Bonus Pairing Delayed!

Hey, all! I've got bad news, I'm afraid. As I alluded to on my Twitter, the September Bonus Pairing ain't gonna be out in time for, well, September. I still need to finish writing and editing! It should be up within a week or so, but in the meantime, I've enclosed a little snippet to hopefully tide you all over!

For those of you still reading, I have another announcement to make. Starting October, Bonus Pairings are not going to be in addition to the normal stories. They will update along the same schedule. So, every week, I'll put up a new chapter, as always—but once a month, instead of it being Monstrous Ranch or whatever, it'll be a Bonus Pairing.

They will be paid, just like Monstrous Ranch entries, and we'll be doing four chapters a month, just as always. Just, one of them will be a Bonus Pairing, not Monstrous Ranch.

Does this make sense? I hate to make this change, but it's honestly just unworkable right now. I can't do five chapters a month, especially when one of them explicitly doesn't get Patreon payments! It's my messup, and I'm sorry to have to change the rules on you all because of it. I'm still ironing out the kinks of this Patreon, and, well, I found a kink in desperate need of shaming. :P

Let me know if you've got any questions! And now, as promised, the sneak peek (title still under construction):

Alrek vs. Illetrys: Seeing Things Differently

"So," Illetrys purred, lounging back in the bed, "isn't this nice?" The elven crime boss bobbed the crossbow back and forth, forcing Snatch's eyes to carefully follow the shiny pointed tip. "It's been so long, my dear! How long has it been?"

Snatch grimaced. "N-not long enough." His eyes were trained on the crossbow, even as he saw Illetrys adjusting her toga, checking her breasts for a moment to make them more comfortable. Don't look at her breasts. Don't look at her eyes, or her lips, or her hands. Don't look at... don't look at...

The crossbow swayed back and forth. ... anything.

Back and forth.

"Aw. You're hurting my feelings, Alrek."

"Don't call me that!" Snatch snapped, swaying slightly. He took a step closer.  Illetrys didn't seem to react. She didn't seem worried at all, really,  though he did notice her eyebrows arch.

"Don't call you what?"  she asked, giggling. The crossbow wove back and forth in a figure-eight pattern, recaptivating almost all of Snatch's attention.

He sputtered for a moment, distracted. "You know what!"

"Oh, but I don't think I do."  Illetrys's voice was a husky whisper. She was petting her breasts now, lovingly, tenderly, but in such a way as to put on an intoxicating show for any hypnotized onlookers. Snatch desperately kept his eyes on the crossbow. He had to watch the crossbow, with its shiny silver bolthead, that caught the light just so when she twirled it. "You're a man of mystery, Alrek. Hard to read. Hard to find. Hard... to get."

Snatch bit his lip at the way she moaned the word 'hard' every time. He couldn't tell if she was doing it consciously. She was clearly very deeply turned on. He opened his mouth, but found he was having trouble remembering what he'd snapped at her about. And then Illetrys was moving on.

"I just can't tell what you don't want me to not ever call you," she said, her voice lilting and humorous, almost singsong, "Alrek."

That was it. Snatch's cheeks burned as he remembered. "D-don't call me that!" he snapped, swaying a little.

"And now we're just repeating ourselves," she cooed. "We're helpless, aren't we?  We're just going... back... and... forth..." The crossbow swayed. "Can't stop, can we? So hard to stop. Why are you even talking to me, Alrek? Do you like talking to me?"

"F-fuck no." Snatch swayed in tandem with the crossbow, his eyes trained on the sparkling bolt.

"Oh, but I think you do." She put a hand to her lips to stifle her giggles. "And I love talking to you, Alrek. I'm glad we agree!"

"I'm jus'..." Alrek shook himself, trying desperately to clear his head. "Just talkin' to... keep you busy..."

"Mm-hmmm!" She beamed, her tone patronizing, mocking. "So that's why. And it's very important you keep talking to me, isn't it?" The crossbow seemed to twirl, just slightly, in her nimble grasp.

"Uh..." Snatch was starting to get dizzy.

"Yes, you need to keep talking to me to keep me busy," she purred. "But there are other ways to keep me busy, aren't there, Alrek?"