Running for Home

by Zenina Masters

  “I don’t think it would ever be enough.”

  Instead of going four footed, she sat next to him and put her hand on his knee. “Play for me.”

  He looked from her hand to her body and then to her face. “As my lady wishes.”

  She sat in the grass as he played and smiled as the music ran through her soul, waking her up and whispering to her. She shifted to her fox form and crawled into his lap, curling her tail over her nose.

  It was a perfect evening. She was warm, surrounded by music and the scent of her fey.

  She lost track of time. It was hard to keep an idea of time when your body had no worries.

  When she finished her musical doze, she climbed out of his lap, stretched and shifted back to human, smiling at him as she placed her hand on his knee again.

  “Thank you for the concert.”

  He slowly lowered the flute. “Thank you for the nudity.”

  She grinned. “You can’t keep clothing on my brother. Why is this different?”

  He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to him. “Trust me, it is different.”

  Their first kiss was magic. Power sparked between them and ran along her skin. Fey magic and shifter magic, so different and yet given by the same source. With a little coaxing, they could be compatible.

  She placed her hand on his chest and slowly tipped him backward.

  The flute disappeared as he put his hands on her bare back and pulled her close to him. He sprawled his legs out, and she squirmed on top of him, enjoying the friction between them.

  When she lifted her head and winked at him, she had to say, “Just making sure that this is different than kissing Apollo.”

  He groaned and rolled her to her back. “I keep telling you. There is nothing between your brother and me. He is not my type, and his legs are far too hairy. I have standards.”

  She rubbed her left calf against his leg. “I was just furry all over. No complaints?”

  He stroked her hip and thigh. “No complaints at all.”

  Juno chuckled. “You are overdressed for this position.”

  “I don’t want our first time to be in the dark. I want to see you, and that means either daylight or the bright confinement of one of our rooms at the Axion.”

  “Is that a request?”

  “For another day. We are both here now. There is no rush.”

  She sighed. “I suppose you are right, but it is a perfectly good waste of the mood I am in.”

  He grinned and kissed her quickly. “We can’t have that.”

  He shifted and parted her thighs, stroking her folds and letting her wet heat coat his fingers. She growled lightly as he stroked her clit before sliding two fingers into her.

  It was a wet, hot, squirming few minutes as he touched her and drove her body wild. Her breath hissed in and out of her lungs; she leaned up and nipped at his lips until he returned to kiss her.

  The educated searching he was doing with his fingers soon had her gripping his arms and holding still while she sought out the means to end her torment.

  She tried to move her hips, but he was pinning her down. His sudden swirling of his slick fingers over her clit finally managed what the fingers inside her couldn’t.

  She let out a small squeak and held onto him as her body shook in even waves. When her body had run its course, she sighed low. “That was fun, but it would have been more fun if you were with me.”

  “Oh, trust me, Juno, I was with you with every pant, moan and shiver.” He nuzzled her cheek.

  She rubbed her cheek against his in response. “I think I should get dressed and turn in for the night.”

  He chuckled and lifted off her. The cool air rushed between them, and her nipples tightened.

  Derix helped her to her feet and assisted her in dressing, beginning with her panties and finally zipping up her dress with a soft kiss to her shoulder.

  When he knelt to help her into her shoes, she braced her hands on his shoulders, enjoying the warm and solid feel of him. There was nothing of the effete Lord Falkir in Derix’s bloodline. He was as strong as an oak and as graceful as a willow.

  She ran her fingers through his hair as he helped her with her second shoe. Thick, silky strands caressed her fingers as he wrapped his fingers around her calf to ease her toes into the leather.

  “You have lovely ankles.”

  She chuckled. “Oh. You are that old.”

  He looked up and gave her a wry look from under his lashes. “Very funny, miss. I will take you over my knee if you keep on.”

  “I didn’t think of you as the spanking type.” She raised her brows.

  “Oh, I never said that I would hit you. I think having you in that position would be all kinds of interesting for me and uncomfortable for you.”

  She caught on to his train of thought and cleared her throat. “Perhaps we should just head back to the Axion.”

  He rose to his feet and offered her his arm. “Pity. The conversation just got interesting.”

  She linked arms with him and pulled him close. “And if we pursued it, things might take a very different turn. I am content to take this one day at a time.”

  “Excellent. I am not in a hurry. You are here, I am here, and the world around us is built for love.”

  It was a sentiment that rang in her mind. They had all the time in the Crossroads.

  Chapter Six

  The copper band got her up in the morning, and she was kept running new arrivals through their tours and getting them checked into their temporary homes.

  She had done eight tours, smiled at Jill as the young woman was having lunch with her fey of choice and looking remarkably happy in the first flush of love.

  Juno entered the café and found an unoccupied table. The Crossroads was filling up for the weekend, and space was now at a premium.

  She tapped the copper cuff twice and ordered a burger, two coffees and a glass of water.

  “Rough morning?” Her server grinned as she dropped off the coffee and water.

  “Rough day. There are sixteen more arrivals scheduled today. I don’t even know how many last-minuters will be here.”

  “So, in that case, want some pie?”

  Juno smiled. “Coconut cream, please.”

  “On its way.” Molly winked and headed to the kitchen.

  It was amazing to Juno that the beavers could enjoy their positions in service with such good humour, but they did. When she first asked Molly about it, Molly had explained the drive to be busy. If the beavers wanted a new outlook, they simply changed the business that they worked at or took time off for family. Everything they did, they did with enthusiasm.

  “Have you ordered already?” Derix grinned and took the seat across from her.

  “I have. This has been a busy morning. I don’t know how much time I can take for lunch. It hasn’t come up before that we were so busy I didn’t have time to eat.”

  “You eat at the same time every day?”

  She nodded and wrinkled her nose. “After what happened, I find a schedule for eating helps me keep things under control.”

  “Makes sense to me.” He tapped his wristband twice. It was a signal to whatever magic that alerted them that they were on break.

  “Worried about a brunch attack?”

  He grinned. “I take no chances.”

  Molly returned, and he placed his order—lemonade and a burger and fries.

  She doctored her coffee and slugged the first cup down without pausing.

  The second cup she sipped at, interspersed with water.

  “You really needed the caffeine.”

  She grinned. “Yeah. I don’t do well without coffee. My nights are a little fractured.”

  He frowned. “Still?”

  “Still. He liked to attack when I slept, because I was dozy and easy to handle. They would sedate me when I was sent to bed, and he would wake me up when he felt like it, pulling me around like a doll.”

  Derix put h
is hand on the table, palm up. Juno slid her fingers into his, and he squeezed lightly. “You have no idea what I want to do to Falkir right now.”

  She smirked. “If it involves staking him to a wall and pulling off his skin, that is where I would start. However, I can’t change the past, but how I deal with the future is my choice.”

  She lifted her head slightly and smiled. “Right now, my future is in a hamburger.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Your brother needs some of your calm.”

  “He could have it. We just need a giant fey to rape him for a few weeks and he would come out of it with a much better understanding of what he is.”

  Derix blinked, and Molly paused as she was about to put the plate down. When Juno paused, Molly slid the burger down in front of her.

  “Sorry for getting dark, but Apollo has always been able to take control of situations. For a fox male, he is really responsible. He needs to lose control and see what happens. When he realizes that the world goes on, it will change the way he sees the world.”

  Derix sighed, and his own food arrived. “It is a strange situation. He has gotten more women out of dangerous scenarios than I can count, but when he heard that you were gone, he lost his mind.”

  She retrieved her hand and picked up her burger. “It was pretty much what was going on in my head. I went a little crazy.”

  “They took your claws.”

  “Yeah, that was not great. Are we really sure that we want to have this conversation in the middle of the café?”

  He wrinkled his nose and looked around at the couples and new arrivals who were in their vicinity. “I suppose not.”

  He picked up his own food, and the next few minutes were spent in silence.

  She finally wiped her fingers and her lips, looking longingly at his fries. She couldn’t finish a whole serving, so she didn’t order them. It was a bit of a temptation that she decided she didn’t want to ignore.

  She took two fingers and walked them over to the edge of his plate, giving him plenty of time to object without asking him directly.

  Once at his plate, she took a fry, swiped it through the ketchup and nibbled at it. As she daintily ate the fry, she had his full attention.

  “Thank you.” She smiled happily.

  He cleared his throat. “Would you like another?”

  “No. I am good with one. I just can’t ask them to make one french fry.”

  He grinned. “I am always willing to share with you.”

  She smiled and leaned forward to wipe some ketchup from the corner of his mouth with her thumb. “Thank you. It is the sharing that is going to let me get to the next phase of my future. Whatever we do together, I need to be involved in the process.”

  “Whatever we do? Are you agreeing to something?”

  She sat back and sipped her coffee. “Well, I thought you were starting some kind of courtship, but if you are not, this doesn’t matter.”

  He smiled. “I am definitely starting some kind of courtship. I am just not sure how to manage it here at the Crossroads.”

  Juno laughed. “Ask Chuck or Al or Spike, Ivy, Teal, Tony, Teebie, Aldur. Take your pick, they all began their relationships here at the Crossroads, and they continue with those today.”

  “It seems I am going to have to do some research.” Derix had a spark in his gaze.

  “It seems you are. Ohh, pie!” She rubbed her hands together as her burger plate disappeared and the pie took its place.

  “They have pie?”

  Molly returned as if summoned, and she rattled through the pie choices. Lemon meringue was his choice, and Juno wasn’t surprised.

  “What is it with you and lemon?” She dug into the coconut cream and smiled.

  “It was a childhood favourite. When I was young, lemons were exotic. I associate all things lemony with reward.”

  She nodded and made her way through the pie with ravenous enthusiasm. “That makes sense. I go after this kinda thing because I am a fan of whipped cream. I used to sneak to the local dairy and drink the cream off the top of the milk pail. Mr. Adnon didn’t like it, but Gran always paid him for the milk I touched. For me, it was just fun to try and catch the pail while it was unguarded.”

  Her smile at the memory was gleeful. She could feel the joy spreading to her features and residing in her skin.

  “I used to steal apples from my neighbour’s field. It was the same. I could have had them for the asking, but taking one now and then made things taste better.”

  “Now, I am not one to enjoy forbidden fruit, but yeah, it was like that.” She sniggered. “One time, I tipped the whole bucket, and he chased me with a pitch fork.”

  “Did he know what you were?”

  “Yeah. Our families lived next to each other for seventy years. We guarded the new calves in the spring. A fox shifter is way more dangerous than any natural predator in the area.”

  “The farmer didn’t comment?”

  “When we were on guard, he didn’t lose a single calf. He enjoyed our contribution to the neighbourhood harmony. He didn’t talk about us, and we provided him with the help he needed. Occasionally, I stole some milk.”

  “So, that is where Apollo gained his skill with the partial shift. He always said it was natural talent.”

  Juno cackled. “He got stuck half-shifted when he was fourteen and had to be home schooled for an entire semester.”

  Derix grinned. “One more question. I thought that all twins had a connection, yet he couldn’t find you when you were taken. It was a source of great frustration.”

  She rubbed her nose. “Ah. That. Well, our link had to be altered dramatically when he started having sex. I found a way to block his feelings at that point.”

  “So, when you were taken, why didn’t you call?”

  “So he could feel pain? Terror? Humiliation? Despair? There was no way for him to track me, so sharing the fruits of my confinement would have only driven him insane.”

  Derix nodded. “That does explain it.”

  She sighed, finished her coffee, drank her water and looked at the few flecks of crust left on her plate. “Well, I suppose I should get back to work.”

  She got to her feet, and he mimicked her, blocking her exit and wrapping his arms around her waist. “Will you join me for another evening outing?”

  She went up on her toes and kissed him softly. “If we miss the evening, I will take your morning if you are an early riser.”

  “I will take every moment I can with you.” His kiss was less gentle, and when she passed him and headed for the Meditation Centre, she tapped the copper band with her heart pounding. It was definitely one way to keep her alert. And the lemon on his lips tasted far better than coffee.

  Chapter Seven

  The first night, she was so exhausted, she fell asleep as he played for her. She woke in her room at the Axion, tucked in and wearing her favourite sleep shirt. Elves do it with Magic was emblazoned on the front.

  She blushed at the thought that Derix had seen it, but then, she realized it could have been Drak that tucked her in. Either way, it was a little embarrassing.

  She took a shower, got dressed and her cuff started going off. She jumped in her slide and down she went.

  It was the beginning of a very hectic day.

  She was between tours when Teal looked at her. “Juno, you look horrible.”

  Juno looked at her blearily. “No breakfast. No coffee.”

  “Aw hell, take the rest of the day off. You are still in recovery. Don’t ever skip meals. Just tap the cuff twice when you need a break and turn it on again when you are available.”

  “I am here to work.”

  Tony came over and frowned. “Work, yes, but put your health at risk, never. Go and find that fey of yours and have lunch. Courtship is hard enough without working yourself to death while you are doing it.”

  She looked at him with tired eyes. “Does everyone know?”

  Teal chuckled. “Only those of us who pay attention
. So, just everyone here at the Crossroads. I think you two should take a week. That’s an order.”

  Tony smiled. “Take the order. Hey, why don’t you two head to the new guest quarters on the water? You can review them for us. Let us know if there is anything missing.”

  She frowned. “I can’t speak for Derix.”

  Tony winked. “Give me a few minutes, and I will sort this out.”

  Teal beckoned Juno to come further inside, and they settled at a low table while Teal served tea. “Your help as guide is rather nice. It is helping Tony and I get a little more alone time. The least we can do is to assist you in pair bonding on your own. Once you have mated, you can share quarters freely, and time will come more naturally.”

  Juno sipped at the tea. “You have been at this for a while.”

  “Over five decades. It used to be easy, but now, we are in need of an expansion.”

  “Hence the new facility for water shifters and fey.”

  “Correct. We are also looking into another expansion. A second portal. We will have to wait until Dira has her baby, but it is definitely in the works. There is a line of magical beings wanting to try breeding with shifters, and if some of them can manage it, they will have another source to keep their foothold on earth. I don’t know if they understand what the bonding entails, but they want to try.”

  “How was the new facility built?”

  “A lot of magic and even more labour. The beavers have enjoyed laying the foundation.” Teal grinned. “Now that we don’t have fey and magical mixes blowing the roof off the Meditation Centre, they have been at loose ends a little. This expansion has been very good for industry around here.”

  “I can see that. Are you going to put a portal between the Meditation Centre and the new facility? It is a distance off, and some folks might not mind the mix of fish and fowl.”

  Teal nodded. “Actually, a transport centre within the Crossroads might not be a bad idea. As the dimensional bubble is expanding, getting from one edge to the other is becoming arduous.”

  “Will Dira remain here with her child?”

  “With Mak? They might. It is up to her. She is the power that this whole thing is built on. A child will tie her more firmly to the Crossroads, if such a thing can be imagined.”