Like the rest of the house, the bedroom has signs of Talia’s meddling. Notably, the change in covers on the bed. White and blue silk sheets that are just a touch cooler than Talia’s skin. Spring still has a long jaunt till summer, not that my body notices the temperature much, but it’s refreshing. Easy to follow her lead as she urges me to lie back.

“Get a little more comfortable,” she says, taking the lead by untying the belt of her robe and shrugging it off. I kick off my boots and pull off my shirt. In a second, I’m naked, impatient but appreciative of Talia’s much slower stripping. She lets her robe fall to the floor, dropping her lacy undergarments, Kierra originals, on top of it before unpinning her long hair, shaking it out. Those beautifully strange eyes look at me and her more natural expression of amusement, which is barely any expression at all, fractionally curves the corner of her lips.

“Softer.”

I swallow. Then I reach for the list always lurking in the back of my mind. Somehow, no matter how long it grows, I never forget one of the options or struggle to pick what I want from it. It remains as instinctual as breathing. With a thought, I transform.

I’m me, the original me. My body feels heavier and the world is muted. It’s uncomfortable but it gets a lot better when Talia climbs onto the bed, knees on either side of me, hair forming a curtain that blocks the murky light that makes it through the shades. “There,” she says in a sultry voice. “Doesn’t that feel better?”

Guilt twists in my gut. “It shouldn’t.”

“It’s okay to let go. To relax.” She kisses my forehead. I’m annoyed that it causes warm fuzzies to bloom in my chest. “Sometimes.”

Then she kisses me again and my lecherous mind works in my favor, easily shoving aside my worries. Normally, Talia is the delicate one who needs to be treated with extra care but, like this, our strength and means are more or less equal. I don’t mind doing most of the work, take pride in it really, but there’s something to be said for equal participation that isn’t a wrestling match. It’s not as intense, mind-erasing and world-ringing intense like it is when Kierra is allowed to do as she pleases, but it’s nice. Soft, as she says.

Also unlike my savage elf, Talia doesn’t get right to the deed. Once we get comfortable, myself propped up on several pillows and Talia lying between my legs, she takes her time exploring my mouth. Kissing, licking, and sucking. Not biting. That’d be too aggressive for the flower. She teases, entices. And she comforts.

“It’s okay.”

“Shame on these hunters, bullying a lady only trying to care for her family.”

“You weren’t in the wrong.”

“The future will be better.”

“We love you.”

She whispers and she kisses and the hard anger inside me softens. Still refuses to move but it gets a little more comfortable. Little bit easier to bear. I don’t answer her with words, just sighs and nudges, encouraging her to move beyond the gentle touches. Nice as her pampering is, I am still interested in my ending. She follows the direction, hand sliding down my front and—

“YOU DARE!”

I don’t think. In a second, I’m back in my prime form, Talia is rolled behind me, and I throw myself at the intruder in the room before I can even recognize them. My mind conjured a vision of a scruffy hunter, knife-in-hand and expression twisted with rage. My thoughts stall as that image is shattered by the presence of a green skinned man dressed in leather pants and a vest of fur, given a second to think as he grabs me by throat and squeezes.

“YOU—"

I cut him off with an impressive display of strength and flexibility, kicking him with all the power I can muster in my compromised position. If it were a hunter, the blow would have snapped his neck at the very least. Maybe knocked his head off his shoulders. The green man doesn’t even flinch, though his lip is bleeding. The grip on my neck tightens, hard enough that it starts to hurt.

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“Impudent human. I should—"

I shed my prime form, becoming purple ooze. I intended to break his grip by expanding but it’s unnecessary. The green man recoils at my transformation, jumping toward the side, next to…next to a woman with violet skin, familiar silver hair, and green eyes.

Wait. A green man. A familiar green man with long ears. Oh saints.

As if Cosmo himself declared that the situation wasn’t awkward enough, the door is slammed open, Kierra bursting into the room while breathing heavily. A second later, Bell appears at her heels.

Her narrowed eyes immediately find her mother, but they widen with shock, a rare expression from her, as they land on the man. “Patre?”

“Kii!” the green giant, he’s ridiculously tall, bellows before launching himself across the room and scooping her up. My lovely barbarian is the picture of confusion as she lets herself be embraced. He natters at her in the chirping, lyrical language of the elves until Kierra complains.

“In Common, Father. There are others.”

Ah. I should probably transform back.

This whole time, Morgene Atainna has never stopped looking at me. Her expression is naked interest that is uncomfortable in its intensity. I clear my throat, but she doesn’t so much as twitch. “Ah…good to see you again…mother-in-law?”

“Morgene will do,” she says. Ugh, it’s like being eyed by a snake. “I suspected there was more to you than a simple human to interest my daughter. I’m glad to see my judgment and my daughter’s remains intact.”

“Thank you?”

“What are you?”

“Mother!” Kierra manages to escape her father who keeps trying to drag her into a hug. “Leave my bonded alone. And what are the two of you doing here? It is rude to use your magic to invade private homes.”

Morgene doesn’t scoff. Not with sound. Doesn’t even frown. Somehow, she manages to communicate her disdain with her eyes alone. “Surely, my daughter isn’t rejecting a visit from her dear mother that has traveled a literal continent to see her.”

“I am. Get out.”

Amazingly, that makes her smile. “Not yet. In hindsight, I didn’t spend enough time with you and your…mate. A problem I’d like to rectify.”

“You.” The green man, no, Kierra’s father glares at me. Thankfully, they only share the same shade of skin and their height. Not that he’s ugly. I don’t think I’ve seen an unattractive elf. They aren’t all stunningly attractive like my wife or her mother, but I doubt they’d get turned away by anyone with taste. He’s handsome for a man, with a strong chin and heavy brow. Traits I can’t imagine on my lover. Ah, he’s angry. Is this the long-standing tradition of the disapproving father? I thought I was spared that.

My own father might have blinked twice at my marriage but he got over his reservations amazingly quick when I mentioned Kierra and royalty in the same sentence. Opportunistic man.

Dead opportunistic man.

“I wanted to see the human that snatched my daughter, a future queen, from her people, from her home. I expected to be disappointed. Yet, you surpass all expectations. I find an abomination in bed with another woman while my daughter is out bettering herself.”

“Father—"

“I am taking my daughter home—"

“You do not—"

“I said I’m taking you home. And if anyone tries to stop me, then I will meet them in combat! Even you, daughter!”

Kierra makes a sound between a screech and a roar. “Fine. If the two of you insist—"

“No.”

The room turns to me, well, the other two because Morgene still hasn’t taken her eyes off me. I ignore the angry brown eyes of Kierra’s father as I walk up to him. If this were a few weeks earlier, I would have steeled myself for a conflict, simply accepting it as the elves’ way. Now? I’m too tired for this. He’s family, dammit. The only father I have left. I’ll be damned to the Abyss before I let this grudge fester in a brawl.

And if it becomes a fight anyway, there will only be one.

I force a smile but think better of it and quash it as I stick out my hand. “Good to meet you. I’m Lourianne Tome, the woman who loves your daughter very much and the woman your daughter has agreed to spend her life with. You don’t get a say in that. If you try to take her against her will, I will shatter you like I did this city when they threatened her. However, I would love to get to you know you and grow closer as a family. Please don’t make this difficult.”

The room is silent as he regards me. Then, “You are responsible for the city’s ruin?”

“They didn’t give me a choice.”

More silence. Then, “And the woman?”

Talia has been perfectly quiet since the elves appeared in our room. Hasn’t even moved. Barely breathes. She doesn’t even raise her head despite the room addressing her, her bowed head and relaxed shoulders completely submissive.

Kierra moves around me to stand in front of her, stance protective. “My flower. Who you are scaring.”

To his credit, her father immediately frowns and I’m sure the expression is directed at himself before he speaks. “How do…yes. I apologize.”

My protective wife relaxes at his admission. The tension in the room drops and I have hope that everything is going to turn out alright.

“Oh? Is that the extent of your determination? I admit, I’m disappointed Orum.”