Operation Minotaur (Monstrous Matchmaker Book 5) (2 page)

In the sated afterglow of their lovemaking, Liam’s
tentacles wrapped loosely around any part of Ari they could reach. Smiling like
a dope, she cuddled close to her green love and toyed with his pebbled nipple.

“Not all of the men you meet are ready to settle down,”
Liam said in his low, rough voice.

Ari snorted. “I know that. Not all the women I meet are,
either.”

There was a long pause from Liam as he considered that.
Ari took advantage of his silence and continued to flick the hardened nub.

“That is true,” he said eventually. “The females of my
species are expected to have young as often as they can conceive. I forget
sometimes that not all supernaturals are like that.”

The reminder of the grim fate awaiting the Liath Mor as
their kind slowly died out killed Ari’s desire to play. She remembered too well
finding Liam in the depths of his mating contract, bound to his pallet as the
women chosen to mate with him abused him.

He’d forgiven them because he was a kind, practical man
who understood the difficulties facing many of the supernatural species still
hiding in the world. She hadn’t.

Pushing those dark thoughts aside, Ari sat up and looked
her love over. He’d bounced back from what had been done to him. He was strong
and healthy again. His sex drive hadn’t been at all diminished by his
captivity.

And he was hers. Body, heart, and soul.

If it came down to it, she’d protect him from anything
that came to harm him.

Liam might be bigger and stronger than her, but she’d
raised a supernatural army to save him once. She’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Well, army might be a small exaggeration. It had been
more like a small platoon.

The point was she’d done what she needed to do to get
him out of the hands of the females of his kind. And she’d do it again.

“Akakios is lonely,” she announced.

Liam raised a brow.

Narrowing her eyes, Ari stared him down. “Sad-lonely.
Not just
I need a fuck buddy
lonely. I can fix that.”

“And you wish him to live here?”

Maybe she should have mentioned that part to Liam before
springing it on Akakios. Giving him an apologetic look, Ari leaned in and
kissed his broad chest. “We have the room and I don’t like seeing him so sad.
Do you mind?”

“I don’t mind, my love. You are correct, we have plenty
of room.” A frown pulled the edge of Liam’s mouth down. “I do find I enjoy
having you to myself, but I will content myself with keeping our fucking to the
bedroom.”

Ari snorted on her laugh. Like having others around had
ever stopped them from getting physical before.

They simply tried to be a little more circumspect.

They often failed in that regard, but they did try.

“Max is working on expanding the cave system so those
like him can stay there.” Ari thought about the dragon and smiled. There had
been a lingering sense of loneliness about Max before she’d hooked him up with
Siri. If she could find a lady who liked an old-as-dirt dragon, she could find
someone for the minotaur. “Akakios will probably be more comfortable down
there. You know, since he was used to the labyrinth before.”

She was making that up. She had no idea if he would want
to stay at the house with them. Liam knew it, too. He shot her an amused look
before pulling her head down to rest against his warm skin.

“And who do you have in mind for our bovine friend?”

“There’s a werewolf from Michael’s pack. She’s shy.
Super shy. I honestly didn’t know werewolves could be anything but outgoing,
but this one gets tongue-tied around every male.”

“You think she would make a good match?”

Ari tried to shrug, but Liam’s heavy arm turned it into
an abbreviated twitch. “She’s quiet like him. She’s lonely. I think she’s
frustrated by how she can’t get her words out when men are around.”

That was something Ari had never experienced. She’d had
an aggressive, sexual personality from the start. Talking to men didn’t faze
her.

“Akakios doesn’t talk much, but he needs someone who
can, uhh, keep up with him.” For all she and Liam were aware of each other’s
sexual history, Ari didn’t like to rub it in that she’d slept with pretty much
all her supernatural friends while he was engaged in his mating contract. “I
think Liz would be good for him.”

Liam rumbled out a sound that might have been agreement.
Ari chose to take it as such.

When his big palm swept down her back and pulled her
tightly against him, she sighed and snuggled in as close as possible.

She’d made her offer to Akakios to come live with them.
She hoped he took her up on it, but even if he didn’t, she planned on getting
him and Liz together.

Somehow.

That’s what she did, after all.

Arabella Colton, matchmaker extraordinaire.

Akakios couldn’t say he was thrilled by Ari’s plan to
find him a mate, but he wasn’t against it either.

At best, he was apathetic. And that bothered him. He
tried to involve himself in the world around him, but it was so very different
from what he’d known before he took up residence in the labyrinth that he had a
hard time connecting to it.

Smart phones and computers. Vehicles that clouded the
air with the stink of chemicals.

The world had moved on and he’d stayed locked in the
mindset of peasants and virgin sacrifices.

He’d deflowered plenty of young women in his days. He’d
taken what was offered to him as his due. Looking back on it, he cringed. He’d
been a product of his time as much as those young women had been products of
theirs.

He’d expected to be given tributes. He’d welcomed them.

Then he’d been captured and imprisoned in the labyrinth,
no longer the king of beast, but an oddity to be trotted out at his captor’s
will.

He’d grown to accept that over time.

Now that he was free again, he felt out of step. The
Liath Mor had helped him with some well-timed advice about taking his time to
grow accustomed to this world. The werewolves had helped by giving him a place
to fall back and regroup.

He considered the others Ari had drawn together by the
sheer force of her formidable will to be his friends, yet he couldn’t shake the
feeling he didn’t quite belong.

So when Ari bullied him into meeting the woman she
claimed was perfect for him, Akakios had reluctantly agreed to go along with
her plan. Now they were out in a secluded spot in the woods, setting up a nice
picnic lunch so he could meet this mysterious woman.

“She’s shy,” Ari told him as she settled a bottle of
wine in a bucket of ice. “She gets nervous around men and can’t get the words
out. So go easy on her, big guy. I really think you’ll end up liking her.”

Akakios wasn’t big on small talk, so her lack of verbal
skills didn’t bother him. Ari had been surprisingly tight-lipped, however, on
who exactly he was meeting.

Duplicating the hard look he’d seen her mate give her
once or twice, Akakios stared at Ari until her fidgeting stilled and she looked
up.

“What?” she asked, defensive.

“What is this young lady’s name?”

“Liz.” Ari looked down at the basket of food she’d made
him carry and sighed. “She’s a werewolf. Part of the pack you were staying
with. You probably didn’t even notice her while you were there. She’s that
quiet.”

Akakios frowned. Wracking his memory, he came up blank
on a female wolf named Liz. He’d kept mostly to himself, though, only joining
Michael and his friends when the wolf demanded it.

“She’s nice and pretty and I just want you to give her a
chance.” Ari chewed on her lip and gave him a pleading look.

He’d do it, of course. He had a hard time resisting the
gorgeous nymph when she turned those beautiful blue eyes on him.

Those eyes were what had convinced him to leave the
safety of the labyrinth beneath the college, after all. Ari’s pleading looks
and her desire to help the man who would later become her mate had reminded him
that there was more to the world than his dank, dark corner of it.

He might feel out of step, but he also couldn’t fathom
going back to the existence he’d been locked into before.

“I will treat her kindly,” he rumbled. “I promise not to
ravish her even if she is a virgin.”

Ari’s ears turned pink and she tried to muffle her
giggle. For some reason she always got giddy when he mentioned his
virgin-ravishing past. He didn’t understand it in the slightest. She certainly
had been no virgin when she found him. She’d given herself willingly, using her
body to tempt him out of the maze.

Yet she still turned an amusing shade of pink and
squirmed whenever he brought it up.

“Yeah. Okay. That’s good.” Wrinkling her nose, Ari
pulled out her cell phone and squeaked. “I’m going to head over and pick Liz
up. You stay here. Make yourself comfortable. Don’t eat the food. That’s for
the two of you.”

To his surprise, Akakios found he was enjoying himself.
The date Ari had planned for him and the werewolf wasn’t extravagant or fancy,
but it suited him. He wanted to meet the woman Ari had picked for him, he
realized. He wanted to spend time with someone who was willing to look past his
animalistic features to see the beating heart of the man underneath.

As he watched Ari rush off to pick up his date, Akakios
smiled.

She had been right when she bluntly told him he was
lonely. Maybe this wolf she was bringing wasn’t the one for him, but it was
time he made an effort. The world might be bigger than he remembered, but he
could figure it out.

He’d adapted to his circumstances before. He could do
this.

Settling in, Akakios waited for Ari to return with his
mystery wolf. It was time to make some changes.

Akakios heard Ari’s breathless chatter long before he
saw her. Her animated voice made him smile, but it was the hesitant response
that had him sitting up and pricking his ears forward.

Liz—for who else would Ari be dragging through the woods
toward him?—had the voice of an angel. It was pure and sweet and it made him
curious.

When the two women stepped into sight, Akakios couldn’t
look away.

The shy wolf Ari had brought him might be part of the
pack he’d been living in, but he’d never seen her before. Such a vision of
perfection would have stuck with him.

She was beautiful.

Hair a shade or two darker than Ari’s glowed like spun
gold as she stepped through the trees. She had the golden eyes most of her kind
were gifted with and a mouth made to do decadent, naughty things.

He stood without remembering pushing to his feet.

Brilliant, startled eyes swung to him and flared wide.

They both stared. Him in awe, her with a cautious sort
of fear.

Not of him, he realized. Well, of him. But not because
he was a monster. It was because he was male and interested.

“Akakios,” Ari trilled, “this is Liz. Liz, Akakios.”

The beautiful wolf dropped her head to stare at her
feet. He thought he heard a mumbled hello, but it was so low he wasn’t
positive.

“Thank you for meeting me, Liz,” he said formally.

The wolf hunched her shoulders and tried to disappear
into the background.

Oh, that would never do. He would draw her out. Make her
laugh. Tease some words out of her.

By the time this date was over, she’d be comfortable
with him. She’d want to spend more time with him. It was his one goal.

“As you know—”

Tuning out Ari to focus exclusively on the wolf, Akakios
held out a hand and waited patiently as she regarded it with something close to
terror. When he didn’t lower it or draw away, the wolf peeked up at him and
swallowed.

Those shy, hesitant fingers curling around his made his
heart beat faster.

Ari was still talking, chattering on about coming back
in an hour or two to take Liz back home. Hmm. He needed to put an end to that
line of thinking.

“We will return to the house after we’ve gotten to know
one another,” Akakios interrupted.

His abrupt words stopped Ari mid-sentence and caused Liz
to drop her head again. The lovely wolf hadn’t let go of his hand, however, and
he took that as a good sign.

“Oh. Well, okay.” The frown in Ari’s voice was clear as
she shifted from foot to foot. “Liz, are you okay with that?”

The golden haired wolf nodded without looking up.

“Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you when I see you.” Ari
leaned in to catch Akakios’s eye and frowned menacingly.

Coming from a nymph who was half his size, it should
have been laughable, but Akakios nodded. He understood what Ari was trying to
convey with that look. He had no intention of frightening the lovely wolf she’d
brought him off. Liz enthralled him. He didn’t want her running from him unless
it was in fun.

As Ari flitted back to the house and her mate, Akakios
drew Liz down to the blanket and gently settled her. He caught her looking up
at him a time or two, her cheeks turning fiery red whenever their eyes met.

It was endearing. Probably frustrating for her, but he
liked the rosiness of her skin and how she sank her teeth into her bottom lip
in embarrassment.

He wondered if it would embarrass her even more to know
watching those straight, white teeth of hers dent her lower lip was giving him
all sorts of ideas. Soon, his loincloth wouldn’t be able to hide his
excitement.

The bottle of wine Ari had brought them caught his eye.
Perhaps a little alcohol would help Liz feel more relaxed.

Just a touch, though. Just enough that she didn’t look
like she was going to bolt at the slightest move.

“Wine?” he asked courteously.

Golden eyes met his before dropping. Her jerky nod made
him smile. She was beautiful and awkward and being with her gave him a sense of
peace.

Perhaps he wasn’t the only one out of step with the
world, he mused as he popped the loosened cork free and poured two glasses. Liz
might understand cars and computers better than he did, but she was just as
lost in her own way.

“Thank you,” came the soft whisper as he nudged a glass
in her direction.

Ari had thoughtfully provided a minotaur-sized mug for
his wine. His big hands had a tendency to crush small cups, he’d found out
early on. Between his mug and Liz’s glass, the bottle had been emptied.

Hopefully one small glass would be enough to relax the
young wolf so she’d at least look at him for longer than a second or two.

He liked the glimpses he’d had of her eyes. He wouldn’t
mind studying them in depth.

As he lifted his mug, Liz guzzled her wine. Akakios
paused and watched her gulp it down.

Apparently, the lovely wolf was as desperate for some
liquid courage as he was to have her relax. Perhaps it was a good thing the
wine had only managed to fill their two cups.

Any more and his date would be passed out drunk on the
picnic blanket.

He wanted her to loosen up, not fall into
unconsciousness.

Lowering the glass, Liz blushed to find him watching
her. She blinked down into the empty cup and he could see her squirming in
embarrassment.

“I’d offer you some of mine,” he said, keeping his voice
gentle, “but I don’t want this date to end before it begins.”

Amazingly, she understood what he was getting at. Her
blush intensified and she stuttered out an apology. Her hands were shaking as
she carefully balanced her wine glass on the ground.

“I expect nothing from this, you know.” Akakios longed
to put the nervous wolf at ease. He imagined her smile would be utterly
spectacular if he could coax one out of her. “We’re just two supernatural
beings sharing a meal. Nothing more.”

Teeth digging into her lower lip again—it was starting
to look swollen from all the chewing she was doing to it—Liz peeked up at him.
Her mouth opened and then snapped close before she could get any words out.

Akakios gave her a gentle smile. He had no problem with
silence, but he wanted to draw the young woman out. Keeping his voice low, he
began to speak. “Ari tells me you’re part of the Overton pack. It saddens me
that I never met you when I was living with them.”

The half lift of her shoulder and a glimpse of golden
eyes were a gift. He’d take anything she wished to grant to him.

“I saw you,” she said, her voice a thread of sound.

“Did you? And you still agreed to meet me when Ari
asked?” There was no bitterness in his voice, he was glad to note, only
curiosity.

Liz nodded, her hair falling in a curtain around her
face. One finger came up and touched his wrist. His chest and arms were human,
if not a little hairier than a normal man, and that soft touch did things to
him he hadn’t been expecting.

“The pups like you,” she said faintly. “They think
you’re nice.”

Her words filled him with a quiet kind of joy. He knew
what he looked like—a fearsome beast with great horns and a shining ring in his
nose. To have someone tell him children no longer found him terrifying pleased
him.

Until Ari liberated him from the labyrinth, it had been
years since he’d spoken to anyone. He’d lived with his solitude because he knew
of no way to break out of it.

His world had shifted when one adventurous nymph had
challenged him to chase her and set them both free.

He’d changed in the months he’d been out. It hadn’t been
easy—still wasn’t—but he was more than the beast in the maze now. He was a
friend and a confidant. He might not feel in step with the world, but he was a
part of it.

Perhaps he could help this beautiful wolf beside him
find her own place.

Her warm finger withdrew and Akakios twisted his wrist
to catch her before she could pull back entirely. Her skin was soft beneath his
fingertips, silky.

A shy smile crossed Liz’s face and she ducked her head
again. The flush on her cheeks had mellowed and he thought it might be caused
in part by the wine she’d drunk instead of pure embarrassment.

She was lovely. As sweet as any he’d seen before.
Sweeter.

There was a lightness to her that called to him.

“Are you hungry?” he asked to distract himself from
dwelling on her beautiful attributes.

Another twitch of a smile and she shrugged. “No.
Nervous.”

“I will not hurt you.”

Her eyes were serious when she looked up. “I know. It’s
me. You scare me.” A horrified look came over her face. “Not s-scare.” Her chin
trembled and she tucked her head down, withdrawing from him.

Akakios had no intention of letting her wallow in her
panic. Catching her chin with one big finger, he tilted her face up so he could
see her. “I understand what you were trying to say. Have no fear, little one.”

For all he was sitting beside her, she had distanced
herself from him. That would never do.

“Do you know,” he asked, choosing an apple from the
basket and handing it to her, “how Arabella convinced me to leave my
labyrinth?”

A quick shake of her head, her eyes still focused
anywhere but on him.

Akakios found thick sandwiches tucked at the bottom of
the basket. Ari was always conscientious about making sure all her friends were
well fed. He pressed one on his date and sat back, giving Liz space.

“She stumbled over me in the labyrinth beneath the
college. I had no intention of leaving the place I called home. I would have
stayed there, forgotten, until I eventually died, I suppose.”

The wolf was picking at her food, but she was eating.
And her head was cocked as though she was listening. Akakios took that as a
good sign.

“Ari convinced me there was a place for me in this
world. I confess I’m still trying to find that place, but I am better here than
I was in the maze below.”

Liz looked up at him, the little line between her brows
deepening. “What did she do to make you follow her?”

Akakios found he liked the soft cadence of her voice. It
wasn’t strident like Ari’s could sometimes get. It curled around him with a
gentleness he hadn’t realized he craved.

“She asked me to chase her. I was afraid I would hurt her,
but she can be quite persuasive when she has her mind set on something.”

Falling silent, Akakios let Liz process that. She looked
worried and intrigued all at the same time. Both expressions were a far sight
better than the quiet frustration she’d exhibited earlier when she’d been
tongue-tied.

“Did you hurt her?”

Akakios considered how to answer that. What he and Ari
had done together hadn’t involved any pain or panic. She’d forced his hand and
made him chase her to the exit. They’d enjoyed each other thoroughly and then
they’d reentered the world.

The rest, as they say, was history.

“I didn’t hurt her. She always says she knew I wouldn’t
from the first time she got a good look at me.”

“I knew, too,” Liz said, her voice a smidge stronger
than it had been. “You had a kind smile.” Looking up, she flushed again. “The
children like you. My mom told me you help sometimes around the pack house.”

How had this delectable wolf remained hidden the entire
time he’d been living on pack land?

“Do you like to chase, little wolf?” He was curious.
Would her instinct to hunt override her shyness?

She squirmed and looked away.

Ahh. Perhaps it was the other side of the hunt she
longed for. The one where she was prey.

“Or perhaps you’d like me to chase you as I did Ari,” he
said, keeping his voice low.

A shiver shook her frame and Akakios knew he’d hit on
something.

Reaching out, he plucked the half-eaten sandwich from
her hand and wrapped it back up. He kept his movements slow so as not to
startle the shy little wolf watching him with such wary, hopeful eyes.

As one of the predator species, it wasn’t often one came
across a wolf who preferred submission. Given her shy nature, it was likely Liz
had been too afraid to ask any of her partners to take control.

And that was what she was asking now. She wanted Akakios
to chase her. Take her down. Make her prey.

He wanted it, too. Gods, how he did.

He didn’t dishonor her by asking if she was sure. Liz
might be a young wolf by his standards, but she knew her own mind. Her shyness
might keep her from straight out asking, but he understood what she hadn’t
said.

And he was more than happy to oblige.