Page 41 of Mushy Stuff (Guardian Mates #1)

My cock is hard and I’m irritated as I stalk downstairs to the innkeeper’s desk. I hear my tail slap the wall as I go. He’s working on some papers and gives me a questioning look when I walk up.

“Do you have soap?” I ask, more than a little annoyed that he didn’t mention soap earlier.

He goes into a backroom behind the counter and comes back with a bar of soap. “I was wondering how long it would take you to come ask for this.”

I scowl at him, and I can feel my tail flicking fiercely. “You couldn’t mention it when you brought the water?” I hand him the coin for it and take the soap .

He chuckles in his throat and says, “You’re just sore that you had to leave that female of yours alone in the tub.”

Just as I’m about to turn to leave, he looks at me and says, “So how did someone like you end up with a sweet little Elven cunt like that?”

I give him a long look and let out a low growl.

He just chuckles, “Enjoy, brother.” Then he goes back to whatever he was working on.

***

I growl as I storm back up the stairs. My tail angrily slaps the railing and the wall as I do. Of course he had to comment on her being Elven; he just couldn’t help himself.

I’m about to open the door to the room when I realize that my anger won’t help Faylen at all. She doesn’t need me huffing and growling about a stupid comment some old innkeeper made. She’s already dealing with enough fear from a bad male.

I sigh and scrub my hand down my face, then I force myself to take a few slow, deep breaths. Once I feel calmer, I open the door and go into our room.

From the bathroom, Faylen says, “Allium? Is that you?”

“Yes,” I reply as I walk into the bathroom. I hand her the bar of soap. “I think that old innkeeper is trying to be difficult.”

She just chuckles as she begins scrubbing her perfect opalescent orange skin.

I lean against the wall and watch her. I’m losing myself in thoughts of her perfect skin and what it tastes like when I catch a glimpse of the gold staining on her hands.

Well, perfect except for the marks he left on her.

The gold would actually be very striking with her coloring, if it didn’t have such a dark meaning.

She stands up to finish washing her body and the sight of her completely naked interrupts any other thoughts in my head. My tail slaps loudly against the door frame. She looks at me as she rubs the soap over her skin. “Allium, you okay?”

I pause for a moment, and my tail slaps loudly against the door frame again. I huff in embarrassment. “Yes, just…thinking.”

“Do you think it will be hard to find work?”

Distracted, I say, “Hmm…no, finding a cooking job is easy. It just may not be a very nice one at first.” I’m trying my hardest to hold a normal conversation with her—and keep my damn tail still—but all I can think about is how much I want to lick every inch of her.

I can feel my cock straining against my trousers .

She nods. “It’s like that as a maid too. It may not be fun or glamorous, but it will earn some coin.”

By now she has scrubbed all over and she sits back down in the tub to rinse off. Once she’s done, she stands back up and asks me to hand her a towel. I hand her the nearest one, and then I watch her intently as she dries off.

It’s only then that I realize that her hair is dry and she’s piled it on top of her head in a messy knot.

I foolishly say, “Your hair is dry.”

She smiles at me and chuckles. “Yes, I know. I didn’t want to take the time to wash it.”

She folds the towel, hangs it over the side of the tub, and then walks straight toward me. She grabs my hand and begins pulling me into the bedroom.

As she does, she gives me a coy smile and says, “Come.”