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"I heard she feasted and fucked her way through the whole den for several months," Laszlo said lightly. "I believe she might even have stayed."
"Good for her. I would've been very put out if I'd been robbed of a pretty gold gryphon," I said.
Laszlo's arm snapped suddenly around my waist, drawing me crashing back into his chest with an whoosh of breath. His hips nestled into my ass, and his talons combed my soaked hair away from my left shoulder. He held me there, as we'd been pressed together while stroking Hywel's cocks, and our breaths stuttered in the wake of the sudden movement.
"Would you really?" he whispered into my ear.
I'd been flirting unconsciously, not even aware of myself, and now pressed by the question, I found myself awkward and uncertain again. But my head was nodding.
"I'm not sure I would've given up so easily," I said, speaking carefully to keep from stammering. I pressed my ass back, but Laszlo moved with me, not allowing me to grind into him. "Not for orcs, certainly."
It'd been a long time since I'd fucked an orc. I'd seen almost none at Birsha's establishment, as they tended to be fairly precise lovers when it came to their partner's enjoyment. They liked cries of lust, not of terror. I remembered some rowdy, aggressive sex with a small den and a lot of crawling around on my hands and knees. A good meal, but not my preferred flavor.
"I think it wouldn't have taken Hywel much convincing to make a bargain with you," Laszlo admitted, laughing softly. He stepped away slowly, and his back was to me before I could turn and catch his mouth with mine. "Would you do me a favor?"
"Of course."
"Tending my wings is tedious on my own. But I can give you instruction."
I gaped at the broad spread of his wings, stretched to keep themselves out of the water, the ends just barely submerged.
"I'd be…happy to." Honored was a better word. Feathers were a tricky business from the little I knew, and even my incubus hadn't allowed me the opportunity to groom his.
Laszlo reached the edge of the pool, hauling himself up and then sitting down on the stone, next to the open old trunk. He put the bottle he'd used for my hair away and then pulled out a fine comb with a sharp end, a small blade, and a bottle of oil.
"The edges will be the worst, and up at the joint usually needs tidying. Cut any ragged ends. Pull out ones that are turned at odd angles. Polish what's dull," Laszlo instructed.
"Will it hurt if I pull out your feathers?"
"I'm used to it. Just warn me," he said, glancing over his shoulders. He drew his knees up and rested his forearms on them, hunching forward so I could reach the undersides of his wings too, where there were more ruffled spots.
I paused, taking in his wings, noting the different areas of issues he'd mentioned, the places that needed trimming; the broad middle that wasn't shining quite as brightly, probably harder for Laszlo to reach. I planned my movements and then reached for the blade first.
"I've missed this the most," Laszlo murmured. "Even more than sex with him. I've missed having my mate awake."
I didn't ask if he'd had any guests do this for him. I knew the answer. I just didn't know why he offeredmethe privilege. I wasn't sure if I was ready to know, so I set to work silently.
* * *
TendingLaszlo's wings had soothed me into a rare calm. He'd taken my hand when I was finished, dressed us both in robes, and led me through the castle.
We would go up to his roost, I thought. He would tuck me into his nest, and I would draw him down on top of me, fit him inside of me. It wouldn't be wild and spontaneous, like with Conall in the meadow. It wouldn't be secretive and sleepy, like with Asterion either. Laszlo would be intentional, demanding, intimate.
And I was calm.
Except we did not go up to his nest after all, but stepped into a large room filled with racks of weapons and dummies dressed in pieces of armor, swords and axes and rifles mounted onto the walls.
I paused, and Laszlo's hand slipped free of mine.
"If we are at war, you must learn to fight," Laszlo said.
My calm evaporated immediately. "No," I said, stumbling back from him, my throat squeezing tight.
"I'm not asking you to step onto the battlefield, dear one," he said, turning to face me, his arms crossed over his chest. "But you've been captured once. Mistreated. I will do everything in my power to avoid seeing such a fate befall you again, including arming you and teaching you to fight."
"It won't matter," I said, my head shaking, heart slamming wildly in my chest. "I'm not strong. Not strong enough. I have one gift, and it's—"
"You have many gifts," Laszlo said sharply, glaring at me over the edge of his glasses. "They are not up for critique. And you may not have more than human strength, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't train what you do have."
