Authors: Sheri Fredricks
Fifteen
T
he heavy rock door weighed no more than his Bowie knife as it swung closed on smooth ball bearing hinges. Aleksander waited for the tumblers to click into place before he threw the deadbolt and limped down the ramp to the front living room.
Ella stood next to a tattered rocker-recliner, her arms crossed and hip resting against the winged back. Ripped and worn, stuffing seeped from the outdated checked squares.
“At first glance, this place is a wreck.”She pushed away from the chair and her eyes searched the room. “But it’s clean in here. Look.” She unfolded her arms and swept her fingers over the lamp table, then held them up. “No dust.”
“My friend is a bit of a clean freak.”
“I thought you said he doesn’t live here.”
“He doesn’t. That’s how anal he is.”
An itch tickled the spot where his horsetail grew, and Alek glanced at his watch.
Forty-five minutes and counting.
His leg would completely heal in the next twelve hours with his oncoming transition. Camouflaged behind his zipper,
Meat Wrench
twitched as if to say, “That’s plenty of time for me, old friend!”
Aleksander ignored the other rooms to his left and hobbled across the hand-woven area rug. He passed the kitchen, then turned to his right. At the end of the hall was the latrine where Nubbs kept the medical supplies. What lay in-between were the doors of four stallrooms. The burning sensation in his thigh signified he needed to clean and check the injured area.
“Help me with my leg?” He flashed a smile and indicated with a motion of his head for Ella to follow.
Her gaze flicked to his bloodied wrap, and she nodded.
Overhead, luminescent stones of irregular shapes softly lit the ceiling of the arched stone hallway. Their glowing ambience, like sparkling stars, cascaded to the walls then down to the floor. Someone had added a long maroon carpet runner to stretch the length of the hall—probably to soak up blood that dripped from injuries.
Inside the bathroom, he opened the mirrored medicine cabinet and moved aside a bottle of aspirin. “In the bottom cabinet on the right, would you take out the green tub for me, please?”
Aleksander sat on the rim of the old-fashioned bathtub and carefully unwound the wrap from his leg. Bomani’s initial field dressing saved him from excessive blood loss; he’d have to buy him a brewskie later.
Head inside the cabinet, shapely ass in the air, Ella spent several minutes digging around in the dark.
For a moment, he wondered what he’d ever seen in cantaloupe-sized breasts when a pair of perfectly presented apples jiggled and strained against the fabric of her tee. In his mind, he saw her, stripped bare and lightly blushed with a hint of a spank or two. He finished unwrapping the bloodstained t-shirt, then dropped it to the floor. The medicinal plant had done its job and stopped the bleeding.
“What the—are those weeds?” Ella’s expression was aghast.
Alek chuckled. “Yes. Good weeds, though.” That side trip through his imagination’s eye, gazing at Ella’s perfect breasts, with her nipples straining against the sheer white fabric of her bra, had his body heating in places it shouldn’t. “There should be some washcloths in the cupboard over there. Would you get one wet for me?”
His thoughts reworded the question
. Would
you
get wet for me?
All he could think about was marching her into the back bedroom and seeing if he could remove her shirt with just his teeth.
She’d kill him if she knew what he was thinking, but oh, what a sweet image. Only this time, if he had the chance to actually taste her nipples— and if they tasted anything like her scent of night-blooming jasmine.... Well, he swore night-blooming jasmine would be planted inside the palace and top his list of favorite flowers.
In a futile effort to confine the erotic thoughts his mind produced, Alek nearly groaned when he cupped his throbbing flesh for a second.
“You have five minutes,” Meat Wrench threatened. “Then, I’m taking over.”
The blood on his pants had dried to the wound, making the removal difficult.
Ella found the cloth and turned on the tap. After squeezing some of the water out, she handed it to him.
It took a moment for his pants to absorb the water from the towel, and when he could lift the material off his skin, he stood and unzipped his pants.
“I’ll just, uh—wait out there.” Ella pointed behind her shoulder with her thumb and started to back out the door. A pink stain crept onto her cheeks.
“Not yet. I still need you.” Alek unsnapped and shed his tactical vest, then laid it on the bathtub’s edge. Next, he slid his BDU’s off his hips and left them to pool around his knees before sitting on the tub’s cold rim again. For her sake, he pulled the vest over his lap for modesty, because he favored the commando style and didn’t wear banana hammocks. “Could you please help me unlace my boots?”
Ella wrinkled her nose, but returned to kneel between his outspread feet. Her coppery curls shimmered like a fiery angel’s halo as she bent to perform the task of unlacing each boot. Between tugs, her face turned redder. No doubt, she’d caught a view. Her many freckles blazed like neon pinpoints on smooth skin he longed to touch.
Meat Wrench
longed for a touch, too.
Not now!
Alek pushed aside his growing reaction to the sight of Ella’s bobbing head between his wide-open knees. “I’m sorry to ask for help one last time,” he whispered with a strangled voice.
Ella dropped the second sock and boot, and gazed up from her lowered position.
“Would you help me get the shower started?”
“Are you sure you don’t need the Remedy Maker to look at your leg?”
I need a certain Troll to look at my...
“I’ll be squared away tomorrow. Once I’m in my true form, I’ll heal fast.”
Doubt drew her brows together, but she nodded. “Alright.”
*~*~*
Great horns of Bacchus!
Al sported a hard on that would take her into next summer. Moisture immediately flooded her panties at the sight, and she swallowed hard.
“Ella.”
Oh gods
. Her name on his lips was like sweet music blown from Pan’s golden flute. She lifted her gaze, dragged it over his swollen cock, and let her eyes climb his perfect chest to reach his face.
Heat emanated from his intent look—dark and unfathomable.
The look in his eyes backlit the fire blazing in her body, and she licked her dry lips.
“Help me into the tub and I’ll pull the curtain closed.”
Above their heads, a silver oblong track circled the tub. The white shower screen hung discreetly off to the side.
Al held his hand out to help her up.
Such a small act of chivalry, but Ella could have wept at his offer. Since when do Centaurs, the most elite of mythic people, act courteous toward the lowly Troll?
Hesitantly, she put her hand in his and watched as his palm swallowed hers up. The roughness of his hand, calloused from hard work, slightly abraded her skin and sent shivers along her spine.
Pulled to her feet, she in turn helped Al to stand. Their eyes met and held. Without breaking the connection, she reached between them and grasped his thick military vest. Reaching her arm back, she laid his body armor on the counter next to the sink.
Don’t look down! Don’t look down.
Ella sidestepped to the tub’s faucet and leaned to twist the hot water knob. With thermal heated water readily available, it was only moments before steam began to rise. She turned the cold knob and kept testing the water until it was a nice sultry temperature.
And her naughty gaze stretched to the far corners of her eyes…and peeked.
Blessed hooves, he’s large!
Straightening, she stepped back.
His hand came up and traced the outline of her jaw, the shell of her ear, the column of her neck. Al’s eyes smoldered. “The moment I saw you between my arms in the mall, I wanted to rip your clothes off and kiss you senseless.”
Ella’s mouth turned desert dry and her heart swelled with emotion as her eyes strayed over his muscular chest and shoulders. His skin looked polished as tawny silk. She opened her mouth to reply, but her lips only formed a small
O.
Handsome as a Greek god and warrior strong, he towered over her with his thick head of short black hair, fierce dark eyes, broad shoulders, and sculpted ab muscles. His goatee added a sinister lure that tempted more than detracted.
“You should get in the shower,” she whispered.
His hands came up to cup her face as his head lowered to cover her lips with his. The touch of his fingers set off tingles in the skin of her cheeks, and the demands of his mouth sent sparks of sensation coursing through her. Ella’s breasts suddenly felt full, and pressure began to build between her legs.
Al nibbled at her lower lip, teasing it, tugging it with his teeth.
Her hands clutched his wrists, unable to do more than hang on and hope her legs held her up. When she opened her mouth on a sigh, his tongue charged inside without hesitation, brushing every interior surface.
His body moved a fraction against hers, enough that his legs bracketed hers, and the hardness of his cock pushed at her through her jeans. Heat consumed her, the small muscles deep inside vibrated, and she couldn’t have pushed him away to save her life.
When Al lifted his head, Ella felt dazed and breathless, her eyes held captive by his smooth chocolate ones, now darkening to a luscious mahogany.
His tongue swept lightly across her mouth. “I think we need to take this somewhere a little more comfortable, don’t you?”
“After your shower.”
“Join me?”
His dark eyes stared. Compelling—magnetic. Eyes that hoped and promised of untold delights to come.
Oh, mama…
Then he smiled, and Ella melted on the spot.
Al yanked off her dirty t-shirt and threw it on the floor, then was content to caress her hair.
She kicked off her shoes, then her jeans were the next to go, followed by her socks, until she stood in her matching plain white bra and sensible underwear.
Goosebumps rose on Ella’s skin, not from the temperature because the bathroom had become a steamy erotic cave. Though the self-consciousness she normally felt about her oversized body was less right now, she still felt fat and shameful.
She reminded herself that he’d seen it all before. And seeing her again in nothing but her skivvies would remind him that he could do better.
It’s better this way.
Her face grew hot, which meant her freckles were popping up.
Dammit!
Al reached to pull up the faucet lever, and a waterfall streamed from the plate-sized chrome showerhead. His eyes searched hers, warm and gentle.
A steady thrumming on the bottom of the white porcelain tub matched the buzzing in her ears. Mist rose, a thick curtain of steam that sat heavily on her skin.
“Get in.” Ella couldn’t take the pressure of standing half-naked in the close confines of the tiled room. She helped steady him as he lifted his injured leg over the high side of the sleigh-style tub, then drew the curtain around. Proud and ringed in full glory by a crown of dark curly hair, his cock stood straight out. The site dampened her already wet panties.
Al turned to look at her. “You have clothes on.” He sounded offended. “Come here.”
Faster than she could do it herself, he reached around and unhooked her bra with two fingers. Ella obediently shrugged the loosened straps from her shoulders and let the material fall away to the floor.
She watched while his eyes devoured her body, and she fought the urge to suck in her gut.
With a slight tug, he pulled her closer and paused to bend his head. His damp hair was cold against her skin, but his open mouth was fiery as he closed it, not so tenderly, around her nipple.
He switched sides. “Don’t want to make the other jealous,” he murmured as his lips slid into the hollow, then up the small mound of her other breast. His teeth teased the tight bud while his hands roamed down the curve of her butt.
“I still have clothes on, Al. Let’s finish one venture before starting another.” Ella’s pulse skipped and jumped in response to the sweet pluck and pull of his mouth. She buried her fingers in his hair to ground herself.
“Yes, ma’am.” Al lifted his head, eyes blazing hot. He hooked a finger under the band on either side of her hips and slowly drew her panties down to mid-thigh. “You’ll have to do the rest, Sweet-thing. I can’t lean any farther on my leg.”
Ella waggled her bottom and slid out of her underwear. As soon as they were kicked aside, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself full against him.
“You really need to shower,” she murmured against his strong jaw, then started kissing her way across his goatee. “There’s a bed out there that’s nice and soft, and it has our name on it.”
Close proximity, and the fact that she attempted to have a rational discussion, didn’t deter him in the least. He used both hands to lift her over the rim of the tub to stand in front of him.