The Grumpy Thistle Fairy Page 5

  “Oh! Hello,” he said with a gentle smile as he glanced up at Ellis in question, “are those for me?”

  The girl looked down at the basket in thought before looking at Ellis. He just stared back, unblinking before turning to his mate. “A trade.”

  “I see.” Felix tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile. He ushered the small girl up to the bench, striking up a conversation as Ellis returned to his perch outside. The tarantula had stopped by to offer him thanks for the offer of using their shed as a home, there was quite the abundance of food for her there. A small brown snake joined them shortly after and he spoke quietly with them as he continued to pet the small rabbit who relaxed enough to get some much needed rest.

  The small girl child walked past later with a different basket in hand containing the left over blackberries. He gave her a small nod of acknowledgement before turning his attention back to his forest companions.

  She came back a few days later and helped Felix weed the garden. A few days after that she came and sat quietly beside Ellis, just watching as he scolded the proud eagle for damaging his wing.

  Soon she visited every day. She helped pick the fruits and vegetables, or carefully calmed one of the more skittish woodland creatures that came to Ellis for help. She learnt how to set bone and how to use herbs to help promote clean healing in an open wound.

  Bit by bit they learnt her story of cold neglect and disinterest from her parents and Ellis could see Felix’s pain for her. He could also see how much she didn’t want to leave at the end of the day. Months later, when the cold of autumn was setting in, she stood as if to leave the warm comfort of Summit’s side at the hearth.

  “Stay,” Ellis’s voice was harsh and caused both his mate and the young girl to jump. “Morgan, stay.”

  Felix sat up from where he leant against his side. “Drake, what are you saying?”

  “Stay,” he said again to the girl. “You are our family now.”

  He had always wanted to see Felix’s belly big with child but not even his fairy dust could make that wish come true. But he already knew his mate had long since taken this girl into his heart, much like he had Ellis. He wasn’t exactly about to admit he cared for her much like he did his small furry woodland creatures, but he knew he did. She was like a small frightened rabbit that needed extra love and care and affection. Felix already treated her as a daughter and he doubted her parents would miss her.

  Morgan’s eyes welled up with tears and she launched herself at both of them. Felix wrapped her up in his arms and cried along with her. Ellis soon found himself with two people curled up in his lap, desperately holding onto him for support. It was warm and loving and he was surprised how happy it made him.

  He soon learnt that being called Papa was another joy he never wanted to give up.

  About the Author

  Delmire Hart

  Delmire Hart is a little ginger kiwi born in the peaceful country of New Zealand before she migrated to the wondrous crazy of Australia. Starting off as an avid fantasy reader and nerd extraordinaire, she was that one weird kid carting around brick-sized novels with glee. This closet romantic didn’t understand just what she was missing out on until she ventured into the depths of the internet seeking the perfect blend of erotic and romantic. Fantasy can be as sexy and sensual as you want it to be! Miss Hart now takes great pleasure mixing steamy gay romances with magical twists and intriguing dynamics. While always a sucker for a happy ending, she is a big believer that the journey to get there is the fun part and endeavours to create varied worlds for all to enjoy.

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  Previews

  All Daine ever wanted was to just be himself and enjoy his life as it was. Becoming a vampire wasn’t even on his radar until he woke up one day turned without his consent. It might have saved his life but he really wasn’t sure about this new form. That was only compounded when he met a man that looked like sex on legs and smelt like the finest swiss imported chocolate combined with the fattest, juiciest steak cooked to perfection. At first, he thought he had hit the jackpot, until this human decided he made the perfect pet-slash-lover.

  He was a super being of the night, dammit. He wasn’t supposed to be cute.

  Aerick thought his new little lover was the most adorable, amusing, and interesting person he had ever come across, vampire or not. Now if only the stubborn thing would stop getting into trouble and accept their new life together.

  Preview:

  He was just pondering what the hell he should be doing with his suddenly extended life when he came upon the most delicious aroma. A limo sat at the curb near the end of the block with its bonnet popped. Someone was leaning over staring at the engine while another all but yelled down his phone. But it was the third man that caught Daine’s attention, however. His scent tickled Daine’s nostrils and it was like the finest swiss imported chocolate combined with the fattest, juiciest steak cooked to perfection.

  Daine swore he had never met anyone that smelt that good to his vampire senses. His enhanced sight took in the broad shoulders and trim waist line even through his business suit. The man was virtually sex on legs.

  It would be so worth taking a chance to see if he could get a little taste of that.

  People were surprisingly receptive to being asked straight up if he might be allowed to take a drink. Daine didn’t feel entirely comfortable always relying on his friends for his meals and had successfully bartered with a few different people. This would be the first time he was considering maybe getting a taste in a different way as well. It had been ages since he’d last gotten laid. Months ago, in fact. Long before he became a vampire. Even then it wasn’t a regular occurrence. He had to see if the man was actually interested in guys though.

  Unconsciously, Daine super sped up until he was right up in the man’s personal space. He started to speak but stopped as the wonderful aroma overtook him even more. Closing his eyes, Daine leaned in and took a deep inhale.

  “Holy shit, you smell amazing.” That had not been what he meant to say. He opened his eyes and looked up into amused brown eyes. The man had a handsome face to match his built figure and Daine might be trying not to drool. That could very well be his smell doing that though. “Can I have a taste? Just a little, I don’t need much.”

  Ah, shit. There was being upfront and there was being way too intense. He was being way too intense judging by how rigid the man was. Daine swore he was better at people skills than this but the man was distracting in every way and he had completely lost his brain-to-mouth filter.

  He stepped back out of the human’s space and slipped off his hoodie in what he hoped was a show of trust. The man continued to stare at him so Daine offered up a hopeful, “Please?”.

  Never hurt to be polite, right?

  The man huffed out a laugh and Daine grinned back. That was promising.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked hopefully as he tried to step up to the human’s side. In his distracted state, he didn’t rein in his eagerness and he stumbled over his own feet before landing hard on the pavement. Well, that wasn’t the best impression so far. He gave an embarrassed laugh as he hauled himself back up. At least the man hadn’t shooed him away yet.

  “How old are you?”

  “That’s rude,” he countered with a pout. This was not going the way he had hoped. Daine briefly wondered if it was even worth continuing this. What, was he worried he wasn’t legal or something?

  “How many years as a vampire?” the man insisted.

  “Not in years,” Daine muttered back and the man’s eyebrows jumped into his hairline.

  �
��You’re just a fledgling?”

  “And? Is that a problem? Look, I just want a little bit of a taste. How about we do a trade?”

  “A trade?” He seemed sceptical but he didn’t say no or move away.

  “That’s your ride over there, right?” Daine gestured behind himself to the broken-down limo. At the man’s nod, he continued, “I have a friend who’s a total gearhead and I’ve learnt a few things, I might be able to help out. So, I get you up and running and in return, I get to eat you just a little.” Daine flushed slightly at his poor choice of words. Ah well, he had put his foot in it long before now. “I mean, it doesn’t look like your friend over there is getting you guys a ride anytime soon.”

  It was true. The man on the phone was all but screaming down the line at this point, his volume was enough to make Daine wince as it assaulted his sensitive ears. It would almost be worth it just to get his peace and quiet back.

  “All right,” Daine grinned at the man’s agreement. “But only if I get a taste of my own.”

  His heart thudded wildly in his chest, was this delicious morsel of a man actually offering to take him home? Wow, he had hit the jackpot tonight.

  “Yeah,” he breathed out as he let the man’s scent wash over him again. “I’m up for that.”

  A dark smirk met his words and suddenly Daine wasn’t sure who would be eating who at the end of the night but it didn’t matter. First things first though, he needed to check out the car.

  Coming Soon

  Takumi had thought he had escaped his mother’s match matching attempts when he came out of the closet. After all, it’s not easy finding other gay men in straight laced Tokyo. That was until Japan got their very own Bachelor TV show.

  The man they picked for the role? A reclusive billionaire who swung both ways.

  So of course, his dear mother decided to catch her recently-come-out-gay son the biggest fish of them all.

  Worst of all, he was picked to go on the stupid show and no amount of whining was getting him out of it! At least the man was eye candy, so Takumi decided that he was just going to hang back and enjoy ogling the man while staying out of all the inevitable drama.

  It’s not like love could be found on a reality TV show, right?

  Preview:

  After listening to Kaneko wail and moan about a goddamn kiss all night, Takumi woke up far too early once again. Unfortunately, his nerves were no less frayed now than they were last night.

  Great.

  On the plus side, the petty man was thrilled with the chance of winning a solo date today but now he had holed up in one of the few big bathrooms refusing to let anyone else in.

  Takumi decided to avoid the entire fiasco by trailing down to the kitchen and getting a coffee in his pyjamas. He could throw something on just before they had to leave. By some act of god no one else had the same idea, and the kitchen was mercifully quiet.

  He shuffled in rubbing his eyes and yawning before sluggishly moving to boil the jug and loading up mug with copious amounts of coffee and sugar. He wondered if anyone would notice if he stole cream instead of milk. The extra sugar sounded amazing right now. He poured the water in, stirred in the milk, and then leaned back against the counter with eyes closed. He took a moment to just inhale the beautiful aroma of morning wakefulness. Once the liquid was half gone, he finally opened his eyes to find that he wasn’t as alone as he thought.

  Mori sat perfectly pristine in his suit, hair all slicked back with a coffee in one hand and the morning paper all spread out in front of him. He watched Takumi with a hint of amusement.

  “Morning,” Takumi mumbled while trying to ignore the blush slowly taking over his face.

  “Good morning.” That voice was so damn nice. Deep and silky smooth. He could listen to him talk all day. “I take it you aren’t a morning person?”

  Takumi shook his head violently and nearly toppled himself over. He managed to right himself and looked up in time to catch the ghost of a smile on Mori’s lips. The expression immediately smoothed back over and the man took a moment to appraise his appearance.

  “Cute pyjamas.”

  He nearly groaned. He was wearing the same cartoon dinosaur pyjamas from yesterday and made a mental note to see if he had anything less embarrassing for tomorrow. It was probably too late for that now though.

  “They’re comfy,” he mumbled petulantly and winced as a yell erupted from upstairs followed by a bang and swearing, “and that is why I came down here first.”

  Mori chuckled and the sound reverberated through Takumi’s being. It was way too early to be dealing with his gay tendencies.

  “That sounds like a smart move.”

  They were interrupted by Miyara bouncing into the room with an exclamation of ‘Mori-san!’. Suddenly more heads popped through door and Takumi cringed at all the noise before slinking away to finish his coffee in relative peace. He felt sorry for Mori who was now being bombarded by too bright for this time of the morning people. He glanced over his shoulder as he left and caught Mori’s gaze following him. He bolted through the door with a flush.

  Takumi really needed to wake up and get his bearings before trying to deal with that man.

  His mother would probably kill him once they talked next for failing so dismally when the man was right there, virtually served up on a platter. But it wasn’t his fault that he lost all ability to function in the mornings.