dinner dates, she was quick to offer her help cooking or with the fey to human communications.”
“Sure,” Emily said. “The more the merrier. I have about five stops planned. Between the cookies and the extra supplies, it’d be good to have a few more hands to help carry everything.”
I gave her a relieved smile.
“Good. They’ll be ready to meet us by the wall as soon as we’re finished.”
Emily hurried us through the rest of the meal with her excitement, and we were out the door a few minutes later. Merdon carried a large box crammed with supplies and plated cookies in zip-seal bags.
“Hey, Tor!” Emily called, waving at the fey who was lingering in the street. “You ready?”
He nodded and fell into step with our group.
I wasn’t sure we’d waited long enough for everyone else to do what they needed, but Brenna and Thallirin were already by the wall along with Eden and Ghua.
“Heard you’re going to Tenacity,” Eden said. “Mind if we come along?”
“Not at all,” Emily said. “It’ll make this a lot easier.”
We all understood what she meant when she started handing out the supplies we had to hold while the fey carried us. Angel and Shax arrived before she finished. When the couples started pairing off, Tor came over and picked up Emily.
“Thank you so much for volunteering to do this, Tor. Just remember to keep smiling like you usually do,” Emily said to him before they disappeared over the wall.
Holding the supplies she’d given me, I glanced at Merdon, who stood nearby.
“I’m going to have a hard time hanging onto all of this if I’m upside down over your shoulder.”
“Do you want to be over my shoulder?”
The way he said it sent all sorts of thoughts through my head. Mostly of the last time he carried me that way and rubbed my butt after he spanked it. A flush started at the back of my throat and climbed to my cheeks.
“I think that might upset Brenna.”
He moved closer, eating up the space between us.
“Does it upset you?”
“Sometimes.” The word came out a mere whisper.
He tilted his head, studying me, then picked me up and jumped over the wall. The sudden change in elevation made my stomach clench. He touched down and immediately started running. His speed intensified the cold wind whipping my hair and numbing my face. Turning toward his chest, I found refuge and warmth. And something else.
His scent filled my nose.
How did he smell so good? It wasn’t soap or sweat; it was just him. Breathing deeply, I relaxed into his hold. His fingers twitched on my arm and thigh, and my pulse spiked in response. He knew I was smelling him.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think. That just made everything worse.
It didn’t take long before that feeling of rising and falling had my stomach flipping. As soon as Merdon landed on the inside of Tenacity’s wall, he released me.
“Are you ready?” Emily asked. She looked at me, Angel, Brenna, and Eden.
“For what, exactly?” Brenna asked.
“The goal is to try to convince as many single ladies as we can into volunteering for a dinner date with a fey. The cookies are to open doors, and the canned goods are a thanks for hearing us out. No strings attached. We don’t want to give the message that they’ll only get food if they say yes to dinner. But we do want them to know they’ll get a great meal if they say yes. Again, no strings attached one way or the other. We don’t want anyone to feel like she’s being forced into spending time with the fey for food.”
“We’re here to be a dating service?”
We could all hear the disbelief in Brenna’s tone.
“No. We’re here to help improve human relations with the fey. They’re more than just guards. They’re lonely people with feelings, who are being shunned just because they’re different. The dinners are just one way to help people see past those differences.”
“I think I’ll take Brenna with me to see Matt,” Eden said. “I’ve been meaning to ask him about the last batch of new people. I need to make sure there’s no one else I know.”
Brenna paled slightly.
“Yeah. I’m going with you.”
She handed off the food she carried and quickly split with Eden. It only took two stops to wish I’d done the same. But, I remembered this wasn’t about me. It was about Emily and, more largely, the fey. So, I forced myself to stop staring longingly