Page 42 of Hold my Reins

“Too much effort for too little reward? Is it easier to catch another kelpie?” That made sense. Why travel and risk coming to the human world when there were plenty of kelpies in the monster realm?

“Something like that, but Bothvar is petty and spiteful. I have killed many who disrespected him, even though they had long-standing working relationships. He enjoys being feared.”

Rox grunted. “He sounds like a tool.”

“He is predictable, as he acts only to enrich himself and enlarge his reputation.”

“And you dissed him by leaving.”

“He didn’t know I left. When his summons failed, he may have believed I’d died on my last job. I hoped that was the case.” Lynck shrugged.

It was clear that while he hoped Bothvar thought him dead, he didn’t really believe that to be the case. “And now Arn will confirm you are alive.”

“Exactly.” Lynck pulled him closer, and Rox let himself be drawn into the embrace. “There is a part of me that wants this to be over because I’m sick of waiting.” Lynck pressed his lips to the back of Rox’s neck.

“But it means you’ll be gone.”

Lynck was silent for several heartbeats. “Maybe I was never here. Perhaps I was gone from the moment the bridle was put on, and this is a dream of who I might’ve been if given a choice.”

“You are real, and I am real, and this is happening, and we need to deal with it.” He couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

“Any plans you make cannot involve me. I will be the enemy.”

Rox struggled with the idea that Lynck would act to hurt him. That the magic was all-consuming. “And you don’t want to fight me.”

“Bothvar makes me kill anyone I am close to, including his own servants. The other bridled kelpies warned me to keep my distance from them and others. I didn’t listen until I had to slit my friend’s throat.”

Rox should be freaking out about sitting in the lap of a murderous monster, but Lynck hadn’t killed willingly.

“If he controls you, why does it matter if you had friends?”

“It’s the one thing he can’t control with the bridle, so he made sure to enforce his will in other ways.” Lynck nuzzled at the back of his neck, which made him squirm because the touch was kind of ticklish and kind of arousing. Or was it the way Lynck held him? The way he felt safe even though they stood on the edge of a cliff, and one wrong step would send them tumbling to the rocksbelow. “I don’t want to spend the evening talking about my past or something that might happen. I want you.”

His tongue flicked over the curve of Rox’s ear, and his dick hardened against Rox’s ass. “One more question?”

“I will grant you that.” Lynck’s voice was soft in his ear.

“Can only kelpies be bridled?”

“Yes…though I do not know why. Some blame an ancient curse, others the magic that allows us to shift between forms.”

“But you aren’t the only ones who can shift.” There were plenty of other monsters who had multiple forms or who were able to change the way they looked.

“That is a second question, and you already know the answer.” Lynck lifted him and sat him on the sofa as if done with him. “I want to play you something that I’m working on.”

Rox stared at him, knowing what Lynck wasn’t saying but unable to leave the words unspoken. “You don’t want to wait until it’s done?”

Lynck gave him a look that suggested the song may never be finished. “If I don’t have time to complete the song, you can. It’s in human tones; I thought you’d enjoy it more that way.”

“Can I record you?”

Lynck’s ear twitched as his eyebrows lifted. “That’s not something I’ve ever been asked before, but I do not see why not.”

Lynck retrieved the violin from his room and perched on the arm of the sofa to play. He lifted the bow, then paused. “You are the only person who has heard this song.”

“I’m honored.” He opened the camera on his phone and swiped to record a video. “Does it have a name?”

“Not yet…maybe when it’s complete.” He began to play, and at first, the song sounded as though it was warring with itself, then the pace quickened, and it all came together in a rush before diving into long, lush notes. As one stretched out almost to breaking point, a single higher note broke through, like thesun through the clouds. Lynck lowered the bow. “That is as far as I’ve gotten.”

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