Shifters, Beasts, and Monsters by J.E. Francis Ashe Audrey Grace Natalie Deschain Jessi Bond Giselle Renarde Skye Eagleday Savannah Reardon Virginia Wade Elixa Everett Linda Barlow Aya Fukunishi, Christie Sims M. Keep, Alara Branwen

and keeping her afloat. She clung to it and looked around.
    They were still in the dark sea, off shore, but she
could see the island and Mallochbirn Castle, albeit from a different direction
than she had seen it from the mainland.
    “We’re still near Mallochbirn Keep. Why did it take us
so long to get here?”
    I had to swim around to blow off some energy. Be
thankful. It was either that or this:
     An image filled her mind. Kate understood at once
that he was sending it to her. She was lying on her back on the stony strand
beside the rock where Effie had been bound. She was naked and slick with ocean
spray. Her legs were stretched widely apart and her hips were writhing.
Something long and slithery wound around her thighs, slowly approaching her
curly mound. It was one of his tentacles. It caressed her bare skin, rubbing
and sucking at her with the tiny suction cups on its underside. Then it poked
between her legs and pushed into her while she twisted and moaned.
    Another tentacle was snaking over her bare breasts.
Her body arched in rhythm to the increasingly fierce thrusts. A third tentacle
plundered her mouth. Just as she was about to explode in ecstasy, all three appendages
retracted and the monster crawled forward and crouched over her. Its huge
thorny cock was lining up to penetrate her. Rip her open, rather, since there
was absolutely no way....
    “Stop it!” she gasped, even though she felt excited by
the strange scene.
    I did stop it, although I’m damned if I know
why. You’ve really messed up my Midsummer’s Eve revels, lass.
    “Why do you sound so human?”
      I told you I have a human side.
    “Is the human side of you cold? This water is
freezing. I am not built to withstand such low temperatures. I’ll get
hypothermia.”
    You’re right. My apologies. His tentacle heaved her up into the air and deposited her atop his shoulders.
There were more tentacles on his back, but they were much more slender and
somewhat shorter than the big ones on his chest. His back was tougher, with
harder scales and various knobs and dorsal fins. “Hang on,” he said as he began
swimming toward the island.
    He was too broad to sit astride, so she shifted
around, grasping the tentacles—which seemed to cling right back—until
she was kneeling on his powerful shoulders. Feeling his tough dorsal scales
undulating between her legs and thighs as they moved through the water made her
flush and feel a lot warmer. But she was wet and still cold.
     “I’m still shivering, Zrak. I wish you hadn’t ripped
off all my clothes.”
    Do you want me to cradle you against my chest
again? That’s probably a lot warmer.
    “No, I want to see.”
    Several warm tentacles curled themselves around her. Better?
    “Yes.” I could get used to this, she thought. It’s
like tentacle bondage. She promptly blushed at the thought, which she hoped he
hadn’t heard.
    It was too dark to see the island well, but it looked
inhospitable from this side—all rocks, stones and crags. He swam toward a
mammoth cliff; she could not see a beach or even a place for him to step up out
of the sea. We’re going to dive again. How long can you hold your breath?
    “Uh, I don’t know. Twenty seconds?”
    It’ll only take ten. Stretch out more—lie down
on me. I’ll hold you. Breathe in deeply a couple of times first, to saturate
your lungs.
    She complied. “Where are we going?”
    To my lair .
    “Oh.” She slid her legs behind her and pressed her
torso, carefully, along his back. It was not as comfortable as being pressed to
his chest. Various hard protrusions from his armored hide jutted into her. His
tentacles tightened on her, holding her in place.
    Deep breath, he said, and
dived.
    He moved fast. They were surfacing again before she
started to feel the need for air. The tentacles loosened and she pushed herself
upright. They had surfaced in the pool of a small underground cavern. Looking
around, she gasped in delight. The walls of the cavern were