Unexpected Sting Read online

  She didn’t look at Arthur’s features as she spoke with her fingers knotted in her lap. She nudged her robe closed with her arm.

  “So, the idea of a relationship between us upsets you because you don’t know how to have one.”

  She twisted her lips and frowned. “Yes. I can deal with a baby. It has set parameters, and you can plan for most eventualities. Plus, they can’t get away, so you have a chance to figure out what is going right or wrong.”

  He chuckled, his bronze hands closing her robe. “I would like to propose a date.”

  “A what?”

  “A date. Downstairs at the table, in an hour.” Arthur smiled. “Wear what you like. Or not.”

  She perked up. “I can get in a workout.”

  “There’s a gym nearby?”

  “On this floor. The first and only door on the left.”

  He groaned. “Seriously? Can we make the date for an hour and a half?”

  She chuckled. “Sure. Shall I escort you to your gym?”

  “Please. I will get ready.”

  He got up and dumped her onto the bed, and she snickered before going in search of her spandex and lycra. It hit her in the chest before she made it around the bed. She got into her sports bra with a bit of tucking and zipping. Kicking her way into her leggings lacked dignity and underwear.

  “Can I get a set of panties?” She called out. “And some socks.”

  “No and incoming.”

  “Why no underwear?” She put on the socks that thudded next to her.

  “Oh, just in case you want to take a break from your workout for another workout. Never rule these things out.” He grinned and came out of the dressing area wearing a t-shirt, tight cycle shorts, socks, and sneakers.

  “No underwear for you either.”

  “Call me optimistic.” He chuckled and brought her shoes to her, kneeling in front of her and tying them in place.

  He looked up at her, and she gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you.”

  She got up and grabbed her key card before they left the room and walked across the hall and slightly to the left. She turned on the lights and gestured to the machines and weights. “Go nuts.”

  He made a happy sound and whirled her around. “This place is amazing and so clean!”

  She was caught by surprise, and she squawked before he set her down.

  Arthur headed over to the machines, and she could nearly see a tail wagging then he saw how much weight was available.

  Stinger headed over to the mats and hit the floor to do push-ups. She went through her routine of push-ups, treadmill for half an hour, and then climbing the wall, hooking her feet in, and doing suspended sit-ups. Arthur did his thing, but she could feel him watching her. She did some lunges and then walked to the wall to start her music selection.

  Stinger put her fists on her hips and did a slow figure eight to the beat as the intro began. She knew she had Arthur’s attention. “Eyes on your own work, Orion.”

  Her lower back released the tension she had been holding, and she exaggerated the movements to include her upper torso.

  “What are you doing?” His tone was strangled.

  “Dance exercises. They help work out a lot of tense spots that our activities created. You might want to look away. This is going to get a little graphic.”

  She started a controlled and slow undulation with her arms stretched over her head and her left foot braced on the ball. She repeated it a few times, and then, she switched to the right side. She then extended one leg to the side and swivelled her hips as she descended into a partial crouch.

  A glance at Arthur made her blink. “Good thing that fabric stretches, Arthur.” She rose from her crouch and did the same on the right.

  The ogre that wanted her approached and stood near her. She paused. “I mean no disrespect, Arthur, but if I am going to screw anyone in the gym, it is going to be the other Arthur. He mentioned it first.”

  He bowed to her. “Another day then.”

  She winked. “Another day.”

  He decreased in height, and Arthur crouched. “You deal with him very well. He has been out more in the last twenty-four hours than in the last two years.”

  She chuckled, and then, she felt a wave of something. It was heat, pressure, and compulsion. Arthur must have felt it as well because he eased her out of the lunge and kissed her as he lowered her to the mat. The wave struck again. He gritted his teeth.

  “I believe we just found the level of insistence that the contract holds.”

  She pushed at her leggings and unzipped her top. He ran a finger up the crotch of her leggings, and she felt air against her. His clothing was pushed out of the way, and his cock rubbed against her. Another heavy pulse of compulsion, and he groaned and pushed into her. Stinger groaned and arched against him, taking him into her. She thought that it was what the compulsion wanted, but another wave hit them, and he thrust into her. She rose to meet him, and they met in a fury of friction and biology. He groaned, and she held him as he shuddered inside her. He dropped to her as the building pulse ceased as suddenly as it had started.

  He murmured against her ear. “That sucked.”

  She chuckled. “Why? Because you had no control? Try being on the bottom. All I wanted was for you to cum, and normally, I am a me-first kind of gal.”

  He lifted his head and kissed her, pressing against her as he did so. She groaned as her body had warmed up but not gone over. She felt an undulation inside her, but Arthur was still his humanish self. “How are you doing that?”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know, but I think the ogre has taken pity on me. I found us a mate, and he wants to keep her.”

  “What do you want?” It was out in the open.

  He looked at her in surprise. “I want you. I always have, even when I was reading your manga and watching your movies during my visits to my grandma. There was something about the care with which you chose the items around you... it made sense to me that if there was someone like you out in the world, I might find you one day. You have extraordinary skills, but you lack practice for the everyday stuff. I will help you there, and we will learn together.”

  She blinked away tears and then giggled. “You were moving in me during that whole little speech.”

  He chuckled. “You are slick with me. It is easy to move.”

  Stinger laughed. “Shut up and kiss me.”

  She slid a hand between them, and as he kissed her and moved inside her, she stroked herself to an orgasm.

  She gasped into his mouth, and he paused, looking down at her. “Better?”

  “Oh, yeah. Definitely. I can and will make sure that my own issues are taken care of.”

  “You call desire an issue? I call it an invitation.” He smiled and leaned in again.

  She answered the kiss he gave her. “It is an issue when it rises with no rhyme or reason. When you are with me, there are both. When the pressure struck me, it was without either.”

  Arthur rubbed his cheek along hers. “So, what do you want for breakfast?”

  “Um, scrambled eggs and toast?”

  He made a tsk sound. “That is it?”

  “That is it.”

  “No dessert, pancakes, or smoothie?”

  She chuckled. “Maybe a smoothie. You look so disappointed. Surprise me.”

  He withdrew and thrust deep. She gasped. “What was that?”

  He grinned. “Surprise.”

  She laughed at his delighted face, and they worked together to cum as close together as they could. She gasped when her next release hit. He was a second after her.

  He gasped and caught his breath. “We need to get the timing down.”

  She chuckled. “No pressure.”

  “I will do all the work; I just need more warning from you. Your hand over your mouth was very muffling.”

  She blushed. “I don’t like making noise when I don’t feel safe.”

  “You don’t feel safe with me?”

  “I don�
�t feel safe in torn leggings on a gym mat in a hotel.” She kept her tone reasonable.

  He blinked. “Oh, that would do it. Shall we go back to the room?”

  “Are you done with your workout?”

  He grinned. “No, I plan on working out several times today, in measured instalments.”

  She blushed. “I mean the muscle... the actual... the—”

  He kissed her. “Yes, I have warmed up nicely.”

  He eased out of her, and she sighed and then hissed as she needed to clean up. Back to their room.

  Chapter Ten

  She heard bits of his conversation on the phone and put on a bra, panties, and a sundress. Her bare toes wiggled against the stone tile as she headed down the steps.

  He was wearing a set of sweats and a tank top when he turned, and he looked down and blushed. “I am underdressed.”

  “Naw. I just like wearing dresses during my time off. And underwear. Big fan of it.”

  His eyes got interested. “What kind of underwear?”

  She paused as he started stalking her. “Um, just normal. You saw it when you unpacked for me.”

  He cocked his head. “There was not one piece in there that wasn’t silk or lace. I think I need to know what you have on.”

  She blinked and sprinted past him into the living room and past the piano. She heard his feet rush toward her, and she whipped around the piano and headed for the steps. She had gotten to the third step when a hand caught her ankle, and the other eased her down onto the staircase. She was breathing heavily as he turned her to face him as he opened the first few buttons of her sundress. Her chest heaved, and he peeled back the fabric to show him a peach bra with silver lace. He ran a hand up her thigh and exposed her matching panties.

  She swallowed and reached for him before stopping.

  He noticed. “You do that a lot. You can be free with me; touch me wherever and whenever you like.”

  She bit her lip. “Are you sure?”

  “I am sure.” He smiled and then looked surprised when he was lying on the stairs and she was on top of him.

  She reached between them, moved his sweats and her panties, getting his erection in her fingers and sliding it into her. He didn’t start off fully hard, but she was careful, and in two strokes, he was what she needed.

  “Be careful. You aren’t—oh, you are ready.” He hissed as she slid her hands under his shirt and carefully drew her nails over his chest.

  She moved on him, taking him deep with heavy motions of her hips. Their bodies slapped together, and he groaned and gripped her hips. She arched into him and groaned as he did, his cock twitching inside her. Stinger had her hands braced on his abdomen. She sighed and blushed. “Sorry.”

  He blinked. “Why are you apologizing? That was hot. I am never going to look at sundresses without getting an erection now.”

  “That will be awkward.”

  “You are telling me.”

  She got up and held the railing before she dashed to the restroom. When she came out, her cheeks were no longer hot, but seeing Arthur in jeans and a tight t-shirt, her heart flipped again. “What happened to the sweats?”

  “They are going into my hope chest.” He held a chair out for her, and she took a seat.

  He sat next to her and held her hand as covered dishes began to appear on the table.

  “Where are these coming from?”

  “A friend of mine owns a breakfast joint, and she supplies food for mages. The dishes and covers will return to her in two hours. With or without our consuming the food.”

  She smiled and gestured to the covered trays. “You know what you ordered. I don’t.”

  He nodded and stood up, lifting and stacking the covers. He slid her her scrambled eggs and toast. There were pancakes, waffles, crepes with mushrooms and with fruit. It was basically an entire menu.

  She smiled and tucked into her eggs.

  He had made it through two of the plates before she finished her one, and he offered her the choice of what to eat next.

  “Um, just some fruit.”

  He passed her the fruit and the fruit crepe.

  She speared a slice of banana, blushed, and move on to a strawberry. “I am going to have a problem with bananas for a while.”

  He snickered. “So, how did you start dancing at weddings, and why do you do it?”

  “Oh, the energy dispersal?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Right. Well, my mom used to do it on her own, and I joined her when I was legal to pole dance on strange men.”

  He frowned.

  “And as for why. Well, mages consummating so close to other mages cause a buildup of energy that can’t be dispersed by a lot of the mages. Groups like Maven, Olmin, and Argo funnel the energy, same with Kelnen and Krys. They handle their own output. Nessa consumes what she needs, but when she isn’t hungry anymore, she still pulls the power, but it doesn’t go anywhere. So, it pools and creates wells that can suck in mortals, humans, or other creatures. A human female overcome with lust can cause just as much damage as a human male. So, Mom and I pull the energy and filter it. We create an opportunity to generate as much male sexual energy as there is female at the event. When they neutralize each other, we can go home. We seal the site so it can’t be able to generate more power and go home.”

  “So, that was your original plan. What went wrong?”

  “Orvis and Stovos. Both of them generate huge amounts of gender-specific power, but Orvis had half a decade of pent-up frustration, so she went off like a broken reactor.”

  “Geez. I have to go to work tomorrow. That is going to be a rough day making eye contact with those two.”

  “Don’t worry. Harpies are practical about these things, eventually. Stovos is just going to look really smug for a while.”

  “She’s a harpy?”

  “Yup. I thought it was obvious.” She finished the fruit and nibbled at the crepe.

  “Huh. It sort of explains a lot.”

  Stinger smiled. “What time is your call?”

  “I still have an hour.”

  She looked and saw that she had nibbled the crepe to nothing. “Well, thank you for breakfast. I am going to catch a nap.”

  “Wait a moment. What started the moment on the stairs? I am trying to find out what I am doing right.”

  She looked at the steps and back to him. “I have never been chased before.”

  His eyes went wide. “That was what did it?”

  “Yeah. I have not been prey before. It was... fun.”

  He pushed the empty dishes aside, and he showed her some homes with extra land attached. “Do any of these interest you?”

  She looked at some of the homes, the locations, and the properties. “Well, all but one have enough land, and that one is just nice because of the fancy fireplace.”

  He nodded. “Which would be best for kids?”

  She pointed without hesitating. She yawned and said, “If that’s it, I am going to crawl into bed.”

  “I will join you.”

  “I am going to crawl onto the couch.”

  He chuckled. “You can use me as a pillow.”

  She groaned. “Fine. The bed. But I actually want to sleep.”

  “Understood. I have to seek out an ideal situation for us, so using the information you have provided, I will get to work.”

  She got to her feet and stomped up the steps. He brought his computer and followed her. She curled up on the bed and pulled a pillow against her body while shoving another one under her head. He chuckled and sat in bed next to her, the light clicking of his computer keyboard the only sound.

  She rolled and curled up against him at one point, but when she was breathing in his scent, she dropped into sleep.

  “No, she’s out. Stovos, what do you know about Abrax?”

  Stinger was fading in and out of sleep as Stovos Twilight, king of the dark court, murmured what he knew about her father. She caught the words, “Wealthy... well-traveled... popular.
..”

  She sighed and fought to open her eyes.

  Arthur brushed her forehead. “Keep napping, honey.”

  She nodded and relaxed against him, knowing when magic was holding her down.

  Kelnen’s voice rumbled, and the conversation was about what to do with the breeding contract when a mating contract was going to be put in place. Stovos was understanding. “Take the time you need, but if you can manage some office time, it will take the heat off having Hector and Tynan out of the office for the week.”

  “Not a problem. I am sure that Stinger is tired of me crawling all over her.”

  She clutched at his shirt. She was just getting used to him.

  Kelnen chuckled. “She heard that.”

  Arthur chuckled. “Of course, she did. Well, I should get going. She is pushing hella hard at my spell.”

  Stovos sighed. “Don’t keep her under. They get really mad when you do that. I tried it with Orvis, and she bit me. I don’t think she even remembers it.”

  “Okay, we will take it as it comes, and if she needs me, I will go to her.”

  Stovos nodded. “Agreed.”

  Arthur said his goodbyes, and Stinger broke his spell and sat up. “That was uncalled for.”

  “I wanted to get information on your father, and they wouldn’t talk about him with you awake.”

  “What did you find out aside from he has money and sleeps around?”

  “What?”

  She was unsure. “That isn’t what I heard?”

  “Your father is popular with his people. He does have money, but that happens when you are three hundred in a gold-rich area.”

  “He’s that old, huh?”

  “At least. No one really knows much about them. I just know my family thinks they are a pain in the ass.”

  She chuckled. “Charming. Nice to know. I don’t want to meet your family.”

  “My parents will love you. Especially if we wait until you are pregnant, but we will have gone through the binding contract first.”

  “What?”

  He took her hand. “You and I, bound together. That way, we will have a connection that stretches across space.”

  “I always thought that was something that was done like a proposal.”