Captured by the Monsters

by R.L. Caulder

“And what about you, Rowen? This entire time you’ve been smirking. Care to tell me what amuses you so? Or your problem with me in general with the distance you randomly put between us?” The glee fizzled out of his eyes, which became shuttered and distant once more. Shocker.

I’d answered him truthfully when he asked me a question, but he couldn’t reciprocate? I quickly raced until I was in front of him, blocking his exit. He wasn’t leaving until we talked. Whether Rowen liked it or not, we were hashing out our shit now.

Rowen stared at me as if he couldn’t believe my audacity—even I was surprised at my boldness, but I was quickly realizing that the Serafina Adler from The Above was not the real Sera.

“How about you both just talk to one another,” Sylan intervened, playing the peacemaker. I heard him mumble under his breath at the end, “So similarly stubborn.” Rowen and I both glared at him, proving his claim correct, but I knew Sylan was right deep down. If I wanted Rowen to talk, I needed to do the same.

“And I think you hide behind a false bravado and are scared deep down about our connection.” I pursed my lips, looking away for a moment. This would be a deciding moment for us, and finally I gave in and tore down my own walls. Flicking my eyes back to him, I confessed, “You’re right. I am afraid. I didn’t know what to expect here—still don’t know what to expect. I was thrown out of my world into one I’d never been taught about, and granted, you’re not the monsters that we’ve been trained to fear, but you’re still strangers.”

“We’re all afraid, Sera, especially me. Axton, Sylan, and I have so much to lose. I don’t want to fall in love with you and then something happens to take you away from us. What would we do then? We would be broken.”

“You can understand why I’m so hesitant to open up to you now,” Rowen whispered. “Sylan and Axton are literally the only family I have—and now you. We’re taught that our mate is everything, and I’m scared something will happen to you or our Trifecta. I’m afraid to give you my all, only for it to be cruelly torn away from me.”

“You’re right. I promised myself—and my family—that I would return to The Above. A vow that became even more important when you told me the truths about Paratiisi and the lies my government is feeding the people. I still plan to keep that promise, but…” “You can tell us anything, beauty,” Sylan reassured, causing me to take a deep breath. As I blew it out, I prepared to admit this both to them and myself. “Whereas before I was planning on running from you, now I want you all at my side.” Hope sparkled in the jeweled depths of my monsters’ eyes at my affirmation,

I might not have been one hundred percent on board with being shipped down to The Below, but Sylan, Axton, and Rowen were my monsters. There was no way I was going to be taken from them by another Trifecta. They were mine and I was theirs. I couldn’t fight it any longer.

Sylan whispered in my ear, “Remember, beauty, you hold the reins. You control the speed. Whatever you want, however you want it. We just want to worship the perfection that is you.”

I had been captured by the monsters, but now I wanted to be claimed by them.

“Kiss me,” I pleaded to Rowen, the only one who currently had lips. His mouth curled into its signature grin. “Are you sure this is what you want?” “Stop teasing me,” I commanded, grasping at the shadowy tendrils that somehow managed to be tangible and not at the same time. “But I like it when you beg, my little gem,” he taunted, his voice dropping seductively. It was my turn to smirk. Two could play this game. “Please, Rowen,” I purred, suggestively licking my lips and looking coyly up at him through my eyelashes. “Please kiss me.”

It was a whisper-soft kiss with the promise of more that made me whimper when he pulled back. “Please,” I begged for real this time, all games over. “Please don’t stop.” This time, Rowen surrendered to my pleas.

Logically, I knew sex was pleasurable. I had felt it with them in the acts we had done together thus far. There was no denying it. But my upbringing from The Above had taught me that it was a dirty, sordid ordeal if it wasn’t for the sake of procreating. It was hard to shake the judgment and disapproval that had been stamped into my mind from a young age.

“Are you ready for me, my gem?” Rowen asked huskily, pulling me from my haze. Mutely, I nodded my consent. There was no going back. And at this point, I didn’t want to. “Say it,” he commanded, not accepting my nod as consent. My cheeks flamed with heat as I confidently demanded, “Fuck me.”

he only gave me mere centimeters before my eyes were rolling back in my head and I was gasping at the new sensation stretching me. He paused at my sound and then began to retreat. I wanted to throw my legs around him and lock him into place, but I couldn’t. “More,” I moaned angrily, bucking against Axton’s restraining hands. Their chuckles floated through the air

“So eager for our seed to be inside of you, precious?” Hearing those words unlocked a new side of myself I had never imagined, because the answer to his question was yes. I wanted their cum inside of me, marking me, claiming me, owning me.

“Hold still, my gem,” Rowen commanded, his dominant tone making me want to instantly obey him. “We’re in charge of your pleasure, and while we like it when you beg like a good little girl, we don’t want you to get hurt.”

But make no mistake, as your Trifecta, we own these sounds of pleasure slipping from your fuckable mouth.” A thrill shot through me at his possessive and dirty words, and instantly I responded, daring him. “Prove it.”

“Fuck,” he hissed out as he stilled, not quite fully in me yet. “You’re drenched for me, little gem. Dripping for us to claim you.” Fucking hell, I might combust from the dirty talk alone.

In seconds I could feel myself careening towards an explosive orgasm, my body trembling in anticipation. When suddenly Rowen stopped. I blinked in confusion and frustration, scowling at the monster. “Why did you stop?” I snarled, pissed as hell. Rowen slowly pulled out of me and then thrust back in with one movement. A thousand curses tumbled from my lips at how deep he felt with this slower speed and intention behind each thrust. But I didn’t want to go nice and easy. I wanted it fast, hot, and hard like he had just been giving me. But I also knew if I fought against him, Rowen would just extend his taunting further, showing who held the control. The fucker.

In The Above, sex was a very private matter that was only meant for a bedroom. And only at night, when you could draw the curtains and turn off the lights. No prying eyes could see you, and you couldn’t offend anyone with the dirtiness that you were engaging in.

As Sylan worked his way back up to my ear, his whispered words caused my breath to catch. “I’m not going to fuck you, beauty.” I wanted to whip my head around and demand to know why, but before I could, he clarified. “I’m going to make love to you.” My mouth popped open in shock, but really I should have known my tender monster would be the one to hold my heart in the palm of his hands with just seven simple words.

If he had asked me to steal the moon for him right now, I would have promised that I would in a heartbeat, despite knowing damn well I couldn’t.

“Do you understand that I’m going to cherish you forever?” He punctuated his question with a tendril somehow lifting to brush against my clit. I had never thought myself an exceptionally emotional person, but there was something about feeling so damned cherished by this monster that had me unraveling under his touch. “I want that,” I admitted between moans. “Good,” he praised.

“I want you to cum on my cock, beauty. Right now.” It was game over the second the demand left his mouth. I shattered into a million pieces in his shadowy embrace as I felt the swelling within me moments before he groaned his own release.

Rowen had taken her rough and hard. Perhaps a little too rough, considering it was her first time, but there was no denying that Sera delighted in it. I also had discovered how much our little mate loved dirty talk, and I was more than willing to provide it.

Sylan, on the other hand, had taken her softly, with the gentleness that bespoke his nature.

“How do I feel, Sera?” I asked. “Do you enjoy being fucked by a monster?” Sera arched a pale brow. “I don’t know… You’re not exactly fucking me yet,” she taunted right back, making me laugh.

“Tell me that you like being fucked by monsters,” I snarled in a breathless voice. “Tell me that you love the way we stretch your pussy and make you beg for more.” “I don’t like it,” she gasped. I paused uncertainly, wondering if I had misread her body and actions, but Sera leaned up until her face was mere inches from mine. “I love it,” she hissed.

“We will get you and ourselves some coverings,” I offered, not wanting our mate to be uncomfortable, but Rowen and Axton glared at me in return. I knew they preferred not to wear clothes, nor did they want to see our mate covered, but if it made her more comfortable, that was what was important.

“I suppose you’re right, but there’s a difference between seeing you as smoke and seeing you in solid form. I just wasn’t expecting you to look like this. To be so…” “To be so what?” Axton prompted, his forehead wrinkled with confusion. “Attractive,” she admitted as she shrugged her shoulders. A satisfied smile curled my mouth, as did Axton’s and Rowen’s.

I harrumphed indignantly, because Serafina Adler was fiercely independent, but deep down inside, I didn’t mind being taken care of when it came to these monsters. I quite liked the idea. They made me feel cherished.

“I don’t know about humans as a whole, but there is one in particular who’s pretty amazing. She has a smile that lights up a room and is the most beautiful creature in all the lands. Her heart far outshines any of our kind.”

“Are you trying to flatter me to get in my pants?” It was totally working, but he didn’t need to know that. Sylan murmured under his breath, “But you aren’t wearing any pants,” making me laugh at his constant confusion of human sayings.

Taking in the three other claimed women, I could see one woman was not likely to make it based on the way she seemed like an empty shell already. There was no light to her eyes and no fight within her body. She was dissociated from her surroundings, like her mind had drifted to another world. I felt a true agony for that Trifecta, knowing that when their mate perished, they would too.

“I do not wish for my mate to see the other Specters fight for the unclaimed mate. Is there a room we can wait in?” Sera grumbled from our side about how rude it was to speak in a tongue she couldn’t understand, but she would know soon enough. Knowing our fiery little mate, she would be pissed that we were planning on putting her in a room for her own protection. She was damn strong and faced challenges head-on, so the thought of being babied in this manner was likely not going to sit well with her. I’d be the villain in this scenario, though, if it meant her being safe and not having to see such savagery.

He tucked me into his side and dropped kisses to the top of my head, murmuring that I would be okay and they would be back shortly. I heard a similar pleading from my right, and I looked over to see the black-haired chosen who smiled at me in the same predicament. She didn’t want to be left alone, either.

“Are you kidding me?” I half-yelled, half-laughed. The audacity was astounding. So much so that I couldn’t figure out whether to cackle like a loon from the shock or if I wanted to punch him in the face.

Leah. Julie. Hope. Madison. Olivia. Mishka. The list of women who’d tragically lost their lives was growing, and the fault lay with both territories. The Above and Paratiisi were equally to blame for this. I would honor these women by fixing the divide between our lands. I would ensure no other woman died due to the lies and desperation of our species.

“Yes. After the claiming, the female human body starts to change. It starts a physical cycle of intense need that can only be satiated with…” Sylan trailed off, looking uncomfortable. That meant one thing. “Let me guess—your cum,” I deadpanned. Everything else up to this point required that, it seemed, so it was the logical conclusion.

“Yes. I still want you to be the mother to my children,” he admitted, “because look at how you already care about protecting them from hypothetical situations. You would be an amazing mother.” My mouth dropped as I struggled to compute his words. I spluttered, “This isn’t a hypothetical situation. That is the exact trajectory this land is on.”

The heat had to be messing with my fucking mind because I found it attractive when he referred to it as ‘our child’ so casually. This was ridiculous.

“If your body wants our seed inside of it to stave off the cravings, then perhaps we just need to feed you more. You need it in replacement for meals anyways, so maybe let’s try keeping you full of it that way?” My lips thinned, as did my eyes, as I deadpanned, “This seems like a win for you guys.” He shrugged and winked at me. “I never said it wasn’t, gem. I love your lips wrapped around our cocks. It’s a beautiful sight to see you gagging on them.”

Something about the situation had my heart pounding in my chest and my stomach churning. “We have to know, Sera,” Sylan reminded me gently, and I nodded my understanding. Put your big girl panties on to prove you aren’t the Queen so we can get the hell out of here. Simple enough.

We were here. A Trifecta and their destined mate, awaiting judgment by this crystal. How had this become my life? I felt like I was in one of the fantasy books I used to read.

“There. Satisfied?” I teased. “Yep—” Axton accepted, but Sylan once more interrupted. “I forgot—you have to hold your piece of the crystal with your other hand,” Sylan directed, and I laughed. “You’re just making stuff up now!” I exclaimed and chuckled at his antics. It seemed more than clear we were not paired to the crystal at this point. “No, I forgot. This is my first presentation, obviously, and usually the leaders are here to direct it. I just want to tell them we did everything right so we can leave.”

Once more, the three men placed their hands on my bare skin, and once more, I waited for their disappointment. Except, it never came. Because this time when I touched the crystal, a blinding light burst forth immediately, filling the room.

It truly did thrum now, but this time, the thrum of the light pulsating steadily was in time with my own heartbeat. We were in sync. “Oh my god,” I croaked in horror, while my three monsters whooped in unabashed joy. “Precious, do you know what this means?” Axton rasped, voice tinged with choked emotions. I knew what it meant—I was the True Queen of Paratiisi.

She would still crave our touch, but only because she fed the crystal with that primal energy—it was her life force that sustained it, literally—and because so much was taken from her as Queen to feed it, she would never be able to have a baby. No Queen of the past had been able to. Although this is exactly what Sera wanted, and I should have been happy about that, I couldn't help but feel slightly saddened. As her mate, I longed to see her belly round with our son.