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“Okay, well.” Der clears his throat and steps back, turning his body away from Belle so he can adjust himself in his jeans. “We should get going if we wanna make it before sunset.”
Nodding, I step back from Belle and shift. I don’t have to undress like most shifters I know. It’s a trait Derek and I share. His clothes shrink to fit his pixie and my magic stores mine for when I shift back again. My horse is a massive beast with the bottom of my belly reaching up to Belle’s shoulders. My mane and tail are made out of smoke and ash, and my body is coated in short slick raven hair. My eyes are red as hell fire, and I’m sure I look terrifying in this form, but all I get from Belle is awe.
I can see the image of my stallion in her mind and in the image, she is stroking my coat and somehow braiding my mane. I snort at the image and she jumps a bit. The hand she was slowly raising falls to her side and I paw the ground in frustration at myself for scaring her. Derek steps up to her back and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her body close to his. Lucky bastard.
“It’s okay, Sweet Girl. Nick won’t hurt you. He wants you to touch him, to get to know his stallion as well as the man. He can also read your mind, so if you were picturing touching him, riding him.” The last two words were spoken with a heavy emphasis that makes me want to smack the playful pixie. “Then he would know and readily agree. He can send you images as well, so if you see something in your mind that you didn’t think, it was probably him.”
I send my thanks to Derek for explaining things to Belle. I know I should have explained it all before I shifted, but I was way too nervous and excited to think of it before.
Belle steps closer and runs her hands down my side. She weaves her fingers through my mane and walks around to my front so she can look me in the eyes. Her hand runs down my snout just like people do with real horses, and a shiver runs through my body. Images are flying through my mind from Der, Belle, and my stallion. It’s hard to keep up with them all, but they are all basically saying the same thing. Belle is beautiful, and she is fearless and sweet, and so many other things.
I snort again, using my nose to nudge Belle back to my side so we can get going. Derek helps her mount, and as soon as her body weight is settled on my back, I have to keep pictures of her riding other parts of me at bay long enough to get going. The meadow isn’t actually all that far away. It’s only about a mile from where we started, so Derek walks beside me, one hand on Belle to keep her steady, as the two of them talk. Every once in a while I send them both an image or a thought to add to the conversation, but mostly I just think about how good it feels to have Belle riding me through my woods.
The souls of dead animals scurry through the foliage as we make our trek. They scurry under my hooves and disappear to the afterlife they’ve been searching for. The meadow comes into view, and I stop at the edge. Before Belle can dismount, I shift back to man and Belle’s legs are wrapped around my waist as her arms latch around my neck. Derek and I laugh as Belle lets out a cute shriek of surprise that morphs into a gasp of awe.
The meadow is beautiful. There are flowers and toadstools all over the lush, green grass. Butterflies and hummingbirds dance in the breeze and a perfect picnic is sitting on a large, flat boulder in the middle. Derek has a copse of small houses built into dead tree stumps on the outer edge of the clearing that his sisters stay in when they visit. He has a home here as well, but he never stays here unless his family is in town.
“Wow, this is… Amazing.” We can barely hear the words as they fall from Belle’s soft, pink lips.
Derek and I share a smirk as we walk to the picnic area. Belle clings to my back as I cross the meadow. Squirrels and rabbits skitter around my feet and make Belle laugh again. We settle down and have our picnic. Derek and I keep Belle laughing at our antics, and Belle tells us more about herself. Five minutes before the surprise is supposed to start, Belle asks to see Derek’s pixie.
“We don’t have time right now, Sweet Girl. But I promise to show you next time.”
I’m not sure how he does it, but he keeps his voice calm. I know for a fact that he has issues with his shifted form. For Belle, though, I can see in his mind that he’ll shift happily.
As Belle nods, disappointment on her face, but understanding in her thoughts, snow starts falling in the meadow. Heavy drifts of snow build up around the rock and in less than five minutes, the green field is covered in white. Belle is looking around, shock apparent on her face.
“What in the world is going on here?”
Derek and I smirk at each other again. A snowball smacks the two of us in the face as laughter rings out in the air. The surprise is here.
Jack and Cypian step out of the trees in front of us, both laughing. Belle smiles when she sees them. The two make their way over to where we are sitting. Derek is red in the face, but he is laughing as well. I’m distracted by the images coming at me from Cy. He and Jack were up to some kinky shit before coming out here, and now he is projecting those images into my mind. When he makes it over to the boulder, I nudge his shoulder and send my pleas to his mind for him to stop bombarding me with his sex life. He flushes and immediately the images stop. I can’t help but laugh at the elf.
“What are you guys doing here?” Belle asks. She seems to think about how it sounds, because she flushes and quickly continues to speak. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, of course.”
“We came for your surprise,” Cy says.
“Yeah. We’re going to have a snowball fight. Right now.” As Jack finishes his statement, a snowball hits Belle in the chest, and Derek runs to the other side of the field, laughing his ass off.
Belle, Cy, and Jack all jump off the boulder in separate directions, laughing as they throw snowballs at each other. I sit on the boulder, leaning back on my hands behind me as I watch the four most important people in my life laughing and playing together. Today couldn’t have been better if I tried.
Chapter Seven
Belle
“Belle?”
I startle at Tali’s voice, turning to glance at her over my shoulder. “Tali? When did you make it home?”
My bestie’s lips quirk up at the edges as she tries to fight her smile. “About twenty minutes ago. I was starting to worry because not only didn’t you hear me, but you’ve been staring at your screen and not moving that entire time.”
“Oh.” I duck my head, flushing from head to toe. “I guess I was lost in thought.”
“About what? Those sexy men you’re using to have a romantic Christmas? The ones you don’t want anything else from besides their company?”
I make a face at her teasing. She knew that had been the plan from the start, but I didn’t know it would be like this. I thought I’d make new friends—and don’t get me wrong, I have. I just didn’t think I’d feel so much more than friendship toward them.
“It’s okay if you like them.” Tali’s voice softens as she comes to kneel beside my chair. “Just because you didn’t go into this looking for love doesn’t mean you can’t find it.”
