Chapter Fourteen

The evening had passed in a haze of dancing, drinking and laughing. Somehow, Dora had managed to convince Lowell to join her onstage for a hip shimmy how-to, but it took just one hearty guffaw from Gavin to send his oldest child storming away in embarrassment.

After the last of the paper lanterns had been extinguished and the last guest had pulled from the driveway, Carmen said goodnight to Calvin and headed to her new cottage.

After living there for just one month, the slate-roofed stone cottage already felt like home. Carmen drew a steaming bath in the claw-footed tub, mentally thanking the elves for their addition of Healing Waters to her own plumbing—not that she didn’t enjoy visiting the underground spring next to Castle Speranza—but Carmen appreciated a private soak. The lace-covered picture window in the bathroom faced the woods. Carmen turned off all of the lights and opened the drapes. Her sweat-dampened costume fell to the floor with a tired tinkly thump. She pumped some warm Living Earth from the cleverly designed elven spigot and plastered her face, shoulders, and arms with the delicately scented stuff. She felt it melt into her pores and ease her tired muscles. Carmen tested the bath with one toe before slipping into the soothing, fragrant heat.

Instantly, the magic liquid soaked through her skin and through her body, infusing her once more with the life-giving strength of the Healing Waters. With an effervescent heat, the water trickled into her blood and bones. She felt it strengthening and invigorating her. Carmen smiled and sank lower into the tub.

The gnomes had enlarged the bathing cavern next to Castle Speranza, and the elves had added some of their own improvements. There was now a screened area with an additional hot tub and mud bath in addition to the public ones. The cavern also included a steam shower, dry sauna and lounge area. The gnomes and elves frequented the spot, although they also continued to use their own temporary access points to the Healing Waters and Living Earth. Mephita, now a bit of celebrity in the gnome community, held court in the original mud bath. Surrounded by wide-eyed gnome admirers, she described how she’d rescued Brock from death then had gone on to save all of Prescott Woods.

Carmen didn’t begrudge Mephita her fame a bit—she’d earned every bit of it. Carmen let her eyes slip shut and basked in the success of the Prescott Fall Festival. It was truly magical to see the denizens of Prescott Wood mingle with the mortals of Charade in an evening of fun and laughter. She’d secretly hoped to spend a few moments with Brock. He was a spoilt, self-centred child, true, but in her heart of hearts, Carmen missed his mirth-filled blue eyes and his warm caramel skin against her own. Perhaps, after her stern rebuke, he’d lost his taste for her.

“Such a shame,” she murmured, “since he tasted so very good.”

Mrrrrrr-owwwww!

Carmen sat up in the tub, her heart pounding. A wave sloshed over the side and onto a sleek orange tabby seated on the tiles. “Oh,” Carmen said softly. “Hello, kitty. I thought you might be someone else.” The cat blinked its green eyes and purred.

“Hold on and I’ll find you some tuna in the kitchen.” Carmen slid down in the tub and submerged her head. She massaged her scalp vigorously and scrubbed her face and shoulders clean before lifting her head from the steaming liquid and pulling the plug in her tub.

She stood, water streaming down her body, and ruffled her dripping locks. Stepping onto a mat, Carmen raised a towel to her face to blot it dry. Her skin thrummed with sensitivity and heightened energy from her soak.

She felt a soft tickle at her calf and caught her breath. Surely just the cat’s tongue, but weren’t cats’ tongues scratchy and rough? She held the towel over her eyes and waited, heart pounding.

The silky touch flickered at her ankle like the most delicate of kisses, then traced up the damp skin on the side of her knee. Carmen felt two small, velvety pads of pressure beneath her knee. Were they a cat’s front paws, or a man’s fingers?

She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes closed. “Kitty, are you thirsty?” she asked. She felt a sharp nip above her knee and cried out in surprise. “Kitty!” she scolded. “No need for that, I’ll take care of you.”

Carmen felt the two points of contact move around her knee to the inside of her leg before tracing their way up her inner thigh. Clearly, this was no cat.

Carmen dropped the towel to the floor and lowered her hands to the tousled head between her legs. “I am thirsty, now that you mention it,” a familiar male voice growled, “but I think I’ve found just what I want to drink.”

He eased her down onto the curved side of the tub and spread her knees wide. Carmen twisted her fingers through his ash-grey hair and sighed happily. He sucked the water from her plump pussy lips and brushed his stubbled cheeks over the heat-softened skin between her legs. “I can look like anything, you know,” he whispered, “a fluffy grey cat, a racoon, an elderly geologist, a sleek tabby cat—but it’s always me, Carmen. You know that.” He pushed the tip of his tongue inside her cunt and held it, tasting her as slow seconds ticked by.

“Yes, I do know that,” Carmen murmured. “I suppose I—ah!” she cried out. Brock wound his arms beneath her thighs and pushed his tongue far into her pussy. She exhaled through pursed lips and arched her back. “I suppose I lost track of that for a moment, or maybe I was trying not to get my hopes up.”

Brock pulled his tongue out and flicked it over the damp, swollen nub of her clit, then slid one slender finger inside her. Carmen felt dizzy with impatience and desperate for a deep fucking, but willed herself to focus on the pleasure of the moment. “You were so beautiful tonight, Carmen,” he murmured.

She whimpered softly and imagined how his cock was growing thicker and harder by the second. “It’s going to feel so good when you push it in,” she whispered.

“Yes, it will, Carmen,” he agreed, and added a second finger.

Carmen raised her hands to her bare breasts and found her nipples. “It’s been a long time,” she noted, and rolled each stiff nipple between her fingertips. “I thought you weren’t going to come around.”

“You told me I was a self-centred child,” Brock answered. He withdrew his hand, lifted her from the edge of the tub down onto the fluffy bath mat, then lowered his hips between her thighs. “You said I needed to grow up.”

“Oh,” Carmen breathed. The silky-hard tip of his erection nudged against her opening.

“You were right,” he continued. Carmen felt faint as his shaft eased its way within. She closed her eyes, blind to all sensation except the beautifully brutal way his cock stretched her entrance.

“I know I’ve had an unconventional life, Carmen,” he said, penetrating farther. “I know I’ve got a lot to learn.”

Carmen nodded, too overwhelmed by sensation to speak.

“I’m trying, though,” he added. “I’ve been learning about the gnomes and the elves, spending time with them. I’ve learnt about the trolls and tree-spirits, too. Turns out trolls aren’t so stupid after all.”

“That’s good, Brock,” Carmen forced out. She widened her thighs to take him deeper.

“And we—Paloma, Lowell and even Korbin—have been being more assertive with Father. He understands that we’re adults now. It’s different than it was at Castle Speranza.” Brock lowered his face to Carmen’s breast and sucked one erect nipple into his mouth.

“I know that you are an independent woman, Carmen, and that’s why I’ve given you your space.” Brock’s hips began to pump faster into Carmen’s. He lifted her knees up to her ribs and slammed his cock deeply into her. Carmen cried out in mingled pain and relief.

She ran her fingernails down his corded back and scraped hard. Brock growled and fucked harder, pummelling her into the tile floor. Carmen’s orgasm began at that sweet point where the tip of his erection touched her inner walls and exploded from there. She gave a guttural cry, and wrapped her ankles around his back. As the spasms from her climax began to wane, the thick surge of Brock’s cum inside her brought them back to full strength.

Long moments later, he lay panting on her chest, his face buried between her bare tits. “Glorious,” he breathed.

“Amazing,” Carmen agreed.

As his heartbeat returned to normal, Brock eased back on his heels and gazed at Carmen, stretched nude on the floor before him. “You’re everything to me, Carmen,” he told her. “You’re vital and smart and beautiful and independent. I’d never take any of that away.”

Carmen smiled, adoring every inch of him—the rich gem-blue of his eyes, the wild grey fluff of his hair and the sculpted caramel gorgeousness of his body.

“What I’d like you to know is that I’m having the gnomes and elves construct a cottage for me between yours and Castle Speranza. I’ve put in a request for my own bath of Healing Waters and my own conduit to the Living Earth. I don’t want to take away your independence, Carmen, but I do want to love you. I want to visit you, and for you to visit me. I want to explore the woods and the town with you, and experience whatever parts of your long life you’re willing to share with me. I don’t want all of you, Carmen.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Just those parts of you that can love me as much as I love you.”

He closed his eyes and exhaled. “But only if that’s what you choose, Carmen.”

Carmen pulled her hand away and sat up. She took his playful, lovable face between her hands. “Yes, Brock, I want you to have the parts of me that love you, although I warn you, those parts will only grow and get stronger. I want you to be part of my days and nights. I want us to learn and grow together in these unconventional, amazing lives we have in Prescott Woods. I want to love you.” She pulled him close to her for a kiss of promise and hope.

“Brock, I choose it.”

THE END