Page 35 of Where the Shadows Land (Garden of Hope #1)

Mairuk called Astoria to bring a towel and follow them.

Astoria raised one of her red brows, but heeded their request. She gasped as she stepped into the bathing room.

Steam billowed off the surface of the heavily scented water.

The clouds caught the candlelight and diffused the warm glow across the room.

Flower petals on the surface of the bath glittered with the diluted turquoise magic of Erlumi .

Her tea sat on a low-cut log beside the bath, also steaming with a lemon-like scent wafting from it.

“What’s all of this for?” Astoria asked, her eyes darting around the room.

“The tea is sour root to ease your worries and the bath…” Mairuk exhaled a slow breath. “We understand your distaste about becoming a loktossi . The bath is part apology and part a plea to hear from us what the bond could be like. Between us.”

“You want to watch me bathe?” Astoria asked.

“We would like to bathe you, if you will allow it,” Mairuk said.

Astoria’s scent deepened with a tinge of arousal, and Mairuk’s gills ruffled under their cap. She looked between them and the steaming bath. “Alright, but no kissing. If you want me to consider the bond, I need to be in a sober state of mind.”

“Of course,” Mairuk said.

Astoria placed the towel on the hook, then faced Mairuk as she undressed.

The linen top came off first and revealed the softness of her stomach.

The thin pink marks on her skin reminded them of their fibers.

Her soft stomach curved outward from her body.

A roll of fat pillowed above her hip, and Mairuk wished they had teeth to bite her with.

She pushed the leather pants off of her hips and down her thick thighs, every expanse of her skin beautiful and soft.

More freckles covered her thighs and trailed down her legs.

Other marks, like those on her stomach, wrapped around her hips and inner thighs.

Mairuk trailed their tongue down every blissful texture of her skin, but they did not have the chance to appreciate her beauty in the dark.

Astoria stunned them in the light. Their olctae writhed under their pants with a sharp need to be buried back inside her pretty holes.

The band around her chest came off next. When the ties came free, her breasts fell into their natural position on her chest, the soft jiggle of them the essence of pleasure to witness. Her pink nipples hardened under their stare, and Mairuk licked their lips.

She untied the linen undergarments last. They fell from her hips and bared her pussy to them, the soft red curls almost enough to make them spill where they stood. She turned around and stepped into the bath, the curve of her beautiful ass clear for only a moment before she sat in the tub.

The water hit just above her breasts. Her hair remained in a pile on the top of her head, and they ached to run their fingers through it.

Astoria looked up at them with wide eyes, and Mairuk’s want overwhelmed all their senses.

She was so beautiful, so perfect. It stoked a wild, possessive need within them.

Astoria would become their loktossi one day, and they prayed she would allow it to be soon .

They picked up her clothes and folded them in a pile, then set them off to the side.

Kneeling beside the tub, Mairuk gathered soap on their hands.

As they had done when the rot made her ill, they started at her fingers and worked up her arm in slow circles.

Her muscles eased under their fingers, and she hummed.

The pleasure-filled sound went straight to their shafts.

They were right to not touch her other than what was necessary when she was ill.

The confirmation that she liked their touch was almost as intoxicating as her heady scent.

“The details of every loktossi bond are different. It is true that many of our folk want humans as their thralls and will make the terms of their agreement reflect that. We have never desired a thrall, Astoria. We have never needed one. All we have ever wanted was a companion. Your presence has always been enough for us, and it always will be. We can work in any terms you want, all you have to do is tell us,” Mairuk said.

“How does it work? All I’ve heard is that your people steal humans away, and when the human returns, they’re a thrall of your folk.” Astoria tilted her neck to the side as Mairuk massaged the soap into her skin.

“First, the Ardelok places the human under their influence. Then the terms are set, and all parties must agree. From there, the Ardelok claims their human in front of witnesses.” Mairuk brushed their soapy hand over her left breast and squeezed it in their palm.

Astoria moaned softly, and they repeated the motion on her right.

“The claiming for servants is a brand. For the companions, the claiming is carnal in nature.”

“When we bond, which will it be?” Astoria asked.

“Whatever you choose, our vixen. We would take you as a companion.” Mairuk’s hand trailed lower down her body, washing her stomach and sides.

“Oh,” she sighed.

Mairuk gathered more soap and stroked down her hips and thighs, squeezing her soft skin.

“We will willingly fill your pretty holes with both our shafts, swallow your screams in front of all those who came to witness. Claim you as ours so that all others know you are under our protection and will wear our mark.” Their hands trailed up and cupped her sex, spreading the soap around her lower lips and between her cheeks.

“While we’re rooted in you, we will cut one of our growths and give it to you.

It will tether to your skin, and the bond will seal. ”

“That won’t turn me into your thrall?” Astoria gripped the side of the tub and let her head fall back as one of Mairuk’s fingers brushed over her clit.

“No, our vixen. It will bond us, similar to the way our oath did, but more intense. Clearer, if the stories are to be believed. This bond would replace the blood oath and release you from our pact without consequence,” Mairuk whispered in her ear and hovered their finger over her entrance.

“You’d let me leave?”

“You would maintain the freedom to do whatever you wanted, but the stories say nothing other than one’s bonded companion can satisfy them. You’d ache for us.” Mairuk pulled their hand back, but Astoria gripped their wrist under the water and brought them back to her core.

“I already do.”