Swipe Right for Monsters (Monster Match #1)

by R. O'Leary

Jasper gritted his teeth to hold back the groan climbing up his throat. One little paper cut, and suddenly, his pants felt like they were strangling his cock. He didn’t have to look at Atticus to know his old friend was feeling the same thing.

Jasper wisely kept his mouth shut—the thoughts in his head were far dirtier than a simple “divine.”

He would have told Nicole how his mouth was watering to strip her naked right there in the backseat and run his tongue over every curve. He would have told her how he was dying to hear the little whimpers she would make when he was fucking her with his fangs in her throat.

“Can we keep her?” Jasper asked quietly.

“I intend to.” Atticus shot him a wicked grin and put the car in reverse.

Romance wasn’t just dead—it was dead, embalmed, and buried somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle.

She couldn’t stop the annoyance from seeping into her frown. Seriously? The “man of the house”?

Nicole wasn’t the type of woman to slug an old man for his misogyny, but if he called her one more pet name, he was going to find out just how little patience she had.

No one should look that good covered in grease and dirt. She was pretty sure she still had smudges of last night’s makeup under her eyes, and the sly monster was playing with cars looking like that?

“Nicole?” “Uh huh?” she murmured. “Do you want to see your car, or do you want to keep checking me out?” Wes asked, his dimples flashing with his grin. “I’m good with either.”

A shiver rolled down her spine as he leaned away. Nicole breathed out; she needed to get the hell out of there before she melted on the spot.

“You’re not going to let me pay a penny more than that, are you?” He barked out a laugh. “No, definitely not. I’m struggling to charge you even that much.”

Nicole jumped behind the wheel and started the engine. She blinked for a stunned second at the warm purr. The werewolf had done a lot more than fix the alternator—she didn’t know how to prove it, but she was sure of it.

She gaped at the were-cougar. As a fairly logical person, Nicole had never been a big believer in fate, but as she stared at yet another one of her dates, she couldn’t help but feel the universe was playing a joke on her.

Nicole was sure he was trying to be deep and inspiring, but it was really hard to focus on any of the words coming out of his mouth when his ass looked that good in jeans.

She slammed into his back and rocked back on her heels. Drake spun quickly, catching her hips in his tight grip. “Careful, kitten. I don’t want to have to add a trip to the emergency room to this quote.”

she wasn’t sure how much more humiliation and yearning she could take before she imploded.

Nodding, Nicole was only half listening. She was too busy staring at the way his broad shoulders moved under his shirt and thanking her lucky stars he had terrible business sense.

Nicole watched his muscular back disappear around the side of the house. Covering her face, she silently screamed into her hands and jumped up and down.

Had Drake low-balled the quote to get in her pants? Probably. Did she care? Not in the slightest.

Between Wes and Drake’s horny generosity, she was actually going to be able to afford groceries this month—and not just dented cans and discount boxed dinners, but actual food.

The fact that they wanted to flirt with her after their horrible group date was borderline miraculous. How bad were monster dates usually if their shitshow hadn’t seemed so terrible?

"Please tell me you spent the evening as the center of a giant monster sandwich," Ashley teased hopefully.

She looked Nicole up and down like she was trying to find a way to crawl inside her skin. “Can I be you? Just for, like, two days? I would love to be at the center of a shifter cream puff."

“Trust me, the only ‘thank you’ they want is a big old bowl of Nicole.”

She was starting to think monsters had very low standards.

“I own a landscaping business, and I grow my own flowers and plants in greenhouses. Anything left over from my landscaping jobs, I bring to the market on weekends to sell.” “Ooh, plants!” Miri walked right past him to find and ransack the stall.

Enormous flowers covered every inch of the stall. She squinted at the fabric of the tent and raised a tentative hand. There were so many plants tucked inside the small tent that it looked like it was woven together out of leaves.

Leaning forward, she sniffed a bright yellow daffodil. Never in her life had she seen flowers so big and vibrant.

“These are the leftover plants?” she gasped. “You’d be amazed at how many flats of flowers I go through in a week.” His face flushed pink. “Maybe— maybe ...

Nicole beamed at the shy fae. “I would love that!” He looked away quickly, his flush coloring his ears. She swallowed a giggle. That cute b...

Every time Hawthorne’s pointy elf ears turned pink, she had to resist the urge to reach out a hand an...

“Why those two?” she finally asked. “Because they’re a bitch to grow.” A laugh burst out of her at Hawthorne’s disgruntled growl. It was the first time Nicole had heard him say anything that wasn’t sweet or quiet, and it was because he had a grudge against house plants.

“I like the challenge,” he admitted with a smile, for once not blushing under her gaze.

Hawthorne pulled a pink peony stem out of a bunch and cupped the blossom in his hands. As he muttered something under his breath, the runes on his arms flared a brilliant blue. Nicole blinked at the flash of light. What the⁠—? He opened his hands and she gasped...

Fluffy, vibrant petals fanned in gorgeous pink spirals. She looked up at the fae, an awed smile lighting her face. He pressed t...

"It's beautiful," she whispered. Fire burned her cheeks, and Nicole didn't need a mirror to know that her face was redder than the roses in the stall. Ap...

“They come in other colors if you don’t like purple.” Nicole’s eyes crept upward to his hair. In the shade of his overflowing stall, the pale silver hair pulled back from his face in a loose bun was the same shade of lavender as the hanging basket. “I like the purple just fine.

Nicole watched his ears turn bright red and knew he was lying. There was no way the elf was going to let her pay; she could already tell. What was with these monsters trying to spoil her after one date?

As she turned to leave, Hawthorne caught Nicole’s hand. He tugged her back a step and raised her fingers to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles before he let her go.

"Girl, if you don't fuck that tall drink of water, I will!"

He had promised Nicole he’d get her house in decent shape. A promise that was going to take every bit of skill Drake possessed. She hadn’t been kidding when she said her house was a wreck. It was going to take weeks, if not months, to get the house up to his standards.

The were-cougar had almost turned down the job the second he’d seen the property. If it hadn’t been Nicole’s, he would have. But spending weeks hanging around her?

Teasing her and flexing his muscles until her cheeks turned that delightful shade of pink? Smelling her luscious scent everywhere he ...

It was time to work, not let the cat out to play. He would never live it down if Nicole walked out to find him furry and rolling around on her lawn.

Crap. He took a deep breath, and Nicole’s flowery wine scent punched him in the nose. Resisting the urge to spin around and press his body against hers, he schooled his face into a careful mask.

A fresh wave of her sweet scent washed over Drake and had him swaying on the spot.

He forced himself to breathe through his mouth. She was definitely going to shred their contract if he gave in to his urge to lick her throat.

Drake padded closer to her, and her heart leapt into her throat. She squeaked as he buried his nose into the back of her knee. A warm tongue flicked across her skin before he darted toward the house.

“What in the actual fuck is my life?” she murmured.