Remedy Maker

by Sheri Fredricks

  But he’s mine right now.

  Patience pulled her quivering body together the best she could. Unlike the other Centaurs she’d heard of, crude in both appearance and action, Rhycious would be a gentle lover. This male would treat her with the same respect he demanded of others.

  However, there wasn’t time to linger on that.

  Ducked between her thighs and doing things with his expert tongue that could make a woodland god sing, she tried to rise off the bed, but he wouldn’t allow it. On the contrary, he plied her with his fingertips and mouth until she thrashed her head from side to side.

  While he got busy on her most viable nub of nerves, he hummed a steady sound that vibrated his mouth against her. It rippled inside of her, up to her throbbing nipples. Not able to stand the sensation a moment longer, her hands covered both breasts and massaged the tingletastic away.

  “Oh yeah, polytima. Just like that.”

  She opened her eyes that had shut of their own accord, and gazed down at the hulking Centaur who feasted between her legs. His dilated pupils glowed black as he watched her pluck the tickle from her nipples. The erotic sight of Rhycious watching her, twisted her inner muscles, and she released another jet of melted bliss.

  Patience curled her fingers into Rhycious’s hair, certain her toes curled, too. White-hot intensity curved her back and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

  I can’t take much more of this.

  Sweet torture.

  Her hands didn’t push him away. Oh, hell no. She kept him locked in place by gripping his hair. He worked his hands simultaneously with his tongue.

  “Oh—my gods.” Patience gritted her teeth and pushed her shoulders deeper into the coverlet. At each pass of his tongue over her clit, her quivering muscles jumped. His seeking fingers reached deep inside.

  Rhy pulled gently with his lips. “Gamóto. You’re so hot . . . and wet . . . and you taste so damn good.”

  Little spasms cavorted like river rapids within her. Rhycious must have felt them, too, because he redoubled his efforts, making those yummy sounds again. Unbelievable things were happening below.

  Not knowing what else to do, she moaned for release.

  And panted.

  Rhycious stopped and looked up at her. “Am I hurting you?”

  Was he fucking crazy? She shook her head. “No. Are you okay?” His hind legs must be cramped by now, and the floor killing his knees.

  He laughed and nodded. “In the best possible way.”

  Long and steady tongue thrusts, slow and deliberate movement. His tail slapped the floor a few times, and a crazy micro-fantasy of being naked and covered by the long hairs slipped through her mind.

  He growled and bit down gently, holding her flavor inside his mouth a moment. Base mythological nature would have him mark her as his mare, the same way Centaur stallions of fabled old identified their intimate herd.

  A love bite that claimed her as Rhy’s personal property. The thought provoked a compelling hunger as he slid and flicked against her engorged clit.

  Patience couldn’t hold back any longer, didn’t want to keep it in. She keened in huffs of “oh, oh, oh . . . .” Tighter and tighter her womb coiled, clamping down on Rhy’s insistent fingers. The soft bedding beneath her back shook and swayed, and rope suspensions creaked in unison.

  He knelt on the hardwood floor and she thought if he weren’t careful, he’d have bruises by morning.

  But who the hell cared now?

  The rapture she had experienced with Rhycious once before, teased just out of reach. Inflamed with resplendent longing, she delved her fingers deeper into his hair, holding his mouth against her anxious core.

  He took her passion between his lips and sucked hard. That was all it took to detonate a convulsing release. Inside of her, a dam broke and let loose a rushing waterfall.

  Patience cried out as her body went stiff and her hips jackknifed up. Free falling through an erotic haze, pleasurable warmth spread and pulsed in her feminine region. Her hands moved from his hair to splay out at her sides, grabbing the material to keep from toppling off the swaying bed.

  A throaty growl of pure masculine satisfaction filled the air. Rhy thrust his fingers into her throbbing depths and held them there. Her inner walls pulsing, she thrust her hips in reckless need. Central muscles convulsed, and bliss clamped down.

  She was a Wood Nymph, Rhycious a Centaur. And oh, what a wonderful combination that made.

  Rhy spoke in his exotic foreign language and it set her blood to boil. He could have been saying, “get me the hell out of here,” but she didn’t give a rip. Smaller spasms shuddered through her body, then gradually decreased. He kissed her pussy with infinite affection, using his tongue one last time, before pushing up to lean over her limp body.

  His touch was gentle, as were his words. “You need to sleep now.” He repositioned her on the bed.

  Above it all, Rhycious had made unselfish love, without recompense. She alone inherited the bounty of his healing hands this night.

  How could she not love a Centaur like that?

  Replete and totally wiped out, her eyes drifted shut, pulled down by heavy weights. As the fog of sleep claimed her, she thought she heard someone say, “I love you.”

  Were they imagined?

  Patience didn’t know. She also wasn’t sure who had spoken the words.

  Eighteen

  It wasn’t the tickle of Centaur transformation that woke Rhycious up. And by all indications, it should have been. He’d fallen asleep at the edge of Patience’s bed the night before with his arms crossed under his head.

  Her hair whispering across his face awoke him. She snuggled deeper into her pillow and let out a soft sigh, the faint light of the tree’s internal glow illuminating her beautiful face.

  Once the metamorphosis completed, Rhycious rose from the floor amidst protesting muscles and popping joints. Opening his arms, he spread his fisted hands overhead to the gods. Then he yawned and stretched out his back.

  Rhycious grinned. He hadn’t felt this good in centuries. All credit for feeling alive pointed straight back to the sleeping pixie.

  Last night after she’d fallen asleep, he whispered in her ear that he loved her. Then waited for the floor to crack open and swallow him whole. If he were an honorable Centaur, he’d walk away from her after completing his mission for Queen Savella.

  Hell, if he were honorable, he’d be sleeping outside. Curled up on the hard floor, freezing his nuts off, was nearly as bad.

  The things we do for love.

  He told himself it was the cool air on his naked ass that drove him beneath the blankets to seek her warmth. Not her inner gorgeous soul or loving character.

  Rhy’s grin widened. Nor was his willingness to cuddle due to the sound of his name spoken—twice—by her sweet mouth in a rough morning-voice.

  Certainly sliding his body between the smooth sheets had nothing to do with sunrise lust and Mr. Happy doing jumping jacks in anticipation.

  Okay, maybe a little lust.

  No fooling himself today. The Nymph with sleepy eyes and beckoning arms was the reason compelling him into her bed.

  Love.

  He must be insane, since he had no business falling in love with her. Involvement with him would only pave the way to her misery and grief. No true Centaur would take a woman of quality, like Patience, and shackle her to a man like himself.

  Of course, he assumed she returned the affection, which presumed a lot. Women were talkers. They were into expressing feelings and emotions. Nothing she said to date had expressed her feelings for him beyond gratefulness for his remedies.

  Under the blankets, Patience turned toward him. “Good morning, Remedy Maker. Wazzup?”

  Rhy chuckled deep in his throat. “I’ll show you.”

  He guided the slim hand caressing his chest down to his jutting erection, and taught her how to wrap her warm fingers around him. A few tentative strokes later and his eyes rolled back in pleasure.
Uncontrollable urges to thrust into her palm pushed his hips and legs forward.

  She gave a yelp of giggling surprise. “Pan’s hooves, Rhycious! Your feet are freezing.”

  He held her body close, relishing in the perfection of her slender figure against his much larger one. Her mouth moved in harmony with his, and to Rhy, she tasted of eternal hope.

  Three little words whispered to her in the dark would not be spoken again. He didn’t have the right. Dank knowledge of his unworthiness sat bitter inside him, festering as the awareness grew. He wasn’t good enough for her, but he could show her how much of his heart she claimed.

  Oh, gods . . . yes. He’d show her just how much she meant.

  Rhycious made slow love to Patience in more ways than she could have imagined. Her innocent moves and disbelieving looks fueled his steaming ardor. His hands roamed everywhere on that fabulous body of hers, he left nothing untouched.

  Ancient words of encouragement and praise tumbled unbidden from his lips. This time, there was no bashfulness on her part. Not after last night. In fact, he doubted she would ever blush again, unless she never stopped blushing in remembrance of their night together.

  An hour later, cozy in her messed up bed with their arms wrapped around each other, Rhycious plotted the trek to Savella’s palace in his head. Patience’s strength had restored completely from time spent rejuvenating in her taproot tree. He meant to keep her that way.

  Sated and drowsy, her creamy thigh tossed over his hairy one. He loathed the thought of leaving the sanctity of her home. Since Patience would be traveling with him, extra precautions were necessary. He’d take only the safest routes.

  Rhy didn’t give a rat’s ass about his own life, but he’d never risk hers.

  Patience must have picked up on his mental energy. “Is it time to split the sheets already?”

  “Yeah, babe. It is.” He pulled her warm body up to cover his and filled both hands with her luscious round butt. “The sooner we get started—”

  “The sooner we’re home. Okay, I’ll get crackin’.”

  The sooner we’re home. His heart sped up. She’d said “we”, as in Patience and him. Home—hers or his? Didn’t matter, his deflated confidence filled at her words.

  Damn, but her ass felt good. All baby soft and squeezable. The front of her hips applying just the right pressure in just the right place. He couldn’t help himself, he slapped her sweet cheek with a palm that was all spank and no bite. Gamóto, he wanted to take hold and rub his cock all over her, scrub his horniness away.

  “I was going to say,” Rhy said, palming her bottom, “the sooner we’re traveling, the better. I want to check out the last place Serenity was seen on our way to the palace.”

  “Say nizzy, let’s make it.”

  “Huh?”

  After rolling out of bed and getting dressed, they worked together and got ready to leave. He filled a water bottle for the trip and Patience made a quick breakfast. He couldn’t help but notice how well they performed domestic duties in synchronicity, like trained dancers for the Festival of the Trees.

  Better yet, as two lovers in the throes of passion. He watched her butt wiggle past him again.

  Lustful images aside, his gut ached enough with what the future held for them. There would be more of the same depressing loneliness and terrifying flashbacks he’d experienced all along. Fate had taken pity on him and brought the heartbreakingly beautiful Wood Nymph to his door.

  “All ready to boogie to the beat, big guy?”

  * * *

  Rhycious concentrated on the hills and forest surrounding them, which was difficult with a cute ass in a pair of hip-hugger cargo pants distracting him to no end. Bands at the bottom cuff, tied with little pink drawstring bows, should have looked out of place with the camo print.

  Who the hell puts pink bows on military fatigues? On Patience, it looked sexier than hell. Her hair was pulled back in one long braid that kept time in a sashay swing to her “shake it, don’t break it” stride. Black ankle boots and a camo shirt with its front tails tied over a green tank top completed her traveling ensemble.

  He’d have preferred she walked behind him where he could keep her better protected. Patience’s insistence not to coddle her, however, had him grinding his molars.

  Rhycious knew when to pick his battles.

  Heavy boughs of a variety of trees curved in feathery awning over their heads. Dense foliage filtered the sun and colored everything beneath a stress-reducing shade of green. Psychologically speaking, vibrational healing, such as chromotherapy, balanced areas in Rhy’s life that were lacking composure. Color played a huge part in his PTSD treatment.

  Disregarding therapeutic value, Ms. Army Ranger’s attitude irritated the hell out of him, especially when she decided to take point and lead. For a short five-foot-five height, she sure had a long-legged strut.

  “We’re near the locationship where Serenity’s friends last saw her.” Patience spoke quietly over her shoulder and pointed ahead to a nearby aspen grove. “They checked out the hunters there too.”

  Eerie white trunks of the pencil thin trees gave Rhy the creeps. Black knotholes peered at him from every angle and his skin prickled as if eyes watched them. It had been a copse much like this one where his parents’ herd once lived. Two hundred years ago . . . .

  Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but the energy felt off—there was something out of place.

  “Keep moving.” He gave Patience a gentle nudge at the small of her back. The need to vacate the area ate at him in big bites.

  “Say what?” She turned to gape at him, her brows drawn together. “No way, dude. This is the last spot she was seen. We need to scout around.”

  Her tone—half-demanding, half pleading—set his nerves on edge. Deep inside, gut instinct put Rhycious on high alert. Squirrels scampered along branches, hidden deer trotted past. The forest creatures didn’t acknowledge the clime change, but he sure as shit did.

  Rhycious grasped Patience by the elbow and steered her toward safety, away from the thick stand of trees.

  “We’ll come back later,” he reasoned. “We should get to the palace.”

  Like a stubborn Minotaur, she dug her little booted feet into the spongy ground and pulled her arm free of his grip. The mulish set to her bottom lip was cute, but he didn’t have time for feminine outbursts. Something was about to happen, and it churned his gut that he didn’t know what it would be.

  “Then you go it alone. I’m staying here.”

  Rhy sighed, forced a deep breath, and rolled the irritation out of his shoulders. He examined her crossed arms that pushed her breasts higher, the narrowed eyes, and lifted chin. She hit him with a defiant look and a leg shift that cocked her hip out.

  And her face was coloring.

  Uh-oh.

  Because Patience preferred his hair unbound, he’d left it to hang au natural. He wasn’t used to the long bangs brushing his cheeks, and that irritated him too. Instead of ripping his hair out by their disruptive roots, he tunneled his fingers in at the scalp line, sweeping the strands back, and held it with his gripping fists.

  Deep cleansing breath in. Hold for five seconds. Slow exhale out.

  Arguing wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Her job experience would outwit him at every turn. Weren’t mediators supposed to be good at bargaining?

  Well then, let’s bargain.

  “Patience, look. I’m sorry. I’ve got a bad feeling about this place.” Apprehension grew and he glanced over the quiet woods. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “Shh!”

  “Huh?” His gaze cut back to her. Did she just shush him? Here he is, bleeding his heart out and she—

  “Someone’s coming.” Patience faced the aspen grove.

  With a small snick, he released the catch on his Bowie’s sheath and scanned the wooded area again. His ears strained to catch the sound of any movement beyond his line of vision. Hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Crouched low,
he angled his body in front of her and elevated his senses to high alert.

  Pale green luminosity, barely discernible in the emerald toned forest, blinked a flash next to a tree’s pale bark. Huge ferns feathered the ground like a Victorian ruffled collar at the aspen’s black scarred base. Accustomed now to the atmospheric pop, Rhy steadied himself and remained quiet.

  A slender hand reached out from behind a spindly frond and pulled the stem down. A young girl’s curious brown eyes peered out. Dark brown hair cascaded in a fall over her shoulder as she leaned around the tree to stare out at them.

  “Hi, Patience.” The Nymph blinked hesitantly at them, hiding behind the tree when Rhy straightened his stance. She spoke at a decibel above a whisper, like her aspen tree that produced the delicate sound of fluttering leaves.

  “Waverly?” Patience elbowed Rhy out of the way and stepped over curling ferns toward the other woman. “‘Izzat you?”

  The young lady nodded, her cheeks blushing pink in a pale face. Waverly’s lips pressed tight in a tentative smile and she flicked her eyes between him and Patience. The shapeless beige dress she wore stopped at her knees, unflattering as hell. She held the fern in front of her as if it were a fan, her eyes downcast.

  Am I that scary to look at?

  “Rhy, meet Waverly.” Patience reached behind her for his hand, urged him forward with a tug. “She’s a friend of Serenity’s.”

  His towering height threw both Wood Nymphs into his shadow. When the mousy girl tilted her head back and lifted her eyes, they grew round and wide. Her little rosy mouth drooped open and she stutter-stepped backward.

  Patience quickly reassured her. “It’s cool. Rhycious won’t lay out the hurt on you. He’s a tight friend of mine.”

  Friend? Tell me she did not just call me a friend. Another ripple of annoyance stacked like a block on top of all the others that were quickly piling up. He took a deep breath and held it in.

  “He handed down the SOS when I was wicked ill.” Patience beckoned the reluctant girl toward her, smiling with encouragement.