Friends with the Monsters (Friends with the Monsters, #1)

by Albany Walker

Sure, they say they’ll stay, but no one ever does.

“None of us really abandoned you, Damiana.”

“I know if feels like that now, but we’ve all been around more than you know. We’ve all tried to help you along the way, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Give me…give us,” he amends begrudgingly, “a chance to prove that to you.”

“The witches need to be kept in line, and I’m the one who has to do it, for now,” Gunnar replies.

“I keep the beasts in line.” He leans his hip against the island. “The largest shifter population is in Russia, so that’s where I spend most of my time.”

“Lion: king of not just the jungle, huh?” I joke.

“Yes, my queen.”

“It’s my fault the nightmares come to you.” His eyes meet mine.

“You really were starving to death.”

“I couldn’t let you die.” The embers of fire begin to glow within Grim’s eyes. “I tethered your soul to your body, making it impossible for anything to kill you. But there was a cost.”

“I don’t have an explanation for why you were starving, Damiana, but when I fed you, it turned you into a beacon for them. I didn’t even realize it until I came back one night and found you playing with a Deep One.”

“You shouldn’t have needed me to feed you. That part of you should have been dormant until you were much older.”

“I never forgot them, not any of them,” I

Which is met with grouching from Gunnar. “You only like him because he fed you. I was around, too. I’m the one who brought you all the stones,” he replies crossly. I slowly turn to face the man-child who is about as close to a tantrum as an adult could get. “You were the one leaving the rocks?” I question. “Not just rocks—they’re gemstones.” Gunnar folds his arms over his puffed-out chest.

I force myself not to look at Grim, because if there is one to whom I’m more pulled, it would be him, and I’m not ready to acknowledge that.

“If you think I’m going to pick one of you, and we’ll live happily ever after or some shit, you’re wrong. I’m not that girl. I like dick, in all varieties. I’m not picking just one.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Grim states, before I even have a chance to glance at him. “If having them around makes you happy, I can choose to not kill them. I’ve suffered their existence this long.” He lowers his head an infinitesimal amount, like he’s conceding to me.

“I’m a tactile person. I happen to likey the touchy.”

“How about because if I see you touch her, I’ll rip your fucking arms off. Would that work as enough of a deterrent?”

“You wanna schedule touch time?” I burst out laughing at the absurdity of it.

“We could schedule alone time.” Grim tilts his head.

“You may have visited her and left rocks, but I’ve been preparing. I knew this day would come, and I wanted to make sure I could make up for lost time,” Calix hedges, with a hint of cockiness in his tone.

“Don’t worry, boys, I’ll take real good care of her.” Calix

“I’ve warned you about bragging about your speediness.” I waggle my finger at him jokingly.

“If I would have moved a little faster the other night, we might already be rid of these two.” I can tell by the gleam in his eye that he’s joking.

With a swiftness I would expect from Calix, Gunnar leans down and steals a kiss from my lips.

“You broke the no-touching rule!” Calix shouts into the air as if Gunnar can still hear him.

I like the way he gets close to me without demanding it. It’s almost subtle.

third-floor landing.

“I wanna show off my queen.”

“You want to ride…or drive?” Calix pours as much innuendo into those six words as possible while he gazes down at me.

“I just need you to tell me where Rumors is and where within we should blink to,” Grim tells me, as if I know what the hell blinking is.

I feel a sharp tug on the ends of my hair. My head jerks back and I gasp. Grim’s mouth lands on mine as he devours me.

he wraps his arms around my waist and drags me tightly up against his body.

I’m panting for air, but Grim just starts kissing his way up my neck. I let out a small groan when he bites the bottom of my earlobe. He freezes, my flesh still between his teeth, panting into my ear.

Grim’s teeth slide off my earlobe, but he sucks it back into the warmth of his mouth. I feel his tongue slip up behind my lobe as he kisses his way up to the crest of my ear. Holy shit, I don’t think anyone has ever kissed me there, and it fucking feels good,

In two quick strides, Grim has my back against the wall. He’s not at all gentle, and it stirs something inside me.

leaving no doubt just how affected he is.

“Stop speaking,” he growls and thrusts his hips.

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll have you right here, right now, against this wall.”

It’s like he hit the magical, do-whatever-you-like button, ‘cause I’m here for it.

“Damiana, I will only take you when I know you’re mine. Are you mine?”

I’m thinking he could have very easily made me his if he hadn’t made it a demand, if he would have just shown me with his body how much he truly wanted me to be his.

Calix takes a step closer to me, sandwiching me between himself and Grim. Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he lowers his head and sniffs me.

Calix’s eyelids lower slowly, and a grin lifts one side of his lips.

I can feel Grim’s heat on my back and Calix’s against my chest.

Grim didn’t want to give me what I needed, but I bet Cali...

“You know I like the beast look, right? It really works for you.”

Without thinking, I reach across Grim’s body, place my hand on her hip, and shove her away. “Mine.”