by Jessica Sims
If it was possible, he was even bigger than Hugh.
I crossed my arms over my scaly chest and took another step backward, my tail flicking with anxiety. “Hugh?”
The saber-tooth crossed in front of me, growling low.
“I smelled a female,” the rhino-man boomed, his voice incredibly deep and incredibly loud. “You bring one here? Is this—”
He was interrupted by a ferocious cat-growl from Hugh.
“I see,” the man said. “Very well.”
“See what?” I asked.
Hugh growled at me.
I frowned at him. “Don’t you growl at me. I’m asking a question. I don’t know what’s going on.”
“You are changeling,” the rhino boomed.
“And you’re a freaking rhino.”
“I am a primordial—” he began.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I know. Hugh, can you please change back so we can have a conversation about this?”
The saber-tooth’s eyes gleamed, and he hunched his shoulders. Moments later, Hugh was crouching on the ground, naked, then he rose to his feet. I felt a hot blush cover my cheeks when he stretched to his full height in front of me.
I blushed. I mean, I couldn’t help but notice that he was a shower and not a grower. Hugh was definitely big everywhere.
“Artur heard us coming and decided to meet us,” Hugh said, striding past me to clap a hand on Artur’s big shoulder. “And now he is going to quit staring at you.”
I glanced over at Artur curiously and noticed him suddenly averting his eyes, looking over at Hugh. “Forgive me,” he said. “I did not mean to be impolite.”
“It’s okay,” I told him. “I am standing here naked, and it sounds like you don’t get a lot of changelings.”
“We do not—” Artur began.
Hugh clapped him on the shoulder and forcibly turned him away from me. “Lead us back, friend,” he said, interrupting Artur’s thoughts.
The rhino-man gave Hugh a curious look. “Come.”
I trailed behind them, frowning. Now no one was looking at me. God, was I that disgusting? I pinched my scaly skin, hoping it would respond and I’d change back to human form. Transformations normally didn’t last this long, but this one didn’t seem like it was going away anytime soon.
I followed the two men as they moved ahead a short distance. They mumbled things to each other, but their voices were so low and my hearing so bad that I couldn’t pick it up, which was frustrating. I felt like a freak, an outcast, and my feelings were hurt. I knew my form was hideous, but they weren’t supposed to be shocked by it, were they?
I mean, I’d just met a woolly rhino and a prehistoric saber-tooth, and I wasn’t flipping out, was I? No, I was not.
The thick underbrush gave way after a time and led to a crude set of caves set into the side of a sheer cliff. It looked like a rat warren, almost, with the hillside riddled with cave entrances. A curving, twisty path led between the entrances, and several of the caves were covered with crude animal hides as makeshift doors.
Hugh glanced over his shoulder at me. “These are my people, Ryder.”
This . . . was not what I’d been expecting. As I stared, my arms crossed over my chest, more and more people emerged, until soon enough, two dozen men had emerged from the caves. The center of the area was churned with muddy footprints, and the trappings of a crude civilization were here—an animal hide stretched over a low-hanging limb, strips of meat drying.
All the men, though, were naked. All had equally wild hair and enormous bodies. And they were all staring at me like I was a freak.
Hugh snarled at them and stepped in front of me, shielding my hideous naked form from them. “This one is my vow,” he explained to them. “Do not touch her. Do not stare at her.”
But some of them stared anyhow, trying to look at me from around Hugh’s big shoulders. Artur moved to Hugh’s side, effectively shielding me from the others’ view.
“How many of you are there?” I asked.
“There are two dozen males of my people.”
Two dozen? Out here living in the wild? “I don’t understand,” I whispered to Hugh. “I thought you guys dealt with the fae a lot? Why are you here living in caves?”
“We have always lived here,” Hugh told me. “The fae only enter our realm when they want something.”
“And we normally turn them away,” Artur sneered.
Hugh glared at him, his eyes gleaming with anger. “Say no more, Artur, lest you compromise our friendship.”
Artur’s mouth snapped shut, but I could see the anger burning in his craggy face. “You torture us all with your decisions,” he said. “It is only my friendship with you that allows me to remain at your side.”
Torture? Decisions? I leaned down and peered at the others from under Hugh’s arm. The men here were naked, huge, and just as savage as Hugh, from the looks of them.
All men.
And they all stared at me.
I gasped as things clicked. “Oh, my God. There aren’t any women here, are there? That’s what Finian offered you. A bride.”
“Silence,” Hugh snapped at me.
That pissed me off. I kicked his calf from behind. “Don’t you tell me to be quiet! I’m not some meek little creature that you can boss around. You’re protecting me for the next month, remember? Nothing about that says I can’t talk.” I stepped from around Hugh and glared at him with irritation. Just as quickly, he moved to step in front of me. “I’m right, aren’t I? There aren’t any women here.”
The men looked at Hugh, frowning, but I noticed a few kept gazing at me. Even though I was hideous, they still wanted to look at me. Yeah. I strode to the tree and grabbed the animal hide, shrugging it over my warped wings to cover my body in a semblance of modesty. “Okay, can I just say that this is fucked-up? Pardon the French and all, but seriously.”
“You were the one that wished to see my people.” Hugh gestured at the surrounding men. “Here we are. Does this make you happy?”
He sounded offended. Angry.
It was too much for me to process. I just shook my head. I’d wanted to see them because I’d wanted to understand Hugh. I’d hoped that understanding Hugh would help me come up with a counteroffer to entice him away from Finian’s deal.
But if Hugh wanted a mate . . . I was screwed. “This female that you’re doing the vow for. Is she a primordial?”
“She is,” Hugh told me in a low, serious voice.
I couldn’t compete. “What’s her name?” I asked softly.
“I do not know it.” His eyes gleamed. “The fae keep our females separate from us. We do not know how many there are, or who they are. The fae created this realm for us.” He gestured. “They hold us here. We cannot leave except by their means. No one comes. No one goes.”
I hugged the pelt closer to me, staring at my surroundings. At the naked, enormous men and their crude cave dwellings. “I don’t understand. You have the portal necklace that Finian gave you. Why not take that and just get everyone out of here?”
“And leave our females?” Artur’s deep voice was clearly disapproving. “Abandon them with no hope of reunion?”
I shivered at the bleak looks on the men’s faces. “Do they always offer you this reward? A mate?”
Hugh shook his head. “This is the first time.”
And judging by the avid looks on the men’s faces? It was the thing they all craved most.
Well, hell. I was screwed. “I . . . think I’ve seen enough,” I said faintly. “Can we go back now?”
I felt sick. Finian had promised a mate to Hugh for selling me out. How could I possibly compete?
We used one of the caves to draw the door. The others hovered nearby, and it was clear they had questions about me. They kept staring, even after Hugh snarled and tried to drive
them away, and even after Artur pitched in to assist him. Eventually, though, they backed away, and we created the portal.
I looked behind us as the portal slowly developed. The men watched me from afar, eyes gleaming. “What’s stopping them from coming after us?” I asked Hugh. “Why not follow us through? There’s only a mate for you, not them.”
“Finian said there were mates for all of us,” Hugh told me. “No one will risk his female’s life.”
“Wait . . . so if you do this, he promised all of you mates?” At Hugh’s nod, I felt even more miserable. It was bad enough when I thought I was just competing with Hugh’s future mate. To learn I was competing with the future mates of twenty-four lonely males? I was doomed. Finian had played the ultimate trump card. “I must be worth a lot of money to him.”
Hugh’s grunt of reassurance didn’t make me feel better.
Silence fell, and with it, a weird tension. No one spoke as the air shimmered, the square outline of the portal slowly coming into view like a developing photograph. Once it appeared, Hugh gave the others a meaningful look. “Patience, brothers.” He took the fur throw from my shoulders and tossed it to one of the nearby waiting men, then took my hand and pulled me back through.
And then, a brief second later, we were in the bright, comforting light of my bedroom.
I blinked in surprise. My stomach growled, as if I’d been starving, even though we’d eaten not too long ago. I clutched a hand to it. Immediately, my body shuddered and I felt my wings tighten, aching. Oh, no. “Reverting,” I moaned, crouching low on the carpet in my bedroom. I panted, trying to get breath into lungs that suddenly ached too much.
Hugh squatted next to me and stroked my hair again. “It is the fae realms that affect you. Here, you are able to control things much better. Just relax and let it happen.”
Easy for him to say. His body didn’t feel as if it was twisting inside out. I scrubbed at my scales, waiting for them to disappear under my skin again, and was relieved when they began to recede. I felt my tail and wings shift, and knew they were folding inward. As I changed, Hugh continued to stroke my hair, trying to ease me in the only way he knew how. It was weirdly . . . comforting. I knew he found my form repulsive, but he hadn’t left my side. That counted for a lot in my book.
And in a way, I felt like we were in this together. Finian was using us both to get what he wanted. I hated that, but now I knew that Hugh hated it, too. And it wasn’t just his happiness that was on the line; it was the happiness of all the primordials.
That changed things. If I pursued freedom for myself, I condemned so many others.
The thought ran through my mind over and over again as I sweated and heaved, my body returning back to its human state in slow, deliberate fashion. First my scales disappeared, then my wings sank into my back and my fangs retreated. Inch by inch, I returned to normal. Last, my claws retracted and I was left naked and shuddering and wholly human again.
I was also crouched low in front of Hugh, who was also naked. And now that I was human again? I was very aware of all this bare skin. This time, I was the one to avert my eyes, and I reached for the blanket on my bed, dragging it off and holding it against my skin to protect my naked body.
“So . . .” I said.
“Now you know,” Hugh said in a flat voice.
“Now I know,” I agreed. “And I understand. I really do. It doesn’t make it easier for me, but I understand why you must do what you do.”
He nodded.
“You understand that I’m not changing my mind, though? It makes me sad that my happiness will come at the cost of yours and so many others’, but damn it, I have to think of myself. I’m not going to be some guy’s stud animal. I still plan on finding a way around all of this.”
Hugh looked almost amused. “I expect no less.”
“All right, then.” I rubbed my face, my skin aching from my hard transformation. “I think I need a shower, and a meal, and then we should head off to work.”
“You lead,” he said, gesturing.
“You want a shower, too? I have extra towels. And that realm you’re from isn’t exactly lending itself to clean and fresh skin.”
His mouth twitched, as if amused. “Are you asking me to bathe?” He lifted one arm and sniffed under it. “Smells all right.”
“This is coming from a man who lives in a realm without women,” I teased. “Trust me. You should shower.”
He chuckled. “Shall you join me, then?”
I sucked in a breath, scandalized . . . and titillated . . . all at once. “You realize men are not supposed to offer to share a shower with a woman?”
“Are we not?” He looked surprised. “Is it because your bathing pool is small?”
“My bathing pool is very small,” I agreed, my cheeks flushing red. “And your skin would touch mine. And we’d rub all over. And that would be bad for my monster . . . and your vow.” I shouldn’t have said the flirty words, but I couldn’t help myself. “Wouldn’t want that.”
“No,” he said, and his husky voice sent ripples down my spine. His gaze rested on my face, and then he abruptly stood. “But I will bathe if you request it.”
I blinked, hurt by his sudden change. One mention of my changeling side and it didn’t matter how flirty I was. That stung. I sighed and headed to my linen closet. “I’ll get you a towel.” I thought for a minute, then glanced over at him. He was standing in my bedroom, his back to me, his tanned buttocks flexing as he poked my alarm clock. “I just realized . . . you don’t have any clothes, do you?”
He snorted. “I prefer no clothes. They are annoying and they itch.”
“Um, well, you need some clothes,” I told him. “Unless you plan on not leaving my apartment for the next month.”
“I will remain at your side.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then you really, really need clothing. I won’t get many places with a big naked giant—no matter how sexy—at my side.”
“What is this ‘sexy’?”
“It means women will want to lick you up and down.”
He paused. “You find me—sexy?”
Count on a man to focus on that. “I’m a changeling,” I flirted back. “I’m not blind.”
He grinned over his shoulder at me.
While Hugh showered, I called my bestie, Marie. To my relief, she picked up after the first ring.
“Hey! Where the hell have you been?” she said.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Don’t be ‘sorry’ at me, missy. I’ve been texting you like a fiend and I’ve heard nothing! Nothing! Do you know how freaking annoying that is? How worried I’ve been? How many snarky things I’ve sent to you that were ignored?”
“I know. I’m a bad friend.”
“The worst. It’s unforgivable. So where have you been?”
“Been?”
“Uh, yeah. You’ve been MIA for the last two days.”
I had? I didn’t realize. Maybe with Hugh at my side I’d been ignoring my best friend. That was lousy of me. “I’m sorry. I suck.”
“See? You don’t even have the heart to disagree with me.”
“I don’t,” I said with a laugh. “Listen. Can you do me a huge, huge favor?”
“Oh, boy. I guess I can. Does it involve a pinky swear?”
“It does. Are you at work at the security office? Can you go and bring me the biggest pair of Ramsey’s clothing you can find? I need skin-out. We’re talking underwear, T-shirt, shoes, and pants. Or shorts. Whatever he’s got that’s big and roomy.”
“Men’s clothes?” She chuckled, the sound throaty. “You little devil. Does that mean your problem—”
“Something like that,” I interrupted, not wanting to get into the details. Marie knew about my issue—she was the only person who did—but I didn’t want to have to explain the mechanics of
the weird relationship I had with Hugh. “Can you just bring some of Ramsey’s stuff over ASAP?”
“Okay. Be there soonish.”
True to her word, Marie came over within an hour. I opened the door and she held out the bag of clothing she was carrying, eyeing the fact that I was sweaty and mussed, and wearing nothing but a sheet. “Is that the shower going?”
“It might be,” I said, blushing.
“Oooh, girl,” she drawled. “I smell a guy all over you.” She wrinkled her nose. “And you smell like an old fishbowl or something. Where have you been? Everyone’s been looking for you. Do you know how long—”
I cut her off with a wave of my hand. “I know. Long story. I’ll tell you later.”
Her eyes widened. “No way am I waiting for our regular lunch. We need to go out ASAP for a gossip-fest.”
“Deal.” I stuck my pinky out. Anything to get her off my porch and get back to Hugh. Normally I’d love to chat with Marie for a while, but I was leery of her seeing the big, naked shifter I was currently harboring.
She locked her pinky through mine. “I hope there’s a good explanation for all this.”
“There will be.”
She shook her head at me. “Suit yourself. I have to run.” Then, she waved and trotted down the stairs.
I shut the door and pulled out clothing, going through the bag. She’d brought me one of Ramsey’s work uniforms. I could tell from the enormous size. The black T-shirt had the Russell Security logo on it, though it still didn’t look nearly big enough for Hugh. It’d have to do. Marie was a smart cookie. She’d included some soft cloth athletic shorts and a pair of men’s sandals, along with some boxer briefs. It would suffice, but one thing was sure—I’d need to take Hugh shopping. I considered his long, tangled hair and his claws. He needed a mani-pedi if he planned on blending. If I was taking him under my wing? That’d be the first thing I’d tackle.
