She blinks rapidly, then looks down at the floor with what might be embarrassment. This is when I notice, with a mixture of appreciation and disappointment, that she’s dressed in the same fitted blue pants that showcase her legs so perfectly.
I cannot say I’m displeased with these modern fashion choices. The garments women wear now leave just enough to the imagination while revealing the divine architecture of feminine curves. I find myself completely entranced by her shapely form and must tear my gaze away before I’m caught staring like some lovesick fool.
“Did you manage to create a list?” I ask.
She lifts her chin with obvious determination. “I did.” She thrusts a piece of paper toward me—stationary from my desk, the ink slightly smeared from my old-fashioned pot and quill, not properly blotted.
I scan the contents and note that at the top of her list are modern pens and a journal. Below that stretches a comprehensive inventory of items ranging from toothbrush and toothpaste to undergarments and clothing with mysterious numbers and letters beside each entry. I can only assume these denote sizes, but they might as well be ancient hieroglyphics for all the sense they make to me. I trust my human fixer will be able to decipher this feminine code.
“Perfect,” I say, waving the paper to help dry the ink before folding it and tucking it safely into my pocket. “Now then, shall we explore the grounds?” I offer her my arm with as much courtly grace as I can muster.
My demeanor remains calm and controlled, but I notice my damned tail giving away my happiness at having her so close—whipping back and forth in the air like an excited dog. Sometimes the thing has a mind of its own.
With concentrated effort, I manage to get control of the traitorous appendage. It curls forward obediently, the tip settling at the small of Lo-Ren’s back as she takes my offered arm, gently urging her forward.
She gasps softly at the contact, glancing behind her curiously but not pulling away from either the touch of my tail or my arm. In fact, I could swear she tightens her grip on me as we head down the ancient stone stairs.
We’ve certainly traveled a remarkable distance in such a short time.
Soon we’re crossing the main floor, and I lead her through the soaring, arched dining room toward the massive front doors of the castle. I feel an unusual surge of pride as I guide her across the threshold—an emotion that’s entirely foreign to my usual repertoire.
Sadistic joy, savage pleasure at others’ expense, nihilistic rage at the pointlessness of existence—those are the feelings I’m intimately familiar with.
But this? Pride at having a beautiful woman on my arm who seems genuinely pleased to spend time with me?
My chest feels strange and tight, my throat oddly constricted with unfamiliar emotion.
She slept late, and the mid-morning sun filters through the tall pines in golden shafts, dappling the surface of the pristine lake beside our castle.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she breathes, squeezing my arm as she tugs me forward with obvious eagerness. I easily match her smaller stride as she hurries toward the water’s edge, the cool summer breeze keeping the temperature perfect.
I’m completely mesmerized by the feel of her beside me, the warmth of her body, the unconscious way she moves closer as we approach the lake.
“The water’s so incredibly clear!” she exclaims, pausing only briefly to gaze up at me in wonder before her attention returns to the lake. “I didn’t think water could be this transparent. Look—you can actually see the fish swimming around!”
I can only stare at her in fascination. I’ve seen thousands upon thousands of fish in my long existence. But I’ve only ever seen one of her.
“I never imagined it would be like this,” I murmur without thinking.
Her eyes snap back to me, wide and searching. “What do you mean?”
I feel my brow furrow as I struggle to articulate these foreign sensations. “Taking a consort. Having someone like you in my life. I thought I knew every emotion that existed in this world, but you make me feel things that are...” I place my hand over my chest, trying to encompass the strange sensations she creates there. “Entirely new.”
She tilts her head, studying me intently. “Good new or bad new?”
“How can you even ask that?” I laugh, incredulous. “You mesmerize me with every breath, every glance, every word. I never believed a mere mortal could enchant a god, but I am completely, utterly under your spell.”
Her eyes search mine, moving back and forth with obvious intensity, and for one heart-stopping moment I swear she’s drawing closer, breathing so deeply that her breasts rise toward my chest with every inhalation.
Until she suddenly jerks backward and shakes her head violently.
“I can’t tell if you’re real,” she bursts out. “If any of this is actually real. Sometimes it feels infinitely more genuine than the life I left behind, but then you say things like that.”
“Like what?” I ask, genuinely baffled.
She throws her hands up in obvious frustration. “Things that sound too perfect! Like dialogue from a movie or lines from a romance novel!”
I frown deeper. “And this is somehow... undesirable?”
