Page 15 of Chasing Tail
Chapter 9
The bed was very comfortable, and it was beautiful sleeping wrapped up with Taron, but morning hit me way harder than it did under the sea. It wasn’t just that Taron and I were up late. I used to stay up late with Seira all the time. It was just so damned bright here without meters of ocean filtering it out.
Taron and I still weren’t used to wrapping ourselves in clothes. Beck showed us where he kept the food, and we were both starving when we woke up. We forgot to put them on when we wandered out to get something to eat. We didn’t even think about how this wasn’t our house, and the three brothers wanted to help us.
Forrest was waiting for us, and he had prepared food. I didn’t know what I was smelling, but it smelled amazing. Forrest didn’t even blink.
“Is this a thing where you come from? Would you be more comfortable if I got naked too?”
I felt myself breaking into a gigantic smile. I wouldn’t mind it in the slightest if he removed his clothes, even if he had legs. Taron grabbed my arm and stomped to the bedroom.
“I know what you’re thinking, Kishi. I detest these bulky clothes, but I dislike the idea of you staring at Forrest without them even more.”
“I was planning on staring at you too. You’d be so pretty with a tail.”
Taron puffed up his chest and would have spent the rest of our time on land without a stitch of clothing if it wouldn’t mean Forrest would remove his to make us both feel comfortable. I had a feeling the three brothers thought we were both very strange, but I thought it was a little weird they were so lovely to us when it involved being naked.
I was giggling when I pulled Taron back out of the bedroom. Forrest saw us and broke into this huge grin. Taron just grunted. I couldn’t help smiling back.
“The two of you certainly aren’t shy. Are you hungry?”
I nodded and pulled Taron over to the table. I honestly had no idea what I was looking at, but it smelled amazing. Forrest had more of that white stuff I enjoyed last night, so I snatched it up and shoved it in my mouth. There were strips of white and brown things. Taron picked it up and licked it. His eyes rolled back in his head in pleasure, and then he crammed it in his mouth.
Forrest just had this serene smile on his face. I desperately wanted to know what we were eating. I met his blue eyes and pointed at the food.
“Ah. That’s cheese. Taron is enjoying the bacon. Those are eggs, and that’s toast.”
Idefinitelyliked the cheese. I think it was my favorite thing about land. Taron seemed to be plowing his way through the bacon. I looked at the eggs. That couldn’t be right. We ate eggs in the ocean. This wasn’t like any eggs I’d ever eaten before. It was solid except for the center and much bigger. I poked it with my finger, and it bounced a little.
I drew back and frowned. Taron didn’t have any reservations. He scooped up the eggs with his fingers and shoved them in his mouth. Taron let out another little moan. He was such a fucking shark.
“That’s gross, Taron.”
“Actually, it’s pretty fucking good. Try it.”
Forrest handed me a shiny silver thing. It was one of Seira’s favorite things from the ships, but neither of us could figure out what it was for. He handed one to Taron too.
“This is a fork. We use them for eating.”
Forest sliced off a piece of his eggs, speared it with the fork, and brought it to his mouth. That was pretty handy. I wasn’t on board with the eggs, and Taron looked at the fork like it slapped him. I watched the way Forrest held his and tried to mimic it. I ended up dropping it.
Forrest jumped out of his seat and stood behind me. I felt his arms wrap around me as he tried to teach me how to use the fork. I let out a little sigh. He just smelled so good. Then, Taron let out this strangled noise and tried to drive his fork into Forrest’s arm.
Forrest jumped back and just barely avoided getting stabbed. I jumped out of my chair and tackled Taron. He went flying back, and I straddled his chest. I wrapped my hand around his neck and hissed.
“Stop it, Taron! That was harmless. There are three of them and one of you. I don’t want you to die because you got jealous.”
Taron held up his hands and blinked at me.
“I’m over it. Sorry, Kishi. I just really don’t like it. So I’ll try to ignore it.”
I jumped up and offered him my hand to help him up. We both pulled our chairs back up to the table and resumed eating. Forrest was still standing back, staring at us. He warily made his way back to the table.
“Taron, how about I teach you how to use the fork, and you can teach Kishi? Getting stabbed by a fork is nasty business.”
Taron just grunted and shoved some of the toast in his mouth. I just sighed and nodded at Forrest.
“Is he going to get stabby again if I touch him?”
