Chapter 3: Page 4

Toff stopped in the middle of the Grove, in a secluded section of moonlit meadow. He still couldn’t believe that Ruby had agreed to walk with him. He looked over at her and felt a foolish grin pulling at his lips. He didn’t care that Virgo disapproved of her career, didn’t care she thought Ruby was wrong for him. He loved his mother, but she had serious control issues.

Especially where he was concerned, but he was a grown man and could make his own choices, and his choice was Ruby.

“Should we let the horses run free?” Ruby moved restlessly, uncertain. “There’s so much grass.”

“I…” Toff turned so he was facing her. “You’re…”

“I’m…?”

“You’re not in season.”

She blinked. “You never let your horse roam free except to breed?”

“No…I mean… I do let him free, but…” Toff looked up and stared at the twinkling stars. “When I’m home and no one’s about, I let him free.” Though that wasn’t often, mainly at night when they slept, since he had been told he shouldn’t disconnect for no reason. “Do you let yours free?”

“All the time, she likes it. Are you afraid he’ll run off?”

His head jerked around, horrified. “No! He’ll stay. We have a fine relationship. Just because he isn’t of my father’s issue, doesn’t mean…”

When he was six months old, he had been near death. He had been born Centaur to a non-Centaur mother, meaning she couldn’t provide him with the much needed symbiont foal to connect with. He was lucky there had been a Centaur couple whose child and foal weren’t a born-match—the woman had given birth to a daughter, but her horse had birthed a colt and so the two would never be able to connect. Their daughter died two days before—which was the natural course in such a situation—and their colt was as close to death as he, when his father asked them to donate their colt, to see if his child and their foal would connect.

The couple had agreed, wanting to prevent any more deaths if possible. His father had laid him upon the colt’s back and as luck would have it, they connected. It had taken time to nurse them into full health, but soon he was up and running, in charge of the symbiotic relationship. That couple, he still visited with them and they with he, even though they had gone on to birth several healthy, connected children.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that…” Ruby took several steps back as she bit on her left thumbnail, ruining her careful manicure—she had her nails done specifically for this evening. “I’m making a hash of this, aren’t I?”

“I don’t understand what you want.”

“I thought we could sit together while the horses played in the meadow. There’s no one here and… It’s nice sometimes to use my own legs, give them a stretch and some exercise. And it makes kissing much nicer.”

“You…you want to kiss?” His horse pawed at the ground without his prompting, disliking his uncertainty. Was he going to let him out or not? Toff reestablished control and forced himself to stand still.

“I like you, Toff. I thought you liked me back.” She didn’t know what to do. What if he didn’t like her that way? What if he thought she was too forward? He seemed so shocked at the idea of kissing, of separating from their symbionts.

Toff took several steps towards Ruby, his hand held out. “I do like you, a whole lot. I’m just… I’m nervous.” His horse moved again without him, swishing its tail, prancing. He took a deep breath and once more enforced his will. “Ruby, I’ve never done this before, been for a walk with a female Centaur.”

“I’m your first date?” Ruby quit biting her thumbnail and took a step towards Toff, closing the gap between them. He didn’t understand, because he’d never experienced this before. “Ever?”

“Yes. Most female Centaurs avoid me because my horse and I weren’t born of the same line. They’re afraid I may breed mismatches.”

“That could happen to any couple. And besides, your mother isn’t Centaur, so of course she couldn’t give you a symbiont foal. That’s precisely why Centaurs don’t breed outside the species.”

“I also… I also never… None of the females really interested me enough to pursue any sort of relationship. My mother said it’s because I didn’t want to breed with them. She said that’s the only reason why Centaurs separate with each other. I would like to separate and be with you, but you and your horse aren’t in season.”

“Toff, we can separate for reasons other than breeding. I mentioned kissing. Then there’s snuggling.” Another step closer and she placed her hand on his chest, in the center of the open, vee of his wrap-around poet’s shirt. “The sex.”

He swallowed. “Sex?”

“Yes, sex. We can have it without my being in season.”

“But…”

“Just because the horses don’t do it unless there is a season involved, doesn’t mean we can’t.” She stepped back and soon a white glow surrounded her. When the glow faded, Ruby slipped off her symbiont’s back and stood on her own two legs, smiling at Toff. She stretched her arms above her head, her shirt—a similar wrap around shirt to Toff’s—pulling up, exposing her navel and the small piercing there. Around her hips was a red sarong. Most people wondered why she and most other Centaurs wore such a garment, but it was for occasions like this. Besides, most people didn’t know that Centaurs were actually two beings living in symbiosis.

She scratched her horse’s neck, but her horse was ignoring her in favor of grazing on the succulent grass covering the ground. “Or should I have waited?”

“I’m…not wearing anything…but my shirt.” He scratched the back of his head as he realized how lame that sounded.

Ruby smiled, charmed by the sudden little wrinkle appearing on the bridge of Toff’s nose. “I don’t mind, unless you feel the need to summon or… Better yet.” She conjured a kilt and, after stepping up to him, wrapped it about his waist. “There. It’s what my father always wears and I think him very handsome.”

“I…” Toff looked down at the kilt, touched it. It was done in the colors of Sagittarius.

“You don’t like it?” She was trying not to be nervous, since Toff was nervous. She had more experience than him, so she shouldn’t have any doubts, but she really liked Toff and wanted him to like her too and…

Sweet Mother, he made her heart pound.

“I… I love it. Thank you.” He touched the kilt again. “I had never understood why my father always wore a knee length jerkin. Mother says it’s silly, just Father needing to be different, but it makes sense now.”

“I thought all Centaurs wore clothing that would cover us when we disconnected, but since moving to my new District, many of the Centaurs I’ve seen go about without waist coverings. I guess I’m…”

“You’re perfect!” Toff blurted and then felt his cheeks heat. “I…” Closing his eyes, that same bright glow that surrounded Ruby now surrounded him. Soon he was standing next to his horse—he too had immediately started grazing. He looked down to see how the kilt fit and it reached his knees, nicely covering his genitals. “I need to sit down, my legs…”

Ruby looked at Toff’s legs. They were obviously weak. “Of course. Over there looks nice.”

Toff looked where Ruby was pointing and nodded. It was a short distance; he could make it. “Unless you would rather end things for the evening.”

“Why?”

“Ruby, you looked at my legs.”

She went up to him and tugged him over to the spot she had indicated. “I don’t care about your legs. They don’t define you.”

“It’s because of…” His words were silenced when Ruby kissed him. When she pushed him back, he went willingly.

She reached down between his legs and, after lifting the kilt to his waist, stroked his cock. He was already hard. “This leg works fine.”

“Ruby!”

“Do you like that?” she whispered.

“Yes!” Toff’s voice broke on a high note as she squeezed his shaft. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Yes, very much. Ruby…”

She kissed him again, sighing softly against his lips when his fingers tangled in her hair. She wanted him, desired him. She hadn’t expected to feel like this, but meeting him that afternoon… It was so cliché, but she felt as if she had known him her entire life. Yes, she wrote about such things in her books, meeting one’s mate and instantly knowing it, but there had been a part of her that hadn’t believed, had been too cynical to allow something like that to shape her life.

“Ruby…” Toff’s hips bucked, thrusting his cock into the encircling hand. “Ruby…I’m coming.”

“Come.” She continued stroking him as she sat up and moved between his legs wanting to watch him spill.

“What…what about…you?” His neck arched, tossing his head back, his eyes squeezed shut. His mouth opened as quiet moans slipped from his throat. His hips kept thrusting into the hand on his dick.

She laughed softly as she waved a hand over him, parting his shirt and kilt with that one movement. “I’ll get mine, but you need some warm up first.”

“But…”

Ruby blew softly over the dripping head of Toff’s penis. “If you come now, and maybe a second time, you’ll last longer when you’re inside me.”

He didn’t answer, he couldn’t. His hips bucked one last time as he came, cum jetting from his cock to land on his stomach and chest. His body stiffened with the pleasure, his throat constricting against the cries.

He nearly passed out when he felt her mouth engulf his shaft. “Ruby!”

Toff lay staring at the stars twinkling in the sky, his heart racing, his mind still buzzing with pleasure. His body was wonderfully replete from their lovemaking. Ruby was sprawled across his chest, her heart beating just as rapidly against his. He absently combed his fingers through her now loose hair, savoring the silky texture.

The night was perfect.

Pain exploded when something fell on his nose. “Ow!”

Ruby sat up, confused by his pained yelp; she hadn’t moved since she collapsed against him. Her eyes flared seeing his bloody nose and scrambled off of him. “Toff!”

“What the fuck!?” He sat up, his hand held against his nose. Or he tried to hold his hand against his nose, but Ruby shoved his hands out of the way and used her sarong to stem the flow of blood.

“What happened?” Ruby sent healing pulses into his nose to help stop the bleeding.

“Something smashed down on my face.” Toff did what he could to look around him, but had to use his hands to locate the offending object. It helped when the damn thing started ringing. “Of all the…” He flipped open the cellphone, not looking to see who called before he barked, “What?”

“Do not take that tone with me!”

“Mother?” He squeezed his eyes shut. He had deliberately left his cellphone at home so his mother couldn’t reach him. He had also used a shield to keep her from attempting to contact him through a mental link. How had she found him?

“I have been trying to reach you all night. Explain why you haven’t answered me.”

“I told you, I would be out of reach this evening.”

“That is no reason not to answer my call. And what is wrong with your voice? You sound muffled and nasally.”

“You dropped the phone on my face and it busted my nose. I am at this very moment attempting to stop the bleeding.”

“I did no such thing, don’t lie.”

Toff closed his eyes and tried to keep calm. Yelling at Virgo only made whatever the situation was that much worse. “Why were you trying to reach me?”

“I wish to play cards.”

“Mother, I am unavailable to play cards.” Sweet Mother! He could feel a torrent of tears start to burn his eyes. When would this ever end?

“What is so important that you are unable to play cards with me? I am your mother and I demand an answer!”

“I am on a date.” Feeling his mother’s temper flare through the cellphone, he knew he should have kept his mouth shut. This was the other reason why he hadn’t been with a woman: his mother was not always…of sound mind. “Don’t get upset with me. I’m a grown Centaur and if I desire to go for a walk with a female, I will.”

“When you live on your own, you can date, but until then…”

“I already do live on my own. I have for the last two hundred and seventeen years. Remember Father built me my own stable?” Toff started to stand, but then remembered he wasn’t connected to his symbiont. He had wanted to get up because he didn’t want Ruby to hear this conversation, he didn’t want her to know just how ill his mother was.

“I don’t believe you. This is another of your silly fibs.”

He had to truly fight those burning tears. He wanted a mother, not…whatever his mother was. “Mother, I am on a date, I will speak with you later.”

“My little boy is not old enough to date.”

“I am six hundred and eighty-nine, plenty old enough to ask a female to walk with me.” He felt another shift in her mood. This one was dangerous. “Mother…”

“You better not be with that authoress. I forbid it. She is not proper.”

“That’s enough, Mother. I insist that you make yourself a cup of tea and go to bed. I will speak with you later.” With his suggestion, he felt a third shift in her mood. Relief flooded him, feeling her become cheerful.

“Ooh, a cup of tea would be just the thing, honey. Thank you for suggesting it. Good night!”

Toff closed his eyes as he disconnected the call. His hand clenched around the phone and crushed it—the tiny pieces fell from his hand. Without looking at Ruby, he whistled for his symbiont. The stallion trotted over and knelt down so that he might slide onto his back. Once he was connected, he stood, closed his shirt, which he still wore, and returned to staring at the stars.

“Toff.” Ruby approached the other Centaur once she had reconnected with her symbiont. She was fully dressed, her bloodstained sarong around her hips. She held the kilt she’d given Toff in her hands. “Is everything okay?”

“My mother…” He took a deep breath and finally blurted the truth, “She’s not well.”

“Oh, I… Would you like to go to her?”

Toff tore his gaze from the stars and looked at Ruby. “Sweet Mother, no! I want to be with you.”

“But if your mother is unwell…”

“No. Maybe that sounds cold, cruel, but… All my life I’ve made excuses for her, why I couldn’t do things for fear someone would find out her mind was…not right, that she’s mentally ill. Ruby, I want to be with you. I want to be with you in a way I’ve never wanted with anyone else.” He took the kilt from her hands and wrapped it around his waist, buckled it. He was truly pleased with her gift. “Will you come home with me? I have a really nice stable and…”

“I would love to go home with you.” Ruby went up to him and kissed him. “Because I feel the same way.”

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