Page 53 of When the Merchant Met the Orc

Side by side, we fly into the starry sky. The lights of the Nocturne festival disappear as we soar over the town walls. The wind tears at Rychell’s hair and her skirts. A swathe of smooth skin appears above her high stockings, and desire pulses through me.

“It’s amazing up here!” Rychell shouts over the wind.

“Completely!”

The air bites at my cheeks and the tips of my ears. The whole world is far below us, the lights of our town and others like glowing mushrooms in the forest. Laughing like younglings, we swoop and circle over the woods, narrowly missing a Great Crowned Owl. The creature veers away, then loops around us. Her small antlers look like they’re made of stars.

“Is that Lady Owl?” Rychell asks, coming close on her broom.

Lady Owl is Tully’s familiar.

“Not sure, but maybe we should call out a greeting just in case?”

We both call the familiar’s name.

“Sorry about the less-than-expert flying!” Rychell adds.

Rychell increases her speed, and I do too, using the magic Tully infused into the brooms. It’s easy enough; all one has todo is think hard, and the broom reads your mind as well as the shifts in the way you’re holding your body.

The Great Crowned Owl tips her wings at us, and we wave. She flies away, and I focus on staying side by side with Rychell because I know what will happen if she gets ahead of me—my chasing instinct will engage.

A sudden wind blasts upward, and we both nearly fall from our brooms. Rychell lets out a shaky laugh.

“That one almost got me!” I shout.

“Me too!”

Another gust has me listing hard to the left.

“Maybe we should land?” I ask.

Rychell nods and heads for a small opening in the canopy of the woods. To the east of the woods, the ruins of the old castle, the first version of Leafshire Cove, are like bones on the dark earth. Rychell and I soar through the opening in the trees, but a few smaller oaks are blocking the ground from view. She yelps as she hits a branch, but I hear her laughing, too, so it can’t be that serious. I zigzag until I am falling toward the ground with only one hand still on my broom. My costume antlers fly off. I hit the ground and roll, then I tumble onto something warm.

Something very, very lovely.

Rychell looks up at me, eyes shining. She blows a leaf off her cheek and grins. Her body feels perfect beneath me, soft and curved, and the answer to every desire in my blood.

“Where did your broom end up?” she asks, not mentioning the fact that I’m still mostly on top of her.

I look around and see my broom and hers, too, tangled in gnarled limbs two trees away. A crack sounds from the tree, and Rychell wiggles out from under me, rubbing my fully awake cock in a way that has me a bit dazed. She runs toward the brooms that are now falling fast. Perhaps their magic has worn off. Getting off the ground, I join Rychell in hurrying over to catchthem, but there is Rychell, running, her hair flying behind her like a river of darkness.

My blood goes hot like fire. My vision changes. My heartbeat increases dramatically in pace.

I am chasing this female that I so desire.

I catch up to her in seconds and brace her against the tree. The brooms fall beside us, but I don’t care. I press my cock against her. Her head falls back.

“Halvard?” she says breathily.

Words won’t come to me, but I can tell she is confused, so I take a step back. It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever done. In this form, the desire she has for me lights her body up like a candle.

“Oh,” she says, her gaze taking me in from head to toe.

Desire shudders through me, and I fist my hands to keep from grabbing her again.

“I ran and you chased me,” she says.

Her body heat increases, and I lift my nose to scent this potential mate. I want her now. I long to drive into her soft flesh and claim her with strong, slow strokes that will drive her wild. I will be the best lover she’s ever had. Wait. I was her first lover. I blink and try to think clearly. My hands ache to hold her, to explore every bend of her, every sweet inch of her. My mind is foggy with lust, but I force my feral side to wait for acceptance.