Page 18 of The Dragon’s Stone Hearted Mate (Mori’s Mementos #1)
Mori
Preston was finally out cold after counting up the number of scarves, hats, and blankets the knitting party had produced and then counting them again.
As always, I was happy to participate but my brain was too full.
It was too early in the morning to call Ni and Teddy to decompress.
So my hand it was. I’d need all the brain cells I could get before this weekend rolled around.
I settled onto the edge of the bed and took myself in my hand.
My dick was warm to the touch and came to life almost instantly as if it were waiting for the moment I’d give it a friendly squeeze.
I leaned back on one elbow against a plump feather pillow and imagined the same faceless man I always did whenever I jacked off.
He was big, broad, and muscular. In my fantasy we always met on our way to a feast. We recognized each other instantly and he whisked be off into the forest where we ripped each other’s clothes off.
We weren’t able to control ourselves and the true-mate response just took over.
His phantom tip was about to slide home when someone knocked on the front door and Preston swore aloud from his bedroom.
“I got it!” I said, trying not to groan as I shoved my hard dick back into my pants and grabbed my robes to hide the visual proof of what I’d just been doing. There was nothing to hide my aroused scent but that’s what they got for showing up at my door before the sun even woke up.
Whoever it was pounded on the door again and I almost grabbed the baseball bat that Preston kept in the kitchen and occasionally used as a yarn spool.
“You’re a wolf,” my wolf rolled his eyes at me from inside his inner sanctum.
“Who’s knocking the door down? Someone better have died!” Preston grumbled and his bed creaked as he tossed around like the big bear he was.
“Maybe they have!” I called back.
“I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM THE OTHER WORLD!” An accented voice called through the door and a thud sounded from Preston’s bedroom.
“DON’T OPEN IT! IT’S THE POSTCARD MEN!” Preston roared, slapping the floor several times as he tried to unravel himself from his bedclothes.
My heart skipped a beat. Had the mysterious man in the letter made up his mind?
The Postcard Men didn’t seem to be the sort who banged down your door but then again Dern had warned me that times had changed.
So be it. Postcard Men or not I opened the door.
An elf stood there with his arms crossed, tapping his foot.
He was too young to be a Postcard Man. Hell, he’d be a Postcard Boy.
“Everything alright, friend?” I asked when he didn’t speak.
“I have a message from a gargoyle for you,” the elf sighed and rolled his eyes.
“From Rho?” I asked, my dick softening under my robe.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“What’s the message?” I asked.
“I… I dropped it on the way here. It must’ve fallen out of my pocket,” he said.
“What’s your name, friend?”
“Well, it’s certainly not friend,” he rolled his eyes again.
“Okay, not-friend,” I said, irritation prickling behind my ears. “Do you know what the message is?”
“Something about a brother locked in a freezer,” he shrugged.
“Did Torvan return to the Other World?” I asked as Preston walked up behind me and leaned a big hand on the doorway.
“No clue who that is,” the elf shrugged again.
“You’re going to need a chiropractor if you keep shrugging,” Preston said and made a strange groaning noise to suppress a yawn. “If you don’t know what the message is, why are you here?”
“Because I was told to bring the message. You need to go to Loldon because of the man in the freezer, I think,” the elf said as if he couldn’t be bothered to remember the names of Earthside cities.
“I think you mean London,” Preston said, and the elf rolled his eyes. “Who sent you?”
“My brother.”
“Your brother’s a gargoyle?” Preston arched a brow.
“He’s about as ugly as a rock,” the elf said and walked away.
“Do you think that was a joke?” Preston yawned as the elf disappeared into the night.
“I don’t think so. I think that was a teenager who isn’t impressed with his job or maybe a college-aged kid. I don’t know, Pres. I need to call Crilus. Maybe he knows what’s going on. Part of me thinks I should just run for the gateway and head straight to London.”
I froze on the spot. Which part of me thought that? My annoyed logical mind? The part of me that wanted to make someone else have a bad day because a rude elf interrupted my masturbation? Or was it that little voice that I’d spent my whole life trying to hear better.
“I’m going to London! Meet me there!” I said, grabbing my sneakers from beside the door.
“Uh! You’re not dressed!” Preston said as I sprinted away from the house.
“Bring me clothes then!” I shouted over my shoulder as my feet hit the grass over and over again. I wasn’t sure how or why Rho was in London but if it had anything to do with Torvan, it was probably a bad omen.