by Lee Colgin
“Thank you.” Arlo carefully folded the cloth back in place and tucked it inside his coat pocket. “And please pass my thanks along to Arthur as well.”
“I will.” Toby’s voice came soft and shy.
For the first time ever, the silence between them felt awkward instead of comfortable. River sounds couldn’t fill the rift.
Arlo could only think of one thing that might help. “Would you like to join me for tea?”
Toby let out a grateful sigh. “Yes, that would be nice.”
They headed beneath the bridge and into the cozy den. Arlo put the kettle on and gestured for Toby to take the only chair. Arlo sat on his bed.
At the same time, they said, “How have you been?”
Arlo chuckled. “You first.”
“Oh, I’ve been keeping busy helping around the village. I often look after the children and help with the cooking. You?”
Arlo thought Toby looked sad. Truthfully, Arlo had been sad too, but he didn’t want to say so and make things any worse than they already were. “Same. Keeping busy. It’s quiet around here when you aren’t around.”
“I meant to visit sooner.” Toby didn’t make eye contact. “I just needed a little time to think things over.”
“What things?”
“Well, there is something I should probably tell you, though I suppose you may already know.”
Arlo definitely didn’t know. He hoped Toby would keep talking. He’d missed the sound of his voice. “You can tell me anything.”
Toby hesitated.
The tea kettle whistled. Arlo would very much have liked to ignore it, but instead he hurried to take the kettle off the heat and pour two cups. He handed one to Toby.
“It’s chamomile,” said Toby with a small smile.
“Your favorite, if I’ve remembered correctly.”
“You have.” Toby took a sip and closed his eyes.
Arlo took his own cup and settled back upon the bed. “I’m listening if you want to talk.”
Toby’s lids fluttered open. He raised his gaze to Arlo’s with a resigned expression. “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to tell you. I’m sure you realized I took quite the shine to you…before.”
Arlo held his tea firmly in both hands to stop himself from reaching out. His mind turned over the phrase. Before. So not now?
“I should never have kissed you.” Toby stared into his teacup. “I behaved rashly, and I didn’t think about the consequences of my actions. It was unfair to you, and I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry!” Arlo blurted, catching Toby’s surprise as he glanced up. “I’m glad you kissed me then…” he stumbled over the words, “even if you don’t want to anymore.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I do. But we shouldn’t. A relationship between us would never work. If I’d stopped to think before I kissed you, I would have known that.”
Arlo didn’t understand. What had Toby figured out that Arlo had not?
“But we do make great friends,” Toby continued. “And now that I’ve had time to sort out my feelings, I’d like to try to stay friends…if you want to, that is.”
“I do! Er, I mean of course I want to, but what happened that changed your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve gone over that day a thousand times in my head. One moment you seemed as happy as I was, but you were sad by the time you left. I’ve never known why. I’m afraid I said something to upset you. Please tell me, so I can apologize properly.”
“None of this is your fault, Arlo. I should have known you’d want a family of your own someday. I’ve seen how you are with children, of course you’d want them. You’ll leave to find another troll, and I will be happy for you, I promise. I won’t hold you back from your greatest desire.”
“But—”
“No, wait, let me finish. I know there is time before you’ll have to go, but if we carry on together, I will grow too attached.” Toby exhaled a long sigh. “If I’m honest, I may already be too attached, but at least I’ve realized my mistake early. Wolves mate for life. I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you.”
“Are you quite finished?”
Toby gave a sheepish nod and visibly braced himself for whatever Arlo would say next.
Arlo wanted to erase the worry from his face this instant. “I don’t ever want to leave to find another troll. I want to stay with you.”
Confusion danced in Toby’s expression. “With me?”
“Yes. Only you. Well, you and your family. I thought if we were together, maybe I could help care for your nieces and nephews. Maybe I could learn to be a good brother to your siblings. I thought you’d want us to be a family.”
“I do, but Arlo, you could have your own children with another troll. I could never give you that.”
“That isn’t what I want. I don’t think I could do it—have children and then abandon them to come back and guard my bridge. That’s what their mother would expect of me, but leaving my family would break my heart.”
Toby’s response came slowly. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I’ve thought of it often,” Arlo admitted. “I don’t enjoy being alone. I’m not very good at being a troll.”
“Don’t say that. You’re an excellent troll. I’ve never seen a bridge in better condition. Nary a twig or acorn on it, always neat and tidy, and decorated for each season. It’s lovely. You do a grand job.”
Heat crept along Arlo’s cheeks. “Is that the only reason you were sad? The reason you stayed away so long? Because you thought I would have to leave someday?”
“Well, yes.”
Arlo allowed himself to be hopeful. “And if I promise to stay?”
“I don’t know.” Toby set his cup aside, tea forgotten. “I want to say that would make everything better, but does it? You must live here, and my family lives in the village. What would we do?”
Arlo wracked his brain for an easy solution, but there wasn’t one. He couldn’t expect Toby to live in a den fit only for a troll, and he couldn’t leave his bridge, could he? “I’m not sure, but I want to find out.”
Toby’s eyes had gone watery. “Me too.”
“Come here; let me hold you.” Arlo patted the spot on the bed next to him, but Toby leapt up from the chair and into his lap instead. The wolf shifter snuggled in, face pressed against Arlo’s neck. Wrapping his arms around Toby’s shoulders, Arlo sighed into his hair.
Toby pressed a kiss to Arlo’s jaw. “I can’t believe I stayed away so long. I missed you very much.”
Arlo turned into the kiss, claiming Toby’s lips with his own. He’d longed for this for weeks and couldn’t believe his luck to have Toby in his arms. “I missed you too. Let’s not do that again.”
“I won’t. I’ll come by all the time now. You’ll be sick of me.”
“Never.” Arlo tugged him closer.
Toby leaned in, chest to chest, and when that still wasn’t close enough, he brought his leg around to straddle Arlo’s lap. Sweet, little kisses deepened to parted mouths and sweeping tongues. Toby gave a whimpering moan that set a tingle up Arlo’s spine.
“I’d dreamed of this,” said Arlo against Toby’s cheek, “but even in my dreams I could never have guessed it would feel this good.”
“I was afraid to dream of it at all,” Toby confessed, his fingers tangling in Arlo’s hair.
Arlo tucked a lock of Toby’s hair behind his ear. “No need to be afraid anymore.”
“I’m not.” Toby pressed his hips forward.
Arlo felt a hard length against his belly. Desire flared at his core. Trailing his hands down Toby’s back and to his rump, Arlo gave the enticing handfuls a squeeze. When Toby rewarded him with another sway of his hips, Arlo’s trousers suddenly felt too tight. He squirmed against Toby, the two of them finding a steady rhythm of mouths and bodies.
“Arlo,” Toby breathed the name into his ear, tickling the sensitive skin there. “Lay back.”
There wasn’t much room on the pallet designed only for Arlo, but they made it work. Toby broke the kiss with a pleased sigh and wriggled down Arlo’s body to press against him just so.
“Ah, yes,” said Arlo, arching into the contact. “Right there.”
Writhing together, still fully dressed, they thrust gently against one another until Arlo buzzed with sensation, his every nerve alight. He ran his hands along Toby’s body, committing every curve to memory.
Toby raised up on his elbows and stared down with passion in his darkened green eyes. “Clothes, Arlo. Let’s get them off.”
Arlo liked Toby this way, all riled up and bossy. He reached for the shifter’s sweater and tugged it over his head. They undressed each other carefully, revealing one inch of skin at a time until nothing came between them. Toby’s flesh was hot and smooth against his own.
“You’re grey all over.” Toby grinned, his wide smile full of delight. “Well, not all over.” Toby swept fingertips over Arlo’s nipples. “These are purple.”
Arlo shivered at the gentle touch. “Oh, more.”
“Of course. Anything you like.” Toby showered attention on the pebbled nubs, first with his fingers and then with his tongue.
When he could take no more of the sweet torture, Arlo gave a low rumbling growl, and in one smooth motion, flipped them over. With their positions reversed, he could treat Toby to the same caresses. He went straight for Toby’s nipples and stroked them to hardness.
“Yes, please,” Toby whined, his smile never faltering. He opened his legs, and Arlo settled between them, pressing them together in the most sensuous of touches.
As one, they thrust and slid, bodies writhing harmoniously. Toby clutched Arlo’s biceps, fingers squeezing the dense muscle.
Arlo flexed into the touch. “You feel so good.”
“So do you,” Toby sighed out. “I’m close, Arlo. Your hand, please. Touch me.”
Rising enough to slip his hand between them, Arlo grasped both their lengths in a loose fist. The contact drew a gasp from his lips. Toby thrust into the ring of his fingers, velvety-smooth flesh hard against Arlo’s.
Arlo matched his pace, watching Toby’s pleasure unfold on his face. “That’s it.”
Toby’s eyelids fluttered shut. “Your hands are so big. I love them.” His panting breaths came out in huffs, his whole body vibrating under Arlo in a way that drove the troll to the edge.
Tightening his grip, Arlo leaned in for a kiss. Toby met his lips with enthusiasm, body writhing then quaking beneath him. Wet heat burst into Arlo’s palm as he worked them. Toby cried out, a pleasured sound that took Arlo to his peak. He came against Toby’s taut stomach, shaking with the force of it. Toby’s arms held him tightly, one leg wrapping over Arlo’s, bringing them as close as he could manage.
Arlo’s collapsed, loose limbed and content, over the smaller body, pressing kisses to Toby’s neck. “This all right?”
“More than all right.” Toby stroked his back. “Give me all of you.”
Snuggling in, Arlo took a deep breath. His exhale ruffle Toby’s hair. Arlo had never been so happy.
That was, until Toby’s expression turned serious. “There is one more thing I should tell you.”
Arlo tensed, he couldn’t help the reaction. Whatever it was, surely they’d work it out between them. “What?”
Toby blinked hard and took a breath. “Well, I know you know I’m a wolf shifter?”
“Yes?” Arlo rolled off him and tucked Toby against his side. “I’m aware.”
Fingers trailing over the dusting of hair on Arlo’s chest, Toby struggled with the words. “Well, I’m not a very good one.”
“What do you mean?”
Toby’s voice hardly rose over a whisper. “I never learned how to shift.”
Though Arlo found the statement somewhat confusing, as he had a wooden statue carved to look like Toby in his wolf form on a shelf right next to the bed, he certainly didn’t care if Toby could shift or not. “That’s all right.”
Toby deflated in his arms. “It’s really not though. All wolves learn to shift. Everyone else can do it, but there is something wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you,” said Arlo, his voice firm. “I like you just as you are. I don’t need fancy tricks.”
That brought a little curl to Toby’s lips, not quite a smile, but Arlo would take it.
“You liked my handstand.”
Arlo grinned at the memory. “I like when you do handstands. I learned the hard way not to try them myself.”
“I still feel bad about that.”
“Don’t. It was my own fault. But Toby, I don’t care if you don’t turn into a wolf; it makes no difference to me.”
“Oh, I turn into a wolf, Arlo. I meant I never learned to do it on my own. I can’t shift at will like the rest of my family. And worse, when the moon is full, I can’t hold the change back. I’m a wolf for three nights whether I want to be or not. The shifts are entirely out of my control. I often don’t come home at all on those nights, the wolf prefers to roam the forest.”
“Ah, I see.” Arlo tucked Toby closer for a hug. “I’m sorry. That must be difficult for you.”
Toby sighed. “I’ve mostly gotten used to it. When I was younger, the other kids teased me for it. I was afraid I’d be exiled. I’m lucky my family loves me anyway. Wolves have been rejected for failing to control the shift, but my pack never considered exiling me. It could have been worse.”
“Oh moonbugs, how awful. Thank goodness your family has some sense.” Arlo dropped a kiss on Toby’s head. “I’m glad you told me.”
“I thought you should know I won’t be myself for three days each month.”
“Can we still visit when you are in your wolf form?”
“Yes, but it will be different.
“That’s all right…” Arlo considered all he’d learned. “Wolves mate for life you say?”
Toby nodded, his expression solemn. “We do.”
Arlo gave him a long kiss. “Good, that’s what I want. You, as my mate, for life.”
The answering smile that blossomed on Toby’s face was all the confirmation Arlo could wish for.
Chapter Nine
FEAST OF THANKS
Toby
“Please?” Toby gazed up through his lids because he knew Arlo was a sucker for that tactic. “It would only be for one day. We could put up a sign?”
“Saying what?” huffed Arlo, arms crossed over his big, burly chest.
Toby wanted to climb him like a tree but not until he got what he wanted from this conversation.
“Troll away on holiday. Please leave tribute on bridge,” he suggested with a pleading look, eyes wide.
Arlo wasn’t easy to convince. “But what if they don’t? What if they sneak past without so much as a cower?”
Toby couldn’t see how that mattered, but he knew the trespass hit different for Arlo. “Well, would that be so bad?”
Arlo grunted.
“You do have a fine collection of tributes already.” Toby saw a flicker of pride in Arlo’s eyes. “But what you don’t have is a good story of sitting down to a massive feast with me and my family.”
Arlo’s gaze shifted far away.
Good, thought Toby, let him picture it. Surely Arlo would come to the right conclusion. Leaving the bridge unattended for a few hours would mean they could spend the holiday together. And maybe after he’d done it once, Arlo could be convinced to leave the bridge more often. Maybe come back for Christmas…maybe stay in Toby’s cottage for a night…or forever.
“A troll cannot leave his post. It isn’t done.” Arlo’s words were stubborn, but his expression showed he was wavering.
Toby pounced on the kernel of doubt. “Arlo, this is a chance for you to make your own rul
es. Rules that make sense for you instead of other people. I’m not like other wolves, maybe you will be happier if you let yourself be not like other trolls.”
Arlo considered this, his blue eyes focused. He had a habit of chewing the inside of his cheek when in deep thought, which Toby usually found endearing, but at the moment it only meant Arlo remained undecided. Time to lay it on extra thick.
“Surry will be cooking pumpkin pies…” Toby left that thought to hang in the chilly winter’s air between them.
Arlo crumbled. “Pumpkin pies?”
Toby nodded. “And apple crumb cake, too. Plus grandmother’s mashed potatoes and fluffy, buttery rolls, and—”
“All right, you win; I’ll do it,” declared Arlo with a determined grunt. “I’ll leave my bridge and come to your family’s feast with you.”
Toby let out a whoop of victory. He ran to Arlo, intending to jump into the troll’s arms, but Arlo stopped him short with his hand on Toby’s chest, fingers splayed wide.
Toby blinked. “What?”
Arlo peered down at him with raised brows. “I’m gonna need that sign.”
Toby chuckled. “I’ll take care of it. Promise.”
“We could ask Arthur to paint it.”
“Yes, good idea.” Toby stared pointedly at the hand on his chest. “Can I have a cuddle now, then?”
Arlo narrowed his gaze and pursed his lips, but Toby knew it was all for show. A low growl rumbled in his chest. The second Arlo moved his hand, Toby was in his arms and clambering up for kisses.
“Take me to bed,” murmured Toby with a grin. “Let’s celebrate.”
“It’s the middle of the day!” Arlo’s cheeks flushed purple.
Toby’s grin never faded. “Are you saying no?”
“No!” Arlo scooped Toby into his arms in one swift movement. “I’m absolutely not saying no.”
*
Arlo
By the day of the feast, Arthur had painted and delivered two signs, one for either end of the bridge. They hung them with care, decorated with piles of gourds underneath, plus little baskets for anyone leaving tributes, and left the bridge for Red Elk Village. Arlo could hardly believe the journey was really happening, but there they were, walking hand in hand around the very bend in the trail he’d stared at longingly for months.