Before they’d even finished speaking, Greid was throwing a hasty, “Thanks, Mom,” over his shoulder and dragging me into the hallway.
“Everyone’s gone into the living room.” I laughed, clutching his hand.
“I know.” He stopped and turned to cup my face in his hands, grinning down at me. “Wanna go make out in my old room?”
My eyes darted to the living room doorway. If we vanished for a while, they’d all know. And I was stuffed from dinner, but…
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
His eyes flared, grin turning mischievous as he grabbed my hand again and led me down the stairs to the bedrooms in the basement level of the house. I tried to take in the countless framed photos lining the wall, catching glimpses of Greid—so much smaller than the rest of his siblings at first, until he gradually caught up with them in size, becoming just as awkwardly skinny and lanky in the photos where they were all crowded together.
It was so nice here. A little chaotic, sure—nothing like the unnervingly tranquil atmosphere of the cult, where there’d been way more people but they’d all floated around with creepy smiles on their faces. This was real. A real family. They all teased each other mercilessly, but clearly loved each other and doted on their mother.
And I could see why. Una was amazing. I’d never really wished for a mother. I’d never known mine, and I’d had Violet, though she’d always been my aunt. Still my parent, still the person who’d raised me, but my aunt. Not my mother.
“I really like your family, Greid,” I said quietly as he led me down the hallway and opened a door, hurriedly ushering me in.
“Well, they’re your family now too.” He cringed as he shut the door and turned to face me. “Sorry, was that super corny?”
I bit my lip as it wobbled, the backs of my eyes suddenly burning. For some reason, I was a split second away from bursting into tears. “No, it’s not corny.”
“Shit, berry…” Greid cupped my face, gazing down at me with a worried expression. “What’s wrong? Is it too much? Please don’t cry. You know it’ll set me off, and Nuni will be able to tell and he’ll never let me live it down.”
I let out a watery laugh. “I’ll punch him if he makes fun of you. Or think of another insulting nickname.”
Greid didn’t even smile, still looking worried. “What’s wrong, berry?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head quickly and took a fortifying breath. Then I smiled up at him, moving closer to wrap my arms around his hips. “I’m just really happy.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I raised my chin and waited for him to duck down to kiss me. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he mumbled, then kissed me again before straightening. “I, um, I have something for you.”
“What?” I blinked in surprise. “But we opened our gifts this morning.”
“I know, but…” He walked to the nightstand and grabbed something from its drawer, then made his way back over with the item hidden in his fist. “I stashed it in here earlier when you went to the bathroom,” he told me sheepishly.
When he reached me, he opened his hand to reveal the small black box resting in his palm. I recognised the GvR stamped on the lid instantly—his jewellery business’s logo.
My breath caught in my throat. Hesitantly, I reached out to take the box and carefully snap open its lid. Inside was a ring nestled on a black pillow, its delicate band silvery black, with an emerald held between tiny demiurgus claws.
“Greid…” I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat. “It’s beautiful.”
“I told you I’d make you a ring.” He was fidgeting anxiously, long fingers picking at the front of his ugly Christmas sweater. “The first day you moved in.”
I nodded, my gaze growing a little blurry. “I remember.”
“I had to measure your finger while you were asleep. After you moved into my room,” he added hurriedly. “I didn’t, like, creep into your bedroom in the middle of the night like a weirdo.”
I let out a wobbly laugh, gently plucking the ring from the box to inspect it closer. Insides knotting with something that made me breathless, I looked up at Greid. “Is—Is this… Are you…”
He stared back at me nonplussed for a second, before his eyes grew comically wide. “Oh fuck. Shit. I wasn’t—I’m not—It’s not an engagement ring. Unless you… I mean, I would mate you tomorrow if you wanted to. Or marry, whatever we’d call it… Fuck.”
I burst out laughing. “You’re such a dork.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry.” He dragged a hand over his face. “I didn’t even… I would totally marry you, berry. Seriously. Like, today. Right this second. But that wasn’t… Shit, I need to stop talking.”
“So, wait…” I couldn’t help but tease him just a little. “Are you proposing, or not?”
“I don’t even know anymore.” He gave me a helpless look. “Tell me what to do.”
Chuckling, I stepped closer.
“How about this…” I slipped the ring onto the third finger of my right hand, then grinned up at him as I snuck my hands under the back of his sweater to palm his warm skin. “When one of us proposes—whichever one of us gets there first—I’ll put it on the other hand.”
“Okay,” he said, cupping my ass and lifting me into his arms. “I’m sorry. This would’ve been a shitty proposal anyway. It still somehow smells like dirty socks in here.”
“Well, at least we would’ve had a young, sexy Parin var Gelligar watching over the moment.” I nodded at the old poster taped to the wall above the bed.
Greid’s ears fluttered. “Shut up,” he mumbled, then leaned in to kiss me. “We can always take the poster home if you want it to be there when one of us does propose.”
“Please,” I deadpanned. “It’s what I’ve always dreamed of.”
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Beryl and Greid’s story! What started as a vague kernel of an idea—originally set on another planet! In another timeline! Waaay different to what it ended up being!—has now evolved into a whole freaking family of monster siblings annoying the crap out of each other and falling in love with humans all at the same time, for some reason. (What I mean by that is—I hadn’t initially planned for this to be a series, and now it is one, so just don’t think too hard about the fact that all these monsters end up finding their humans around the same time, it’s just a happy coincidence okay?)
These two characters mean a lot to me for various reasons. I wanted to write a character with vaginismus, but not only that—a character with vaginismus who actually didn’t want to be penetrated anyway. I didn’t want it to be something that needed fixing to make Beryl and Greid’s romance and/or sexual relationship work. That’s not to say vaginismus isn’t a very upsetting condition for some people who have it. My goal was more to try and show Beryl finding someone who didn’t place her worth as a woman, sexual partner and romantic partner on whether she can be penetrated.
Which is also, in a similar but roundabout way, why I wanted to write a male character in a MF romance who is the bottom! I have a lot of feelings about both of these things, but I won’t clamber up onto my soapbox, so I’ll just say that I love both these characters and their relationship and their sexual dynamic.
Like I said, I hadn’t planned for this to be a series, but those side characters with Main Character Energy do tend to sneak up on me—namely Greid’s siblings. So far, Nuni, Laki and Sorin will be getting books. Laki because—obviously. They are already the coolest sibling. I love Nuni and I really wanted to write a total arrogant douchebro with a secret soft side. And Sorin, who you’ll meet properly in the next book, is kind of like Greid only with a lot more confidence and a lot less social anxiety. He’s also way less of an awkward lanky goblin.