Page 71 of By the Horns (Royal Artifactual Guild #2)

“For what it’s worth, I would never complain about the size of your tongue,” I tell him loftily. “But perhaps a dark alley isn’t the best spot to kiss.”

“You’re right. It’s far better for under-the-skirt touches.” He grins at me, and then winces, holding up a bandaged hand. “But perhaps that needs to wait, too.”

“Surely there’s some part of you I can ride that isn’t too beat up,” I tease.

He taps his long nose with his bandaged hand. “I know just the seat for you, sweetheart.”

Heat scorches through me, and I want to wriggle with arousal. I’m forgetting all too quickly about how tired I am, especially in light of his playful flirtiness. “Your knot must be aching something fierce right now,” I coo at him. “I’m happy to be of assistance.”

Raptor just gives me a long, hard look that makes me shiver with delight.

I wait for him to do something, to say something.

If he pushed me against this wall and jerked my pants down, I wouldn’t turn him away.

I know he must be hurting, as it’s been days since we’ve touched, and I know he gets uncomfortable when he’s aching.

Instead, he sends a thoughtful look down the alley. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” I take the hand he holds out to me and follow him.

“To a secret hiding spot. Naiah never gives me her potions in person. She always deposits them in a hidden location.”

Oh. His potions. The ones where his knot—and the rest of him—goes down for days on end. Is he going to take that now? Not the ending to this evening that I had in mind, but if he needs it, he needs it. I’ll be a supportive partner no matter what. And maybe it’s best that we rest anyhow.

I guess.

Raptor heads deeper into the alleyway, following it until we’re far from the King’s Onion and very far from our assigned nest at Master Jay’s dormitory.

He scans the stonework, and then releases my hand.

A moment later, he pulls a heavy brick free from the wall and sets it on the ground.

Then he gestures that I should look for myself.

I peek inside. Even though it’s dark, I can see what looks like two small bottles, and a tiny scroll of a note. With a glance at Raptor, I reach for the note first. “Two potions?”

“Yours and mine, aye. I thought Naiah would pull through.” He grins down at me, proud. “Now you have options.”

Options. It’s not what I’d expected. I pull the tiny scroll open and squint at it, but it’s too dark and Naiah’s handwriting is too tiny. “I can’t read it.”

“Allow me.” He takes the note and studies it for a moment, then begins to read.

“?‘As requested, the potion to remove a mancer’s power is enclosed within. Do keep in mind that this potion is magical, and will remove your magic from you, like cauterizing a wound. It won’t be painful, but the effects are permanent.

I cannot reverse it. My payment is due within a sevenday. ’ Signed, Naiah.”

He pulls the bottles free from the hidey-hole and offers me a round one with a pale liquid inside. “Mine is a dark potion. This one is yours.”

“I see she’s labeled it very helpfully.” There’s a tiny frowny face on mine. Charming. I turn it over in my hand, thinking. “It’s permanent?”

“Aye. I don’t know how it works or how Naiah manages to make her potions, but she’s never wrong. If she says it’s permanent, I believe her.” He studies me. “You know I’ll support you whatever you choose.”

“And if I take this now and we forget all about me being a mancer? And we lose all the riches I’ve been shown below because my memory is terrible?”

Raptor shrugs and rolls up the note, tossing it back into the hidden nook. “If it makes you happy, I’m all for it. I don’t mind doing things the hard way, as long as we do them together.”

I consider it.

I consider it very hard. Life would certainly be easier if the dead weren’t mumbling in my ears every time I went into the Everbelow.

I wouldn’t be distracted by nearby murders—though hopefully that fades with time.

I would be just like everyone else, succeeding in the guild on my own merits, or failing because of the same thing. I would be normal. Safe.

Or…I could keep my powers. Ensure that our Five—when we pass the tests—will be successful. Help the guild with retrievals when someone is stranded or lost deep in the tunnels.

I can be a boon to the guild.

Or I can blend in with the crowd.

I hold the potion out to him. “Think Naiah gives refunds?”

Raptor snorts. “She absolutely, positively does not. Come on. Kipp and Arrod are probably wondering where we’ve wandered off to. I’d hate for them to come looking for us just when I’ve got my muzzle up your skirts.”

“Pfft. I’m not wearing skirts.”

“Good, because I was lying. I wouldn’t hate for them to find me between your thighs.” He gives me a lascivious stare. “I think they should.”

Gods. “Put that rock back in its place and let’s get home. I want to touch you all over. I want to bite you in all the places the ratlings didn’t.”

The smile he gives me is pure wickedness.

After replacing the stone in the wall, we race back to the dorm, breathless with excitement.

I’m getting more and more aroused with every moment that passes, and I can’t wait to touch him.

Can’t wait to truly let go and just enjoy everything.

I want his knot. I want his tongue. I want his gentle hands, his large callused fingers, his sweetly filthy words as he touches me.

He pushes the door to the nest open, turning to look at me. “I want you naked. Right now.”

A shiver of delight moves up my spine. “Same goes for you.”

The moment we step inside, though, we run into Kipp and Arrod. They’re sitting in the main study by the fire, and both look up the moment we come in. Arrod’s expression is delighted and full of relief as he surges forward. “There you are! We’ve been worried sick! You’ve both been gone for days!”

Raptor clears his throat and shifts on his feet. “We were at the hospital first, and then we had to see Head Guild Master Rooster. Everything’s fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Arrod says, and he truly does look thrilled. He gestures that we should sit by the fire with him and Kipp. “Come and tell us everything!”

Oh, mucking hells.

Next to me, Raptor hesitates. He knows just as well as I do that if we sit with Arrod and Kipp to fill them in, we’re going to be here all night. There’s so much to cover. “Ah…it’s best if Master Jay is here before we retell everything.”

I nod, hoping I don’t seem too anxious to get away. “Yes. Exactly.”

Arrod’s expression falls a bit. “Oh. He’s not here.”

“That is too bad,” I say quickly. “Perhaps in the morning, then.”

“Morning,” Raptor agrees.

“Or perhaps just sum it up for us,” Arrod says. “He might be gone awhile.”

I hesitate. I guess we could do that, except I can’t think of anything now other than how tired I am and how very much I’d like for my pussy to be licked by my minotaur lover right about now. “Um…”

“Yeah….” Raptor rubs the back of his neck.

Kipp eyes me. He hops to his feet, shrugging on his battered shell with the ease of countless repetitions. Then he gestures at Arrod, indicating that the two of them should leave.

Oh good, Kipp gets it. I want to kiss his little lizardy face in this moment.

Arrod does not get it. He frowns. “Why would we leave? They just got back!”

The slitherskin makes a gesture that looks vaguely obscene. He licks his eyeball, points at us, then shakes his head.

“Ah.” Arrod flushes, glancing over at us. “Right. Of course. We’ll, ah, be back later.”

Kipp trots past him, making a tiny fist.

“And we’ll knock. Loud.” Arrod trails after Kipp, as if he’s reluctant to leave even though Kipp has made it obvious what our intentions are.

I should probably be embarrassed, but strangely, I’m not. This thing between me and Raptor has felt right from the beginning. He’s always made me feel good. Cherished. Beautiful. Even with bandages covering random parts of my body and my plump arse hanging out of borrowed trousers.

Raptor turns to me, that sinful grin on his face. “You think they’re gone?”

“If they’re not, they’re going to get an eyeful.”

He huffs with amusement, heading down the hall to our dorm room. Once we’re both inside, he shuts the doors and grabs the nearest sword, shoving it through the handles to prevent anyone from coming in. Then he turns a heated, almost predatory look in my direction. “Take your clothes off.”

As if I need to be told twice. I undo my pants and shimmy them down my legs, but they get stuck at my boots. I switch to my tunic, but it’s tricky to remove with just one good arm. I wriggle about for a bit and then, panting, give up. “I can’t manage.”

“Let me help.” He moves to my side and rips my tunic open. A moment later, he’s ripping my pants off my lower legs as I stare at him, open-mouthed.

“Seriously? Raptor, I’m running out of uniforms!”

“I don’t give a fuck. You can wear mine.” He crouches down by my feet and taps one boot, indicating I should lift it so he can help me finish getting naked.

Wear his clothing. He’s insane. Raptor’s enormous, bigger than some of the other Taurians, and very broad across the chest. I’m broad in the hips and chest myself, but I’m also a short, stout thing.

I imagine just how his tunic would fit—tight in the tits and with long, floppy arms—and I start snort-giggling to myself.

“I mean it,” he says, helping me out of my boots. “You can have anything of mine. Wear whatever you like or nothing at all. It’ll make me happy either way.”

Once my boots are off, I’m wearing nothing but the bandages around my bad arm. I’m glad we bathed in the hospital, because I don’t want to take this moment to go and clean up. We’ve been waiting too long already. “You’re still dressed.”