Page 20 of Glittering Feather

I had a pair of shimmery silver tennis shoes to go with my own tiny nurse costume, and a silver stethoscope around my neck. My hair was up in pigtails on both sides of my face, with a cute nurse’s cap on top.Hmm.I peeked at my reflection. It still needed something.

“Freckles!” I ran through to the bedroom and grabbed one of our jars of chocolate sauce, then used my eyeliner brush to dab a few cute freckles on my cheeks.

“Holy sheet, birch, you look like every dirty old man’s wettest dream,” Sunny said with a low whistle when I turned.

I sniffed. “I should hope so. I’m married to some of the oldest men in existence.”

“And some of the dirtiest, too,” she teased, linking arms as we stepped outside. “On the inside, at least. And that’s what counts.”Laughing, we began the short walk to the party. I glanced back at our house, slightly worried, though I knew I didn’t have a real reason to be.

Shadow had agreed to stand guard outside Precious’s bedroom door to make sure she stayed grounded, though she hadn’t seemed that bothered. Mikhail’s punishment had given her something none of us had realized she needed: a purpose. For the past three weeks, she’d spent every waking hour in his workshop, learning everything she could about the arts of Naming and Making.

He’d confided that she had actually been the one to help repair the chime. They’d used it on a few things, and the results had been unpredictable, but generally good. Mikhail had finally admitted that, even if it wasn’t perfect, using it to help make the sign for the sex club wasn’t that big a deal. How wrong could it go?

A shiver went down my spine as I thought about how wrong things had gone for me, back in the day. I sent up a little prayer to the Goddess of Glittery Goofups that any stumbles tonight would be minor.

The club was heaving when we arrived. “Hope!” Sunny shouted, dropping my arm and running to join her mate on the dance floor that had gold and silver lights flashing in the floor panels. The music that poured out of the walls themselves had a deep, thumping bass line that I could feel all the way up in my hoohah.

“Did you just think of sweet Bitsy as yourhoohah?” Righteous asked behind me, as he leaned in to kiss my neck on one side and tweak his mating feather through my toga on the other. “Nurse Feather, I think you need to check my vitals.” I wanted to melt into him, but I spun around instead to see what he had on, since we’d all decided to surprise each other at the party.

“Anaconda… Pants?” I gasped as I realized that Ry was wearing green and brown body paint instead of clothing—well, he had on a schlong-thong—which made him appear to be half man, half python. I stared at the ridiculous bulge that was growing slightly more pronounced under my gaze. “It’s perfect, Ry. You’re the anaconda of my dreams.”

Before I could grab him to see just how much bigger the tip of his “snake tail” could grow, someone threw a rope around me, like a lasso. “Hold up there, pardner,” Rumple crooned in a silly Texas drawl. “Darn good thing I brought my lasso. If you cowpokes ask me, this little filly needs to be broken.”

“Or ridden,” I suggested, as I took in his cowboy hat, leather vest, and deputy sheriff star. My eyes dropped to the lasso, and I laughed when I realized it was his tail. Then I gasped. “Rumple, are those… are those…” I stuttered as I took in what he had on the bottom half of his gorgeous body.

He turned around, winked over his shoulder, and slapped one bare butt cheek at me. “Yes indeedy, little lady. Assless chaps for my sweet Texas rose.”

“Yeehaw!” I grabbed the end of his tail from around my waist and stuck the tip in my mouth, giving it a good, thorough suck. Rumple laughed, adjusting the front of his trousers.

“Naughty girl,” Gavriel purred beside me, as the rest of my mates joined us. Then he purred for real, lifted a hand to his whiskered face, and licked at it, like a paw.

My jaw dropped as I took a step back. He wore a costume that wouldn’t have been out of place in the old Broadway show calledCats. Fur from top to bottom, with golden eyes that were distinctly catlike as he gave a soft “meow.”

I hadn’t been this shocked—in a good way—since Righteous had won a game of cards and made the other guys pay up by calling him Sir for a week and doing whatever he commanded. My youngest lover’s stern side had spawned a whole lot of new fantasies in my already twisted mind.

Apparently, it was Gav’s time to shine. As he turned, I noted the long cat’s tail that descended from a slit in his tight, furry pants had to be connected directly to his…Oh. My. Plug.

Or to be technical,hisplug.

“Gavriel, I thought you said you didn’t have a furry kink?”

My heart pounded double time when he grinned. Gavriel was my most serious mate, and his smiles were like rainbows that lit up my entire soul. “I don’t. I told you, I have a Feather kink.” He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, his fingers landing over Mikhail’s mating feather as he pulled me in for a kiss.

At the last moment instead of kissing me, he licked a long stripe up the side of my face. “Meow.”

“Ew!” I yelled, feigning disgust. After all, this man had licked every place his tongue could reach. Before I could retaliate, I was snatched away and tucked under Mikhail’s arm. “What… Growly? Where are we going?”

He was carrying me across the dance floor, and I only had a moment to notice the kilt he was wearing, complete with kilt socks, the naming chime stuck in the top of one of them in place of thesgian dubhknife. I grinned. He knew how much I loved it when he read Robert Burns to me in his Scottish burr.

I slid a finger up his thigh under the kilt, just to check and see if he’d gone fully traditional. He had, but we were moving too fast for me to do anything about it.

Dancing Protectors, their faces splashed with the Celestial lights, moved out of the way as he marched through the throng. Everyone was having an amazing time. Which meant no one was paying attention to us. That was a good thing, considering my nurse costume had slipped up, leaving my glittery underwear completely exposed.

Well, Ithoughtno one was paying attention, until a hand came out of nowhere and landed on my butt with a slap. And then another one. And another.

“Ouch!”

When Mikhail realized what was happening, he stopped, and with a wave of his hand, the music stopped with a thundering crash. In seconds, no one was dancing. A few people who had already started having sex were still going, and the lights were flashing like a rave in full swing, but you could have heard a pin drop.

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