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I’ve had those dreams for a couple months, and since it started, no man has even come close to turning me on. When his hands take my hips and he leans close enough for our lips to nearly touch, I can hardly breathe.
Do it. Don’t stop.
But he does, with a broad smile.
“I think I’ve proven my point.”
Anger burns in me when he lets me go. I have half a mind to go back in the house, but my legs aren’t interested in going anywhere except along the path I’m following with Fabien. A few small tentacles still hold my wrist as he holds my hand.
It’s hard not to feel the incredible strength in that hand. I can tell he’s being gentle with me. I think he’s being gentle every time he touches me. The muscles in his tentaclesundulateunder the surface with such power.
I wish my heart would stop pounding.
I look up to the thick canopy of trees, where things flit around on glowing wings.
"A slice of home," he says. “And really, even the poison trees won’t bite. Everything that lives and breathes here knows you’re mine."
I clench my teeth. I know what Ishouldsay. I should tell him it sucks and I want a nice hotel and room service andforgetbeing outside with your weird huge bugs and webs and crud in the trees.
And I’m notyours, jerk. I just… Don’t want to go anywhere else right now, that’s all.
But what would Mia Zedona say now? She probably wouldn't be walking on the grass in her expensive shoes. Or maybe she wouldn't give a crapbecausethey're so expensive. Maybe she’d ask him to carry her.
But then what would he carry mewith? Riding a tentacle like a bike seat seems like a bad idea.
Or a verygoodidea.
I don’t know what else to do except be honest, or as much as I can. At least that way, I’ll be following a clear narrative. Something I won’t forget later.
"I'm just not used to it," I tell him. I try my best to look unimpressed. “Like, what are these weird glowing bugs?"
Fabien gives me a pained look. I immediately feel like a jerk and a half. There are little glowing bugs everywhere on these bushes. Like lightning bugs but bigger. Mia hated bugs. I actually love them, and the outdoors.
Mia and I really couldn’t be more different.
Fabien holds out a hand to the bugs and one of them flits over and sits on the tip of his finger.
"She's a harebell sprite. They're small, but sentient. They have a society of their own, albeit a simple one. They pollinate flowers, and they hate mice and make war with them wherever they find them. In other words, they're very handy to have around."
I look closer, and what's sitting on his fingertip isn’t a bug at all. It's a tiny woman, small enough she could use a rose for a bed. She looks up at me with big, curious eyes. Her gaze slips over to Fabien, who she watches with fear. The tiny thing squeezes her eyes shut and puts a thumb in her mouth.
"Go on," he says.
She flies back to the flowers.
“They make three different kinds of medicine for colic. It’s handy stuff.”
I've never seen anything quite so magical. Is all of Faerie like this? Strange creatures? Magical beings? I look down at my feet, searching the grass around us.
"What are you looking at?" he asks, bemused.
"There's nothing I could step on, is there? No little women in the grass?"
He chuckles.
"No, there are no little women in the grass."
“I mean, not like I care. They can get out of my way, or whatever.”
