Page 22 of Used By the Unicorn

The doorbell rings and I hurry down the stairs to make sure I beat Boaz to answer it. When I open the door, every inch of me stands up and takes notice of Jade, including the ten semi-hard inches I’m trying to keep under control right now. Instead of the tight fitting, revealing outfits she’s been wearing on our dates recently, she’s dressed down in ripped, high waist jeans and a fitted white top. High, pointy heels lift her up so she’s almost level with my shoulder. She looks amazing. Honestly, she could be wearing a sack and I’d probably think that. I’d still be planning how to get it off her anyway.

“You came.” Are my painful levels of excitement as obvious to her as I think they are?

She gives me a strange look as she walks through the door holding a covered dish. “Of course I came. I said I would, didn’t I?”

I smile inwardly. She’s right. If she didn’t intend to come she would have told me so. Bluntly.

I take the dish and grin at her. “And you baked?”

She shrugs, but the hint of a smile on her lips tells me she’s proud. “Mac and cheese. I figured it goes with everything.”

“Hell yes, it does. Come in. Let me introduce you to everyone again.”

Boaz has obviously been lurking around the corner waiting for his chance. He is on us instantly, smiling at Jade, pulling her in for a big hug. “Jade. I don’t think we got a chance to talk last time you were here. But I’ve heard so much about you.”

Jade gives me a sidelong glare that I dodge and we follow Boaz into the kitchen, where Sapphy and Knight are putting the final touches on the meal.

“Hey!” Sapphy calls out, hands full of a hot tray of roasted veggies she’s pulled from the oven. “She’s here!”

Knight turns, lifting a hand from the frypan he’s using to fry tofu and waves at Jade. “Hey. Welcome.”

I clear my throat. “Jade, meet Boaz, Sapphy, and Knight, the other members of my herd.” I wonder if I should say more. Likedon’t listen to anything Boaz says, or eat anything and everything Knight puts on your plate. But I don’t. I hold off in favor of letting the night spent with us speak for itself.

Knight and Sapphy finish cooking while the three of us head into the dining room where I’ve laid the table. When we moved into this place, we bought a table that fits twelve, so it feels a little lonely all of us sitting down one end. I wonder what Jade will think.

She’s quiet, looking around and taking everything in. I don’t know what to make of that. If she was unhappy, I think she’d let me know, so I figure it can’t be that bad.

The conversation flows much as it normally would. Except I’m quiet, too, watching Jade, waiting for a sign she’s hating this.

“So did you grow up in Heartstone, Jade?” Knight asks.

“No.” Jade scowls and I make a note to tread carefully around that issue. “I like Heartstone a fuck ton better than where I grew up, though. What about y’all?”

We talk about our favorite parts of Heartstone and the things that bug my herd mates about big city life. The three of them grew up in the country, but I’ve always been a city boy; I’ve never known any other life.

“What is it with people on the metro?” Sapphy says, laughing. “Like would it kill them to smile and make eye contact?”

Jade laughs. “I know! My first week in Heartstone, I actually tried talking to a guy on a train and he got up and moved into another car.”

Conversation flows easily from there. Jade seems more relaxed and opens up a little about her job. I think it’s brilliant she took a chance leaving her job at Barker’s to support her friend’s new business.

“You should come with us for a run in the country,” Sapphy says.

Jade snorts. “What? Like a jog? I’m not much of a runner.”

I shake my head. “No, a run. A gallop. We shift, we run. You could ride me.”

Her brow quirks and her smile lifts into a wicked grin. “Ride you, huh? Well why didn’t you say?”

Beneath the table my cock takes notice of her innuendo and I palm it down.

Fuck. Why didn’t I fuck her when I was paying? When she was practically climbing in my lap every date we went on?

I know the answer, of course. I wanted it to mean something to her, too.

I hope her comment means she’s still interested. But I know enough about Jade to know she’ll shy away from anything that might have more meaning than she likes.

Later, when we all move into the living room, I’m surprised and pleased when she comes to sit right next to me on the sofa, toeing off her heels and tucking up her feet. I lift my arm and she cuddles into my chest and my insides go all warm.

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