Page 43 of Fairies Don't Fall

He scratched the back of his neck and then shrugged, rippling into the beast, but instead of his suit and hat, he waswearing very small black shorts, like what he’d been wearing under the falls.

“My precious delight of perfection. You must be getting cold,” he rumbled. “Come wrap yourself in the blankets and warm yourself on my skin.” His voice was so low and deep that it reverberated through me.

I swallowed hard and stayed where I was instead of running towards him or away. I wasn’t sure which was more compelling. “You aren’t wearing your hat.”

He studied me with slightly narrowing eyes, then ran a clawed hand through his dark mane. “That’s right. Do you want me to wear a hat? It could be arranged.”

I took a small step back, because that wolf in the bed was dangerous. Very, very dangerous. “I was just wondering if you like hats.”

“You wanted to ask me if I like hats?” He stretched his massive arms behind his head and leaned against the solid wood headboard. So much muscle beneath that dusky, marbled skin. It was absolutely mind-boggling.

I licked my lips and nodded.

“Yes. I like hats.”

“Really?”

He nodded, sharp and decisive, then smiled, showing all those dangerous glinting teeth. “Come closer and I’ll tell you the myriad of ways I like hats.”

I took another small step backwards. “Ah, that’s okay. I wouldn’t want to fall asleep again. I have things to do today. Errands. So, um, you do like hats?”

“Passionately.”

I relaxed slightly and nodded at him. “So, you might consider funding a hat shop? Think how lovely it would be to have a top-of-the-line hat shop in downtown Singsong City? In the shiny district.”

“You want me to fund your hat shop? Consider it done. Come back to bed.”

I didn’t quite take a step away. “Ah, well, it’s not for me personally. It’s actually Shotglass who wants to open a hat shop.”

“The fairy you forced a rehabilitation on? She never wears hats.”

I shrugged helplessly. “I know. It’s ridiculous. I’m pretty sure it’s just a wild idea she had, and she has no collateral and no record for keeping a job much less making payments, so most likely you’ll be pouring your money down a drain and never get any return on your investment.” Those were all the things the goblin had said to me, only couched in more condescending tones.

“You seem distraught. Come back to bed and I will soothe your feelings.” His eyes glimmered, and a ripple went down from his pectorals over his stomach down to the waistband of his shorts.

I took a large step away from the bed. “I don’t need my feelings soothed. I need funding. It’s impossible, isn’t it?”

He shrugged and melted into a smaller form of the still large Max, who wore pants with suspicious holes, like they’d been caught in my poison storm. “All of that to ask me for a loan? You’re not very good at negotiating. You’re supposed to highlight the potential, not point out the risks.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to take advantage of you.” Not when it was my fault that his people were poisoned, but I needed Shotglass’s information. I swallowed hard. “Still, it could be a good investment. There could be some terms in the contract requiring her to hire other fairies, give them some purpose, help rehabilitate them. She is an excellent healer and could be held on retainer for your pack. What collateral do you want from me? Is there anything you want?”

He laughed, teeth flashing as he shook his head. “My beast made his interest very clear. You almost sold your body for money.”

I frowned at him. Was his beast interested in my flesh in such a primal way that didn’t include cannibalism? I shivered. “Is that what your beast…”

“No.” He slid off the bed and walked across the room, pulling on a shirt as he went. He sat down at a table and pulled a paper off the stack, as well as a quill and inkwell. I loved inkwells. Did he have a wax stamp as well? I used to spend hours melting wax all over my mother’s desk. She’d been able to read all the languages. My chest throbbed strangely as I watched him write. His movements were so sure, his lines so graceful. I watched over his shoulder, unable to make any letters out of all the swirling ink.

He turned around and handed me the papers. “I own a building that she can have. This is the title. I’m passing it to you, and you can give it to her. I’ll have someone get the keys. There’s also an account that will have enough funds for her to get started with supplies and whatever else she needs.”

“But what do you want for collateral from me?”

“Your word that you won’t ever go to a bank or a goblin without me. I’m your bank and your loan officer. Princess Sparkles, you healed my wolves until you passed out for two days. And you saved Ruin from the owl god. Money is nothing compared to that.”

I slowly started to relax and finally gave him a small smile. “I don’t really understand money. That’s what I think, that it doesn’t make sense to have so much focus on something that’s just a symbol of labor or goods, but this isn’t Fairyland.”

“Do we have a deal?” he asked, holding out his hand.

I looked at his hand and then up into those warm eyes filled with an intense burning that made me shiver. “What do you want me to give you?”

---