Chapter 7: Page 4

Meria looked up at Fidgen as they stood on the front porch of her cottage. She was jangling her keys in her hands, nerves playing kickball in her stomach. She didn’t know if she should invite him inside, if it would be too forward of her to ask or what he would think if she did. She wasn’t ready for the day to end, to part ways until another day. What if he changed his mind and…

A gasp slipped past her lips as Fidgen leaned down and covered them with his own, wanting her mouth. The kiss started slow, lips rubbing, parting and rubbing again.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and let the sensations take over.

“Meria…I could kiss you all night,” Fidgen murmured, his hands at her waist, a finger caressing her skin where her shirt had pulled up.

“Please do.” She tightened her arms and stood on tiptoes, tentatively touching her tongue to his lower lip.

He covered her lips once more, slipped his tongue into her mouth and twined it around hers. He groaned when she gently sucked on it, then touched her tongue to his. A hand dipped down to her bottom, cupped and lifted her against him, as the other hand tangled in her hair.

“Fidgen,” she whispered, feeling his erection against her. Answering warmth filled her and moisture flooded her panties. It scared her, having never felt like this. She didn’t know what to do. What if she did something wrong? “Fidgen.”

Fidgen rained kisses all over Meria’s face, her ears, her neck. “I don’t want to rush you, but, Sweet Mother, I want you.”

“I want to be with you, too. I…” She ducked her head down, hiding her blush.

He tilted her chin up and smiled down at her. The need to claim her rode him hard, but he resisted. It would be her choice—it had to be. “When you’re ready.”

“How will I know?”

“You could attack me, determined to have me. You might strip and stand before me, tempting me, daring me. Or, you may just quietly tell me to make love to you.”

“Fidgen.” Color filled her face. “I’ve never…”

“I know and it excites me that I’ll be your first, hopefully your only and my last, but I refuse to rush you.”

“My only? Your…” She cleared her throat. “Your last?”

“I’m hoping.” He brushed his lips over hers. “You said you had ice cream bars?”

“You want to come in then?”

“I would like very much to come in. Maybe we can watch a movie. Maybe kiss some more.”

Meria turned around and, with shaking hands, unlocked the door. Or attempted to. The key scratched the knob each time she missed, forcing her to stop. She took a deep breath and another, trying to calm down. A tiny peep slipped passed her lips when Fidgen put his arms around her.

“Meria, it’s okay, I don’t have to come in.”

“I want you to. I want to eat ice cream bars with you. I want to watch a movie with you. I don’t want you to go home. Not yet.” Not ever. She wanted to be his last. She wanted him to be her only.

Fidgen nuzzled her neck, caressed her hips, her stomach. “My pretty bird. There’s no need to be nervous, I’m not going to jump you.”

“I don’t have many guests.”

“As long as I’m the cutest.”

She nodded, her head moving in quick up and down bobs. A nervous giggle was building in her throat, but she managed to suppress it. “Definitely the cutest.”

“Good.” He placed his hand over hers and helped her unlock the door. “I like being the cutest.” He nudged her inside the cottage and closed the door behind them. He smiled when Meria turned around and looked at him, her eyes moving over him as if drinking him in. “You look like you have something to say.”

“You are very cute. I… Since the first time I saw you in the pub, I’ve thought so. I would stare at you from my seat in the far corner or from the bar and fantasize about you talking to me. I never thought you would, but…”

“Of course I would’ve, you know that.”

“Now, but not then. You were so…everything.”

“I only wish I had known. Had I seen you, I would’ve come sit with you.”

“I was dowdy. A dowdy schoolteacher.”

“Never. But I’m surprised you looked at me, what with my tattoos and piercings.”

“I never cared about the tattoos or the piercings; Daddy had a bunch of ink, so it was something I expected of musicians. Actually, I was rather envious of your freedom. I wanted to get a tattoo of some musical notes on my wrist, the opening notes to Shy Girl, but…” She shook her head. “It’s silly. I’m a schoolteacher, I…”

Fidgen closed the space between them, cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her softly on the lips. “It’s not silly. My schoolteacher had a tattoo around her neck. She and her mate did it instead of the usual collars. If you want, I’ll take you to get those musical notes.”

“Will you draw them?”

“I’d love to.” He kissed her again, another soft kiss. “Might I ask why the notes to Shy Girl?”

“Daddy wrote it for me. It was never a huge hit, but…”

“After Cherry, it’s one of my favorites.”

Meria smiled. Turning her head, she kissed his right palm. “Ice cream bars.”

He laughed. “Ice cream bars. I have dibs on the orange cream.”

“What did Aphenia mean when she said you had a feather fetish?” Meria licked the last drop of ice cream off the stick, savoring the flavor of boysenberry.

She and Fidgen were sitting on the couch, her legs were pulled up underneath her and Fidgen had his legs outstretched in front of him. She was considering making popcorn and nachos for the movie. She also considered crawling over so she lay on top of him, wanting to kiss him. How she wanted to kiss him, his lips were so full and inviting.

“It’s nothing.” Fidgen stuck the stick back in the wrapper and twisted it. “I hope you don’t think I want you because you’re a Bird, because my feelings have nothing to do with that.”

“But…I want to know. Do you have a thing for feathers?”

“I’m never going to live that down and it’s all Aphenia’s fault.” He broke the stick, annoyed.

She cringed a little, afraid she might have made him upset. “I’m sorry, I was just curious. It sounds…fun to play with feathers.”

That took the Elf by surprise. “You think it sounds fun?”

“Yes. You don’t like feathers then?”

“I never said that.” Fidgen thought about it. “It’s… I had this experience during University. My art teacher, another Elf, seduced me. I admit, I wasn’t very experienced at the time, only one or two girlfriends, and she was quite persuasive.”

“Was she beautiful?”

“In her own way. Beauty isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes a sense of humor and a pretty smile can make a woman more attractive than a woman like Aphenia. Sometimes it’s in the eyes. And sometimes it’s all in a woman’s attitude. My art teacher was like that. She was sexy. She had these gorgeous curves which she loved to flaunt and the prettiest brown eyes.” He looked at Meria and smiled, liking when she blushed. “I have a thing for brown eyes and curves.”

“Then what were you doing with Aphenia?”

“Getting laid. She and I…” He stroked his goatee. “We had broken up the year before, but she couldn’t let it go. She can never let anything go. It’s one of the reasons why we broke up.”

“She found out about your experience and told everyone?”

“Yes. For months, I would come in from class and find my dorm room filled with feathers. I eventually moved off campus because of it. That’s how I found my band mates, I rented a room from them and we discovered we all played.”

“You should have let me change and peck her eyes out.”

Fidgen laughed. “I probably should have, but she’s not worth it. I just wanted to get you alone. Had I known she would be there… Her band wasn’t scheduled so I figured it would be safe.”

“What band is she in?”

“She’s the singer for Dust Bowl.” It pleased him to see Meria’s look of distaste. “You don’t like them.”

“Mistress Moon, no! Her voice, it screeches. I know they’re popular, but…” Meria shuddered. “Some of my students were playing them during a class party earlier this year and I made them change it.”

“Did they oblige?”

“Yes. I played one of Daddy’s albums instead, which they got into despite how old it was. But then Daddy’s music is timeless. I want popcorn.” Meria got up and started towards the kitchen, happy when Fidgen followed.

“Lots of butter.”

“Of course.” She tossed the stick from her ice cream bar into the trash and went in search of her popcorn maker. “So,” she looked over her shoulder as she poked around in a cabinet, “tell me about the feather thing. Did the art teacher tickle you with them? Did she…?”

“She tied me up on her bed—I was completely naked—and brushed me with this fan made completely of feathers. I was also blind folded.”

“Oh wow.” Heat swamped her body at the very thought. “Oh wow.”

“You like the idea of it?”

Meria took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart, her sexual thoughts. It turned her on to think of doing that to Fidgen, of having Fidgen do that to her. Her voice was breathy when she spoke, “I… It sounds very…erotic.”

“It was incredibly erotic.”

“And then Aphenia ruined the whole experience by blabbing it to everyone.”

“That’s about it. I don’t want to think about her.”

“I don’t either.” Meria grabbed the popcorn maker and pulled it out of the cabinet, but had Fidgen take it from her and set it on the counter.

“Where’s the popcorn?”

“In the cabinet above you.” As Fidgen grabbed the popcorn kernels, she went to her fridge and pulled out the butter to melt. “What kind of feathers were they?”

“I don’t know. I never had a chance to look, but they reminded me of a feather duster.”

“Maybe they were Ostrich feathers. I know a lot of them own sex shops.”

Fidgen took the butter from her hands and placed it by the popcorn maker. He then brought Meria into his arms and nibbled on her neck. “Would you let me ply you with feathers?”

“I might, if you let me do the same to you.”

“Pretty bird, I’d let you do anything you wanted to me in bed.”

She looked up at him, her cheeks pink and her nipples tight. “Don’t tempt me. I have an active imagination and you’re too cute to resist.”

He grinned. “Don’t resist too much.”

“What about ice cubes?”

Fidgen picked her up and sat her on the table. Stepping between her legs, he bent his head and took her lips with his in a deep, slumberous kiss. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he tightened his own, crushing her against him. When her legs came around his waist, a low rumble sounded in his chest. He changed the angle of the kiss, pulled at her lower lip with his teeth, then sunk back into her.

Ice cubes. His pretty bird wanted to play with ice cubes and he wanted to play with his pretty bird. Did she have any idea how sexy he found her curiosity, her willingness to explore? He wanted her so much it was killing him, even more so knowing her little secret. His hands tightened at her waist, clenched her shirt in his fists…resisted tugging.

“Meria…popcorn.”

“What?” She looked up at him, stared at his mouth. She had been tempted to drop her hands and start pulling off Fidgen’s t-shirt. She had seen him shirtless at his band’s show and had drooled the whole time. She wanted to know what those muscles felt like under her hands.

He rested his forehead against hers, his breathing rough with arousal. “We were going to make popcorn.”

“No, we were going to kiss all night.” She did what she wanted and started pulling his shirt off, thinking she just might be ready to make love with him.

But the phone rang at that moment, startling her. Fidgen chose that moment to step back or he would be carrying her to her bedroom. He was wondering if he was an idiot.

“I can ignore it, let the machine get it.” Meria licked her lips and reached for her Elf, wanting to continue kissing him, undressing him. “I’m not expecting any important calls.”

Fidgen stepped back up to her, his hands on the table so he wouldn’t start stripping her, and…

“Meria Applenut Chirptrue, you pick up this phone right now! You better not be fucking that rock musician I’m hearing about,” Fernia Trillnote’s angry voice filled the room.

Meria’s face paled. “No, please tell me no.”

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