Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
“You have a market here? Like a supermarket?” Terra asked, surprised.
He shook his head.
“Not quite like a supermarket, but many foodstuffs can be purchased. Hopefully I can find everything I need to make you my specialty–g’rnfred stew and fargas bread.”
Terra wasn’t sure how his “specialty” was going to taste but she’d never been with a man who wanted to cook for her before. Her heart fluttered again as she looked up into the big Monstrum’s eyes.
“That sounds delicious,” she said, smiling. “Come on–let’s go to the market.”
19
TERRA
Terra was excited to get to the Monstrum Market where she hoped she could find some souvenirs for her mom and the kids. But it turned out that in order to get to it, they had to ride on the back of an enormous centipede-looking animal.
“This is a wole,” Taurex explained, as he led her to a kind of train station where several of the huge creatures were waiting on wooden tracks. Large balls of pastel hay were hanging above the head of each centipede and they were all happily munching as people boarded their long, flat backs which had been fitted with platforms and chairs.
Terra saw mostly Monstrum warriors of all kinds at the wole station, but there were human women too–obviously mated to some of the Monstrum. They looked happy and contented and for a moment she wondered what it would be like to live here.
But that was crazy talk, she told herself. Taurex hadn’t made a single move on her in all the time they’d been working together. She had almost convinced herself he was only interested in a business partnership and possibly a friendship…except for the way he looked at her sometimes, when he didn’t think she noticed.
“There seem to be a lot of Monstrum with human mates here,” she said lightly, testing to see how he would respond.
“Yes, we have been working hard to make the Monstrum Mother Ship as inviting to human woman as the other Kindred Mother Ship is,” he said, nodding. “That’s one reason for the Market we’re going to. We also have a shopping district for other items like clothing and other necessities. And there are several new restaurants open, from what I understand. Maybe tomorrow I can take you to one, but tonight I want to cook for you.”
“I’ve never been with a man who actually wanted to cook before,” Terra confessed.
“What?” Taurex frowned as he leaned across her to tighten her belt and make sure she was secure in her chair. “Did your ex-mate dislike it when he had to take his turn to make meals?”
“His turn?” Terra laughed. “Please–he never took a turn. According to Jackson, cooking and cleaning and anything to do with watching the kids was all ‘women’s work.’”
Taurex gave her an incredulous look.
“So he expected you to do all of the domestic labor?”
“One hundred percent of it.” Terra nodded. “But of course, that made it easy for me when I decided to divorce him after I caught him cheating. Because I realized I was doing more with him around–being married to Jackson was like having a third kid.”
“Wait–back up.” He held up a hand. “So not only did he refuse to help in your domicile, he also betrayed your trust with another woman?”
“Several other women, to be exact. They could form a book club if they all got together,” Terra said dryly. “He, uh, said he wasn’t attracted to me anymore after I had the kids. Because my hips and behind got bigger,” she added, feeling her cheeks go pink with the remembered embarrassment and shame.
Her ex had acted like his cheating was completely her fault because her body had changed during the two pregnancies she’d had.
“You’re too fat now–why don’t you lose weight?” Jackson had demanded, looking at her with disgust. His cruel words had wounded Terra to the core. In fact, in a way, stripping had helped to heal those wounds because she realized she wasn’t unattractive or too fat to be loved, but remembering that look on his face and the way he’d talked to her still stung.
“So you became an Elite and he didn’t like it?”
Taurex’s words broke her out of her unpleasant reverie and Terra looked up at the big Monstrum with a frown.
“Sorry–a what?”
“An Elite–a woman the Goddess has blessed with extra generous curves.” He nodded at her. “Most Monstrum love Elites–it is considered a special blessing to find one as a fated mate.”
“So Monstrum like big girls? Girls with a little junk in their trunk?” Terra asked, raising an eyebrow.
Taurex frowned in confusion.
“Why would we prefer women with extra junk in the storage compartment of their vehicles?”
Terra threw back her head and laughed.
“No, that’s not what I meant at all. I mean, the Monstrum prefer women with wide hips and big behinds–is that right?”