The first bonus short of 2023! This is a 10.3k short about Wyn surprising Danny with a little trip, and not much else. It’s sweet and soft, with our resident gross old telyth showing his human how much he loves him.
Content warnings: Explicit sexual content, 18+ only, inhuman genitalia, mentions of death and grief, restraint, the black panties make a comeback, mentions of Danny’s past trauma
Spoiler warning: Set after the events of Seraph (Monstrous: Book Six)
Danny
I was getting more used to waking up to all the sounds in the camp. Doors slamming shut, raiders talking and laughing at all hours, the faint squawk of Aury and Ghost’s hens down the other end of the motel. It was kind of nice to wake up knowing we were surrounded by other people.
Wyn didn’t think so.
Most mornings when I woke up, he was still in bed holding me tight, but he’d be grinding his teeth and staring up at the ceiling with seething eyes. The first words out of his mouth were usually something like, ‘I had to listen to that annoying human doing fuck knows what to Moth all night,’ or, ‘Two of the little raiders decided to have a long conversation right outside our bedroom door and it took everything in my power not to rip their tongues out,’ or, ‘Does Edin ever shut up?’
I knew he hated being around so many people, but I also knew that deep down, he was staying because he wanted to help Edin and the others get to the time place in the monster world to tether their lives. Sometimes, I didn’t think Wyn was actually aware of how much love he had for those he cared about. He just acted like he was being awfully inconvenienced by everyone but there was nothing he could do to stop it.
But I knew the truth. And it made me love him even more.
As I started waking up, I realised that the camp was quiet. Really quiet. There was always some kind of sound filtering through our bedroom door that even I could hear with my weak human ears, but this morning there was nothing. Literally nothing. It was dead silent.
Before I could start to worry about what that might mean, cool lips trailed over my shoulder blade, making me sigh with pleasure and sink deeper into the bed. I was splayed on my front across the bed, and I quickly realised that the sheets felt different—softer, not as scratchy, and they didn’t smell the same. Shit, I could’ve sworn they actually smelled a bit like fabric softener.
Plus, the mattress wasn’t lumpy—not that I noticed that often, seeing as I usually slept half-draped over Wyn. But he’d complained about it enough times.
“Wyn?” I croaked, before finally blinking my eyes open.
He grunted as I sat up in a rush, his nose bumping into my shoulder blade. But I was too busy staring at the unfamiliar room, which was big and bright and fancy as shit. Sunlight streamed in through huge windows, thick heavy drapes pulled back by fat tiebacks that looked like twisted rope. All the furniture was big and made of solid dark wood, including the gigantic bed I was lying in. Beams ran across the vaulted ceiling with fairy lights haphazardly looped around them.
“Where the fuck are we?” I twisted around to sit up in the centre of the comfy-as-shit mattress, running my hand over the thick, dark blue comforter that was clean. And looked new.
Wyn was sitting on the bed with his hood up, legs crossed and his stained fingers drumming a familiar pattern on his knee. “A house.”
I finally focused on him, my brows twitching into a confused frown. “Thank you, detective, I figured that much. What house?”
He gave a careless shrug. “Just a house. Surprise.”
“Surprise? What?” I blinked and looked around again. “Whose house is it? Why are we here? How the fuck did we get here?”
Wyn huffed. “Always so many questions. My sweet,” he tacked on hurriedly to take the sting out. “I brought you here while you were asleep.”
I choked on a breath. “You carried me through the air while I was asleep?”
“Well I know you get all”—he wiggled his fingers—“about it while you’re awake so I thought it would just be easier to do it while you were asleep. Plus… surprise.”
“I don’t—” I looked around again. “I don’t get what the surprise is. Do we… live here now? But what about—”
“My sweet Danny.” Wyn pushed back his hood before crawling forward, forcing me to lie back down as he loomed over me with a wide, sharp-toothed smile. “It’s just a house that I’ve… that I found and brought you to. So we can spend some time away from the camp.”
My hands crept under the sides of his coat to palm his back as I stared up at him. “You mean like a vacation?”
“Yes. Precisely.” He dipped his head to kiss my neck.
I shivered, but refused to let myself get distracted. I still had questions. “But… We are still in the Wastes, right? This house looks lived in. It’s clean. And furnished. These sheets are all soft and smell really good.”
Grabbing Wyn’s horns, which made him growl, I forced his head up so I could give him a stern look. “Do people live here, Wyn?”
He stared back down at me in silence. I knew that meant he was figuring out what to tell me and how to tell me in a way that wouldn’t make me mad. If he’d kicked people out of their house…
“There are currently no other people in the house except for us,” he eventually said.
“Okay, but were there? Were there people living here?”
“There were people… here when I found it.” He gave a jerky shrug. “I don’t know if they were living here or not. They might have been. Possibly. But they’re not here now, so…”
I tightened my grip on his horns when he tried to dip down to kiss me, but all that did was make his mismatched eyes flare with heat. “It sure looks like they were living here, Wyn. What did you do?”
“Why do you assume I did anything? Couldn’t they have just left on their own?”
When my only answer was a hard stare, he huffed and rolled his eyes.
“Alright, fine. I may have made some mild threats. Barely even threats, really. Just… loaded remarks.”
“Loaded remarks,” I echoed dryly.
“Well what’s even the point of having a reputation if I can’t use it to my benefit?” Wyn snapped, then hastily amended, “Our benefit. I did this for us, my sweet.”
“You terrorised people out of their home so we could have a fancy vacation.” I glanced at the room again, trying to peer at the view through the window. “Where even are we? Are we still in the Wastes? How is it so nice here?”
“We are. In a sense.” With a longsuffering sigh, Wyn pushed himself up and sat back on the bed. “There are areas in the Wastes that fared better when the tears widened. This is a gated community where, apparently, lots of extremely rich humans had already built bunkers under their mansions for some kind of apocalyptic event. They were better prepared. And still have connections,” he added in a mutter.
“Connections?” I asked worriedly, sitting up. “You mean the military? Is there military around here?”
“No, but they seem to liaise with the military often for provisions.” He shrugged. “The military needs money. And these people still have it.”
“So… we’re in some uber-rich person’s house?”
Wyn’s lip curled into a sneer. “Yes. So I’m sure they’ll survive a few days not living in luxury while the rest of the world decays.”
I chewed my lip anxiously. “But what if the military turns up?”
“They won’t, sweet. I’ve been watching. The military brought supplies last week, which means they won’t be back for a while.” He grinned, crawling forward again and tugging the comforter down. “Now, let’s—”
“Wait, wait, wait.” I stopped his wandering hands. “Were there kids here?”
“What?” He huffed and sat back. “No. Just two annoying adult humans. With far more of everything than they could ever possibly need.” His expression grew fond as he added, “They screamed so much when I showed up. I think one of them pissed themself.”
“Oh my god, Wyn.” I scrambled out of bed and cupped my hands over my junk so he didn’t get any ideas, throat and cheeks turning splotchy with heat. “Wait, did you fly me through the air while I was naked?”
“I dressed you for the journey.” He waved a hand. “Then undressed you again when we got here.”
How the fuck had I slept through all of that? God, Wyn was such a dirty little sneak.
I noticed the pile of familiar clothes on an ottoman at the end of the bed and reached for them immediately. “Okay, we can’t stay here. We can’t take over someone’s home!”
“We’re not taking over it. We’re just… utilising it while they’re not.”
“And where exactly are they?” I glared at him as I grabbed my pants, then sifted through the rumpled pile. “Where’s my underwear?”
“Oops,” Wyn answered blithely, leaning back on the bed and inspecting his fingernails. “And don’t worry about them, Danny. I didn’t kill them.”
He said this as if I was supposed to be impressed by his restraint. Giving him another flat look, I shoved my pants on and reached for my shirt. “Look, this was real sweet of you, baby. I mean… the sentiment was, but we can’t force people out of their house just so we can… I don’t know. Fuck in a big comfy bed with clean sheets…”
My voice trailed off as I looked back at the bed. It was comfy. And clean. This room was really nice. The air smelled good. There was no dust or mildew. And for the first time in a while, I wouldn’t have to worry about trying to stay quiet while we were…
“No.” I said it more to myself than to Wyn, tugging my shirt on. “We can’t stay.”
“We’re already here.”
“I know, but…”
“I got us supplies.” Wyn quickly stood up. “I went to a city.”
I faltered, feeling a little guilty. He’d brought me here for us to have some time alone. And that bed was really nice…
“What… what supplies?” I asked, fiddling with the socks in my hands.
Wyn reached down and heaved a huge duffle bag onto the bed. “Lots of food. Some new clothes for you.”
“Any underwear?” I asked dryly.
His fingers twitched as he unzipped the bag. “Yes. But you won’t be needing it while we’re here.” He shot me a sharp grin.
I huffed, feeling far too tempted as I watched him pull out candy bars, coffee, bags of chips, rice, pasta, jars of sauce. A squished loaf of bread and peanut butter. Oh shit, bubble bath. Fancy shampoo. A new toothbrush.
It would be nice to relax somewhere clean and safe for a few days, where we could just be alone. I liked the camp and everyone in it, but I wasn’t all that used to being around so many people at once. I was happiest when it was just me and Wyn.
“Wyn, this was real sweet of you, but… we can’t,” I said sadly, glancing around the room again. Whoever lived here kept it nice. They obviously took care of it. Kicking them out, even just for a few days, was wrong.
And I had not missed the fact that Wyn hadn’t told me exactly what he’d done with them.
What if they were just out there in the Wastes with nowhere safe to stay? Did he remember to let them take food and water with them? Wyn was great at looking after me, but he kind of forgot that other humans needed things to survive as well. Or he just didn’t care.
“And I got…” Wyn hesitated before pulling a box out of the bag. “I thought you might want this. I can try making it for you.”
Chest pinching with guilt and longing, I walked over to see what it was. My throat closed up as I stared down at the box of generic brand mac and cheese in Wyn’s black-stained hands.
“Is this the one your mother made?”
Swallowing hard, I nodded and croaked, “I think so. I recognise it.”
Wyn turned the box over to look at the instructions on the back. “I’ll make it for you, sweet. It can’t be that hard,” he added in a mutter.
I could almost taste it already. I could practically hear my momma’s voice telling me that dinner was ready. I could feel her smoothing a hand over my hair and kissing the top of my head as I sat at our tiny table eating.
I missed her so much.
“I didn’t mean to make you sad, sweet,” Wyn murmured, cupping my nape as he leaned down to kiss my temple. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head quickly. “I’m not sad.”
That was a lie, and Wyn knew. He’d be able to see the emotion clouding me.
“I just… I miss her.” My voice wobbled a little, so I took a deep breath and looked up at him with a tiny smile. “Thank you. This is… I’d like that. If you wanted to try making it.”
“Of course I will.” He set the box down and turned to cup my face, smoothing his thumb over the little scar on my chin. “And if you’re not comfortable here, we won’t stay. I just thought—”
“No,” I blurted, gripping his coat as I looked around again guiltily. He’d done all of this for me, and god, I was so tempted… “Do you promise you didn’t kill whoever was living here?”
“I promise,” he said quickly, though his lip curled a little as he said it.
I stared up at him sternly. “They have somewhere safe to stay? And food and water? Weapons?”
“Yes.”
I squirmed, feeling torn. “And it’s only for a few days, right?”
“However long you want, my sweet.” He stroked my cheek, making me soften even more. Shifting closer, he slid his hands down my neck before wrapping his arms around me. “I just wanted some time alone with you, Danny.”
Goddamn him. He knew I couldn’t say no when he got all sweet. And this was a nice surprise—it was just… Wyn’s version of one. Which usually meant terrorising humans for our benefit.
Ignoring the guilty pinch in my chest, I caved.
“Okay. Let’s stay for a few days.” I smiled up at him, then lifted my chin for a kiss. “Thank you for doin’ this, baby. It’s real nice of you.”
“Anything for you, my sweet human,” he murmured, before kissing me long and deep.
Wyn
“Goddamn, this place is fancy as shit.”
My mouth quirked as Danny’s voice rang out from the ensuite bathroom. He’d warmed up considerably to the idea of staying after I showed him the ridiculously large tub and coaxed him into taking a long bubble bath.
He appeared in the bedroom I’d decided we’d use while we were here—this stupid house had so many of them, we probably could have stayed in one without the owners even realising. My lip started to curl as I looked around the gaudy bedroom, but I tempered my reaction as I turned to face Danny.
I despised humans who hoarded wealth. Well, I despised basically all humans, but the wealthy ones were the worst. This little utopia within the dangerous expanse of the Wastes—where other humans were fighting every day just for survival—and away from the stinking, poverty-stricken cities—where the bulk of the humans struggled to survive just as much—was an abomination. A testament to humanity’s greed even in the face of total annihilation—still putting wealth and material belongings above others.
Maybe I’ll burn it all down once we leave, I thought, a tiny smile curling the corner of my mouth.
“What’re you smilin’ about?” Danny approached me with a grin of his own, a big fluffy towel wrapped around his hips.
His dark hair was slicked back, and his skin was flushed and rosy from the hot water—and probably from the blowjob I’d given him in the bath. He’d still looked tense and guilty over what we were doing, so I’d hoisted him up onto the lip of the tub and slunk between his legs with a rabid grin.
As he got closer, my gaze dipped down over his lean, long-legged frame. My grin widened, then faltered when I focused on the brand on his chest. It always got a little pinker and more pronounced after a shower or bath, the letters taunting me, reminding me of the pain Danny went through because of me.
“Hey, none of that.” Danny was irritatingly perceptive sometimes. One hand still clutching his towel, he smoothed the other up my chest, tracing over an old bullet wound. “You brought me here to show me a good time. So get to it, Soul Eater.”
I huffed, refocusing on his face. “Sucking your cock in the bath wasn’t a good enough time?”
His throat went splotchy. “Well, no, obviously that was great. Amazing.”
My lips curved. “So I have to try and top ‘amazing’ later then.”
Danny’s eyes flared with interest. “Got something planned for later, huh?” Then he swallowed, gaze growing wary. “You didn’t bring the cock cage, did you?”
“Don’t act like you don’t love it, Danny.” I waved a dismissive hand and reached for my pants. “You were the one who suggested wearing it the other day—”
“Yeah, okay.” He sounded sweetly flustered. “But like, once a month is enough. And if your goal is for me to relax on this vacation…”
“I didn’t bring the cock cage,” I told him flatly as I pulled on my pants. “Not that we need the cage for me to—”
“Can we just—” Danny’s cheeks were turning red. “Can we agree to no restraining of my junk while we’re here?”
I smirked at him. “Fine. No restraining of your junk. While we’re here.”
“But, I mean…” He slid his hand down my stomach to fiddle with the waistband of my pants, keeping his eyes downcast. “If you, um, if you brought that fancy underwear…”
An evil grin stretched my mouth. “I did.”
“Oh.” Danny’s throat bobbed. “Okay. Well, I… the panties are actually pretty comfortable…”
Before he could finish speaking, I dissipated into smoke and shot toward the duffle on the bed. A few seconds later I was back in front of him, the pair of black lace panties dangling from my finger.
A shy smile spread over Danny’s face before he dropped his towel and took them from me. My fingers twitched as I greedily watched him bend over to slip his feet through before dragging them up his long, hair-dusted legs. I loved nuzzling at his hair before reaching the little smooth patches right on the crease of his inner thighs.
“Okay.” He straightened and grinned at me, cheeks still flushed as he adjusted his cock in the lacy fabric. “Now you can undress me again later. For, like, the third time today.”
I suppressed my snort. If Danny really thought I was only going to be undressing him once more today, he was in for another big surprise. However…
“I won’t need to undress you again,” I rasped, reaching out to trail my fingertip along the panties’ waistband. “You won’t be wearing anything else today.”
Danny shivered, then went still before letting out a chuckle. “What?”
“This is our vacation, Danny,” I said smoothly, following the little line of hair up to his navel with my finger. “You don’t need to be fully clothed.”
“But I—” He looked down at himself. “I can’t just walk around like this.”
“Yes you can.”
He glanced fearfully at the window to our right. “But what if someone sees?”
I snorted. “Do you really think I picked a house where anyone would see us? No one is going to see us, Danny. It’s just you and me.”
“But still, I…” He shifted, then mumbled, “You’ll know every time I get a random boner.”
“I know that anyway.”
“What?” His head snapped up. “How?”
I waved a hand in his general direction. “Your aura goes a very specific shade of—”
“You’re telling me you know every single time I get even the slightest bit horny?”
I grinned at him. “Yes.”
“Oh my god.” He wiped a hand down his face. “Why is that so embarrassing?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It shouldn’t be. Isn’t there that human saying—there should be no secrets in a marriage?”
“I mean, yeah, but I’m pretty sure that’s bullshit.” Danny sighed and gave me a nervous smile. “Just… so you know, sometimes humans start thinking about stuff that’s totally unrelated to what they’re, um, doing at the time. Like, my mind might wander to you while I’m helping Rig with something…”
“I know,” I said, even though I hadn’t known that for certain. It did explain why I’d noticed Danny’s aura going that very particular shade while he was chewing on a stick of jerky the other day.
I supposed I could stop trying to figure out how to incorporate jerky into our fucking.
“So if I can only wear panties, what about you?” I refocused to see Danny grinning at me. “Bring any panties for yourself, telyth?”
I huffed. “Unfortunately not, sweet.”
“Okay. So just naked then.” He grabbed at the lacing on my pants. “Damn, what a hardship for both of us, huh?”
A rare laugh wheezed out of me as I stilled his hands. “I can’t be naked. I have to cook for you.”
“It’s not even noon! I can’t have mac and cheese until the evening. Mac and cheese is a dinner food.” He went to grab at my pants again. “Take your damn pants off, Wyn.”
Smirking, I gathered his wrists in one hand and used them to tug him into me. He gave me a weak glare until I ducked my head to kiss him. “Later, sweet.”
He spluttered. “So I have to walk around all day in a pair of tiny panties but you get to be fully dressed?”
“I won’t be fully dressed.” I released him. “I’ll keep my shirt off.”
“That’s still not fair!” Danny looked around before his eyes flared. He lunged for my coat on the bed. “If you get to keep your pants on, I get to wear your coat.”
I wasn’t sure if he was expecting me to protest, but I watched in silence as he pulled it on and gave me an indignant look. Then his expression faltered as he glanced down and went pink.
“Okay, maybe not. I look ridiculous.”
“No,” I rushed out when he went to take it off, my belly heating with arousal. “Leave it on, Danny.”
He huffed. “I look so stupid. I’m wearing a coat and panties.”
“Leave it on,” I told him darkly. The sight of him in my coat, practically naked underneath, was doing things to me.
I was going to fuck Danny while he was wearing my coat.
A sly grin crept over his face as he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around my neck. “You like it, huh?”
Before I could answer, he ducked his head to sniff the sleeve. “When was the last time you washed this?”
I made a face. “It’s a coat.”
He stared up at me. “Yeah… and?”
“And it’s a coat.” I huffed and stepped back. “You don’t need to wash coats.”
“What?” he squawked, looking mildly horrified as he glanced back down at it. “That is absolutely not true, Wyn. Oh my god, you are so gross—”
“I was joking,” I said quickly. I wasn’t. “I’ve washed it. It’s fine. Just… leave the coat on, Danny. Go and get comfortable. I’ll make you something to eat.”
“Swear to god, Wyn, if I get a rash or something from this…”
“You won’t get a rash from it.” I turned away and pinched the bridge of my nose between two fingers. Humans. Sometimes I was forced to lump even Danny in with the rest of that unsavoury bunch. “Go and relax. You’re supposed to be relaxing.”
“Yeah, but…” When his voice trailed off, I turned back around to see him shifting uncomfortably. “It’s someone else’s house. And I’m in a coat and panties. It just feels… weird.”
“They’re not here. They’ll never know.” I frantically tried to think of things I’d watched countless humans doing over the years—things they enjoyed—to distract him. “There’s a television here. That works.”
“What?” That succeeded in distracting Danny instantly. “Like it works works?”
“I…” What? Was there a difference? “I believe so. They were watching it when I arrived.”
“Oh my god. TV. I miss TV so much.” He grabbed my hand. “Let’s go watch.”
I couldn’t think of anything worse than willingly watching other humans do pointless things for no reason. “I’ll show you where it is, then I’ll go make you some food.” I smoothed a hand over his hair and reluctantly added, “Then I’ll join you.”
Surely he’d get bored of TV quickly. How interesting could staring at a screen watching other people be?
“Is this really what humans did before?” I asked hours later, slumped beside Danny on the couch. “Just sit for hours watching TV?”
“Huh?” Danny stuffed another spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth, eyes glued to the screen. His voice was thick from the claggy mess as he said, “Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, when I wasn’t working or taking care of my mom I was watching TV. Not much else to do.”
I suppressed my huff and crossed my arms, staring at the moving figures on the screen but not taking them in. I kept hearing laughter come from somewhere even though none of the people were doing anything remotely funny. Danny didn’t even laugh when they did, yet he still appeared to be engrossed.
Why? I didn’t get it.
I’d managed to distract him for all of five minutes when some advertisements came on and I jumped at the opportunity to put an end to this by straddling his lap and pulling him into a deep kiss. But as I’d been kissing my way down his neck a few minutes later, he’d smacked my side and said, “It’s back on!”
This was utter bullshit.
This was not what I’d anticipated happening while Danny was dressed in nothing but lace panties and my coat.
I cast about for another way to end this torture.
“My sweet…” I began as Danny finally put down the peanut butter jar and sat back with a sigh, his belly slightly rounder than it had been this morning thanks to how much he’d consumed in the last few hours. “Why don’t we go sit outside for a while? There is a balcony here that overlooks a lake. It’s… nice.”
I almost shuddered at using that word to describe anything in this world. But in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t the worst view.
Better than opening our bedroom door at the camp and seeing countless humans scurrying around. Or Edin flexing his muscles as he showed off to his oafish mate.
Or Edin’s tail lifting his kilt too high and revealing his ass.
Or Edin dragging his oafish mate into their room while spewing filth about what he was going to do to him, not even trying to lower his voice.
“Ooh.” Danny graciously dragged his eyes away from the screen to look at me for a split-second. “That sounds nice. Let’s do it.”
I sat up straight, preparing to stand, practically fucking giddy at the thought of this hell being over.
“When this episode’s over, I mean.”
Gritting my teeth, I slumped back and refolded my arms, letting out an obnoxiously loud sigh.
Danny reached over and patted my knee. “You shouldn’t’ve told me about the TV, baby.”
“I know,” I muttered.
Eventually, I managed to get Danny away from the TV and onto the balcony. I had briefly considered throwing the jar of peanut butter at the screen to smash it, but couldn’t bring myself to. Danny would want to watch more while we were here.
And more.
And more.
I still gave it a scathing look as I finally dragged Danny out of the room. I’d just smash it when we left.
Now, I was sitting in a surprisingly comfortable wicker chair with Danny sprawled on my lap as we looked out over the calm lake. The sun was dipping behind the mountains beyond it, turning the sky pink and orange. Trees rustled in the distance, the air growing cooler as dusk approached.
No other humans, I thought in relief, barely paying attention to the view as I instead focused on the blessed silence.
Not that it had been all that silent until now. After letting Danny take in the view, I’d settled myself in one of the chairs and pulled him onto my lap. With no stupid TV to distract him this time, he’d kissed me hungrily before eventually sliding to his knees between my legs and unlacing my pants with a grin.
Once I was naked, he’d pushed my knees over the armrests and delved between my legs with a hungry sound, his soft tongue licking over my slit and pushing inside. When my cock slid free, he sucked it into his mouth with a moan and sank two fingers inside me, curving them to reach the spot that made me snarl.
I’d watched avidly as he sucked me, before he fisted my cock and stroked so he could duck his head and tongue the base of it emerging from my slit. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from threading my fingers through his hair and holding him still while my hips jerked, sliding myself against his tongue, snarls tearing from my throat until I shuddered and came over my stomach.
Once I’d recovered, I ordered Danny to take off the panties—but leave the coat on—and straddle me. The moment he had, his legs a little unsteady, I’d snatched the panties out of his hand and stuffed them in his mouth to gag him. He’d squawked indignantly around the fabric, eyes widening with shock, but then his brow had pinched with pleasure when I pinned his wrists behind his back with one hand and used the other to fist his straining cock.
The muffled little sounds that had come from him while I stroked him off were glorious. The blush staining his cheeks spread down his neck to his chest as he bucked in my unyielding grip, trying to tunnel his cock through my slow-moving fist.
When I sensed he was getting close, his hips twitching and chest heaving as he panted around the makeshift gag, I’d let go to cup his tight sac before trailing my fingers to the smooth stretch of skin behind and tracing it lightly. Danny had whimpered around the fabric, trying to say something, his eyes pleading with me beneath his pinched brows.
“You came this morning, Danny,” I’d told him with a smirk, smoothing my fingertip through the fluid coating the head of his cock. “Surely you can’t be that desperate.”
He’d let out a plaintive sound and bucked his hips, a fine tremor running through his thighs as he straddled my lap. Taking pity on him, I’d fisted his cock again and used my grip on his restrained wrists to arch his back so I could lean in and nuzzle a nipple, lightly scraping it with my teeth before sucking it into my mouth.
It hadn’t taken long for Danny to stiffen up, his body shaking as he panted and moaned around the gag before letting out a low, guttural sound as his cock throbbed in my fist and he came all over my chest and stomach.
I’d almost used the hem of my coat to clean it up, but I knew that would probably make Danny take it off, and I wanted him in it for as long as possible.
After much, much coaxing from him, I’d reluctantly put on the black panties. Mainly because they’d just been in Danny’s mouth, but also because it had made him happy.
“God, you look so hot,” he’d told me, gaze flaring with heat again as he returned from inside with a towel to wipe up the mess on my front.
After dumping the towel on the ground, I’d tugged him back onto my lap, and that was where he’d stayed.
“It’s real nice here,” he mumbled, his head tucked against my throat. He was still gloriously naked aside from the coat, which was a far better view than a lake and some mountains.
“Mm.”
“Thank you for bringing me.” He turned his head to kiss my neck. “I’m sorry if I didn’t seem all that grateful at first. I just… you know, felt really bad that we’ve taken over someone’s fancy house.”
“They can handle a few days,” I muttered.
I’d been honest when I told Danny that I hadn’t killed them. Gods, I was getting soft.
“Did you tell anyone at the camp where we were going?”
“Edin. I’m sure he’s told everyone else by now.”
Danny chuckled. “I’m kinda surprised he managed to keep it to himself so I didn’t find out.”
“I’m not an idiot, Danny. I only told him once you were already asleep and I was about to leave.” My lip curled in disdain. “He answered the door completely naked with a hard dick. So at least I managed to ruin his oaf of a human’s night by interrupting them.”
Snorting, Danny tilted his head to look up at me. “You know, you and Hunter are way more alike than you realise.”
A laugh wheezed out of me. “Good one.”
“I’m serious!”
I grunted. “Please, Danny, ruin my day by telling me how I am at all similar to Hunter.”
He laughed. “It’s hard to explain, but you just are. I mean, you both agree that Edin can be… a handful.”
“Do not ever call Edin that in front of him. You know he has a tendency to take things literally.”
“And you both, you know… could possibly be considered ornery by some people.” Danny scrambled around on my lap to face me, his knee digging into my thigh and making me grunt. “I’m just saying, maybe you could stop calling Hunter an oaf.”
“Why?” I asked absently, getting distracted by the sight of Danny’s naked body under my coat.
“Because it’s mean.”
I snorted, trailing my fingers up his bare thighs. “Oh dear, did I hurt the human’s feelings?”
“Wyn.” The stern edge to his voice made me huff and look up. “Neither of them have said anything to me, but I don’t like it. Just… be nice, okay?”
“I’m not nice to anyone.”
“You’re nice to me.”
“You’re different.”
“You’re also nice to Edin. Some of the time. And Seraph. And Moth. And Lilac—”
“Alright,” I cut him off with a shudder. I really was going soft. How the fuck had I let another human make the list of people I didn’t outright despise? “How about I just ignore him completely then? Is that better?”
“No!” Danny laughed and poked me in the chest. “Hunter’s basically your brother-in-law. Or son-in-law. However you view Edin. He’s going to be around for a long time. And he loves Edin, like, a crazy amount. They’re happy together. Don’t you like seeing Edin happy?”
My eye twitched. “I suppose it’s… preferable to him being miserable and moaning all the time.”
“What a beautiful sentiment,” Danny deadpanned. “Look, I’m not asking you to be friends with him. Just… don’t be a dick. Can you do that? For me?”
My fingers twitched on his thighs before gripping tight. At length, I muttered, “Fine.”
“And the same goes for Charlie.”
I sniffed and looked away. “Who?”
Danny snorted. “You know who Charlie is. And you care about Moth—”
My nostrils flared in outrage. How dare he verbalise that I cared about anyone besides him? Out loud? Where someone could hear?
“—and he loves Moth, and he makes Moth happy, so just play nice with all of them.”
“Danny, really…” I gave him a dry look. “At least Hunter is quiet most of the time. But Moth’s human is… He doesn’t fucking shut up. He’s a clown.”
“I can see we’ll have to work on your playing nice skills,” Danny muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. He sighed. “Edin did remind me a while ago that it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Especially the oldest dog.”
My nostrils flared a second time. “Edin called me what?”
“How was it?” I asked, my fingers drumming against my thigh as I watched Danny scrape up the last mouthful of his dinner. “Did it taste like how your mother used to make it?”
Swallowing, he nodded at me with a smile. “Yeah, it did.” Pushing the bowl aside, he reached across the table and threaded our fingers together. “Thank you, Wyn.”
“There are more,” I said quickly, my chest pinching as Danny glanced down at the empty bowl with a wistful expression. “I took several boxes. I’ll make it for you again.”
“Okay.” He gave me a sweet smile. “Thank you.”
“Was there anything else she made you that you want?”
Part of me couldn’t believe that I had become so… domesticated. But it was for Danny. I would do anything for Danny.
“Well, she made awesome gumbo. But I don’t expect you to make that.”
Gumbo? That sounded made up. “I can try.”
Danny laughed, shaking his head. “It’s okay, baby. I… I just wish you could’ve met her.”
I didn’t really know what to say, so I squeezed his hand and murmured, “I’m sorry, sweet.”
Grief was largely foreign to me. Telyths were solitary and didn’t have a driving urge to cluster together or form close familial bonds outside of those they imprinted on. When my parents had both died, I’d acknowledged the loss of them. I’d acknowledged my gratitude for them birthing and raising me. But they’d had long, long lives, and despite the longevity of my kind, death wasn’t something we feared. It was just the inevitable end.
Thinking about Danny’s death though… that sent sharp, unfamiliar terror shooting through me. Until I reminded myself that we would never have to be without one another. Our lives were tethered now, tangled together in a way that made an unprecedented sense of peace wash over me.
Maybe that was why I was going soft.
As I looked at my sweet human, I felt an overwhelming urge to show him just how much I loved him. What he gave me. What he meant to me.
“Are you done?” I asked as Danny gulped down the last of his soda.
When he nodded, I stood and urged him out of his seat. Cupping his face in my hands, I gazed at the crooked bridge of his nose, trying not to let the blistering fury smother me as I remembered what those fucks had done to him.
Instead, I gave it a gentle kiss, before lowering my mouth to his. Danny kissed me back sweetly, his hands creeping around my sides to palm my bare back. He chuckled when I hefted him into my arms and started carrying him out of the room.
“I’m taking you to bed, sweet,” I murmured, squeezing his backside through the coat.
While he ate, I’d allowed him to put on the new pair of shorts I’d gotten for him—I’d “accidentally” gotten a pair that were too small—but the moment we reached the bedroom, I laid him down on the bed and quickly stripped them off.
The coat was staying on, though.
Danny leaned up on his elbows as I hurriedly shoved off my pants. “Nice, you kept the panties on.”
I gave him a dry look as I knelt on the bed and settled between his thighs. His gaze stayed fixed on the underwear, tongue emerging to swipe over his lips as his cock began to fill.
“Are you gonna keep them on the whole time? Because I’d be into that—”
I leaned forward and crushed my mouth to his to silence him. After a deep kiss, our tongues gliding together, I gave him a stern look. “Shh.”
He sucked in an affronted breath. “Did you just shush me? I—”
“Danny.” I trailed my lips over his jaw to his neck, kissing the soft patch of skin beneath his earlobe. “Shh. Let me.”
His hands settled on my sides as he lay back fully. “Let you what?”
“Just let me,” I rasped, before placing an open-mouthed kiss on his neck, then dipping lower to gently worry the bend of his shoulder with my teeth.
He shivered, going quiet as his fingers gripped me tighter. “Okay,” he whispered.
I shifted lower, making my way to his chest. After placing a kiss in the centre of the neat, uniform D branded into his skin, I kissed each jagged, roughly sliced letter after it. I forced myself to focus on him, on the fact that he was still here with me, and not the murderous rage that rose at the thought of what they’d inflicted on him.
I heard Danny’s breath hitch, his fingers lightly trembling as he raised his hands to thread them through my hair. “Wyn—”
He cut off with a gasp when I lightly circled a nipple with my tongue. His hips shifted beneath me, warm thighs bracketing my sides and his hard cock brushing against my stomach. When I sucked on his nipple, he let out a hoarse sound and clutched my hair tighter.
I shuddered with pleasure from the taste of his warm skin, the feel of the hard little point against my tongue. After doing the same to his other nipple, I kissed my way down to his navel, rubbing the tip of my nose against the tiny dip. The scent of him was stronger as I nuzzled the line of hair trailing down, the tip of his hard cock bumping my chin before it rubbed against my cheek.
It was dark outside now, the only light in here coming from the fairy lights wound along the beams above us. Enough for Danny to look down and watch as I kissed the length of his shaft, his cheeks flushed and pupils blown, lower lip caught between his teeth.
His head fell back onto the pillow with a quiet moan as I nuzzled his sac, pulling lightly on the skin with my lips before burying my face into the crease of his inner thigh and inhaling deeply. A shiver rippled down my spine at the scent of him, the way his thigh quaked when I turned my head and sank my teeth gently into hair-dusted skin.
Danny moaned as his cock flexed up off his belly, fingers reluctantly slipping from my hair as I made my way even lower, kissing down his leg until I reached the foot with a conspicuously absent little toe.
Guilt and despair threatened to rise up, making my head pound with impotent rage. I couldn’t imagine the pain he’d gone through. Pain because of me—because of the decisions I’d made, because I’d been selfish and had wanted to keep him for myself. Because I hadn’t been good enough at protecting him, which had sent me down a very foreign spiral of guilt-induced decision-making.
I’d tried to send him away. To the very fucking camp we were now staying at. What if he’d actually left me? What would I had done? Probably stalked the camp for the rest of his life, obsessively watching him. Wanting to murder everyone if he’d ever found someone else.
He could never be anyone else’s. He was mine. No one else would ever love him as much as I did, as ferociously and wholeheartedly and with my entire being. He was everything to me.
My sweet human.
I kissed the tiny stub of his missing toe, making Danny squirm as he gripped the sheets either side of him. When I kissed it again and looked up at him through my eyelashes, I could see that his eyes were tight, brows drawn. He swallowed thickly, mouth trembling as he parted his lips.
“Wyn…”
“Shh.” I crawled back up between his legs and slicked my tongue along the length of his straining cock, making him jerk with a shocked gasp.
I moaned low in my chest as I circled the head, the taste of salt teasing my tongue. Danny moaned, fingers once again sinking into my hair as I gave the tip of his cock a wet kiss. A snarl rumbled up my throat when he restlessly clutched the base of my horns, sending shards of pleasure shooting down into my belly.
I sank down over his cock in a rush, swallowing around it to hear his shocked yelp. He was panting, chest pumping fast as I rose back up to suck on the head before sinking my mouth deeper again.
“F-f-fuck.”
My amused huff vibrated through his cock, making him choke on a breath. Danny was usually very vocal, so he was doing well at staying quiet, all things considered. Fisting his wet length, I stroked and circled the head with my tongue as my gaze lifted to greedily take in his reactions. His heaving chest was flushed a rosy pink, the alluring stain splotchy on his throat and cheeks as he tilted his head on the pillow to watch me. His lips were parted around his shallow breaths, brows pinched with pleasure.
When our eyes met, I kissed the tip of his cock and murmured, “My sweet Danny.”
White teeth sank into his lower lip. “Wyn.”
“Yes, sweet?” I lowered my gaze to concentrate once again, gliding my tongue down his stiff length to nuzzle his sac.
Danny’s hips strained up as he let out a whimper. “I—Please.”
“Please what?” Sliding my hands to the backs of his thighs, I pushed his knees up to his chest.
He moaned as I scraped my teeth gently over the taut stretch of skin before smoothing my tongue over his hole.
“I—I—”
Whatever he’d been about to say was lost as he cried out when I sank the tip of my tongue inside him. A hoarse groan tore from my throat as he clenched around my tongue, squeezing it tight. I pushed it deeper, growling as he clutched my horns and let out a garbled sound from above.
“Oh fuck,” he panted, voice wavering. “Pl-please.”
My mouth curved as I gave his hole one last lingering lick before letting his legs drop back onto the mattress. Then I slunk higher to straddle his waist, gazing down at him as I slipped a hand beneath the panties’ waistband.
Danny groaned desperately, hands clutching my thighs as his hips strained up, hard cock rubbing against me. His gaze latched onto the movement of my hand beneath the lacy fabric as I trailed my fingers over my wet slit before sinking one inside.
“I love you, Danny,” I told him solemnly. His gaze shot up to meet mine, eyes pleading.
“I love you too,” he croaked, a hand sliding up over the scarred skin of my thigh to cover mine through the lace. “Please.”
A tiny smile tilted the corner of my mouth as I leaned over him on one hand. “What do you keep begging for, sweet?”
“I don’t—I just—” He slipped his hand beneath the waistband, pulling the fabric taut as his fingers fumbled against mine. “I just need you.”
I groaned through clenched teeth as his finger slid inside me alongside my own. My cock was pushing against my palm, so I shifted my hand to the side and let it slide free. With Danny’s finger still inside me, I fisted the length and stroked, shuddering as hot pleasure made me clench around him.
“I need you too, Danny.” I tugged the underwear’s gusset to the side and curled my wet fingers around his cock, tilting it up. He let out a trembling moan as I trailed the leaking tip over my slit, coating it in arousal before finally sinking onto it.
“Nnngh.” His neck arched as his eyes squeezed shut. “F-fuck.”
Leaning over him, I watched his expression greedily as I rose up before sinking back down until his hips were flush against my backside. I didn’t speed up despite the way he was pawing frantically at my thighs, trembling fingers squeezing tight.
I couldn’t look away from his flushed cheeks and pinched brows and parted lips, desperate pleasure painting his features. He was so beautiful like this—vulnerable and sweet. Perfect.
When I started riding him a little faster, his eyes flew open and he gazed up at me plaintively. I felt his knees rise as he dug his heels into the mattress, allowing him to thrust up into me while his hands slid back to grip my ass.
“Wyn,” he panted, body moving feverishly against mine. I snarled, swooping down to crush my lips to his, thrusting my tongue inside.
He moaned into my mouth, grinding up into me faster, spurring me on to match his pace. Soon we were both breathing too hard to keep kissing, but I kept my face close to his to feel his ragged breaths fanning over my cheek.
His tunnelling cock was hitting the spot inside me repeatedly, making my thighs quake as I clenched around him. Numbing heat began to spread through my core, pleasure pulsing from that spot in bursts that got longer and longer.
“Danny,” I gritted out, sitting up and palming the centre of his chest to keep him pinned. My hips moved feverishly, grinding down onto his cock, before their movement grew jerky.
A rabid snarl tore from my throat when the orgasm hit deep inside, making me shake and dig my fingers into his chest. It went on and on as I pinned Danny’s hips to the bed, keeping his cockhead against the spot that was still throbbing. His cock flexed inside me, and I thought I heard him start to say something in a choked voice, but then white noise filled my ears as the orgasm crested again.
“Fuck,” I got out through clenched teeth as my hips jerked wildly, untouched cock spurting long lines of cum onto Danny’s front. A guttural groan escaped as the tension left my limbs, softening the twitching of my hips to a lazy grind.
Dazed eyes refocusing, I looked down at Danny, breathing hard. He was staring up at me in awe.
“Holy shit. That was… You came so hard.”
My skin heated as I huffed, feeling strangely self-conscious. “Yes.”
“It was so hot.” His eyes dipped down my frame. “Do you think it was the panties?”
I rolled my eyes, lifting the hand on his chest higher to stroke his chin. “It was you.”
He made a face. “But I didn’t even do anything.”
When his hips shifted, I could feel his cock softening inside me. “You came?”
I’d missed that somehow.
Danny snorted, eyes drowsy with satiation as he smoothed his hands up and down my thighs. “You think I have the willpower to hold back while witnessing that? Fuck yeah I came. It was amazing.”
A lazy smile stretched my mouth as I leaned down to kiss him. “So I didn’t manage to upgrade from earlier, then?”
“Okay, it was spectacular.” Danny kissed me again, then nuzzled my jaw. “Life-changing. It was…”
Letting out a shaky breath, he buried his face in my throat and mumbled, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I rasped, breathing in the scent of his sweat-damp hair.
I carefully lifted my hips to let him slip free completely, arousal flaring once again when I felt his release trickling out of me. I considered moving lower to lick him clean and indulge in the combined taste of us, but Danny was already blinking sleepily. I supposed it had been a long, eventful day that started with him waking up somewhere completely different to where he’d fallen asleep.
“Go to sleep, sweet,” I murmured, smoothing back his hair as I kissed his cheek.
“I have to go clean up first,” he mumbled, a hand lifting to lazily gesture at his cum-streaked chest.
“Just use the—” I stopped myself, gaze darting to the coat, but Danny’s expression had already grown more awake as he gave me a disapproving look.
“The coat? You are such a dirty old man.” His cheeks heated as he glanced down at it. “Although I’ve, um, kind of sweated a little in it seeing as we were… Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said quickly. It was better than fine. That meant it would smell like Danny for longer.
“I’ll wash it for you tomorrow.”
“No,” I rushed out. “It’s fine.”
Danny let out an exasperated sigh. “Wyn—”
“It has character,” I said stubbornly. “Washing it will ruin it.”
Honestly, I was a little afraid that it would disintegrate if water got anywhere near it.
“Character? You mean like the bullet holes? The torn hem? This…” He pointed at an unidentifiable stain on the sleeve with a wary expression. “Whatever this is?”
“It doesn’t need washing,” I insisted. “It smells fine, doesn’t it?”
“I mean, yeah, but you somehow always smell good.”
“So it’s fine. It’s clean enough.” I climbed off the bed. “I’ll go get something else to clean you up.”
By the time I got back into the room with a damp cloth, Danny was fast asleep, still sprawled in the exact same position I’d left him in. But as I climbed into bed beside him after wiping down his front, he half-woke to turn into me, grumbling until I’d settled and he could drape himself over my chest.
And then there was silence. Blessed silence. No thick Texan accent coming through the wall, giving me a play-by-play of what was being done to Moth. No boom of Edin’s loud rumbling laugh. No humans and their whiny voices having conversations outside or calling down from the camp wall or laughing and joking together.
I sighed, threading my fingers through Danny’s hair and gazing up at the ceiling, intent on enjoying the quiet while I could. He was a warm, pleasant weight on top of me, and the tickle of his deep, steady breaths against my chest soothed me in a way that I had never before in my long life realised I craved.
When he dropped into deeper sleep and started snoring, his body going completely lax, I smiled. That sound was better than silence.
Danny
“I gotta say, the coat makes me feel weirdly powerful.”
I’d hardly taken it off in the whole time we’d been here, which ended up being five days. At first, I’d insisted on only two. Then that turned into three. Then I’d caved and agreed to a couple more while we were in the big fancy shower and Wyn had me plastered to the wall with his cock pounding inside me.
I glanced over at Wyn while he packed the last of our stuff into the big duffle bag. “Is that why you always wear it?”
He snorted, glancing over at me with a faint smile. He’d relaxed so much over the last few days, making me realise just how tense and edgy he’d grown back at the camp. He wasn’t used to being around so many people, especially not humans.
I wondered if I could try and nudge Edin to finalise their plans for heading out—leaving for the monster world. But I knew the other humans were reluctant to leave the camp unprepared for their departure. Plus, I was under no illusion that a big group of humans and monsters travelling across the Wastes together wasn’t going to be dangerous. The military had eyes everywhere. Which meant we had to be careful, even with so many monsters in tow.
I’d seen first hand—horrifyingly close—just how much damage the military could inflict, even on beings as strong as Wyn. I wasn’t going to let that happen to him again.
“Savour your last few minutes wearing it,” he told me, nodding at the coat. “I’m going to need it back.”
“I’m gonna steal it back the moment we’re in our room.”
Wyn’s gaze grew heated as he took me in. “That’s fine.”
My cheeks warmed. He really liked me wearing his coat. And nothing else.
“Is that everything?” I asked, looking around the room. “I already cleaned up downstairs. The place is as spotless as we found it.”
Wyn huffed, zipping the bag shut as he nodded at the bare mattress. “I don’t understand why you bothered to strip the bed.”
“Because we’ve been fucking in it for five days! At least this way they’ll know it’s… been used.”
He shot me a dry look. “Are you going to leave a note letting them know we also fucked on their couch?”
My face got hot again as I glared at him. “No. Obviously not.”
“And the dining table?”
“I cleaned the table, okay?” I snapped. “I used the fancy spray that was under the sink.”
“Oh, well, thank the gods for that.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. Then he shot me an evil smile. “Maybe I’ll leave them a note.”
“Don’t you dare.” I paused. “Unless it’s to thank them for their, uh, unwilling hospitality.”
Wyn wheezed out a laugh, the idea of thanking anyone obviously hilarious to him. “Are you ready, sweet?”
I sighed, reluctantly taking off the coat and glancing wistfully around the room. “Yeah.”
“We can come back.” He took the coat from me, watching me closely. “Or we can just stay here.”
“No, we can’t,” I said unconvincingly, looking out the window at the amazing view for one last time. “We’ve already been total dicks, taking over someone’s house for this long.”
Wyn muttered something under his breath as he put his coat on and lifted the hood. Then he slung the big duffle bag over his shoulder and took my hand, threading our fingers together. “Let’s go.”
“It’s definitely safe to walk, right?” I asked as he led me out of the bedroom. “No one will see us?”
We’d bickered about how to get back, Wyn insisting that flying me was the safest and quickest way. I still didn’t really like the thought of it, so we’d agreed on walking until the evening and Wyn flying us the rest of the way once I’d fallen asleep.
Even though I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to get to sleep, knowing that I’d be sailing through the air while unconscious.
I knew we could’ve just stayed for another day until I fell asleep here, but honestly, I didn’t trust Wyn not to do serious damage to the house just to fuck with the owners. So I wanted us to leave while I was conscious, so I could keep an eye on him.
“It’s safe.” Wyn squeezed my hand. “I’d never risk it, Danny.”
Once we got downstairs, I grabbed the last can of soda I’d stashed in the fridge so I’d be able to have a final cold drink. As we stepped outside onto the huge wraparound porch, I realised the only other house in sight was on the other side of a small forest, far in the distance.
I let go of Wyn’s hand to crack open the soda can as we descended the porch steps, but he stopped suddenly when we reached the gravel drive.
“Oh, wait.” He heaved the bag off his shoulder and set it down. “I should probably go and let them out.”
I froze, the can raised halfway to my mouth. “What?”
“The humans.” He gestured vaguely at the house. “I suppose I should let them out.”
Licking my lips, I slowly lowered the can. “Let them out of where, Wyn?”
“The bunker. I locked them in the bunker.” He shrugged. “I did tell you all these rich fucks had bunkers built under their homes.”
“Oh my… oh my god.” I stared at him in horror. “You mean this whole time they’ve been… underneath us?”
Wyn huffed. “Well, it seemed like the option that was least likely to offend you. I could’ve just… flung them into the forest. Or the lake.”
“Jesus Christ, Wyn.”
“At least in the bunker they can’t get hurt, and they have food and water. It’s a bunker. It’s built to be lived in.”
“I can’t even…” I scrubbed a hand over my face, guilt cramping my stomach. “You have to go and let them out. Right now.”
“We could just leave them in there,” he said thoughtfully. “Then we can come back whenever we want.”
“Wyn!”
“Alright,” he snapped, snatching up the bag and grabbing my hand to lead me back inside. “Wait here.”
I shifted uncomfortably as he turned to smoke and shot through the house. Fuck, maybe I should leave a note to apologise. But at least… Well, Wyn was right. A bunker was safer than just wandering around the Wastes.
And this explained why, when every time I asked Wyn if there was a risk of the homeowners turning up unexpectedly, he’d snorted and said, “No,” in an extremely amused tone.
My monster husband was feral.
I jumped violently when a loud crash came from the direction of the living room, but a split-second later Wyn was back in front of me, picking up the bag and slinging his arm around my shoulders to lead me outside.
“Are they okay?” I asked, anxiously spinning the soda can in my hand.
“Fine. Alive.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, then nervously glanced back at the house. “What was that noise?”
Wyn shrugged, jostling my shoulder. “TV got knocked over.”
Copyright 2023 by Lily Mayne
All rights reserved
LILY MAYNE 