His Human Surrogate (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #2) - Michele Mills Page 0,3

“He bought this house?”

I’m standing with Bestla and Riley, and the twins, on the sidewalk in front of Berg’s new residence. All five of us (even the babies) are staring slack-jawed at the monstrosity on the hill.

Okay, maybe I sound kinda rude, yelling like that, but I can’t help myself. I mean, I love restoring antiques and old things, especially from other species. The idea of an ancient house being remodeled give me all kinds of happy goosebumps. But um, Berg’s house is really, really…unsightly. It’s shocking even to me. It looks like a spooky funhouse. I’m certain that beings would pay good credits to go inside this place at night to be scared out of their wits. And I’m standing here, trying to figure out why the hell Berg would buy such a place.

What got into him?

Riley parks the double stroller at the base of the front stairs, which are painted a thick blood red. “Yep this place is his,” she snorts.

She lifts Kari out of the stroller and hands the baby over to me. I take the little girl into my arms and adjust her drooping sunglasses higher on her darling red nose. Her tiny black lips curl as she smiles up at me and she grabs my fingers with a ferocious grip. I kiss the top of her perfect head, right next to a shiny black horn.

I love babies.

Riley picks up Loge for herself and bounces him in her arms. “And believe me,” she continues, “it’s way better than the one-room cabin he used to live in. This is a huge upgrade, because at least it’s hooked up to the city grid. I’m not sure if he lives here yet though. He just got possession of it.”

Bestla walks up behind the both of us and lays a claw on each of our shoulders. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she says, her voice tinged with awe. “I’m so proud of my son for taking on this project.” Then she walks forward to the front door.

Riley and I exchange mutual looks of horror.

Beautiful? Bestla thinks this place is beautiful? I look into Kari’s fierce little red face and ask, “Baby, do you think this place is beautiful too?”

Kari gurgles with delight and lets out a puff of smoke.

I laugh and bounce her in my arms. “You are too cute.”

I’m having a surprisingly good morning, standing here underneath a bright blue Tarvos sky with my friend and her new Hyrrokin family—despite the fact that I went to a fertility med lab yesterday, signed a lengthy Gestational Surrogacy contract, and then had Bergelmir’s baby implanted in my womb.

Yep. I did that. I still can’t believe it really happened.

Yesterday Berg took me to the fertility institute so I could have his embryonic baby implanted inside of me. It was weird, having that happen somewhere so…antiseptic. Sterile. And Berg was so serious the whole time. At this very moment, Berg’s offspring is growing inside of me. The doctor was able to confirm the pregnancy prior to us even leaving the lab, that’s how high-tech this fertility place was.

And yet Bergelmir is not even my boyfriend. And this baby is not going to be mine. I’m a pregnant virgin. Like some kind of religious deity from ancient times, but instead I’m just an ordinary human girl who took a strange job to help out a friend. And also, I really, really wanted to move to Tarvos. And to top it off, I was able to help out my sister like my parents would’ve wanted.

I force a deliberate smile on my face and focus on the here and now. Also, I can’t stop looking at what’s before me, trying to figure it out.

I stare back up at the ostentatious house that Berg purchased. It’s built into the slope of the jungle that edges the lake of the gated community. I swear, it looks like a winged dragon. A monstrous red and gold snarling dragon with huge resting wings and fire streaming out of its nostrils. I lift my chin. This place has got to be at least three stories tall. The head of the red dragon with its huge snapping jaws is on the peak of the roof and fake waves of yellow-orange fire stream down either side of the house.

“Oh gods, look at that,” I whisper urgently to Riley as we walk under the fanned, gold-painted dragon wings, which I notice are tipped with metal spikes.

She barks out a laugh. “I know. I’ve seen this place