examined my face as his thumb tenderly swept
my cheek.
That tear split deeper into my heart.
“Gods, I wish this was real,” he
muttered.
It is, you stupid man! my mind
shrieked.
But my mouth didn’t move.
“I’ll be back,” he stated.
“I’ll be waiting.”
His thumb swept back and his eyes held
mine.
Then he let me go, straightened and he was
gone.
Chapter Nine
I’ll Hand You the World
I woke half on and totally wrapped around
Tor again.
But I woke to the dark.
It was still night and the fire had gone
out.
I slid away from him and out from under the
covers. Then I pulled on my flowy top that dropped all the way down
to my upper thighs, covering my silky, lacy underthings. Then I
slipped on my satin slippers.
Then I went to spend time with a being that
I was pretty certain actually liked me.
Walking on tiptoe and being careful to be
quiet, I ducked under the pelt curtain and approached Salem.
“Hey boy,” I whispered as I got close.
He jerked his head up, greeting me but being
quiet like he knew Tor was sleeping and he didn’t want to wake
him.
I got close and he let me curve an arm under
his jaw and stroke the length of his nose.
“I’m not sure he’s this kind of guy, so I’m
not certain Tor has told you, but you should know from someone that
you’re unbelievably beautiful,” I whispered.
He gave a gentle snort, nuzzling his nose
closer to me and I smiled.
I moved to his side, stroking him along the
way and I leaned into him, snuggling his neck and stroking his
chest. I could swear he took a teeny horse step sideways to get
closer to me too.
I liked that.
“I want to go home,” I whispered to him.
This got me a soft whinny.
“It’s beautiful here but I don’t like
it.”
A careful jerk of the head, done so as not
to dislodge me.
“I should like it. I’m a princess
married to a handsome prince and the rivers are clean and the
horses are sweet…”
Another soft whinny and I smiled then
sighed.
“But I wish I could get home,” I said
wistfully.
Another gentle snort to which I replied with
another quiet sigh.
His head moved to the right and then he took
another teeny sideways horse step into me as I gave him a horse-hug
and kept stroking his chest while looking out into the moonlight at
the mouth of the cave.
Then out of nowhere a steely arm closed
around my ribs and another one closed around my upper chest as I
felt a face bury itself in my neck.
Holy crap!
“Noctorno?” I whispered, let the horse go
and my hands went up so my fingers could wrap around a hard
forearm.
“Stroke me like that, I’ll take you to a
castle,” he murmured into my neck.
I closed my eyes tight.
Jeez, how did he get across that stone
without making that first freaking noise?
“Please, let me go.”
His mouth moved up to my ear. “Let me stroke
you, swear to the gods, sweets, you loosen up just a hint, I’ll
make you come so hard you’ll think you’ve exploded.”
Oh God.
I bet he could do that. He was a good
kisser. If he was half as good with other things, I’d definitely
think I’d exploded.
“Please,” I whispered but his hand at my
side drifted up and his thumb slid out and caressed the side of my
breast.
Whoa. This had to stop mainly because it
felt so good. Too good. Fairytale good.
“Noctorno –”
His teeth nipped my ear and I shivered.
I liked that too, way better than Salem
shuffling closer to me.
“You’ve been calling me Tor.”
I had because he was becoming a Tor. But I
had to remember he was Noctorno, always, always, always.
“I –”
I stopped talking when his arms squeezed and
his tongue traced my ear. I stopped talking because my body
trembled and heat rushed to very specific parts of me.
“Forget what I said in the village. I’ve
changed my mind. Play this game, my love, I want you to,” he
murmured. “Let me take you to my castle where you can play it. Let
me make you heavy with my heir and I’ll treat you like a
Laura Buzo
J.C. Burke
Alys Arden
Charlie Brooker
John Pearson
A. J. Jacobs
Kristina Ludwig
Chris Bradford
Claude Lalumiere
Capri Montgomery