Librarian and the Beast: A Mintar Romance

by S. J. Sanders

  “Oh, he didn’t steal me. I chased him down until he brought me,” she said merrily.

  Faltz shot a startled look back at Beni as both of Miram’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Chased him, you say?” Miram said, a note of laughter in her voice.

  Beni was frowning at her clothes but looked up with a smile at the question directed to her. Too wide of a smile. What was the female up to?

  “Oh yes. I’ve always been the curious sort, and when I saw him… well, he’s ever so handsome, and I said to myself, ‘Beni, you wanted someone different, and just look at that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finer male.’ Naturally, he was quite resistant to the idea—Faltz is very chivalrous and sweet, not wishing to put me in an uncomfortable position at all—but I won him over.”

  Faltz thanked the gods for his honed self-control that kept him from gaping at the tiny female. Nothing of what she said was an outright lie, and yet she put such a spin on events that it was nothing like the truth either. As she finished, she turned her smile on him, and he was certain that it became wider.

  A female Mintar at his side chuckled and gave him a playful wink as she draped a pack over her shoulder. “Who would have thought that such a stern male would have a female chasing him down?”

  “With this one, a female would have to chase him down to get him to listen to a mating proposal,” another said, laughing.

  “Very amusing observations, Antagi and Visha,” he said, eyes narrowing in disapproval.

  Not that it did any good. It encouraged the females to laugh louder. Even Miram pinched her lips together as if trying to smother her own laugh.

  Did everyone in the clam assume that he was inept with females? True, he never went out of his way to greet new females when they came in. Nor did he attempt to win any over, knowing that his size and the scars he bore, especially the ones on his face from when a monstrous river beast had attacked him when he was a calf, would scare them away.

  A feminine huff sounded from behind him. “I don’t know why not.”

  Reluctantly, he cast a bemused look at Beni. Her arms were crossed over her breast as she scowled.

  “A fierce mate for Faltz. Quite appropriate, I think.” Visha chuckled as she moved away with the packs she had removed.

  “I think it’s wonderful,” Miram said warmly. “I am so happy to see that you have the sort of mate you’ve always deserved. This one will be good for you.” With a decisive nod, she moved away with the pack to join her mate, whose arms were likewise laden. Praxlor gave him a curious look and bent down to speak with his mate before shooting him an approving smile.

  No doubt word would spread of his new mate now. He turned and headed toward his own home a short distance from the main community, where he could enjoy some privacy. Setting her down in front of him, he ushered her inside. He followed her in and began lighting the lamps scattered around his home before tending to the main fire. He could feel her eyes trailing after him as he worked.

  “I think that went well,” Beni chirped from behind him.

  “And how do you figure that?” Glancing back at her, he narrowed his eyes with displeasure. “You wished to mock me before my clan? Now everyone will laugh that Faltz had to have a female chase him down to finally take a mate.”

  She let out a delicate snort that was more adorable than threatening and rolled her eyes. “I see masculine pride and dramatics are not unique to humans either. I think you will notice the opposite to be the case. They may jest at the moment, but the other males will envy you. It will make our supposed relationship look stronger, since they know you’re the one I chased down and my decision is made.”

  He frowned as he gave that some thought. It was true that many of the males would be discouraged by a female with a clear interest in another. Yet there were some who would see that as an open challenge to win the female over.

  “And what of the males who will want you more because of it?” he challenged with an irritated snort.

  The impossible female shrugged and grinned innocently up at him—innocent his right talon—and batted her eyelashes. “That, my dear Faltz, is where your imposing presence comes into play.”

  “How do you mean?” Faltz asked. He did not enjoy the thought of having to watch for attacks from his more headstrong brethren.

  Beni looked him over appreciatively, making his tail stiffen with awareness. Her dark eyes finally lifted and met his, with a sparkle of amusement in their depths. His frown deepened.

  “I can’t imagine that you would have much trouble convincing them to leave. You’re larger than them, and command authority. You also have an impressive talent for looking as if you could easily rip someone in two with your bare hands.” Her voice dipped as her lips curled with a thoughtful hum. Faltz gritted his teeth, his upper lip pulling back from his fangs. “Just do exactly what you’re doing now,” she concluded with an amused chuckle.

  “You are an impossible female,” he said.

  “A gift from the Mother to brighten your life, no doubt,” she replied with such cheerfulness that he found himself struck with confusion.

  Did she take his words as a compliment?

  Beni glanced around his home with fascination as she began to wander through, touching everything in sight. As if she were the living embodiment of chaos, everything she touched she seemed to skew out of place. Faltz followed her, meticulously righting everything. He finished turning his teapot at just the right angle that he preferred when she turned around. She fixed him with a curious look, her smile widening.

  “I have noticed that you’re quite particular, aren’t you? Everything in its precise place. Even where you set up your home is telling. Outside of the main bustle of your community, but within a comfortable radius so that you don’t actually have to have anyone intrude upon you… Not that I blame you. Close neighbors can be stifling. Still, it’s clear to me that the Mother has thrown me in your path for a very simple reason,” she informed him as she plopped on the huge stuffed mattress that served as his bed.

  “And what may that be?” he ground out. “To test my fortitude and patience? Or perhaps, you are right, and you are from the gods—a trickster who wishes to see me enter into certain madness.”

  Beni rolled her eyes and lay back as she threw her legs up onto the bed. Wiggling a little, she seemed to find a comfortable spot, and sighed happily. Tucking her arms behind her head, she regarded him, her amusement never once abating. “There is where you are mistaken. A little chaos, maybe… but I am certain that I am here to make your life more colorful and interesting.”

  “More colorful?” he echoed with a hasty glance around his abode.

  “I don’t quite mean in terms of your interior decor—not that it isn’t astounding. I have to say, I’ve never seen such a brilliant splash of colors thrown together in such a way. Quite lovely, although I think some of these combinations would make my mother scream, to be honest. Puce and vermillion? Intriguing.” She looked at the cushions and smiled once more at him as she sat up.

  He grumbled, giving her a sidelong look as he put some water in the kettle and swung it over the fire to boil. Tea might settle his nerves. Movement out of the corner of his eye attracted his attention, and he glanced over to see the little human peel off her top covering, leaving the smooth globes of her breasts moving freely. His mouth went dry, and he felt a niggle of panic sweep over him even as his cock hardened in its sheath.

  “What are you doing?” he hissed in alarm.

  Glancing over it at him, Beni raised her eyebrows at him with a wondering look that implied that she was speculating about his intelligence. Her expression then shifted to something devious.

  Eyes twinkling, she leaned forward and whispered loudly, “I took my shirt off.”

  Faltz bit back a snarled oath, delving deep for a measured tone. “I can see that you took off your shirt. I am not blind.”

  Beni cocked her head. “Then why are you asking me what I’m doing?”

&nb
sp; “Why—” He growled. “Why are you taking it off?”

  The human snorted at him with another expressive roll of her eyes. “Now you’re just being silly, or intentionally obtuse. I am sure I could remain fully clothed while I allow you to have your wicked way with me, but eww. Sex is fun and a wonderful thing, but I’d rather my clothes not smell of it. Not to mention getting body fluids on them—speaking of which, I’m not sleeping in the wet spot.”

  She gave the mattress a pointed look and shifted to the middle, where she tilted enough to slide her skirt and underclothing down off her body. Faltz felt his breath leave him in a rush as he took in the delicate, shapely length of her legs, following the line of her inner thighs until they met at her sex. A low groan rattled out of him as his cock surged against his sheath, parting the seam that held it within as his swollen sex slipped free.

  “Faltz, if you have a moment,” a hunter interrupted as he stepped within the lodge. He did not get far. Faltz rounded on him, growling viciously as he placed his body in front of the female.

  “Get out,” he snarled vehemently.

  The male’s eyes rounded with shock. With a hasty apology, he stumbled right back out.

  “Ah, see? You’re scaring hapless males away already,” Beni teased.

  He rounded on her with a growl, his gaze falling on her naked body. Hunger stirred like a hot ache in his belly. The female was driving him to madness in more than one way. Her lips curved delectably as her fingers grazed down her body, lingering at her breasts to pluck at her nipples.

  “You do not know what you do, female,” he warned on a low growl.

  Her husky laughter filled the room. “Ah, but you see, I do. And now, this arrangement between us is looking all the more delicious.” Her tongue trailed her full lower lip as her gaze landed on his cock. The infuriating member swelled further beneath her gaze. There was no doubt about it. He was—as the human females in his village liked to say—well and truly fucked.

  Chapter 11

  Beni felt lust burn deep within her belly as she stared at the Mintar in front of her. Faltz intrigued her in more ways than one. The gruff male was not only a male of exceptional character, but she also found his uptight—dare she say prudish?—nature endearing. But now with his cock thick and swollen with desire and his eyes hot upon her, she was left breathless at the raw power within him.

  Merciful Mother!

  Nearly as long as the distance from her wrist to elbow, it boasted an impressive girth and a deep purple hue that lightened and turned more violet closer to its base. The head was so dark that it seemed almost black. Flat rather than tapered, it possessed two large bumps at the upper region that attracted her notice. The shaft was smooth for the most part, although the sides swelled out about a third of the way down. That area was covered with smaller bumps scattered over its surface in an almost wave-like formation. But the top of his cock was what made her clench her thighs together. Swollen nodes extended upward in a line from the head of his phallus all the way down to his pelvis. She licked her lips and watched as it jerked in response.

  Beni lifted her eyes and met Faltz’s burning gaze. The muscles of her belly tightened with interest as her arousal slipped onto her thighs. His nostrils flared, and he took a step closer, her attention once again distracted by the way his phallus bobbed with the movement. She wondered how this was going to work, since he didn’t possess a human lower body.

  That question lasted less than a minute before she saw his cock move in and out of his sheath in a questing fashion. She knew there would be no hip action needed as she watched it shuttle in and out from the sheath. It was almost hypnotic watching it. But her attention snapped right back up at the low rumble that rolled out of his chest. It was like something caught between a growl and a purr, and it made her sex clench in response.

  One claw settled on the mattress, and then the other. The bed moved beneath her as he settled on it, bringing his cock down to where it was level with her belly as his legs folded beneath him. It was so close that she could reach out and touch it—her fingers twitched in anticipation at the idea.

  “Be certain, Beni,” Faltz growled down at her. Even with his legs folded beneath him, he towered over her. “It is not too late to change your mind and return to my original offer.”

  He had to be joking. As if she was going to give up the opportunity to take that out for a ride!

  Pushing up to her knees, she scooted forward and met his eye. “I’m quite certain that this is exactly what I want.”

  His eyes closed as a shudder rushed through his body. They were so close that she was able to not only see every terrible scar, but also the thick, dark fringe of his lashes. When his eyes opened, startling slit-shaped pupils that she’d never really noticed before landed on her as two muscular arms swept around her, yanking her against him as his mouth dropped down over hers.

  Sliding her feet beneath her to give her some semblance of balance, Beni shifted forward against him, her breasts pushing against his chest as she slid her arms around his shoulders. His arms tightened as his tongue swept between her lips, parted in surrender. Never relaxing his grip, his hands glided over her body, making her skin tremble against him.

  How quickly the tables were turned!

  Where only moments before she had been the aggressor, he now took complete control with every move, every touch, his cock a searing bar between them. His tongue slid against hers erotically as he touched her. When one hand dipped between her thighs to explore the sensitive flesh there and found her wet and wanting, she wiggled against his touch, desperate for more. He obliged her silent request, sliding first one finger, and then two into her clutching channel. Her body shook as he rocked his hand back and forth, drawing out small gasps and moans from her, but it ended too soon as he pulled the digits free.

  She whimpered in protest, but it soon turned into a moan as his hand slid down her thigh to grip the back of her leg. He drew her leg around his hip as he lined them up, his sex kissing the mouth of hers. Instinctively, she wrapped her other leg around him, and her fingers clenched against the hard muscle of his shoulders as a loud growl ripped from his throat. Wet heat flooded through her and slicked her body in anticipation.

  With one deft move, he pushed her body down against his length, sheathing himself in one slow plunge. The blunt head did not enter easily, despite how ready her pussy was, but made its presence known as it forced its way into her passage. The small bite of pain at being so unexpectedly and brutally stretched sent a thrill through her, and she arched against him. Pleasure exploded behind her eyes as her muscles gripped him. Her fingernails digging into his back, she leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

  “Now make me yours. Brand me with your sex so that no male is mistaken about to whom I belong.”

  Faltz growled low in her ear, his fingers tightening around her thigh before his hand moved up to slide under her ass. Drawing back slightly, his eyes glittered down at her as he spoke. “Hold tight, then.”

  His firm hands drew her up, her body protesting, clenching around him as he dragged her off his length. Every bump and node caressed the walls of her pussy as his cock pulled back in retreat. The feeling of his nodes against a sensitive spot made her tremble and gasp against him. When the broad head of his cock moved against it, her thighs clenched tight against him. Faltz snarled into her hair as he yanked her back down his length, his pelvis tipping up as his length drove within her, making her cry out.

  Beneath her hands, his body shook, arms tightening around her as his breath came in ragged pants. His face pressed against the top of her head; his cock fully lodged within her. He made no effort to withdraw again as he twitched and shivered against her. Every muscle was rock hard with tension.

  Leaning her head back, Beni glanced up at his face, noticing the way his jaw was set. His eyes met hers, and he shuddered again.

  “What are you waiting for, handsome?” she murmured.

  “I do not wish to hurt you,” he g
round out.

  Tightening her internal muscles, she gave his cock a squeeze that made his forelegs jerk and his body wobble as he regained balance. His breath hissed out from between his teeth as his eyes glittered down at her.

  “That’s sweet and all, but if you don’t move, I am going to have to take matters into my own hands,” she said. “I am not breakable, Faltz. Now move.”

  Heat flared in his eyes as he began to rock her against his length, his cock pulling back and pushing within her. To her surprise, he did have an odd thrusting momentum with his forebody as he pumped upward to thrust into her every time he dropped her down his cock. Pleasure sang through her blood as she rocked her weight against him, attempting to draw him deeper. Sweat broke out over her skin, her body quivering with every thrust. Never in her life had she felt so full. He barely had to move to send pleasure snapping through her.

  Faltz moved her quicker with each thrust, his impassioned snarls filling the air, mixing with her moans and gasps as small orgasms scuttled through her and a tingling pressure built up within her belly. Her thighs trembled around his hips as the wet sounds of their fucking grew louder.

  A low hiss escaped him, and she found herself unable to move as he shifted his weight. A glance confirmed that his forelegs, no longer folded beneath him, were now gripping the mattress as he braced himself. Locked against his body, her breath whooshed out of her in shock when he began to jerk against her at a hard, fast rhythm. Her cunt quivered under the onslaught as he rutted deep within her. The spasm grew more intense, and he snarled like a feral beast as his cock swelled within her. It could barely move, but that didn’t stop him from stroking within her with each thrust.

  A shiver stole over her as tongues of desire’s lightning flicked over her skin, the flat head of his cock nudging the deepest place within her like a battering ram. The dam broke as a powerful orgasm rolled through her and her cunt convulsed around his sex. Faltz’s cock twitched within her, and he roared as the first blast of his seed erupted. He pumped harder with every jet before shoving himself against the mouth of her womb and shuddering as he bellowed a second time, a powerful spray of cum flooding through her.