She Came from the Swamp: A Steamy Monster Romance by Darva Green

Author:Darva Green [Green, Darva]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

We got back on the road without any issues and a lot less tension. Mora's hair flowed in neat black waves by the time she buckled in and began to rub her hands over Rocket's soft ears. I liked her hair down and loose—it looked closer to the wild tangle of green that appeared in her natural form.

I turned the music up and braced myself for awkward silence, but our conversation started to feel more natural as the miles went by.

“So, do you have a type besides other swamp creatures?” I asked her. “Any celebrity crushes?”

“Hmm. I’ve always had a soft spot for Mary Tyler Moore. She’s such a beautiful woman.”

We were going to have to talk about the human lifespan. But then I remembered what she’d said about her existence being over once I died, and that felt like a pretty heavy topic, even if I was curious.

“Yep, Baba loved the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I used to watch all the old shows with her on Nick at Nite.”

“Why did you come back?”

The question was so abrupt that I couldn’t think of a good answer.

“Is it so strange that I did?”

“Yes. You were so eager to leave.”

“That’s normal,” I said and ran a hand over my hair. “Most people want to branch out from their family’s expectations at some point.”

“But what brought you back?”

“I don’t know. I never wanted to until one of my ex’s roommates turned up dead from some random mauling. The whole thing reeked of supernatural mischief. Leaving seemed responsible.”

“The swamp seemed like the best option?”

“Not at first. I traveled around, but I couldn’t stop dreaming of home.”

The silence was thick. Here I was, pouring my guts out again when no one asked for that.

"But now that I've been back it feels weird to leave. It’s like I’m meant to be there.” My abilities seemed to have relaxed since I’d been back. I didn’t feel like there was a dark shadow at the edge of my mind. “Do you think you'll ever travel back to where you were born?"

"No," she answered. "I don't believe I'll ever go back."

"Do you ever get homesick for it?"

"No. The swamp on your property and the creatures that live there make it feel more like a real home than the place where I was born."

Something in her tone tugged at my heart. Home was such an uncomfortable topic for me; most of my friends had happy families they could return to for holidays or when things got tough. The people like me who had a reason to avoid home tended to get a little sensitive when the subject came up. It felt like a wound that never healed properly to crave the comfort of something familiar, while also knowing it wasn't really good for you.

“That makes sense. Guess that makes us both swamp creatures, so we have something in common!”

“I suppose we do, moya rybka,” she said, and the words clicked this time. She was calling me her fishlet, which was pretty cheesy, but my heart squeezed at how much it sounded like a cute pet name.

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