by Lena Austin
“My plan exactly.” Shadow’s voice floated down the stairs, as his long legs came into view.
Chantrea prevented herself from sighing with longing at his naked state as he walked nonchalantly in and washed his face at her washbowl. She forced herself to smile cheerfully when she wanted to melt at his feet. “Good morning!”
He dried his face on the same linen she’d used, and then sauntered over to kiss her thoroughly. “Good morning to you too, beautiful.”
Despite her dismissive words of how beauty had no meaning in the Valley, Chantrea’s heart swelled. Embarrassed at her silliness, she turned her mind to practical matters. “Do you wish to fortify yourself with a bit of breakfast?”
He hummed against her lips. “I have a sweet tooth, as a matter of fact.”
“For breakfast? Well, all right. I have honey cakes.” She’d been thinking more along the lines of some fruit, bread, and cheese.
“No, for a certain pink and white confection, creamy and sweet.” He scooped her up in his arms.
“Oh!” Chantrea wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled. “Well, far be it from me to deny you, since I’ve a particular craving myself.”
“Do you now?” He was grinning as if he’d found a whole meadow of clover to himself. “And here I thought the Fair Folk didn’t indulge in sausage.”
“Euw! Don’t be disgusting. I could happily live my whole life without tasting greasy pig fat. I was thinking of a great roll we make, filled with a deliciously sweet center. It is served only on special occasions.”
Laughing, Shadow took the stairs two at a time, carrying her effortlessly. “I remember that dish! At your brother’s wedding a few years ago, I made myself sick eating all I could. I accept the analogy as accurate. They were delicious.”
He put her on the bed, and Chantrea took note of the fact he’d pulled the coverlet up to keep it neat. A small thing, perhaps, but it gratified her.
Shadow had a wicked grin on his face as he manifested a tray full of fruit, a honey pot, and two mugs of steaming tea. “You’ve given me an idea.”
Chapter Five
Shadow picked up a ripe strawberry and held it to Chantrea’s lips while he sat next to her on the generous bed.
Oblivious to his plans, she bit into the juicy berry. With what remained, Shadow rubbed the juices over her nipple and enjoyed his own morsel the way he wanted, ignoring her gasps.
“What a wonderful way to enjoy strawberries,” she panted. “You’re full of good ideas this morning.”
“I’m not done.” The other nipple got the same sticky treatment, and he happily cleaned it up.
Her delighted “Oh” ended on a moan. She closed her eyes and he feasted on her breasts.
Shadow reached out with one hand and plucked a few smaller berries from the bowl. He crushed a couple between forefinger and thumb, trailing the juices down her body just ahead of his tongue. The rest he held carefully in his palm, out of sight.
At the touch of his hand, she spread her thighs, and grinned while he got up to move to the foot of her bed. Moving aside the living hangings of flowing vines, he peeped through the curtain with a teasing laugh. “Do you trust me?”
“Implicitly! Now, please come atop me.”
“No, not yet, my darling. I’m not done with breakfast.” He knelt between her legs, and one hand teased the glistening folds open.
“What are you going to do? Oh! Oh!” Shadow had placed a berry, warmed in his hand, inside her. She squirmed, but didn’t object, so he placed another.
When his hand was empty, Chantrea’s eyes were wide and wild. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” He chuckled and leaned down to lick slowly and carefully at the tiny fruit her own body provided. “Your little clit looks like a berry to me, so it gets tasted first.”
Chantrea felt her pussy crush the berries nestled inside, and the mix flowed out. Shadow lapped it up and attacked her clit once more.
The bed was long enough for Shadow to lie down, even if his legs dangled perilously off the edge, and he ground his hardening cock into the leafy coverlet.
Chantrea’s tiny cries built with her shudders, as Shadow ate his fruit the way he’d fantasized. When she stilled and gasped, he knew his sweet reward was moments away.
Chantrea’s shriek was in Elven, but he understood the most important word: his name. His command of her language was sketchy at best, but he thought he heard, “I love you.” He wasn’t sure.
To make sure she couldn’t understand him, he spoke barely above a whisper in the human tongue his uncle had taught him, Latin. “I love you too, my precious.” Muffled against her sweet pussy, he was sure he could not be understood.
When she grabbed his hair and begged, he stopped. Intending to crawl up to kiss her mouth as long as she let him, he made his way slowly up her body, kissing anything he could reach.
Before he could get the kiss he desired, Chantrea flipped him, in a move his brothers would be proud to use in wrestling, until she sat on his stomach.
“Now, I think it fair to say that I’m hungry!” She reached for the honey pot with a wicked smile. “You’ve taught me this morning that sweets can make a wonderful breakfast, and I’m anxious to try it for myself.”
She bounced off and sat beside him. “Since you reminded me of bricoha, and it is made with honey, I shall taste something similar.”
“Is that what that bread treat is called?”
He gasped as she drizzled warm honey down his cock.
Chantrea put the honey pot back on the tray and bent down to suckle at the base of his twitching shaft. “Mmm-hmm!” One delicate white forefinger touched the tip, and smeared honey inside the slit. The finger remained, holding him steady while she busily sucked and licked all the honey from bottom to top.
Shadow thought he’d go mad by the time she licked and nibbled her way to just under the head. The sticky stuff required a great deal of work to remove to her satisfaction, but she seemed in no hurry. His hand found her braid, and he grasped it like a rope.
She lifted her head briefly. “Yes, I definitely like this sort of breakfast!” Her mouth covered the head of his cock and suckled.
He couldn’t stop himself from bucking, and he filled her mouth with his whole cock. Choking did not follow her muffled squeak. Instead, she went to work with a will, moving her head to take him all again, removing the last of the honey that remained.
When he could stand no more, he tugged on her braid. “Enough, I beg! I would prefer to finish this inside you.”
Chantrea sat up, her green eyes twinkling. “So would I.” She didn’t give him a chance to put her on her back, but climbed up and eased him into her body inch by inch.
Shadow grabbed her waist as she finally reached the bottom. “I am ready to be ridden by a wanton lady, but I demand a wild and fast ride.”
Laughingly she tugged on her braid, now wrapped around his wrist. “Then, let’s go!” With an incoherent shout, she proceeded to bounce up and down on his belly while he thrust from beneath, until he too shouted with pleasure.
“This is not how I dreamed of riding a Unicorn, but much better!” She laughed between pants and groans.
“I’ll give you a proper ride later to satisfy that wish, but first --” He lifted her off and put her beneath him. “You must be ridden to a finish.” He slid back in while she willingly lifted her hips to accommodate him.
“A price I willingly pay! Oh, Shadow!” Her eyes glazed over, and her nails dug into his back. “I feel as if I’ll explode!”
Shadow did, too. His body signaled impending release, and he did not fight it. Her orgasm rose again, caressing and squeezing until he, too, rode to a sweating finish. He felt as if he would turn inside out as he gave all he had into her receptive body.
It was all he could do to collapse beside her, lying on his back until his breathing returned to normal.
Chantrea moved to cuddle in his arms and traced a finger across his pectoral muscles. “We aren’t getting any
work done this way, but the sacrifice of a few hours was well worth it, in my opinion.”
“Agreed. I hate to ask, but is there a place where we can bathe? A full immersion, I mean.” The honey was gone, but he was sweat-soaked and could smell himself.
Chuckling, Chantrea left his arms. “Yes, there are hot springs below this tree.” She threw on a robe, and Shadow’s eyes widened when he recognized Elven spider silk. Shimmering and strong, the robe was lightweight and nearly indestructible.
He gathered his strength and stood, forcing his knees not to wobble. He manifested his own dark blue robe while she opened a carved chest and removed two thickly woven squares of material. “What are those?”
She folded the squares neatly. “Towels. Much better than linen to absorb water. Unless you’d rather just transform to dry off, these work well. However, I’ll need one. I don’t feel like wasting the magic.”
Chagrined, he remembered that Elves didn’t normally shape shift the way other denizens of the valley could. It took a great deal of effort, and often went horribly wrong. To take on a different form, they used a literal spell and magic. It would be rude to point out the flaw in Elven bodies that didn’t allow them to shift easily.
Chantrea gathered up a small basket. He assumed it contained the sundry items females liked to use to bathe. Belatedly, Shadow took the towels from her so she was not overburdened while he carried nothing.
“I could use a nice soak, myself. How hot do you like it?” She turned and glided down the stairs.
He couldn’t resist. Shadow imitated a Gryphon’s purr. “Very hot.” It was an effort not to tread on her robe train on the way down.
She shot him an amused look over her shoulder and opened the door to the tunnel leading to the archives. “I meant, water temperature.”
“There’s a choice?” He lengthened his stride to keep up with her.
She turned and led him down a side passage. Almost immediately, he could smell the metallic tang and moist air of the springs. “There are three, plus the falls. The top level is the smallest pool, and very hot. You can’t stay there for long, but it is good for soaking out aches. The next level down is warm, but much more suitable for bathing.” She opened a door that led into an enormous cavern. Chantrea called out, and a few soft mage lights came on. “The third level down is the largest and coolest of the pools, and good for swimming. It is also the one with the falls, for a final rinse.”
“Luxurious.” And it was. Not only were the mage lights a soothing blue that didn’t hurt the eyes, they reflected off the crystals lining the walls of the cavern, making the whole effect one of a starry night with three moons.
Rock formations arose from the floor, and had been carved into benches, chairs, and platforms. Chantrea put her basket on one of the benches near the largest pool. Shadow followed to lay the towels beside it. She casually removed her robe and tossed it carelessly on the bench. “I’ll show you the stairs.” She wrapped her braid atop her head and secured it with a skewer before turning to a darker portion of the cavern.
Shadow disrobed and was right behind her when she climbed a short flight of stairs that stopped at the various levels. At the top, the pool steamed invitingly. “That does look hot.”
“Get in slowly and let your body adjust.” She suited words to action using a series of built-in levels to ease her way into the water.
The advice was sound, as Shadow learned as soon as he put his foot in the water. It was hot enough to make him suck in his breath. “By my horn, you weren’t joking!”
The steam misted her face and turned a few hairs loosened by their bed play to curling tendrils. “I can’t stay here long. When you feel your heart beating and your face turns red, it is time to go to the bathing pool. Your huge equine heart may allow you to stay longer than my delicate Elven one, but some have loved the heat so much their hearts exploded. Or, at least, that’s what the healers say.”
“I’ll take the warning to, pardon the pun, heart.” Shadow sank down on one of the sculpted underwater benches.
“Be careful, there’s a…” She snickered when he yelped and shot to a standing position. “…vent in that bench.”
Shadow looked down and saw bubbles rising from a rounded crack in the bench. He rubbed his balls where they had been massaged indelicately and nearly scalded. He chose another bench, this time checking it carefully.
Chantrea snickered until she couldn’t hold it in and laughed. “I’m sorry. Some benches are built for female enjoyment and cleansing. I forgot to tell you.” She pointed to a bench next to the one he sat upon, sunk a little lower in the water. “That one massages the back, should you ever have need.”
“It sounds as if many use this place besides just you.”
“Oh, yes! This is the main facility for all the Elven nobility who stay in our raft. We are lucky enough to have the private use of it. Everyone else is busy, I suppose.”
Shadow knew the term raft mean a main dwelling place for Elven folk, usually below a hill. Then he remembered Chantrea’s tree was not far from the largest hill in the Elven region of the Valley. “There’s a tunnel from your father’s palace, I take it? I’ve only used the main entrance at the base of the hill, of course.”
She nodded. “Many tunnels lead here. It’s difficult to get bathing facilities up in the trees, so most of us who choose to live in them come here. Father and some of his ministers have private baths, if they have need of peace. It can get noisy down here when there’s a party.”
Shadow jerked upright. “You mean this is what was meant when I was invited to a Bath Party? The Elf Lord who asked was flirting outrageously with me. I declined, since I didn’t want what he did, but Brolly took him up on it.”
The chuckle burst forth from her rapidly reddening face. “That must have been cousin Georgi. He’s a terrible flirt, but there’s no harm in him. Healer Brolly, you say? Well, no wonder he smugly talked about ‘the Werewolf’ for months. Healers are very good lovers, I hear.”
They lay back in companionable silence for a few moments. Shadow watched Chantrea’s face turn as red as a strawberry while he felt next to nothing. She stared at the water bubbling from the center of the pool. She bit her lip and played with a few bubbles that rose to the surface from one of the vents.
Chantrea’s soft voice broke the silence. “Shadow, I have to ask. Did you mean it when you said that you loved me?”
Chapter Six
Shadow gaped at Chantrea, who continued to stare at the water as if it held the secrets of the universe. “You understood me.” It wasn’t a question. The implication was there that if she understood him, she knew he understood her declaration of love in Elven.
“Yes, just as you knew what I said.” Her smile was so sad, though her eyes glittered with humor when she looked up. “I didn’t think you knew Elven.”
“Just as I didn’t think you knew Latin. How did you learn a human tongue?”
“Same way you did, I’d imagine. From the human mage Joshua, may the gods rest him.” She shrugged. “He visited our archives often. You know how insatiably curious he was. I was in training then, and assigned to help him. He added so much to our library, we all mourned his passing.” She bit her lip. “But that doesn’t solve our problem.”
“What is the problem? We love one another. I see no problem.” Even as he spoke it, he understood.
“Liar.” She got out and stepped down to the bathing pool. “Sorry, can’t stand another minute.” She loosened her braid from the skewer, and Shadow was treated to the first heart-stopping sight of her hair cascading to her ankles. The incredible view lasted but a moment before she stepped into the water, where her hair floated around her like white foam.
Shadow followed her, and found the bathing pool pleasantly cool after the scalding heat of the soaking pool. Chantrea tossed him a cake of green soap and a sponge from her basket. She took up similar implements, although her soap was lavender in color. His soap smelled pleasantly of herbs.
/> They both lathered up in silence. Shadow respected the contemplative crease between her arched brows. It was true they had much to think on.
She dunked herself below the surface, and came up to scrub her scalp. He watched, fascinated, as she methodically worked the soap down the entire length of her hair.
“Why do you keep your hair so long? It seems like a great deal of bother.” It was true many females of all races kept long hair, mostly for the opportunity to braid and add flowers or other ornamentation. He threw up his hands when she shot him a surprised look. “Not that I’m complaining. It’s beautiful.”
The frown left her brow for the first time. Her lips twitched, and then she began to laugh. It took her a few minutes to sober enough to answer him. “Point of pride, my darling stallion. No Elven noblewomen cut their hair. Many hire Sprites to help them keep it, especially with the elaborate ways we like to wear it and show off. I don’t bother, most of the time.” She dipped below the water and rinsed thoroughly.
Shadow still wasn’t convinced, but considered it one of those feminine mysteries he’d never understood about his sisters, and wouldn’t understand now. He ducked under the water and rinsed the soap from his own body.
When he surfaced, he heard Chantrea’s distinctive laugh. Rubbing the water out of his eyes, he beheld the sight of her naked body standing outside the pool while she talked with an equally naked male Elf, carrying his own basket of bathing supplies.
Shadow restrained his jealousy, barely, until he heard the male say, “Thanks, Sis. I’m in dire need of a good soak.” Oh. He was one of her brothers. For some reason, that made things easier.
Chantrea slapped her brother on the arm. “That’s what you get for speaking Troll so well. Were you able to negotiate the trade?”
“Yes, indeed! I’m pleased to say Morag and I worked out a nice deal. Their carved ivory for our spider silk hangings. The crafts-Elves will be throwing a celebration, of course. Will you and Prince Shadow be free?” The Elf smiled at Shadow before climbing in the soaking pool.
