“A Thaisce, it's a warm, beautiful day and we're lying outside in barely any clothing. This is completely natural behavior. Please, get over this negative programming and let your husband touch you since you've denied him the joy of seeing more of your body.”
“You just sawallof my body a couple of hours ago. You tasted it too.”
“As if that would satisfy me,” he huffed and pinched my nipple through the spandex.
“Hey!” I slapped at his hand. “When did you become a dragon pervert?”
Arach sighed deeply. “There is nothing perverted about wanting to touch my wife, no matter where we are. I'm not trying to copulate with you in front of the court, Vervain. I just want to lay my hands on you as only I am allowed to do—at least, here, in Faerie.”
He's right,Faerie spoke into my mind suddenly.This is nothing.Before you came, they used to fornicate in the fields in front of each other.
“What?” I blinked in surprise: both at her sudden interruption and her revelation.
“We did,” Arach confirmed, letting me know that I hadn't been the only one to hear Faerie's voice. “Sex is natural, A Thaisce. And there's nothing like having sex in the sun-warmed grass while other faeries do the same nearby. The air becomes charged with eroticism.”
It's also good for the land, Faerie added.
“Excuse me? How is that good for the land?”
“It's similar to the way our lovemaking in the magma pool brought fertility back to the kingdom,” Arach explained. “Our people can add their magic to the land directly.”
Stop slut-shaming, Vervain,Faerie chided.
“First of all, I'm going to have words with Roarke about teaching you things like that,” I huffed. “Second, slut-shaming implies that the person being shamed is a slut. I don't get it. If you want to say it's wrong to call someone a slut for being sexually promiscuous, there should be a term for it that doesn't include the word slut. In short, don't say that again.”
Fine, Faerie grumbled,but you know what I mean. There is nothing wrong with their behavior. Get over yourself.
“I've lived here for years and no one has ever told me there used to be orgies in the woods,” I muttered.
There weren't orgies. Orgies are when everyone has sex with each other, Faerie argued.The Fey just had lots of sex in public.
“Okay.” I rolled my eyes. “If people want to have sex near each other, out in the open, that's their prerogative. I, however, am not going to do that.”
No, you'll just have sex with multiple men at one time,Faerie countered.
“Now,thatwas shaming,” I pointed out. “Not slut-shaming since I'm not a slut, but you were trying to shame me for having sexwith my husbandsjust to make your point. Bad form, Faerie.”
Yeah, okay, that was rude,she conceded.Still, give the Dragon King a grope, girl. What's wrong with you?I know he's making you wet in all sorts of ways.
Arach chuckled. “Am I now?”
“I can't believe we're having this conversation,” I whined. “Fine, go ahead and grope.”
“I think I'll wait,” Arach said contrarily. “I find that I don't want an audience after all.”
“Oh for goodness sake,” I muttered as I stood up.
“Where are you going?” Arach's hand hung in the air, reaching after me.
“To swim.” I headed to the pool. “And don't be talking in my head while I'm underwater,” I added to Faerie. “You could make me choke.”
You should be choking on—
“Don't you dare finish that sentence!”
Chapter Eighteen
“Are there pheromones in the air?” I asked Arach as we rode to the Castle of Eight later that afternoon.
