Page 4 of Time to Stirrup Love (Harmony Glen #10)

Female glashtyns were incredibly rare and also very coveted.

Their blood had healing properties and their horns were also prized.

He was very protective of his little sister.

She was safe in Harmony Glen, but he still wanted to take care of her and encouraged her to blend in with the human world as much as possible.

So if she wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer or whatever she wanted to do with her life, she could go off to school and not be fetishized outside of Harmony Glen as a monster.

Finn was doing everything in his power to take care of her and his mother. He was the head of the household.

With a flick, he cast his line out over the water, whipping it back to entice any bites, but there was nothing. Still, it was a beautiful day to be out and just enjoy the silence of the water and the trees on this isolated shore of the lake.

“Dammit,” a cuss echoed out. It was faint, but unmistakable.

Finn sighed and reeled in his line, recognizing Margaid’s voice as it broke the beautiful silence. His ears pricked as he listened, and he lifted his nose, but nothing was out of the ordinary.

Maybe she likes to curse in private?

It wasn’t his concern. He cast his line out again, winding the reel.

“Dammit!” This time the expletive was a bit louder.

He let out a huff and reeled in the line. So much for some relaxing fishing. He waded out of the water and packed up his gear, making his way back to the inlet where he’d left Margaid.

She probably wasn’t in any trouble, but then again, who knows?

It was better to err on the side of caution than to piss off the woman who had rented out his services for the next year.

The contract with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries was too good to lose.

It was going to set him up well, even if he was slightly worried about them putting a damper on his sportfishing business.

When he got back to the inlet, Margaid was nowhere to be found. When he left her, she said she’d be at the shoreline, only she wasn’t.

“Ugh. Will you let go!” She grunted.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. There were some monsters that lurked in the forests around Harmony Glen, but as far as he knew, none that would try to carry off a female.

My female , a little voice reminded him, but he ignored that thought.

Finn set his gear down and made his way up the river. Through the brush, he realized she’d tracked far up the stream, and then he found her stuck, her gear on the shore, but she was bent over and yanking on her leg.

It was almost comical the way she was pulling on her hip waders, but it also gave him the sweet vantage point of admiring her round posterior. And that primal urge he was trying so hard to suppress threatened to take over.

“Dr. Davis?” he asked. “Is there a problem?”

She stood upright and twisted to look at him, her face flushed with frustration and her glasses slightly askew, which she straightened. “I’m stuck. Clearly.”

The little sunny personality was gone and he tried not to smile. Magnus had been right. Fiery indeed, and he liked it.

“I see that.”

She bit her bottom lip. “I think my foot is caught under a branch or something. I can’t seem to budge it.”

“I see.”

“I would appreciate your help,” she finally said, a bit exasperated.

Finn waded out toward her. The water was deep and he wasn’t wearing hip waders and his rubber boots were filling with water. So he reached down and pulled them off, dumping out the water before tossing the boots on shore. His feet sank in the squishy river bed, the mud squelching between his toes.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked.

“Nope.” Honestly, he didn’t even really need to wear the boots. He liked to wear them when he was fly-fishing because usually the stream was rocky, but here they were just a hindrance. “Cold doesn’t bother me.”

“Anyway,” she sang, and he just looked up at her. “Like the song? The cartoon ice queen. Cold doesn’t bother me anyway.”

“I don’t like cartoons.”

“Is there anything you do like?”

Finn rolled his eyes and then reached down to feel. Her hip waders were snagged on something.

“You’re definitely stuck.” He stood up and tried to suss out how he was going to get her out of this predicament.

“Okay. So, what’re my options?”

“Well, you need to undo those hip waders and climb out of them. Then I can yank it free. Where it’s caught, I can’t exactly grab it and pull it out with you still inside them.”

“The water is cold and it’s deep here,” she replied, unhooking one of the suspenders. She wasn’t exactly arguing with his suggestion, but he knew it would be really cold for her.

Glashtyns were used to cold water temperatures. Humans didn’t usually respond so well to it. And although summer was approaching, the spring melt hadn’t happened that long ago, and there were still some frosty nights.

“I can carry you to the shore.”

“Well, if I’m already soaking wet, there’s no point in carrying me to shore.”

“I’ll pick you up out the waders. Just undo the last suspender and I’ll lift you out as it drops down.”

Margaid looked uncertain, but she pursed her lips together in fierce determination and undid the other suspender.

Finn reached forward, quickly scooping her up in his arms. She screeched slightly as the ice water soaked through her trousers, but it was brief.

His arms cradled her supple, curvy body, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him. Her breasts so close to his face.

Pressed against him this tightly, he could smell the intoxicating scent of her.

It was subtle, but had that underlying smell of spring freshness.

His hand was on her round bottom and for a moment he thought about squeezing it, about what it would be like to have her on all fours so he could admire her ass as he mounted her from behind so he could slide into her hot, wet heat.

His pulse began to thunder in his ears. That rhythmic, primal sound that drove him wild with need, but he had to get a hold of himself.

“Thanks,” she said, a blush staining her cheeks. She had so many freckles, it was kind of adorable.

Don’t get attached. She’s not staying in Harmony Glen and she could ruin you. This is not the woman you’re looking for.

“It’s nothing,” he grunted, trying not look down at her.

He started walking toward the shore, where he could let her go and put some safe distance between the two of them, but as he was mulling that all over in his head, he lost his footing, his foot sinking down into a particularly spongey spot of the river bed, and before he could right himself, he lost his hold on Margaid and fell down with a giant splash right beside her.

He broke the surface of water, gasping slightly, and Margaid was sputtering and scrambling to shore, drenched.

“Jesus H. Murphy,” she said, through chattering teeth. “Fuck me, that’s cold.”

Finn stood and shook the water from his head. “Sorry.”

“No. It’s not your fault.” She wrapped her arms around her body, shivering, and he felt completely bad.

“Let’s get you back to the houseboat.”

“But the waders?”

Finn glanced over his shoulder. “They’re still stuck there. You need to get out of those wet clothes.”

She nodded and scooped up her equipment and samples, slowly navigating the river bank in her soaking wet socked feet. Finn took some of the gear from her and helped her back to his houseboat. They waded through the shallows and she climbed up the ladder.

Once they were both on board, he set her gear down and then ducked inside to grab her a towel. When he came back out, she was squatting next to her bag, mumbling to herself as she rooted through it.

“What?” he asked.

“I thought I packed a change of clothes. I always pack a change of clothes, but I’ve got nothing,” she groused.

“That wasn’t very smart.”

Margaid glared at him, her lips blue. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Come on. I have some clothes you can borrow and I’ll throw your wet things in the dryer. But take your wet socks off first. Last thing I need is water all over my floors.”

Margaid pulled off her socks, which were woollen and very stretched out. She wrung them out over the side of the boat. He opened the sliding glass door and she stepped through.

He’d never brought a woman home to his houseboat.

This was his private sanctuary and now he was feeling a bit twitchy about the whole thing.

Did a houseboat count as a kingdom in glashtyn lore?

He didn’t know, but there was a part of him that was super excited she was here, just like there was a part of him that was worried she would judge his humble surroundings.

“I just wanted a monster for one night. I can’t bring a horse-headed monster home to my parents. What kind of prospects does a monster really have?”

He shook that thought away and hated that it crept in.

“Bathroom is there. I’ll grab you some clothes, and just dump your wet stuff into the shower. I’ll grab it when you’re changed and throw it on. I’ll head back and get your hip waders.”

She smiled and nodded, not looking him in the eye. “Thanks.”

He didn’t respond, just slipped into his sleeping cabin, grabbed a flannel shirt and jogging pants, knowing his pants would be gigantic on her, but she needed something. She was shivering in the bathroom doorway and he thrust the clothes into her arms.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

He just nodded as she shut the door, lingering there for a moment, thinking about her peeling out of her wet clothes. With a huff, he left quickly, deciding to jump back in the cold river to get her hip waders.

Maybe then it would quell this burning lust coursing through him. It was something he’d never experienced before, and as much as he was attracted to Margaid, it was not a welcome feeling at all.

She was off-limits.

There was no way he was going to fall for an out of townie. He didn’t want to be hurt again or used.

There was no way he was going to fall for anyone.

Ever.

Period.