By the Horns

by Jeanette Lynn

  “Damn. To go?” My eyes started pricking anew. I didn’t want to go! Go where?! I wasn’t ready, not yet! There were so many things I haven’t done yet!

  “Back to Tavros, you temperamental thing. You’ve still much to do, a tournament to win for me.”

  “Oh.” I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. “How will I know if I’m doing what you need me to?” Dusting myself off, making to stand, I glanced to the hand he offered. My hand slipped into his, warm fingers curling over mine comfortingly, and he hefted me up.

  “You won’t. Just do what you would normally do, that’s all I ask. And when you are ready to accept me, think of it, of me, and I shall come.”

  “Sounds a bit silly.” Eyes downcast, I was treated to a show of a giant beast of a phallus, happy to find it limp and lying alongside his left thigh. Wow... my gods. And he wants me to accept that?

  Borrowed body with a smaller penis, hopefully, your vessel awaits.

  The noise he made had me quickly glancing away. My cheeks flamed. I’ve been caught.

  “Can’t I just accept you and have sex with someone else? Call it even?” Why was my voice so damn high? I sounded like a squeaky mouse!

  “That’s not how it works. You may thank Titania for concocting the vehicle for which we are to transfer our gifts offered.”

  “Your spouse- ah- erm, queen is...”

  “Evil?” he purred with a rumbling growl, as if the idea both titillated and disgusted him. Yuck. Fae love was fucked.

  Oh boy, no.

  Barf. “Yes, that. Mm-hmm. Well, you can send me back now. Heh. Heh.” Don’t stand around purring and garbling over your lady queen on my account, moose dick. “So, ah, just to be clear... this whole thing is good versus evil?”

  Oberon gave a snort. “Don’t be ridiculous, girl. A moose’s? Dinna be insultin’ me, darlin’.” He tossed me a wink. “Now,” he tilted my chin up, brilliant black eyes, absent of pupil, irises, the whites of his eyes, everything eclipsed in darkness, surrounded by a thick fringe of golden brown lashes, meeting mine, “be a dear and kiss this decrepit old man goodbye?”

  Heard that thought too, did he?

  “Heard every single one.” Another wink.

  Gah. I shook from his hold. Enough with the winking! He still hadn’t answered my actual question. And gods he was so fucking devastatingly handsome. I couldn’t look at him and think.

  He winked one more time, then laughed. Watching him, trying hard not to gape, that combination almost had me climaxing on the spot.

  “Should’ve agreed to receive me.” He gave a nonchalant shrug, the corners of that masterpiece of a mouth curling up in the corners in a come-hither smile. “You’d have been walking funny for a few, but it would’ve been memorable.”

  I was just sure it would have. I’d be settling for secondhand body snatched willy now—mental, pretend sigh, feigned look of sad disappointment—but it would just have to do. The things one did to get a leg up on a queen’s conquest. Double sigh.

  “More than a thousand years on ya, then?” I blurted in a rush. I was stalling, squirming, suddenly extremely nervous. I couldn’t help it, he was beautiful, golden skin, literally, so deeply tanned with a golden sheen to him, chiseled, square jaw, deep set eyes over well-shaped brows, and his body... gods! The man, fae, creature, was a Drovathian statue come to life, a walking Adonsalis.

  I might faint, might get nervous and throw up at his feet, might-

  “I’d rather you didn’t.” His grimace was genuine. “Here.” He was so close I could smell him, sandalwood, cedar, a hint of juniper berry, and something else. That elusive scent tickled my senses. This being reeked of masculinity, sex, and the woods fae were known to call their own.

  “I-

  His hand was at my back, pulling me closer, until we were flush, skin to heated skin. Our skin was slick, surprisingly, like we’d just come from an ocean dip, droplets of water collecting on our torsos, his natural musk mouthwatering. About to rethink my stand on not accepting any ‘gifts’ from him, I paused mentally, about to blurt just that, to chicken out.

  Kvigor popped into my mind, then Adelric, gods preserve me, and I couldn’t fathom, walking god-like creature squashing me to him smelling delicious or not, going through with it.

  You aren’t even linked to either, my mind tried to tell me, my body onboard with my head. It doesn’t really matter, only to you in your tiny head, Riadne. But that was everything—it mattered to me. I wasn’t led by my loins or my mind, that stupid glug-glug-ing thing in my chest dragged me about, leading me around by my nose.

  “Acceptable choices. Strong. Virile. Why choose?”

  “Huh?” I blinked, gaping up at him. Surely he wasn’t- Didn’t mean.

  “Don’t presume to think you know what I mean, luv.” Thick fingers slid to my nape. His chin dipped. He was so tall. “Shall I start us off?” Those lips were but a hair’s breadth from mine.

  “I don’t- I don’t know if I can,” I murmured, swallowing thickly. It all felt- It was just... wrong. “You’re married, after all, and it just... Uhm, what, ah, uhm, are you, erm, doing?”

  That beautiful visage changed before my eyes, and in his place stood the dark, brooding Minotaur who’d wormed his way into my subconscious thoughts.

  “Better?” Adelric’s voice, his face, asked.

  If I didn’t know better I’d have thought him the surly male.

  “Ah...” My hands, on his forearms as if to pull him closer or fend him off, clamped down tighter, until my nails were digging in.

  “A kiss is just the beginning, but I think a good faith exchange for said kiss would be in order. Would that suffice?”

  “A-a-a-an exchange?” I stammered, sputtering.

  Heavens help me, he smelled just like the woolly beast of a male now, too.

  “A kiss for a token of my esteem,” he cajoled. “A gift from the King of the Unseelie court.”

  “Just a kiss?” I thought about this, all of it, a simple exchange, just a kiss? and he was willing to impart something to me if I were to reciprocate, so no sex required for this trinket, gem, leg up, whatever it may be he thought might benefit our joint end goal—for him, win, and possibly seek revenge on the male still fucking his queen, which for me and my goals meant be rid of Puck from Tavros, send him back to this Unseelie court for good.

  Amber eyes met mine, swimming with gold. This kiss had one added benefit, I’d know what it was like, I thought, staring at that shorter-snouted, wide mouth for far longer than was deemed respectful or polite. Would he kiss just like the Chief’s Enforcer? Taste just like him? Anything between us, as far as I could glean from the surly male, would never be, contrary to some of our more open exchanges. He cared, maybe too much, what others were thinking, doing, to the point it ruled his life. And yet beneath all that he was a good and decent male, at least honorable and trustworthy.

  Couldn’t say much for who the bull chose to follow, whether by coercion, blackmail, force of threat or what have you, but he was an excellent soldier.

  “Is that not a good trait in a male?” Adelric’s face on the King’s body asked.

  “It can be,” I admitted, “if you’re the one he’s committed to.”

  A thick snout lifted, pressing into my forehead to breath across the space. He was warm like Adelric, furry, my fingers sliding to his chest where they dug in, burrowing until I met solid flesh. He was the dark-furred bull man all over now, from head to hooves the spitting image. I found myself struggling to differentiate from the two.

  “You can fight this,” he whispered, “but it will never last. You will give in, vacha.”

  Fingers drifting upward, they slid to either side of his face, then, going on tiptoe, to his horns, where I gripped one in each hand.

  “You’re right. I won’t, but maybe you can.” Lost in the mirage, I was speaking to Adelric, Oberon forgotten. With a jerk and a tug I had his face close to mine, his nostrils flaring, to steam. My head tilted and I leaned in closer. B
are feet sliding over thick hooves, I pressed down, the balls of my feet balancing on those dark, cloven hoof tops. “Make it count, Ferdinand.” Bare thigh sliding along his, I made my move. Our lips pressed, gentle at first, my mouth exploring his softly, the urge to nip and lick at him growing as he tentatively joined in.

  Doubly thick fingers slid to my ass, where he grabbed, gripping a rounded cheek in each meaty hand. Hands kneaded, squeezed, entreating, encouraging my hips to slide forward as his tongue came into play.

  A low groan left him as a soft moan escaped me. My hands at his horns held tight, guiding, withholding, teasing. If he went for more I held tight, ignoring his warning growl, unhappy being held back, but then a nip at his chin or a swipe of my tongue across his searching lips and he was happy to let me have my way.

  His hand slid to my hip, then lower, where he hooked his hand under my knee, guiding my leg over a thick, furry hip. The bulge pressing against my belly didn’t worry or frighten, I’d been thinking about this moment, quietly, in the hopes I was never found out, far more than I cared to admit.

  I didn’t make sense, and didn’t have to, and right here and right now, it was just the two of us, alone, open, honest in our feelings. Anything was possible.

  “I want you,” I muttered, lost in the illusion. My hand reached for him, sliding down to his groin. Unabashed, I slid my hand down to his hip, about to grab his dick.

  “Wait! Wait.” The image of Adelric flickered, the cock close to my fingertips, just out of reach, jerking as if desperate to reach me, bumping against the palm of my hand.

  Things quickly grew strange when he jerked back, gasping for air, eyes so brightly gold they shone like the sun, and Adelric’s face started to shift. Dragging me closer while I blinked, wide-eyed, he grabbed my face, his wide hands covering my face, literally, pressing a kiss to either side of my forehead, and then, fingers smoothing over the spots as they began to tingle, his lips aimed for my eyelids, smiling as my eyes fluttered in stunned surprise, tickling a smooth, golden chin.

  The King... I’d completely forgotten.

  “Still wish me now?” he teased, grinning hungrily down at me. That hungry gaze slid down my form, pausing on my breasts, my nipples hard little pebbles on display, then farther. “I can smell your want, little one. It’s addictive.” He sounded so surprised by the fact I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t mortified, stunned stupid.

  “No,” I mumbled, in all honesty, red faced and gulping. I had absolutely, completely forgotten, lost momentarily to my stupid fantasy. “Does this mean our bargain’s good?”

  When perfectly sculpted brows shot up I cleared my throat, muttering forcefully, “The kiss bargaining, not the, uh, accepting stuff.”

  “Are you sure?” His hand covered mine, pressing my fingers into the raging erection shooting clean up past his belly button.

  Too big! Much too big! A giant red flag shot up in my mind, urging me to turn and run. Oh, but he’d chase, and I might actually like that.

  The hand holding mine to him fell. “I’ll have to keep that in mind,” he murmured, his smile losing some of its charm.

  “I’m sorry?” I felt the strange need to apologize.

  “And I, too.” His sigh was long and gusty. “We’d have made beautiful halfling offspring.” Those full, kissable lips tipped into a mischievous smile. “Ania wouldn’t know what to do with herself. I dare say she’d have wished the power to curse her precious human pets, all of humanity.” That sexy curve of his mouth dimmed a little. “Serve her right, the frisky trollop.” The seething rage shimmering in those eyes, black as night, sprinkled with sparks of gold, was brief but memorable. Eyes sliding shut, he took a deep breath. “Matters not. She won’t be out of my sight long enough to even think of another male. Ever. Again.”

  “Ah...” Which just made all of this extremely awkward.

  “I know what you’re thinking. She set the terms, thinking I wouldn’t be able to stomach them.” A sliver of obsidian peered down at me. “She wasn’t taking into account one thing, though. A tiny detail that changed the course of everything.”

  “Oh?” Really eloquent, I was.

  “Mmm, hmm.” Nodding slowly, his hand lifted, fingers brushing the side of my cheek, my temple. He brushed stray strands of hair from my face, settling them behind my ear.

  “And that, ah, would, uhm, be?” The way he was looking at me...

  Soft lips pecked the side of my face, near my temple, lower, until they’d made their way to the corner of my mouth.

  I was panting so hard for breath I felt lightheaded, the sounds of my desperate gasping for life giving air noisy and almost wheezy.

  The tip of that pink appendage in his mouth peeked out, tasting my lower lip as he pecked another kiss. My lips tingled, zinged. I jumped, sucking in a sharp breath. “You,” he whispered, his hands at my back tightening, wrapping around me like a snake closing in on its prey. “And you, dear Riadne, strong, stubborn, delightfully difficult, altruistic little warrior pet, will be the difference that makes everything.” Before I could utter a word, he pressed his mouth to mine.

  I was drowning, body on fire. I wanted him to stop, wanted more. I thought I might burn, burst into flames with want as desire consumed me.

  While I fully reciprocated, still, a part of me held back. It probably always would, I knew. As if sensing this dichotomy, the Warrior King withdrew. Another sigh from the magnificent male.

  “And still, the mighty Chosen hesitates. I fear she will never accept all of my gifts. Well,” fingers reached up as a wave of dizziness washed over me, until I was swaying on my feet, brushing the sides of the top of my head were he’d pecked kisses only moments before, “you shall be blessed with a few small tokens from your King. All who gaze upon you will know you have been marked by your intended savior, and Puck’s call to arms against you will be put into question. His lies have been sold as myth, but everyone knows Oberon does not bless, if he should, without leaving a bauble of some sort to his children, hmm?”

  “Oooh. Erm...” I mumbled, wondering at the sudden dry, thick feeling in my mouth. Oberon’s hands grasped mine when I would have taken a tumble, holding me steady. I’d never told him about Puck claiming he’d been blessed by the All-father. How did he...?

  “I know much more than I let on, luv, but some things must be left to come to pass. Order, natural order, must not be disturbed.”

  I laughed, the sound ridiculous as it honked out unbecomingly. “Natural order? From a group of meddling fae?”

  With his smile firmly back in place while I squawked unintelligibly, he gave a short shrug. “Restoring order, adding balance. I aim,” he gave his shoulders a small shake, drawing my attention to his gleaming, naked flesh, “to right the wrongs, but a few wrongs must be let to pass, should all future wrongs be made to rights, right? You understand?”

  “Nuh-unh.” A small, inarticulate shake of my head.

  “You will understand, in time,” he assured me.

  I was feeling dust drunk, like all those other times back in the labyrinth. My eyes dropped to those pretty lips.

  “Horns,” he was staring absently at the top of my head, “and gold- No, black, I think. I do rather like things that match, don’t you?”

  “Uhm, sure.”

  “Good.” He gave a nod. “No more wasting time then. Unless, of course, you’ve changed your mind?”

  His hopeful tone had me grimacing.

  He waved it off. “Alright. A no, then. I can accept that. For now.” With a deep breath, he grumbled under it, “What’s one mixed bloodline with two or three more? The species are due for a revival. Survival of the beings and all that.”

  “Ah-who-whuh?”

  Staring off suddenly, as if in a daze, he smiled slowly, fondly. “Yes, I see it. That’ll do well, then. A fitting end.” He glanced down at me. “We really did screw the bull when we committed to you. Bulls.”

  “I have no idea what you’re yammering about,” I admitted, trying to frown bu
t finding myself smiling mindlessly in return.

  “Of course not.” He winked. “Where would be the fun in that?” His hands tightened painfully on mine. “This is going to hurt. A bit.”

  “A bit?” I gulped.

  “A lot. Immensely.”

  Familiar burning tingles starting up my arms, traveling up and down my length, straight to my middle, aimed right for my heart, it already was.

  “Don’t worry. Be over in a tick, and then you’ll itch for a few days, weeks, maybe a month.” His brows beetled. “Hard to recall, keep track of it all. Rarely do I save creatures. These dealings were left to my queen, once upon a time. Hate having to leave you beasties touched.”

  Touched?

  At the look on my face he shook his head. “You have been my exception, before one other.” A sly look came over his face. “Though he refused my gifts.”

  “Can’t say I blame him,” I whispered.

  He laughed, the sound loud in the thunder rushing my ears. “He’d have made an excellent choice. Fear held him back.”

  Really couldn’t say I blamed him. Black spots danced in my vision and I gasped, sucking in breath like I couldn’t get enough of it. My chest felt tight, painfully tight. This was just like before, but so much worse. I was a giant bruise, aching, straining.

  “More or less you are currently in stasis, healing. I believe they’ll call this a coma in future times, in appearance, when medical advancements come into fashion.”

  “What?!” I squeaked out.

  “Mm. Bit of a job, putting the mind back into the body. You were on your way out. Almost didn’t catch you.”

  “I’m- I’m- Mind into body? I’m dead?!”

  “No.” His scowl was brief but instant. “I said coma. A very deep one. Death would have been imminent, though. I said almost didn’t catch you. Almost. Haven’t you been listening?”

  “No!” I shouted over the waves crashing in my ears, the fierce burning feeling consuming my fingertips to crawl farther up. I was on fire, invisible insects stinging, biting at me as if to encourage me to wake, fire licking at my insides. I’m awake, I shouted in my head. The buzzing, stinging tickling and tingling, nipping incessantly, climbed its way around to my back to my spine and straight up.