Page 9 of Moonlit Alexandrite

Do not ask him to wake the snake. Do not ask him to wake the snake, I thought desperately. My succubus shivered in delight, and I seriously considered jumping up and bolting, but my limbs were loose from my first ever orgasm. Oh shit. I would forever be the girl who gave her first O to a horse.

“Ummm...” I needed to look away. Surely it would become awkward soon.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

Focus, Lex, you can answer a simple question.

“Cocks. I mean Lex. Alexandicks.” I sighed in defeat and buried my face in my hands. It would have been awesome if I were able to blame the awkwardness on my succubus, but unfortunately it was all me. I had never seen one so close before.

“Your penis is very distracting,” I muttered through my hands. For the first time ever, I was attracted to someone, and now I had to leave the country and change my name. My face burned, and I wondered if you could spontaneously combust from foot-in-mouth syndrome.

Work-roughened fingers gently gripped my wrist as a warm chuckle sent tingles racing down my spine. “I’m Tase.”

I allowed him to pull my hands away and found myself looking into the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen. The soulful beauty I saw in his horse form remained framed in thick black lashes.

Why did guys always have beautiful lashes? One of the unfair mysteries of the universe.

“Tase... the horse?” I asked, still trying to register the sudden shift from beast to human. Apparently, orgasms made me a little loopy.

“Tase, the kelpie, owner of this beautiful loch.” He swept his arm out to encompass all of Loch Moon Dust. The shift in position brought my attention to the corded muscle of his shoulder and chest. His entire body was a work of art, and I felt the familiar twitch in my fingers, wishing they held charcoal so I could commit him to canvas. He was truly remarkable, both as a man and as a horse... I mean kelpie.

In a lithe move, Tase pushed to his feet and offered his hand.

Shit.

I was face to face with his one eyed python, and once again I found myself caught in its hypnotic gaze as it began to sit up in greeting. Tase crouched before me, clearing his throat loudly.

“Eyes up here, baby girl. You keep looking at him like that and he’s going to want to shake hands with other parts of your fine anatomy.” The assessing gaze he cast down my body rekindled the flame in my cheeks and flooded my panties. Again.

I shivered, breaking the moment, and allowed him to hoist me to my feet.

“Fates, but you smell amazing,” he muttered as he buried his nose in my hair briefly. I had always thought it was creepy when guys sniffed girls, but somehow Tase made it... not? Maybe I was making exceptions because he was hot.

There are hot serial killers, my mind pointed out.

Tase chuckled again, stepping away and allowing me to breathe a little.

“I promise, I’m no serial killer. A prankster extraordinaire, yes, but honestly, I don’t do well with blood.”

Oh God, why couldn’t I stop embarrassing myself in front of him? I didn’t even realize I had said that out loud. To distract both of us from my complete inability to socialize like a normal person, I focused on the other part of what he said. “Prankster?”

With a grin, he told me about the selkie invasion of Loch Moon Dust, and his valiant efforts to defend his territory. Apparently Officer Stone, the local law enforcement, had the ability to cancel out magic, and when the war began to affect the human population of Moonlit Falls, he had banned the use of magic in any territorial disputes.

So Tase got creative.

So had the local selkies.

Pranks were the new weaponry in the war for the loch, and it looked as though neither side had any intention of conceding defeat.

It was all very exciting to hear about, and I found Tase’s animated way of telling the story completely charming. He was so passionate. So sure of himself that it was hard not to agree he must be the rightful owner.

As we talked, we walked. Aimlessly, I thought, until we wound up outside my apartment building.

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” I said in a voice barely above a whisper. I had grown used to his nakedness while we were talking, but, perhaps because we were so close to my bedroom, my awareness returned with a vengeance. Could I lose my virginity to this man?

He was attractive, funny, smart, and loyal. He had told me about his chosen family, the satyr he lived with, the fire salamander and his son, both his mothers down south, whom he loved, but didn’t see often.

As though in slow motion, he pulled me into his arms, nuzzled my hair, then kissed me gently on the cheek. The warmth of his lips lingered, even as he stepped away.

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