Pathway to Love

by Viola Grace

  “A letter of apology?”

  “Explanation. Swans respect love.” She tucked her feet under her and picked up the cup of wine. She took a sip.

  “So, what caused you to head butt your dance partner?” He smiled.

  “You saw that?”

  “I have excellent timing.”

  “He pulled me against him and didn’t want to let go, so I made him. I work around cows. I am good at finding ways to get around large objects.”

  He quirked his brows at her. “How?”

  She shrugged. “You always start with the feet. If you can make the feet move, the balance is gone.”

  “Very sensible. It works with horses as well.” Dromer sat back and smiled.

  A nice silence fell between them. When he placed his hand on the table, palm up, she slipped her fingers against his and enjoyed the particular spark that happened between them.

  She finally smiled and stroked his palm. “No other elves spark with me like you do.”

  “I have not had pleasant experiences with shifters until you, so I am guessing that we have something special.” He curled his fingers against hers and stroked her palm.

  Ida nodded. “Well, I don’t mean to be rude, but I think that you should leave before I act on some of my baser instincts. They would probably freak you out a little.”

  Dromer got to his feet. “Of course. I will go and do my research. I am very glad I found you before someone else could sweep you off your feet.”

  “I am fairly stable. It will take a special sort of elf to sweep me off my feet. It might even take extra effort on his part.”

  He took her hand and pulled her to her feet, holding her gently against him and swaying slightly. Ida tucked her cheek against his shoulder and held on as his arms went around her.

  “I will see you in the morning, Ida. We will come up with a plan of attack for our courtship from there.”

  She chuckled. “A plan of attack. I like the sound of that.”

  “Old habit. We will cover it tomorrow.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and gently released her before he left her alone in her room.

  While the door closed, she smiled. She didn’t feel alone. The crackle of energy was still on her skin. She twirled lightly on her toes and danced over to the bed, dropping back with a giggle. Okay, she had him, now what was she going to do with him?

  She spent every waking minute imagining what she could do with him, now that they were free to touch and be touched. She was sure she could get used to the sparks.

  * * * *

  Dromer closed his door behind him and leaned against it, pressing his head against the wood. It had taken every bit of self-control he possessed not to slam the other elf into the floor. It was better for her dance partner that Ida had taken care of it for him.

  His heart was still pounding from the light contact with her, and if he had his way, he would not have left her in her rooms. But, he was winning a mate, not a lover. There were different rules.

  When he closed his eyes, he could see the elf pull her against him, her slender frame dwarfed by his body. Her swift action had beaten Dromer’s reflexes, and when she turned and bumped into him, he had been ready to hold her tight before she beat him to it. She seemed to be anticipating his desires and that was not a comfortable thing. The last thing he wanted was to frighten her away with the things he truly desired from her.

  He wanted forever, but he wasn’t sure about how to get it from her. It would require some research.

  * * * *

  Teal grunted over the paperwork as Tony rubbed her shoulders. “In the old days, was there this much paperwork?”

  Tony kissed her neck. “There was, but it wasn’t as complicated. Now, we don’t just have to keep her people in the loop, we have to deal with the Shifter’s Guild and the fey. It has made things more complicated.”

  She stretched out her neck, and he rubbed his lips across the exposed skin. Some of her swan reflexes were harder to control than others. Her neck was always vulnerable to his advances, and he knew it.

  Teal groaned. “That is a delightful distraction, but I have to file this information before her people file a lock on her. The fey don’t have any record of a seer match, so we are flying blind here.”

  Tony pressed another kiss to her neck. “I flew over while they were walking down the street. If they aren’t meant for each other, neither are we. They are already humming in sync.”

  “It isn’t humming. Stop calling it that.”

  She signed the override to make Ida her ward at the Crossroads, and she wrapped the council copy in a ribbon, setting it on the glyph that transported it to the archives.

  When she was done, she turned in her chair and wrapped her arms around her mate. “Did you really have to start something tonight?”

  He lifted her and draped her across the desk. “Every chance I get, love.”

  Even after all the decades they had been together, her body surged to life with excitement like it had that first time so long ago. Teal surrendered to her mate with glad abandon.

  Ida was as safe as Teal could make her.

  * * * *

  Ida wrapped herself in a towel and brushed her hair. It took a while because of the length, so she started it the moment it was clean.

  It took a while to dry, and she hated blow dryers, so brushing it before she towelled out the moisture was only sensible.

  She worked until she had her hair completely knot free and then took a look at the only other change of clothing that she had. It was another ridiculously form-fitting dress.

  Ida slipped on clean underwear, and then, she put on the dress, zipping up the back of it as best she could.

  She looked at herself in the mirror and made a face. She looked like another fairy-tale character. This time, it was more sleeping beauty than snow white, but the rich rose of her dress didn’t suit the tale of a woman and her dwarves.

  In keeping with the fairy-tale theme, she braided a coronet to keep her hair out of her face and fastened it in place with pins she found in the bathroom.

  A glance at the light coming in told her that it was around eight in the morning. She strapped on her shoes and headed down to find breakfast.

  She blinked a little when her attack victim was sitting at the table, but as Dromer was next to him, she entered the dining room.

  Dromer got to his feet. “Good morning, Ida. You look lovely.”

  The other elf half rose and inclined his head. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, gentlemen.”

  Dromer came around and held a chair out for her. “Have a seat. Teebie is just fetching more coffee.”

  The djinn in question came out looking a little ruffled. A man followed her, and his eyes were lit with impish glee.

  “Teebie rarely fetches. She procures, she creates and she obtains. Rarely does she fetch, though she is fetching.”

  Teebie snickered. “Ida, meet my mate, Andor. Andor, this is the newest female guest, Ida.”

  Andor came over, and he bowed. “Good morning, Ida.”

  She grinned at his pervasive good cheer. “Good morning, Andor. Are those muffins?”

  He set the platter down while Teebie served coffee.

  Ida chuckled, and her breakfast started with a muffin and rapidly moved on to scrambled eggs, bacon and a stack of waffles.

  When she was sitting with her cup between her hands, Dromer asked her, “What do you wish for your future?”

  She blinked and sipped at the coffee. “I don’t know. I suppose that I have always wanted to become a cheesemaker.”

  Dromer seemed surprised. “I thought your family made cheese?”

  “Mozzarella and fresh cheeses, yes. I want to dig out some caverns and start a ripening cave. A few years down the line, turn out my first cheese. That is the dream anyway.” She snorted. “It is a stupid dream.”

  Dromer shook his head. “No. It is a dream based on the foundation of life you have been given. The diner was
my dream. After centuries of service to the crown, I was finally released and the diner was my choice. I try to keep myself occupied and in a relaxed mood, but it was when you walked through that door that my dreams for the future took a turn.”

  Ida tried to meet his gaze, but she couldn’t. She looked around and noted that they were alone. She had no idea when that had happened.

  She glanced back at him, and he was looking at her with a casual and relaxed expression. “Did they? I was fairly young.”

  “You were, and I was not, so I shelved my thoughts of the charming young woman who would come in every Friday night and order fries with friends. The years flew by, and soon, you were a woman with the same fascination for fries on Friday.”

  She smiled. She remembered those visits. She had enjoyed watching Dromer move around as an excellent server and a graceful creature made of a surprising amount of muscle. He had been as big a draw for his business as the food. The booths were rarely empty, but there was always an open booth when she arrived.

  “And then the visits stopped. You only came in for deliveries, and it seemed that the very essence of joy had been sucked out of my soul.”

  “That would be when my father told me that it was no longer appropriate for me to be socializing with you. There was no future with you, and I had to give up on it.”

  Dromer sighed. “I guessed as much. It seems that there is always something between us, keeping us at arm’s length.”

  “Until now.”

  He smiled slowly and reached out to take her hand. “Until now.”

  Her smile was just as slow as his, but the wild tingling ran up her arm and across her skin.

  She licked her lips. “So, Dromer. Where do we start?”

  A picnic basket floated into the room and settled on the table.

  Dromer chuckled. “I think it is a hint.”

  “Well, she is a professional, so I think she knows what she is doing.”

  A blend of masculine and feminine laughter spilled out of the hallway leading into the kitchen. The experts had spoken.

  Chapter Five

  Dromer carried the basket in one hand and held her hand with the other.

  Ida walked with him in silence until they reached the pond. When he flicked out the blanket and tugged her down to sit beside him, she stared at the water with longing.

  “You seem very quiet this morning, Ida.” Dromer stuck his legs out and leaned back on his hands.

  “I have a lot to think about. Plus, I slept in, which is throwing me off entirely. Normally, I have finished my rounds and am back in the office by now.”

  He chuckled. “Enjoy your time off. I have come to an appreciation for the silence in the moments. I can take an entire day off between one heartbeat and the next. It is very refreshing.”

  She looked at him, taking in his pristine white shirt, neatly buttoned with the cuffs rolled to mid-forearm, the jeans in a blue so deep it appeared black. His broken-in running shoes were the only scuffed things about him.

  “I don’t remember you ever taking time off.”

  He had been a stable, fixed point in her life until she had been pressured to cease her regular visits to the diner.

  “You are not one to talk. I have seen you every morning for the last decade.”

  Ida wrinkled her nose. “Family business. I get the feeling that after this stunt, that will be a thing of the past.”

  “We will find a balance point. I never wanted to separate you from your people.”

  Ida chuckled. “You don’t really know what I am. I mean, yeah, you know I am a shifter, but have you ever seen me shift?”

  “I have been curious, but I thought it was an imposition.” Dromer smirked. “Also, a little voyeuristic as you would have to disrobe to demonstrate.”

  “Would you care for a demonstration now? It is only fair considering that you need to know what you will be getting into.” She blurted it out before she could change her mind.

  “I would love to see it but not if it will cause you discomfort.”

  She shrugged. “Shifters strip off at the drop of a hat. The only time we hesitate is when there are humans around.”

  Ida unbuckled the ankle straps on her shoes and kicked them off. She stood, unzipped her dress and stepped out of it.

  He caught her wrist and stroked her back. “What is this?”

  “Oh, the dress isn’t really made for someone with my dimensions. So, the waist fits, the flare of the skirt fits and everything above the ribcage is smashed by the fabric. I can’t even zip it up all the way.”

  She unsnapped her bra with her free hand and sighed at the relief from the tension.

  “If you let me go, I can get naked and be a lot more comfortable.”

  He released her wrist. “Those welts look painful.”

  “It is the price of fitting into off-the-rack dresses. They aren’t built for me, so I smash myself into a shape they will accept.” She wanted to rub her breasts as she normally did after time in a too-tight bra, but she restrained herself and slid the panties off her hips before she peeled the bra from her skin where it was sticking.

  Naked, she walked to the water and stepped in until it was ankle deep.

  “Why didn’t you shift on dry land?”

  She turned to look at Dromer and smiled. “If you have ever seen a swan walk on dry land, you will know the answer. We like to hold our similarities to geese at a distance and uphold the illusion of grace.”

  Ida turned back to the water and stepped deeper until her swan legs were paddling and she was cruising effortlessly across the surface.

  She ducked her head and dove lightly into the cool water. It felt good, and she fluffed her wings out when she surfaced and flapped until she was hydroplaning across the pond.

  It was fun. She let out a screech and repeated her performance in the opposite direction.

  She had never had a pond completely to herself before. She frolicked, dove, ate some of the lichen from the bottom of the pond, and then, she finally cruised slowly from one end to the other.

  Dromer was lying on his stomach and watching her with his head propped up on his fists.

  When her inner swan was content, she paddled back to him and took on her human form in the shallows with one exception. She shifted and kept her wings on her back.

  Dromer was staring at her as she left the pond and walked toward him, her hair damp and sticking to her skin, her wings huge and midnight blue.

  “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  She smiled. “Some of us can, some can’t. Those of us who shift later in life have an easier time doing this particular manoeuver. We are more attached to our human forms, so we keep as much of them as possible.”

  He got to his feet and walked around her. She shivered and her nipples pebbled as he stroked the skin between her wings.

  “I have heard of the winged women who haunted battlefields. In the ancient times, they became the Valkyrie of myth and legend.”

  “I don’t think those were my kind, but our history is spotty at best.”

  He chuckled. “I will have the fey archives look into it. I never imagined that you could hold two species in one body.”

  He stroked her wings, and she whirled, extending them out and forward. She crouched, and as she straightened, she flew upward, flapping up and away from the ground beneath her and the man who was making her heart race to the point of a staccato beat.

  She soared upward until she was calmer, and then, she slowly drifted back down toward the pond.

  “Dromer, what are you doing?”

  She was still thirty feet above him, but he was ignoring her, tearing her dress down to the waist.

  Her bra was already in shreds.

  “You aren’t wearing that again. It isn’t comfortable, and the bra is just cruel.”

  “I am not going to be walking around in just a skirt with no top.” She landed and stalked toward him, absorbing her wings and changing the density of her bones from
hollow to human.

  “I offer you the shirt off my back.” He finished his desecration of the dress and handed it to her.

  She snorted and retrieved her panties from their neatly folded location on the edge of the picnic blanket.

  Ida shimmied into the panties before putting on the skirt and tying the shreds of the top around her waist.

  Dromer smiled brightly and unbuttoned his shirt.

  She sat and watched his slow striptease as he slipped button after button free of their holes. Ostensibly, she was trying to put her shoes back on, but she was fascinated by the tattoos that marked his arms and back.

  She tossed the shoes aside and got to her feet, stroking her fingers over the patterns on his back. “What are these?”

  “Ah, family crests, rank markings, icon of fealty to the king, that sort of thing.” He shrugged absently.

  She took in the larger items that met the description he had given. There were other marks. Glyphs and designs that seemed to have more of a warrior marking than anything else. She had seen this kind of thing on humans. They usually were used to mark battles won.

  His skin was smooth, and there was a lot of heat coming from the surface.

  Ida smirked. “It feels like you need to take a dip in the pond yourself.”

  “Is this your way of telling me to go and jump in a lake?” He turned and smiled at her as he tucked her into the white folds of his shirt.

  “Don’t be dramatic. It is a pond.” She grinned as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

  He dropped his hands to the button on his jeans.

  She slowly buttoned the bottom button of the shirt and worked her way up. He worked his way down, sliding the zipper free and removing the denim from its contact with his thighs.

  He paused to kick off his shoes, and when he was completely free of fabric, he looked at her with challenge in his gaze. “Care to join me?”

  She grinned, reached under the shirt to untie the skirt, and it dropped to her ankles. Her panties followed.

  She inhaled his scent from the shirt, and then, she lifted the white fabric over her head, dropping it onto the pile at her feet. She took his hand in hers and hauled him toward the pond.