Page 51 of Used By the Unicorn

“At least, let me butter it for you. Baby needs more calories.”

She rolls her eyes, but hands over the bagel with the bite taken out of it. I set it on the plate and butter it, spreading the second slice, too, and hand her back the plate. “Here. Eat.”

“What time do we have to leave?”

I shrug. “The ceremony can’t start until we get there, can it?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to be late.” She slips under my arm where I’m resting them on the bench and lifts on her toes to plant a kiss on my lips. “What happens when my belly gets so big I can’t shave my pussy anymore?”

“Then don’t.”

She snorts. “Not happening. No way I’m letting a midwife go down there with it looking like a jungle.”

I toss my mane. “Have you thought anymore about having the birth at the grove?”

Jade’s expression turns wistful. “You know I’d like that, but it doesn’t feel right. I’m so... human. And I worry they would all be thinking I don’t belong.”

“Nonsense. You’re a unicorn now. You’re herd.”

She tugs on the plaited strands of my mane. “Not yet. That’s what today’s for, isn’t it?”

“It is. So will you?”

Her frown twists into a half-smile. “Maybe.”

When we arrive at the river, the sun is shining brightly and the air is warm. I’m glad. I don’t want Jade getting cold. We could have waited, I suppose and had the ceremony in the spring or summer after the baby is born. I didn’t want to wait, though.

Sapphy’s parents and their herd greet us at the picnic spot. Her mom has a special white cloth laid out across the single wooden picnic table and she’s laid out a feast of tiny cakes and sandwiches. Her mane is plaited with white ribbons and her smile is almost as wide as Sapphy’s.

“So glad you all could make it.” I lean in for a hug and we make our way down the line of waiting herd, greeting every one. Boaz’s parents couldn’t make it, but several of Knight’s parents’ herd did. Plus, there’s Knight’s sister and my brother. I know Jade does her best to remember all the names. She’s been practicing. She gets just about all of them right, too. A short blonde human and a tall, quiet man dressed in a formal suit stand a little apart from the others. I look again.

That’s no man.

Of course, it isn’t. This must be Kalli and Rin, her demon boyfriend. We approach and Jade clears her throat. “Thanks for coming. And you, Rin. You guys are the closest thing I’vegot to family here and it felt... important.” Kalli embraces her friend and I catch Jade’s eyes welling up before she turns away and clears her throat. “This is my herd. Stirling, Boaz, Sapphy, Knight, and Bliss.”

Rin inclines his head and I shiver as his movement suddenly makes me aware of the power beneath the innocent veneer. I catch a glimpse of red skin, wild dark hair and a jaw that stretches far too wide for comfort.

I step a bit closer to Jade

“Um...I apologize for what you’re about to witness,” Jade jokes.

It doesn’t take her long, though, to strip off with the rest of us.

God, I’ll never stop loving the shape of her body or the color of her light brown skin. So smooth. So fucking perfect.

I’m pretty sure my cock hangs a little heavier against my thigh as we all make our way down to the river.

We wade into the river. The water is cool. I crowd behind Jade and love the way she leans back into my warmth. I rub my hands up and down her arms. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

She sucks in a breath as she bends to take a handful of dirt from the riverbed. The muddy silt is so smooth it trickles in sludgy drops through her fingers when she opens her hand. She turns and looks up at me, eyes bright with moisture and an enormous smile on her face.

She’s just so goddamn beautiful I wonder for a minute how I ever did without her. How is it possible I didn’t know the second I saw her? Then I remember that I did!

She even dyes her hair unicorn green!

Jade wipes a finger through the mud in her palm and then down and around in a circle over my heart. “Heart to my heart, earth to my roots.” She dips her hands back into the water andcups them to lift the cool liquid and wash away the mud. “Water to my soil.” She takes the pretty white flower tucked behind her ear and stretches up to thread it into my mane. “May our love blossom and bring fruit to the herd.”

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