Page 32 of Riding A Cock-Horse
Alastair steps forward and puts a hand over where Nestor’s and mine are joined. Arthur starts to say something, but Phineas promptly shushes him. I see him give my horny toad a meaningful look that Arthur seems to get. Whatever it means must be depressing a.f. because my favorite Scotsman looks ready to cry.
The Laird sighs heavily before nodding solemnly. Nestor copies his move, and then both men look at me. It's like the weirdest, non-sexual three way I've ever had. I would totally be lying if I said I have any idea what's going on. I stare down where we’re all holding hands, trying to figure what the fuck is happening. Nestor clears his throat and gives me a pointed look.
“You have to say,‘aye’,” he instructs.
“I?” I repeat confused.
Do they meanIlike me oreyelike my eyeball?
“Or do you mean ‘aye, aye’ like a cap—”
“No, love!” Arthur shouts, but I can tell by the look on his face that It’s too late.
I wait for something terrible to happen—for me to shift back into my creature, or for Nestor to change back into the Loch Ness Monster, or maybe even one of the asshole Tertiaries after us to jump out from behind a bush.
But nothing happens.
I wait a beat, standing there, still holding hands with two men I just met. Of course, this isn't the first time I've held hands with strange men while naked. Usually, shit’s progressed past this point, though. Considering my new reality, I really need to start carrying clothes around.
At least Alastair has clothes on.
Seriously, I want a relationship with Arthur, but every holiday I spend with him will be so awkward now that his father, uncle, and cousin have seen me nude. There needs to be a way for shifters to have clothes accessible right after they change back and forth. I bet I can make a fortune if I could remedy that. Then again, I’ve noticed that shifters are really comfortable being naked, and that's something I can get behind. I always felt I should’ve lived in a nudist colony.
Arthur’s murmur and the growls of the other guys around me are what snaps back to the present. Jude and Jack look fit to be tied. Theo looks like somebody stole his puppy. Sian and Elise look worried. Even Harry looks a little peeved. Dageus just seems to be watching everything unfold, and Arthur is wearing the same depressed look from before.
“What's going on?” I ask just as Nestor wraps an arm around my waist, bringing our two very naked bodies in sync with one another.
“We are now joined,” he crows in delight.
I stare at the bizarre guy. He’s really shaping up to be the strangest Scottish dude I’ve ever met. I'm beginning to think he hasn’t spent much time being human and understands nothing about normal interaction. Like, just because our hips are touching doesn't mean we'rejoined… huh, maybe he doesn'treallyknow what sex is.
“Maybe he's a virgin,” I whisper to the others as if they’ve been privy to my mental ramblings.
At this, Nestor scratches his head.
“Why do you think I'm a virgin?”
“Because you just said we were joined, andclearly, we're not. I mean, our hips are touching, but we’re not joined in the way like your penis is balls-deep in my vag.”
“I didn't mean we were joinedsexually, lass, I meant we'rebonded eternally.”
“What?!” I squeak.
Arthur sighs.
“I’m sorry, Belle. I should’ve spoken up before, but Nestor made a verbal claim for you as his mate. To challenge him would mean to fight him… and a horny toad is not going to win against a niseag. You solidified the bonding pledge when you saidaye.”
“No, no, no, no, no. I saideyelike eyeball… or did I sayIlike me? Either way, I didn't mean it! Besides, now that I think about it, I was asking whether it was like ‘aye, aye, captain’!”
“Aye means yes,” Alastair interjects.
“No, it doesn't!” I deny hotly. “It doesn't count if I'm not speaking in your dialect!”
“It counts,” the Laird corrects. “I'm sorry, but you bonded to him.”
I throw my hands out.
“That's illegal! It can't be legal to do that! I want a lawyer. You can't possibly make me be his mate just because he whispered some words to me in a language that I didn't understand. Clearly, I didn’t know what was going on. Don't you have laws here in this country?”
