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  The dry scales of his coils rubbed against her legs, climbing higher until her waist was gently caressed by him and she had been lifted to face him without either of them stretching.

  “Why, Chuck, what a long tail you have.” She smiled and stroked his neck, and she traced one of his tattoos down his chest.

  He grinned, and his fangs flexed against his lower lip. “What a narrow waist you have and such an elegant throat.”

  He stroked her neck. She tilted her head and moved her skin against his fingers. As a swan, her neck was her largest erogenous zone.

  He kissed her again, his hand on her waist lifting her shirt to touch skin. “Oh, so soft.” He hissed on the s’s, but since his tongue had shifted to match the rest of him, it was no wonder.

  The forked tongue that flicked out moved over her features with the lightest of contacts as if tasting each inch of her as it passed. He was learning her so that he could find her under any circumstances. It was a strange feeling.

  She closed her eyes and turned her face toward his. Different shifters had different mating rituals. Her species usually picked their mates as teens and grew up knowing who they would end up with. Like always, Ivy had been the odd man out. No dancing on the water for her. No listening to a mate croon to her, wooing her with a song. Now, she was at the Crossroads in the coils of a snake, and she had the strange feeling that this was where she was supposed to be all along.

  His arms held her to him, and she heard the dry slide of his scales as he shifted back into his human form. His fangs were shorter as he said, “You aren’t afraid.”

  Ivy grinned and opened her eyes. “Why would I be? You want me, I want you and we are at the one place in the world where meeting and mating another species is expected and encouraged. Plus, I think you get how slipping into another world can be preferable to this one on occasion.”

  “With you in this world, I think I want to stay here a little more than I usually do.”

  He stood her on the edge of her bed and left her there. He collected his clothing and smiled. “I am at the end of the hall if you need me.”

  Her body throbbed in protest as he left her, and she sat heavily on the bed. It seemed that despite the foreplay, he was leaving her no excuse. If she wanted him, really wanted him, she was going to have to make the first move. No damned excuses.

  She thumped onto her back and took a mental inventory of her body. She was hot, flushed, the folds between her thighs were slick and throbbed whenever she moved. She could manage the discomfort for a while, but why should she?

  Ivy peeled off her clothing, folding them on the edge of her bed. She wasn’t quite up for a naked walk through a hallway, so she dug around in the drawers until she bypassed the white cotton and found a tiny bundle of silk. It unfolded into a black slip with rich lace edging that would conceal and tease at the curves of her breasts.

  She pushed away the question of the gown’s original owner and enjoyed the feel of it as it slithered over her skin, clinging to her shoulders and hugging her curves. It was a perfect fit. The sides of the gown were slit to mid-thigh, so she was able to walk easily on bare feet down the hallway.

  It was now or never, and she had already had too much never in her life.

  Chapter Five

  The door opened silently, and she saw his muscled back at his desk as he frantically typed away. It was no guess that his new heroine was bearing a startling resemblance to her.

  She stood in the doorway and finally knocked on the frame.

  He whirled, and his eyes widened in surprise. “I had forgotten about that one.”

  Ivy ran her hands down the gown. “Was it someone important?”

  He smiled and got to his feet. “No. I have the collection of gowns for the books I write. It is hard to guess the texture of female clothing of another era if you don’t feel it.”

  She blinked rapidly. “Oh. So this?”

  “Was featured in Seducing the Harpy.” He grinned. “I have to admit that you fill it out far better than the character in the book.”

  Ivy blushed. “Thank you. I wasn’t up to wearing a muslin gown for this.”

  He was still aroused, still naked, and he walked toward her with slow deliberation. “I thank you for your choice.”

  She blushed. “You are going to have to come all the way over here. I made it to the doorway, but now, my courage is just about out.”

  His room was divided into sections. There was a living space with a couch and a neat bookshelf full of books and videos. His desk and workspace, which was a collection of chaos and inspiration in the form of images and notes stuck to a corkboard. His bed and wardrobe were on the far side of the room, and to Ivy, it looked miles away. Greens and golds were everywhere. The colours of serpents throughout history.

  With a slow smile, Chuck reached out and took her hand, coaxing her into his realm one careful footstep at a time.

  She swallowed as he drew her forward. “I am not one of the heroines in your books.”

  He grinned, “No, you are all mine. In this, reality is going to far eclipse the imagined.”

  Ivy lunged forward against him with a thud, and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. She muttered, “Sure, no pressure.”

  He laughed as he sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled her into his lap, the silk sliding against their skin. “Don’t worry. From here on, I will take the responsibility for not screwing this up.”

  “Are you sure? I am pretty sure that I can screw this up if I really try.”

  He grinned and kissed her softly. “I have faith in your ability, but I will try to lead.”

  His hand slipped over her waist and curled around her hip. His lips teased hers, waking the heat that had so recently been pushed back by nerves and fear.

  She cupped his jaw and held onto his shoulder as she twisted to press her breasts against him. Ivy parted her lips, and he deepened the kiss, flicking his tongue into her mouth with rapid precision.

  Her giggle was lost on a moan as he stroked a hand down her thighs to her knees, sliding the silk to one side before he reversed direction toward her sex. She held perfectly still until he flicked his tongue into her mouth again. She pulled her lips from his and pressed kisses to his neck and jawline. It would keep her from biting him when he touched her.

  When he stroked her heated folds and parted her sex, she bit his neck. He let out a deep hiss and his fingers stroked against her in slow, even pulses.

  Her jaw worked at his skin, and she forced herself to release him. “Sorry.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t be. My skin is thicker than it looks and that felt amazing. How does this feel?”

  His fingers slid into her and his thumb stroked her clit. She bit him again and squirmed, trying to widen her thighs.

  Chuck helped her, and she was soon straddling him, his fingers inside her as her hips rocked against him, riding his hand. She pressed her forehead to his shoulder and gasped with every shift of her body.

  His hand moved with her, teasing her until she was on the edge. She began to shudder, and to her shock, he bit her shoulder, fangs out. She screamed and bit him in return as the burning pain translated into pleasure. She bucked hard against his hand, her inner muscles clutching at his fingers until she rocked to a halt with a groan. She released his shoulder and pressed her forehead against his shoulder again.

  She was panting, and sweat was coating her body.

  Chuck ran his hands down her sweaty spine, and she heard him murmuring to her in a low hiss. He put two fingers under her chin and lifted her face. “So, not screwed up?”

  She smiled shyly. “Doing good so far.”

  He grinned, and she leaned up to meet him halfway in a kiss that ended up with a twist and her on her back. Her giggles died the moment that he stroked her through the silk, rubbing at her breasts and working his way down to her thighs. “As soft as this silk is, I think your skin is softer.”

  He skimmed it up and over her hips, pulling her
into a sitting position to whisk it over her head. His fingers immediately stroked her neck, and she twisted her head from side to side, wincing as she pulled on the site of his previous bite.

  He paused. “I am sorry. Does it hurt much?”

  She smiled. “It aches, but there is another ache that is getting worse. It wouldn’t have taken days to wear off, would it?”

  He blushed and buried his face against her neck. “Hours. I fibbed.”

  She caressed his head and encouraged him to move lower. “That’s okay. I am not that gullible.”

  He looked up at her with surprise and then tackled her back to the sheets.

  “Is it just me or is the bed warm?”

  He grinned. “I am a serpent, I like the heat.”

  She chuckled as he pinned her arms above her head and flickered his tongue over her neck. She arched against him and sighed. “You seem to know precisely where to touch.”

  “I have done some research on the subject, and the way you twist to offer your neck to me, there can be only two possible reasons. The first is that being a swan, you are proud of your neck. The second is that it is sensitive and you enjoy being caressed there. I am opting for the second.”

  She blushed and blinked. “Well, it seems you are very attuned to what is going on.”

  “I am. May I continue my explorations, or shall I continue a running monologue of your reactions?”

  She snickered. “You are in danger of screwing this up.”

  “Fair enough. I shall contain any comments until you request them.” He kissed her swiftly and then worked his way down her body, using his forked tongue to taste his path until he rested between her thighs.

  Squealing would have been undignified, but the sound she made couldn’t have been described as anything but. Chuck slipped and slid his tongue around her entrance before delving inside with a hypnotic undulation.

  She tried to move away from him, but he gripped her thighs with a growl. She grabbed the sheets next to her hips, and she twisted against him until her orgasm wound tight in her belly.

  Ivy whimpered when he pulled away, but he moved up her body and surged into her with a swift thrust of his hips. With his green slit eyes staring into her own, she watched his features as they approached release together.

  She struck gold before he did, arching and clutching his sides as her body tightened around his, holding him tight. She let out a low groan, and she heard his hiss.

  His tongue flicked out, thin and serpentine, as he thrust into her with savagery that culminated in a low grunt of his own.

  He slumped against her, slowly covering her body with his. She kissed his ear and jaw, stroking her hands down his sweat-covered spine in mimicry of his earlier gesture to her.

  She smiled and held him close. “If this shows up in a book, I am going to make you into a belt.”

  She felt his smile against her neck. “Yes, Ivy.”

  Chapter Six

  Being woken by caresses and kisses along her spine was a novel thing for Ivy. Her previous romantic liaisons had left her within an hour of their encounter. She preferred it that way.

  On the other hand, she could get used to the delicate care with which he trailed designs over her back.

  She shivered, and he gently eased her onto her stomach. He spread her thighs and pressed into her with slow deliberation.

  Pressed into the sheets, she made fists and pushed back against him as he rocked into her slowly with the lazy beat of an ocean tide.

  She sighed happily as pleasure rose slowly in her, breaking in waves against her heart until her mind shattered apart in bright and glittering shards.

  Ivy sighed and relaxed as Chuck thrust into her, holding his hips to her buttocks. He echoed her sigh as his muscles jerked and his thighs clenched.

  Still inside her, he placed a hand on her belly and rolled to the side. He wrapped himself around her, and he did an amazing job for a snake in human form. She felt warm, protected and desired. Now, if he would take her to the pond in the morning, she would have the perfect man.

  He hissed low and slow against her ear, and she fell asleep again with her living blanket surrounding her.

  Ivy woke up alone in the bed. She pulled a sheet to her chest and looked around for a mirror to check her hair. There weren’t any.

  Chuck came through the door with a tray complete with a blush pink rose. He was dressed in a white button-down shirt and blue jeans.

  “Are you also a butler?”

  He was shy again. “I have never had a mate in my bed before. I want to make a good impression.”

  She scooted up in the bed and rested against the headboard. She patted her thighs, and he settled the tray on her lap.

  She viewed the tray of fruit, pancakes and sausages complete with coffee and what turned out to be a Crossroads-colada. “Congratulations, Chuck.”

  Ivy took a slice of strawberry and pressed it to his lips. When he took it, she said, “You didn’t screw it up.”

  His relieved smile was genuine joy as he sat next to her and nibbled off her plate. “You have some pretty good moves yourself.”

  She winked and ate her breakfast and drank her private juice blend. “So, when do you have to go in to work?”

  He shrugged. “Whenever I like. Jim and Lee will fill in for me while we get to know each other. So, do you think you can live here?”

  She looked into his eyes and saw the fear there. Fear that she would leave him. “I can do my job anywhere as long as I can occasionally go home for family stuff. They will like you.”

  He was surprised. “They will?”

  “Of course. You are my mate. That is all that they ever wanted for me.” She grinned. “I have to say that your tattoos will make them think twice about ambushing any of my cousins with a trip to the Crossroads.”

  Chuck grimaced. “I know they can be a little much, but I was in the circus as a snake boy for most of my early life. They enhanced my alien appearance.”

  She trailed her fingers over his shirt, pressing the white fabric against the black ink etched in his skin. “I like them. I hope that every one of them has a fun story, but if not, I will simply make one up for it. I suck as a writer, but I have a very good imagination.”

  He smiled. “I think we are going to make an interesting team. I will write and you will edit me into a coma.”

  She laughed. “I think that might work. What is your current project?”

  He groaned and rubbed his face. “That is the problem. Sure, Charlotte Penrose has let me get into a writing rhythm, but I want to do more than bodice rippers. If I have to write one more fainting female, I am going to start yanking out my eyebrows one by one.”

  Ivy sighed. “Well, let me get dressed, and I will join you at the computer. I can run over what you have so far.”

  He grimaced. “That is just it, I can’t seem to get started. I have a thousand ideas in my mind, but they won’t get into any kind of organized pattern.”

  “Would you care to go for a walk?”

  He grinned. “You want to walk? In public? With me?”

  She chuckled. “You are my mate. I will wear you proudly. I think it is time you saw the other me since you showed me yours.”

  His eyes twinkled with amusement, “Of course.”

  “Good. Let me get dressed, and you will see the other me.”

  “Why not here?”

  “Because swans look goofy on land.” Ivy grinned. “I don’t have the dignity of a half-shift under normal conditions.”

  He laughed outright. “Fair enough.”

  He took the tray, and she waddled to the room he had first dropped her in. Her thighs refused to take on their normal distance until she forced them, and the sticky residue made a shower a key point on her schedule.

  Ivy grabbed her clothing and found the bathroom, quickly showering away the remains of the previous evening and the early morning. She had a flickering thought of birth control, but it never worked well for shifters. Life alw
ays found away.

  The child of a serpent and a swan could be anything. Sometimes, she thought that it was the only reason for the ability to cross breed when few shifter clans, flocks or herds were in favour of it. It took an act of desperation for a clan to authorize a cross-species breeding, and fortunately, for Ivy, her flock had been just that desperate.

  Clean, dressed and in need of a hairbrush, she left the bathroom and smiled up at the waiting snake. “Hello, dear heart. Hisser. Pookie?”

  He held up his hands. “I will answer to anything but Pookie.”

  She grinned and patted his cheek. “Pookie it is.”

  He sighed as she moved past him, down the stairs and to the door. “I am not going to answer to it.”

  “Pookie?”

  He grumbled. “What?”

  She grinned as she opened the door. “Damn, you are easy to train, Chuck. I will contain my enthusiasm for pet names.”

  They started their walk back toward the Crossroads, and Ivy took his arm.

  “Thank you, Ivy. I am sure that we will revisit this at a later time.”

  She grinned. “One day and you are already showing remarkable insight into my motivations.”

  He sighed. “You would make a marvelous character. Maybe in a space opera.”

  She laughed. “Naw, I am more the superhero type.”

  They made a slow promenade to the pond, and Ivy kept her head high and a smile on her face. Several members of local businesses stepped out and looked at them with startled expressions on their features.

  Chuck puffed himself up with every one of his friends that saw him walking with his mate. Ivy could almost hear the joy swelling inside him until he couldn’t contain it.

  “How long have you been here?” Ivy tried to keep her tone casual.

  “Over fifteen years. Time moves slower here, so it could be longer.”

  Fifteen years watching couples pair up and move on, exposed to every available female in the Crossroads and none of the women chose him, it must have been very hard to deal with.