by Sam Hall
“That’s fine,” he said, walking backwards so he could face us. “I look forward to you making that up to me in many varied and creative ways.”
Well, damn.
When we got to the lounge, he pulled away and ambled over to the bar with Johnno joining him, leaving me, Marlow, and Jen to find a seat.
“You have a harem!” she squeaked as we wove between the chairs and tables. “Already!”
“Um…yeah? I didn’t mean to, but—”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m just jealous as hell. Heir here, so it’s either find a lover within Rutherglen or from Daddy’s carefully proscribed list. Ooh, Vervain is here!”
Jen got to her feet and ran over to the purple-haired fae woman, wrapping her in another hug. The one she gave the other woman was a little different though. I watched as Vervain’s head tipped down to look at Jen’s, their lips only centimetres apart. They were smiling and talking, but it didn’t seem to be the kinda conversation had between the heir apparent and her seamstress, particularly as Vervain’s hand slipped down from Jen’s waist.
“Are they…?” I said to Marlow.
“Sometimes. Bisexuality is kinda the default with faeries.” I felt his eyes on me, so I turned to face him. “Are you going to cope with that?”
“Depends. If it’s expected of me?” I watched Vervain drop a gentle kiss right at the corner of Jen’s mouth, her eyes darting to see if any of the humans around us noticed. “Probably not gonna work. I mean, I’ve never really thought about it. Maybe I’ll meet the right lady and…what?”
“Oh no, keep telling this story. It’s very intriguing,” Aen said, having appeared in the seat next to Marlow. I gulped as two sets of green eyes—one more natural and soft like glass, the other bright as emeralds—trained on me.
“Um…well, I haven’t met anyone that gets that kind of reaction, but if I did, I guess…” They watched every word come out of my mouth, as if they couldn’t wait for more. “But if it was you guys?” That was a dizzying thought. Aen and Marlow were of a similar height, but the red-haired man seemed bigger, both in personality and musculature. But to see the two of them together? Marlow’s hands tracing Aen’s tattoos, the other man’s hand sliding up, up, up his thigh… I swallowed, my mouth suddenly bone-dry. They both smiled, slow and sensual, as I grabbed a bottle of water and took a hasty drink.
“You smell…heady…” Marlow said, leaning in closer.
“What has you wafting pollen, little flower?” Aen said. He leaned in as well, but he was on the other side of Marlow, which just brought the two of them even closer.
“Our Kira likes a bit of man on man action,” Marlow said, turning to face the other man, his mouth inches from Aen’s. Their eyes slid around to me, and they smiled when I started to lean closer, not wanting to miss a bit of this.
“Does she indeed? Well, I can see the appeal of both. Perhaps a bit of quid pro quo?” Aen said. He brushed the bridge of his nose against Marlow’s cheek, and the other man froze where he sat until Aen drew back a little. And when he did, he’d changed. She had Aen’s long tumbling mane of scarlet hair and those bright green eyes, but now the face had slimmed down and been refined. Her body was long and angular and just as graceful, but without that muscular bulk. Her smile was much more feline as she caught my eyes going to her shirt, and I saw the way she now filled it. Her chin tilted up slightly, and her smile widened as I continued to stare.
My brain fought it, as my conditioning and my assumptions about myself wanted to put Aen in the boy-sexy box or the girl-friend box, but it couldn’t. I watched her shift before my eyes, becoming less masculine and more of a fluid thing that left my mind spinning. And then came the most confusing part. I had all the same flushed, skin tingling, clit throbbing, ache between my legs feelings when I look at either version of Aen. She-slash-he was beautiful, and I just wanted to reach out and… I jumped when Marlow put a hand on my thigh and started rubbing in slow circles, close to where I wanted it but not close enough.
“Take a deep breath,” he said. “Then let it out slowly. You’re blooming something fierce, Kira. It’s starting to get us attention.”
When I glanced around, I saw that Johnno and the band were frozen to the spot, watching our every move. But not just them. Random strangers sitting in the lounge, for all intents and purposes human, had turned to stare in our direction with hungry eyes.
“Everything OK?” Johnno said in a hoarse voice, taking the spare seat on my other side.
“Just testing our girl,” Aen said. “You’re right, Marlow. She’s incredibly responsive, and there’s so many unplumbed depths to explore. This is going to be delicious.”
“It’s OK,” Johnno said, brushing his lips against my ear. “It’ll all be OK.”
He grabbed my hand and I clung to it, clung to him, the seat, the sterile reality of the airport lounge, anything to stop me from giving into Aen and having him transport the four of us somewhere we could explore just how responsive I was.
“Just take it one step at a time,” he said, brushing a thumb over my knuckles. I looked up into those brown eyes that just warmed with my attention. “Don’t let it overwhelm you. You have all the time in the world to go wherever you want. What do you need to do next?”
“Selfie time!” Jen said, running over with her phone in hand and answering for me. She passed it to me, while she and Vervain clustered at the back as I held the phone out. We all looked into the polished glass screen, faces pressed against each other, and I stared at the reflected image.
The mask that had protected me during all of this finally fell off. I wasn’t watching, safe behind the lens anymore, no one was. We were all in this, clustered together, joined by bonds I was still trying to understand. But I would. Even The Changelings, who still kept a lazy eye on us and were clustered with the rest of Hartley. I would work out who the hell these people were and how they worked together if it killed me. Then where I fit in all of this.
I touched the button, and we were all momentarily blinded by the flash.
20
We’d staggered off the plane, sore, stiff, tired, and nowhere near as fresh. Well, except for Aen. Having the ability to shape shift seemed to also mean he could emerge from the hell that was a long-haul flight looking like he’d spent the day at the spa.
“Don’t worry, love,” Johnno said as we got off the plane. “We’ve got a reprieve. We’re at the hotel tonight, then on the bus, so plenty of time to…”
Our focus was drawn to Marlow, who came over to keep pace with us. He’d sat next to me the whole flight, my head resting on his chest and my nose filling with his scent. I was restless as hell. Having him so close yet so far away just felt like fourteen hours of foreplay, and I was beyond ready for somebody, anybody to stick it in.
“I’ve just got to do this press conference. Go ahead with Jennifer and the rest, and I’ll see you soon. The four of us are in my suite.”
He smiled, the skin crinkling around his eyes as he watched me try to work out just what that would look like. How many beds, and who would be in them? There was no combination I wasn’t on board with.
“God,” he moaned, reaching up and brushing my bottom lip with his thumb. “I thought this whole courting business was a good thing, but you’re making it freaking hard to stay true to.”
“Johnno!”
Our heads jerked around to see Liam standing off to one side, watching the two of us. Billy grinned—why, I couldn’t tell—and shuffled his feet as if to a beat we couldn’t hear. Jake looked up for a second from the groupie he was kissing and winked at us when he caught us looking. And Lucas… He appeared flat and empty, like the trip had emptied him of everything, leaving only a shell behind. A girl came running across the area security had cordoned off, a guard hot on her heels, and threw herself at Liam. He caught the fan, hauled her up against his chest, and kissed her deeply while keeping his eyes on us.
“Go on ahead,” he said finally. “They look fractious, so this might
take a while. Get situated and…” His eyes were just as warm when he transferred his gaze to Marlow. “Take care of her. Help her through this. Treat her right.”
Marlow’s hand tightened around mine as Johnno left to rejoin his court.
“C’mon,” Marlow said, steering me away, even as the shouts, shrieks, and giggles started behind me. “We’ve got to pick up supplies.”
“Not more clothes. Please god, tell me no more clothes.”
“Oh, I can promise there won’t be any more clothes involved.” I stopped in my tracks, forcing him to do the same or let go of my hand. “What? You said lube, a lock, and what else?”
His mocking smile said he knew exactly what came next, but I just croaked out, “Gatorade?”
“Gatorade.” He turned and called out, “Aen? You can get anything, can’t you?”
I was a terrible friend.
I was sitting in an honest to goodness limo, Mark driving, Paul in the front passenger seat, being handed a flute of champers by my best friend as she talked about all the places we were going to visit, while my mind was almost completely caught up with the feel of Marlow’s body pressed up against one thigh and Aen’s on the other. I just stared at her, nodding where I hoped was appropriate, and feeling horny-guilty-horny-guilty, until she paused for a moment.
“Kira, I’m sorry. I just realised…”
“What?” I said brightly and took a hasty sip of the drink, the bubbles popping in my nose.
“You must be about ready to claw off your own skin. You never got a chance to bump uglies post transition, did you?”
I spat out the next mouthful of champagne in what was probably a very expensive shower.
“I’m sorry…what?”
“Transition starts around 18-20. Normally, you claw the clothes off of whoever’s nearest after transition and keep working your way through the court until you find someone you can bear to be your preceptor. But because…” She smiled, a strange, almost nervous thing. “It’s OK. Just hang on, we’re nearly there. We’ll have plenty of time to talk once we’re on tour, trust me.”
And so we were deposited into a three bedroom suite in a very nice hotel with frightening speed. Marlow swiped the card, while Aen and I looked around at the luxe setting.
“Acceptable,” Aen said with a sniff, looking at the fingertips he’d trailed along the tabletop before brushing them off. “Now…” He grinned. “Your supplies.” With a click of his fingers, a great jug of lube and several six packs of Gatorade appeared, the drinks dewy with perspiration.
I broke one out and cracked the lid, taking a long swig. “Orange ice, my favourite. What about you, Marlow?”
“Oh, I’ve got everything I need right here.”
I swallowed the next mouthful with difficulty as my soon to be lover watched me with a look that I hadn’t quite seen before. He moved over to me, those green eyes burning into mine as he reached past me and took hold of the lube in one hand and me in the other.
“You can keep this place secure for a while, Aen?” he asked as I was hurried into the nearest bedroom.
“Safe as houses,” he replied, performing a little salute.
A strange kind of hush settled over the room as the door closed. I jumped when he put down the bottle and tossed his keys onto the bedside table.
“You’re nervous,” he said. He was right, but I couldn’t work out why. I’d been drowning in his scent the whole trip. I was bone tired, and my body felt like lead, but nothing short of total unconsciousness would stop me from going to him.
So go to him, I told myself.
I loved the slight shyness about him as I moved closer, as I slid my arm around his waist. I loved the solid feel of him under my cheek as I hugged him. I loved that rich scent, growing a little sharper and more insistent the longer I touched him, until he pulled back slightly and said, “I don’t know about you, but I could murder a shower.”
“God, yes. I feel like the carpet in a cinema.”
“Wet for strange reasons and kinda crunchy in places?”
“Yeah.”
He offered to let me have my own shower, but I knew if I did, the weird would just keep expanding. I had the remarkable ability to overthink a thing into the ground, and I wasn’t going to let myself do that. We stood inside the white-tiled bathroom, spacious for a hotel, the natural light streaming inside the small window high up on the wall, and I pulled my shirt up off over my head.
“Kira…”
He just said my name, but the most effusive compliments couldn’t compete with that hushed, reverent tone. My hands went to my jeans’ button, and his eyes followed the track of my fly down, like it was directions to buried treasure or something. And perhaps that was right. His fists balled as I tugged the pants off, the muscles in his forearms standing out proud as he did so.
“Wait,” he said, moving forward, but not touching as I went to take my underwear off. “Sorry, but I just about came in my pants when I found this set, thinking of you in it. This shade of ivory makes your skin…” He looked up, his smile quick and disarming. “Sorry, occupational hazard. Fashion porn kinda comes with the job.”
“And what about the real thing?” I said, sliding a hand under his shirt.
He got the hint quick and pulled it off, leaving only the tight tank top underneath it. I felt the muscles in my face twitch as I reached out for him. He was so fucking beautiful. I brushed my knuckles against the bare skin above the neckline, something that had him stripping that off too.
My fingers followed the script that sprawled across his chest and ribs, forcing me to come in close as he got out of his jeans as well. Then my eyes slid down. I blinked at what I saw, as the rigid length of him looked a whole lot longer and thicker than I remembered from our brief fumbles. He saw the apprehension there when I looked up, while my hand trailed down to his hip.
“I won’t hurt you. I can’t. Kira—”
I stopped him with a kiss, not wanting a little ophiophobia to get in the way of something I felt like I’d wanted for ages, even though it had only been days. Once our mouths touched, I was back. This was Marlow. He held me like I was made of glass, precious and so fragile, while his mouth explored every inch of mine, like he wanted to memorise its shape and taste. He broke away first, leaving me struggling to bring his lips back. He just smiled as he kept out of reach and put a finger under my bra strap, a question in his eyes.
In some ways, this was like having sex for the first time, because it was for this body. I watched his face carefully as he peeled one strap down, then the other, and then he reached around to unfasten the back strap with ease. Damn, that’d be hard to get used to. He looked into my eyes when my hands went up, stopping the cups from falling away. He covered my hand with his, rubbing his thumb against it.
It’s OK, I thought. I’ll be OK.
His breath came out in a rush as I let my hands and my clothing fall. I just stood there under his hungry gaze, and waited for his reaction.
He groaned as he pushed me backwards into the shower, slamming on the water so it sprayed a deluge down on both of us. I didn’t get a chance to rally as my back was pressed up against the glass cubicle with him between my legs in the next second. Our underwear was soon plastered wet against our skin, but it didn’t stop him from trying to grind closer.
“You’re so fucking lush,” he mumbled into my neck as his hand slid up my ribcage. I arched my back, wanting it to move faster, to finally, finally get to where I’d been aching it to. He chuckled when I grabbed his hand and shoved it up against my breast. “Hungry, love?”
I watched those mocking lips move into a smile, but it faded as soon I jerked down whatever designer undies he had on. I wanted nothing more between us, so I shimmied out of my own, leaving them to fall to the floor, before pushing his off. And then I had him—thick, hard, and heavy in my hand. I paused for a moment, just relishing the feel of naked skin against skin. Then I moved.
My hand moved in a long, slow, swivelling ca
ress, trying to trace every inch of his cock with my fingertips, and I soon had him gasping. I kissed him, little slight things, tasting his gasps and swallowing his pleasure down. It was good, whatever he was feeling, as my hand moved faster, wanting to pull more from him.
Until his hand slapped down on my wrist. I struggled against his grip, but he held me fast.
“No, I’ve been riding the edge for too damn long. Let’s get washed, then let me touch you in all the ways I’ve been dreaming about,” he said, his eyes gone to a smokey hazel.
“Promise?” I said.
“You’re damn right I do.”
I got clean, soaping myself thoroughly, like I needed to be squeaky to go to bed with a man like Marlow. He noted this, taking care of himself with as few movements as required. He just rinsed himself off, then finally took the bar of soap from me and placed it on the dish. He smoothed water over my body in long slow strokes, until I wasn’t sure what was warmer, him or the water.
“Ready?” he said. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
He turned the tap off and led me out, drying himself off, and nudged me when I just stopped and stared.
“You’re fucking beautiful. Like I’ve looked at a lot of images of naked dudes over the years, and still, I got nothing.”
“You got it all, Kira. I’m scared of the moment when you realise that. Now, c’mon. I gotta date with that sweet little cunt between your legs. I’ve been fantasising about her.”
“Yeah?”
“You got no idea what I’ve been planning. Get on the bed,” he said as we moved into the bedroom. “Let me show you.”
I was only slightly disappointed when he didn’t start with my pussy, but the feel of his body hanging over mine as he crawled up and his hands on either side of my shoulders as we kissed, more than made up for it. I felt sheltered, a bit like curling up in bed under the covers to hide away from the world, but instead, I was curled up in him. He whispered nothing words to me between kisses, then his mouth went to my neck, nuzzling in and trailing down. He paused when he got to my breasts, eyes flicking up, and a wicked smile spread across his face when he caught me watching him.