a minimum of a year since the last book came out and I didn’t necessarily remember all the craziness that had gone on before. Now, it’s not as necessary.

But let’s talk about me. Because I LOOOOOOVE talking about me. I genuinely like going back and revisiting old favorites. I also have a terribly difficult time finishing series. Like, I can’t even tell you how hard it is. Currently, I’m rereading the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost because I realized I never read the final book in the series. I OWN IT, I JUST HAVEN’T READ IT. (PS: That Amazon link only has the first 3 books in the series, which is upsetting because there are LOTS more books in that series than only 3.)

I LOOOOOOVE getting back in Cat and Bones’s heads. And meeting up with Mencheres and Spade and Vlad and IIIIIIAAAAAN again. I had forgotten how antagonistic Ian is in those earlier books. And how much Vlad and Bones snipe at one another. HA. Those guys.

I had FORGOTTEN and it’s so much fun to read their craziness again.

(As an aside, other series I’ve reread recently include: Merry Gentry by Laurell K. Hamilton, Moonshadow by Thea Harrison, and the Gemini Series by Hailey Edwards. Loooooooved them.)

What’s next on my reread agenda (once I finish Cat and Bones)? I’m not sure. Rereads ebb and flow with my moods, so only time will tell.

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It’s ALIIIIIIVE!

That’s right, guys, the final Grimwood book is LIVE!

Cursed Hearts – Lorianne and Alistair’s story – has gone live at all retailers (which kinda shocks me because Barnes and Noble isn’t known for their speedy approvals, but apparently the internet gods were smiling upon me this week) and I’m both thrilled and a little sad that this series is done. I have SERIOUS issues when it comes to saying goodbye to my characters. SERIOUS.

Anyway.

Lorianne and Alistair. You’ve met them in fits and starts through the previous books and…well, Lorianne’s story wasn’t an easy one to tell. She’d pretty broken when we first meet her. But she rallies. BOY, does she rally.

In case it’s not obvious from the blurb (and it might not be. I don’t know. I’ve been living and breathing this series for so long now I’m not sure what’s what anymore), Cursed Hearts is my Sleeping Beauty retelling. The handsome prince might be the one locked in the tower waiting for true love’s kiss, but, really, what did you expect?

So here you go. The final installment of the cursed Grimms.

Enjoy!

Cursed Heart

(Grimwood #6)

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

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Release Date: April 25, 2018

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Twisted Fairytale

Lorianne Grimm is a woman broken. Her children lost through thievery and curses, she retreated to the woods to grieve. Finally coming to terms with her loss, she emerged and was dealt one last blow… her husband had disappeared and she, herself, had been cursed to remain eternally young.

Unable to face her pain, Lorianne once again fled into the heart of the woods and tried for five hundred years to forget.

But lately there have been whispers on the wind that speak of great change within Grimwood. Magic is coming back to life and for it to properly take root Lorianne will have to take her place in the tale.

Hidden deep in Grimwood is a castle. The stories say only those with the purest heart will be able to find it and navigate the treacherous path inside. With all the hatred churning within her for what was done to her family, Lorianne hardly considers herself pure. But the whispers tell of one last thing, a Grimm who was cursed into an enchanted sleep nearly five hundred years ago after losing his family. A Grimm who only waits for his lady love to awaken him.

For the chance to be with her husband again, Lorianne will follow her heart and risk everything. Including her life.

<< Cursed Lives

{series page}

{all books}

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