Ashley Morris elbowed her partner in his ribs. “You promised to let me handle this…”
I cleared my throat, trying not to smirk at the way her voice shook, and leaned against the doorframe, still completely aware that I was in nothing but a half shirt, panties, and no bra on. “So like…do you wanna come in or something?”
Ashley faced me again, pasting the fakest smile on her face she could muster. I nearly rolled my eyes but refrained. I was trying to be cordial here, but there was only so much I could fake.
You don’t belong with them anymore…
The voice in my head was back, and it was laughing at me. I ignored it as I stepped aside, holding the front door open for the lawyers. I didn’t want them in my house, and a part of me regretted even opening the door. It was my own fault though. The first thing I should have done after getting back into town was stop by the damn office to sign those papers. I didn’t actually care about straightening out any of the details. It didn’t matter what happened to the house, because pretty soon, it would be gone, just like me.
Before I closed the door, I paused as movement in the distance caught my eye. I could have sworn I saw something move through the trees that backed up to the edge of the property. I narrowed my eyes on a tree towards the front, where a shadow seemed to flicker with the sunlight starting to peek out behind it.
It moved again, and I stepped forward, eyes locked on something large, dark, and…shaped like a bipedal creature. Was this some kind of monster? Something else drawn towards this house, wanting to gobble me up?
Whatever it was stepped sideways, revealing the full shape of it. My heart shot to my throat as I realized how tall it was. Even from here, I could tell it was at least eight or nine feet tall, made even larger by what looked like massive antlers crowning its head. All I could see was the silhouette of it, but the sight alone had my mind and heart racing.
In the South, we had names for creatures like this—names people didn’t like to speak out loud, just in case they accidentally invited such things in. I blinked at the creature, wondering if I was seeing it right, or maybe the shadows were just messing with me after my abrupt wakeup call.
It moved again, its long leg taking a single step closer. My hand tightened on the edge of the door to keep myself from reacting too fast. From the stories I’d heard as a kid, mainly around campfires and on the playground, if you were stupid enough to acknowledge these creatures in any way, you were fucked. They would come for you eventually, so the best course of action was to ignore it entirely and pretend it didn’t exist.
So that was exactly what I did.
“I, um, like what you’ve done with the place,” Chris said as I took them through the living room, pretending like I wasn’t completely shaken. Both of them stopped in their tracks, mouths agape as they looked around in horror at the damage I’d done.
“Just a bit of light remodeling.” I waved them off casually as I stepped over a giant sheet of broken plaster that was very clearly demolished with a hammer. “Follow me, we’ll be more comfortable in the dining room.” I snorted under my breath.
They did, but slowly. Ashley clutched her little leather bound binder to her chest, as if the house itself was about to reach out and get her. I supposed that wasn’t exactly impossible, given what I knew about this place now. I tried not to laugh as I led them into the dining room, especially when I heard the sharp intake of breath from Ashley as she stopped at the threshold. Broken chairs lay scattered all over the floor, the chandelier had been tossed in the corner, and glass covered pretty much every surface of the room.
I glanced at the spot on the table where Kaz had previously held me down, noting the little imprint of my bare ass that couldn’t be missed.
“I'm afraid I’ve run out of chairs,” I said, swiping a pile of glass shards off of the table. The sound of it raining to the floor was loud in the pregnant silence. “But I'm sure this won’t take too long, right, Ash?” Tilting my head, I blinked innocent eyes at her, almost daring her to say something else. Please,pleasepoint out the butt print…
The wind chose that exact moment to gust by, and the shutters of the dining room window slammed against it, causing the woman to yelp as she lept a whole foot to the side. Her eyes were wide, and her face was pale. She cleared her throat nervously. “Right, uh, let’s just…” Fumbling with her binder, she set it down on the table and frantically leafed through it, pulling out several pieces of paper. Chris poked around in his inner jacket pocket, procuring a fancy pen, and handed it to Ashley. “We just need your signature on these three documents, then the estate will officially be yours. It’s a good thing you were able to come so quickly, as the state was ready to auction it off within the month.”
I kept my face neutral, but inside, my gut twisted. As much as I hated this place, the thought of the state coming in and gutting my family's things and selling it to greedy rich assholes didn’t sit well with me. I knew the Cooper estate was a local spectacle these days, due to the tale of the infamous family who was brutally murdered by the son of their beloved groundskeeper. The bare bones of the story was enough to spark all kinds of rumors, especially when the only survivor was refusing to provide details.
I stood on the opposite end of the table, waiting for Ashley to pass me the papers. She awkwardly shuffled them before sliding them across the dusty surface, looking incredibly uncomfortable as she stretched her arm across to place the pen on top. I just smiled blandly at her. Maybe I was being a huge bitch right now, playing with the woman’s emotions like this, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. Every second she was in my house, I could feel her judgment and her pity. It was the pity that pissed me off the most.
Meanwhile, Chris couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of my boobs. It was a bit chilly in the room, so I knew my nipples were probably poking through the thin fabric, but the heat in his glassy eyes was unnecessary and had my teeth grinding in irritation. Again, I heard a growl, too low and quiet for the lawyers to hear, but it made my lips twitch upwards. I refrained from searching the room for a pair of glowing eyes in the shadows, knowing they were probably fixated on Chris.
Why did the thought of their jealousy make my thighs clench together? They planned on killing me in what was probably going to be an incredibly painful and brutal manner, so why the possessiveness? In any case, it was amusing and satisfying.
I read over the forms, once, twice, and then a third time, stretching this out for way longer than was necessary. Okay, so maybe I was being a tad sadistic, knowing how uncomfortable sweet Ashley was growing by the second. The wind continued to batter the house, making the shutters repeatedly slam loudly against the windows. The room was dark, lit only by the faint light of the cloud covered sun, causing the trees that surrounded the house to cast shadows along the walls.
Then I felt it…something warm crawling up my leg. I tried to keep my face neutral as I leaned to the side. The table was high enough that it hit me right above my belly button, so the lawyers thankfully wouldn’t be able to see the two shadow men that had suddenly appeared at my feet. My whole body flushed as I tried my best to concentrate on reading the contracts. Shadowy hands skimmed upwards, caressing my inner thighs.
Claws hooked in the crotch of my panties and pulled the fabric to the side. I held my breath, my thighs clenching with need. I tried to act natural as I adjusted my stance, spreading my legs wider as a pair of hands pushed them apart. A moan was caught in my throat when I felt a tongue flick over my core.
Fuck…
It felt so fucking good, my knees wanted to buckle. I fought the urge to grind my pussy into his face as he licked me over and over again. I didn’t know which of the shadow men it was, but one of them held me still while the other ate his fill.
I glanced up at the lawyers and realized Ashley wasn’t even looking at me. She was mindlessly scrolling on her phone, probably pretending to keep herself busy, but Chris was watching me closely, his eyes bouncing between my eyes and my lips.
“You new here, Chris?” I asked as I grabbed the pen, clicking the end of it loudly.
His blue eyes were heated, and I could have sworn his nostrils flared slightly. Could he smell the sex in the room? I was dripping wet all over the shadowy face of a monster under the table, and little by little, the temperature in the room rose. Or maybe I was the only one feeling it.
“Just got into town last month,” he said, rolling back his shoulders and standing straighter, probably trying to make himself look larger than he was. Compared to my monsters, he was nothing but a puny little boy pretending to be a man.