Page 15 of Used By the Unicorn

“Oh.” I try to contain my disappointment.

Stirling leans in closer. “What? Hoping for something else?”

“No.” I try to keep my expression firm, but I’m sure there’s a hint of a smile on my lips.

“Good. Cause I don’t want to leave you disappointed.”

I bite back the urge to say I’m very disappointed and tell him to take me home and make sure he and his herd fuck me soundly. That’s just the hormones talking. The crazy, pregnancy hormones, and the knowledge in seven months time I’m getting none. “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

SEVEN

Stirling

“The green shirt? Or is it too much? Is the pale blue better?” I hold both shirts up when Sapphy walks out of the bedroom. She jumps.

“Stirling! I didn’t see you there. Can you—” She holds her hand in front of her mouth and darts around me. I watch in despair as she disappears into the bathroom.

Won’t anyone help me out here? Knight said they both looked good. Boaz said I should go shirtless. Now this.

The sound of retching from the bathroom shakes me out of my stupid head.

I poke my nose around the door to find Sapphy leaning over the sink. “Hey, you OK?”

She nods. Then she retches again, kinda ruining her pretense of being OK.

I hang my shirts over the towel rail and go find a cloth. Then I wet it and hold it to her face.

She groans and takes it from me, mopping at her brow under her horn and then at her mouth. “This is the not so fun side of being pregnant.”

I feel terrible. “You need more alicorn.” I’ve been so busy running around chasing Jade, I forgot to prepare any potion for Sapphy recently. She should be taking a dose once a week from each of her herd mates.

She shakes her head. “No, this is normal. No need to worry. It just sucks.”

“Let me go fix you some now—”

She cuts me off with her hand on my arm. “Stirling, I’m fine. Boaz and Knight both made some for me this week. You don’t want to use up too much. This is a straightforward pregnancy. The naiads said it’s going really well. And I hope we have lots of foals for our herd. So let’s make sure you all have a nice store of magic to go around if anything truly does go wrong, OK?”

I nod. I still feel bad, though. I’ll grind a little more than normal the next time I make her potion to make up for my failure this week. It’s the least I can do.

“Show me those shirts again,” She sits on the edge of the bathtub, twisting the end of her tail in her fingers. “You’re seeing Jade again today, aren’t you?”

I laugh nervously. “That obvious, huh?”

She smiles. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this taken with someone before. Is she yours?”

“I hope so. Or else I’ve lost it.”

She’s quiet while considering my shirt options. “The green, I think,” she says finally. “And Stirling? Don’t hold back. I don’t get the impression she’s the kind of woman you have to hold back with.”

I have to remind myself again why I’m playing the long game when Jade arrives for our date. She looks like fucking dynamite. Obviously, she’s doing it deliberately. She made it pretty clear after our last date she was down to fuck.

But since she isn’t ready to admit anything more could be going on here, Mr. Wise Guy over here decided to wait.

Only, I’m really regretting that decision when she steps out of the taxi. All I can seem to see for the first minute is bare, bronze leg and little red heels.

Fuck me.

The skirt of her dress is tiny and molds to her ass like my hands are dying to. I snort a hot breath through my nostrils and try to scrape my brain off the pavement as she approaches. She lifts on her tiptoes and gives me a lingering kiss. On my cheek of course. It only makes me burn hotter.

---