Page 101 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
Storm clouds seemed to gather around Winter. His mood grew darker even as Zero’s mood grew more agitated. Nothing satisfied either of her men, and they seemed to be in a terrible contest to have the shortest temper.
It hadn’t escaped Mari’s notice that the anniversary of Rebel’s disappearance approached. Neither father nor son would admit to it, but Mari understood. Stress made people cranky, especially emotional stress.
In the small, quiet moments, they still had balance. The mornings were good, when the sunlight leaked around the edges of the drapes and sleep clung to her. She did her morning yoga in front of the windows, curtains opened enough for a sliver of sunlight to warm the floorboards under her feet. Winter watched her with curiosity from the bed.
“What is the point of this posturing?”
“This is the Extended Triangle.” Mari’s right hand rested flat on the floor, and her left extended straight above. She turned her head to look up to complete the pose.
“No.” He crouched down next to her. “You do many of these motions. Explain.”
Mari planted both hands on the mat and moved into Downward-Facing Dog. The muscles in her lower back and the back of her thighs stretched and burned pleasantly. “Yoga is an ancient Earth practice done for spiritual enlightenment, inner peace, and gentle exercise.”
He watched as she moved back onto her knees for Child’s Pose, then lay on her belly, going through Sphinx, Cobra, and Locust poses. “Explain why you do this.”
Mari sat upright, folding her legs into the lotus position. “Well, I do it for stretching. Being a pilot means I sit on my butt a lot, and my back starts to hurt after a few hours. This helps alleviate the pain. And I’ve been doing this so long that I don’t feel awake without it.”
She moved one thigh over the other and planted the foot flat on the mat. With one arm around her thigh, she gently twisted her upper body away. The muscle between her shoulders burned but not unpleasantly so, stretching after a good night’s rest. “Don’t look at me like that. This is good for flexibility.”
“I do enjoy your flexibility,” he purred.
Mari blushed, aware that she wore nothing more than a pair of stretchy boy shorts and a tank top, and Winter was very much naked. “Don’t you ruin Downward-Facing Dog.”
“Is that the one where you present your ass to me?” He reclined on the bed, sheet slipping away to reveal the long, lean lines of his body.
“Oh, um, yeah,” she babbled because the sight of him was breathtaking. He was a genuinely handsome man, from the inside out, and when he looked at her like that, with hooded, sleepy eyes, she went a bit wobbly in the knees. The proportions of his face and his body were a bit too broad to be human, but his face had strength and a distinguished line to his jaw. The amber of his skin glowed in the morning sun, and she knew from experience that every inch of him was as touchable as it looked. His tail thumped lazily on the sheets. No one had a right to be that gorgeous.
He noticed her gaze and angled his hips toward her. No doubt so she could better admire the reaction she caused in his stiffening cock.
Mari licked her lips.
“You will teach me,” he said, brushing his entire body against her as he climbed off the bed. He played dirty.
“Sure. Maybe.” She gulped down a glass of water because she was all sorts of thirsty. “Your balance is totally different with your tail, and your muscle structure is way different. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“An easy one.” His hand brushed down the length of her arm, and he pulled her back to the mat in front of the window.
“Okay, this is Mountain.” She stood with both feet on the mat, her arms straight and angled away and her head raised. “This is the starting position for a lot of poses.”
Winter mimicked her movement. The striations of his color flexed across his shoulders. She adjusted his stance, then his posture, letting her hands linger to appreciate the downy peach skin feeling of his skin. It never ceased to amaze her that such a hard man who was all lean muscle was so soft to the touch, like velveteen over steel.
She raised her right foot and pressed it against her left calf. “Tree,” she said, and wobbled because balance was not her strong suit.
Winter achieved the position without so much as a wobble.
“You’re cheating with that tail,” she said.
“I am not. You are upset that I have superior skills,” he said, his voice lofty and ever so full of himself.
And because the light hit his back just right, and she enjoyed the teasing banter, she grabbed his tail and pulled.
Winter pinned her to the bed in an instant.
They were late for breakfast.
* * *
Zero’s datewith Clarity to the Harvest Festival arrived with all the teenage drama and angst that Mari expected. He hated everything in his closet, he hated his hair, his height, and he especially hated Winter and Mari for refusing to let him cancel. He practiced his smile in the mirror until his reflection became a meaningless blur of features. He made notecards of what to say when he picked up Clarity and met her parents.
