The inn’s double doors are cracked open despite the chilly weather. I tie Moonglow up at the post and push the doors open farther. Every table in the gathering room is packed with people chatting. When I walk in, they go silent and stare.
Colette isn’t at the bar top or the front desk, where patrons would likely check in for a stay. I don’t see a single employee anywhere. Maybe she is too overwhelmed to leave her room. I do understand that.
“Where is the owner?” I ask the folks. “Do any of you know?”
The inn’s walls tremble slightly, releasing dust from the ceiling and making the sconces along the wall flicker. The stairs rumble, and a picture on the wall near the first door on the left swings sideways.
“The inn is telling you right, Master Darkheart,” a large orc female says, grinning from ear to ear. Her tusks pull at her red-painted lips. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”
“Betilda’s right!” a human male says, lifting a flask.
Ah, so that’s the gossip queen, Betilda.
The crowd laughs and breaks into more gossip. Both my name and Colette’s are on everyone’s tongue, along with the headline I read in the broadsheet. This is madness.
The sentient inn makes the carpet on the steps at the back of the room roll like a wave. When my foot hits the first step, the motion stops. I hurry upstairs, then pause at the horrible cacophony. Beyond Colette’s door, the jumbled and fast-paced sounds of a lute, a pipe, and a drum come from what I guess is a bespelled music box. The song playing is painfully peppy, especially for this early in the morning. I knock,but she doesn’t hear me. Maybe she’s truly panicking and curled up in a ball somewhere inside. I should have made it clear at the event that we weren’t together. I knock again and wait, hoping she’s not too upset.
Suddenly, the carpet under my feet lifts. I’m thrown forward, and Colette’s door is swinging open. Gasping, I stumble into her room and catch myself on a side table. The inn slams the door shut behind me. I look up to see Colette, twisted to face me, but appearing frozen in shock. She’s on her toes, and the smoke from a blown-out sconce dances above her pink and blue music box. Small undershorts, trimmed in white lace, cover her shapely bum. She’s tied up a pair of cream-colored woolen stockings at her thighs, the bows silken and shiny. Her waist shows between her camisole and the shorts, and every ounce of blood in my body goes straight to my cock. I want to fist her hair in my hand and…
Her face flushes, but she makes no move to cover herself up, even though she’s only in her underclothes. “What are you doing here?”
I avert my eyes, staring at the floor. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to make sure you were safe. Um, from the crowds and all. I knocked. The inn used the carpet to throw me in here and…”
Words tangle in my mind, and I can’t smooth them into proper sentences, not with her sugar and mint scent washing over me and my body insisting we immediately mate. Damned vampire nature. Under my cold shell, I’m on fire in the presence of this lovely female. She can likely see my cock and its current status. Blessed Runestones, this is embarrassing.
“I’ll go,” I say quickly. “Unless you want me to shoo the people away from your room down there.”
“Ah, I see.” She points a finger at the walls of her room. “Naughty inn,” she says. “Archer, it’s so kind of you to come all the way through town to check on me.” She’s practically purring and I grit my teeth.
She can see my body’s response to her lack of clothing, and she’s loving every second of it.
“Stop enjoying my discomfort,” I say, trying and failing not to huff a laugh myself.
She chuckles. “I will have a stern talk with the inn once you’re gone. Are you all right? Did the gossipers swamp you too?”
I keep my eyes on the floor. “They did. How did all of that end up in a broadsheet so quickly?”
“Our town witch, Tully, bespelled the printing press so we getup-to-date information right away around here. Well, if the spell decides it’s interesting.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful,” I say wryly.
Her laugh is like a chime. “Not this time, I guess.”
“I should go. The sooner I’m gone, the sooner you can get back to your regular schedule without all the gawkers.”
“Travel safely, Archer. It was… It was interesting meeting you.”
I snort a laugh. “Likewise. Good luck with your next book.”
“You too.”
Her final goodbye follows me through the door that I shut soundly. It’s wild how I used to have some dignity.
“Thanks so much, inn,” I whisper to the walls as I hurry out of the establishment.
The crowd is yelling out questions that I ignore.
I’m on my horse and headed out of town before they can catch me. I look back, regarding the town walls. An insistent, quiet part of me longs to turn around, so I give Moonglow his head, and he breaks into a healthy canter.
