Elfhome

So he been completely clueless when she stopped on a ridge, cast a spell and then murmured, “We’re safe here, for now.” She made a slight noise of protest as he pulled her into his arms that ended with a laugh smothered by his lips.

“Insatiable,” she groaned as he kissed his way down her neck. Judging by the way she clung tight to him, it wasn’t a complaint.

Whoever invented dresses had ready access in mind.

After the quick hard fuck, she nuzzled into his neck and murmured, “You say you don’t belong to the viceroy. Were his terms so bad that you rejected his offer?”

He growled and pushed her away. “I’m done with having masters.”

She gave him a puzzled look and then understand flooded her face, followed by exasperation. “Oh! I see. He has done it again.”

“Done what?”

“Wolf Who Rules has a way of expecting you to trust blindly. To leap at his command, with no reassurance there is a safe landing beyond. For those who love him dearly, I suppose that is enough. Those of us, though, who don’t love him enough…”

Apparently the viceroy had a thing for small, dusky females with a temper. “You didn’t.”

“No. I didn’t.” She tugged and shimmied her breasts back into her bodice.

“Forming a household in a clan is not enslavement any more than starting a business. It is, in fact, one and the same.”

“Not the way Windwolf explains it.”

“He maybe beautiful, intelligent, rich, blessed with two esva

…”

Tommy kissed her to stop her from going on about the male elf.

“But he does not kiss nearly as well as you,” she murmured. “And he fails at speaking his heart plainly.”

“He had no tender words for you?”

She scoffed. “It is the plain words I want, not the tender ones. The humans call him a prince, and they are not far from the truth. His mother was sister to the king and his father is the head of the Wind Clan. I on the other hand…” She pulled the hem of her skirt down over her hips, and tried to smooth it with her hands. “My parents oversaw three small holdings that made glue and shoes from animals unfit for eating. I spent my childhood with blood soaked slaughter yards, the omnipresent stench of the curing pits, death, rotting flesh, and the constant struggle to make enough money to eat. I loathed it. I didn’t want to live forever in that hell.”

“You didn’t trust him to keep you safe?”

“No.” Jewel laughed, held out her hands and turned in a full circle. “And look how well I’ve done on my own.”

“They could have gone after Tinker just as easy as you.”

“Grab any bitch and breed her? No, this wasn’t a simple-minded act of war. This was betrayal at the deepest level. Earth Son’s First has been guarding over children that the Wind Clan believes was lured here by someone in the Stone Clan. I decided to go to through his things and see if they’re right. Two days ago, I discovered he used a camouflage spell to hide a spell-locked chest within a closet. I spent hours trying to get the damned thing open and failed. I was going to ask the Wind Clan domi for help.”

Tommy remembered the massive destruction at the enclave and guessed the fate of the locked chest. “The oni warriors blew it up when they took you?”

“I’m just a distraction from the truth.”

She looked so distraught that he put out his hand, but she had already turned away.

He reached and caught her braid and gave it a playful tug. “Hey…”

She cried out and flinched away from him.

“You said not to grab your arms.” He snapped and then realized it wasn’t him that she was reacting to. She jerked the braid out of his hand and stared at it with loathing and horror.

“They caught me by my hair. If I’d stay free of them a minute more, I could have summoned my magic. But they caught me by my hair. They pulled me back and pinned my arms and made me helpless. There was nothing I could do but watch as they killed my people!”

She pulled out her oni gutting knife and started to hack ruthlessly at her hair.

Seductive elves, Tommy had no experience in. Females battered to pieces by the oni, he knew too well. She needed to vent the anger. He mourned the loss of her beautiful hair but it would grow back. He watched only for a more permanent cut. Her hair fell around her in long silky locks. When her hair was cropped close to her skull, she tried to cut it shorter and he caught her hand, taking the knife from her. He’d learned that there was nothing he could say to make things right. Wordlessly, he took her in his arms and did the best he could to comfort her while keeping her safe from herself.

And it was then that he realized he was screwed.

He’d broken the cardinal rule. He forgot to disengage the heart when engaging the dick. He cared for her. Shit! What a stupid twelve year-old mistake. The last thing he needed was to go all gooey over an elf.