it anxiously for a moment before releasing me.
“You will not regret trusting me,” I tell her and am rewarded by a peculiar, strained look that I can’t interpret.
I just hope she will come to understand just how much she can trust me, but at least this is a step in the right direction.
“Hope I don’t barf in the morning when we have leftovers,” she mutters.
Chapter 18
Eliph
My mate clings to my back like an ungainly tick. An unflattering comparison, perhaps, but aside from clinging to my mane she tends to flop around with the slightest jostle, all the while cursing lividly. I am happy that we have stopped moving and stand stock still beneath her as Grimsal peers up at her from where he stands at my flank once more attempting to explain to her how to sit on my back correctly.
I can tell my sweet ahandral is not enjoying the lesson because she sits back and crosses her arms over her chest as she glares at him mutinously.
“My ass and thighs are killing me, and the ache in my belly can easily rival the worst cramp I’ve ever had—and that’s saying something” she interrupts Grimsal’s tirade about keeping her seat with a raised hand and groan of misery.
Sighing, she rubs the ache in one leg, and my heart goes out to my female. I know that she’s not comfortable. It’s hard to ignore with the way she is broadcasting an endless stream of mental cursing. I greatly dislike this and so it has the unfortunate side effect of making me ill at ease, which just makes things worse as she attempts to find her seat. But I can’t help worrying that every move I make is causing her fatigue and pain.
The goblin, however, is ruthless. Despite his otherwise easygoing nature, he’s made it clear that to become accustomed to riding, she can’t give up the moment it becomes uncomfortable. As we all know that I’m liable to want to immediately ease my mate’s distress, and the disadvantage of not being particularly helpful with instructions from the perspective of the mount, it means that her instruction thanklessly falls entirely on him.
Grimsal eyes her and shrugs.
“That’s all normal. It is going to hurt until the muscles strengthen. I have little doubt that by the end of the day your ass will feel like it’s about to fall off,” he replies flatly.
My female narrows her eyes on him, not giving an inch. “It already does, and that doesn’t encourage me to stay up here when I’m sure my heart is about to jump right out of my throat every few seconds from the way I’m sliding around up here. What if I end up falling off? That’s a long way to drop. Every time he walks, I feel like I’m about to bounce right off his back!” She glances down at me and gives me an apologetic look. “No offense, honey. I know you’re not trying to dump me off.”
Never! I swear, drawing a reluctant smile from her that makes my heart leap into a wild, excited dance.
Her smiles have not been plentiful this day so I treasure each one.
“You’re not going to fall off, female,” Grimsal mutters and blows out an exasperated sigh. “All you have to do is as I showed you. Squeeze your legs around his barrel, sit up, and move with his stride.”
“Easier said than done,” Steph grumbles as she stares down at my withers. “I don’t understand how to do half of that. It feels weird when I attempt to ‘move with him.’ It feels ridiculous, like I’m just forcing it.”
Sympathetic, I nudge her leg with my muzzle encouragingly. She gives it a small, absent pat, and although her expression noticeably softens, she noticeably sits up straighter.
“You’ll get the feel of it, it just takes some practice. Keep it up and you’ll be riding competently rather than bouncing like a sack of potatoes lashed to him.” He gives her a speculative look and glances at me hopefully. “I mean—I suppose we can tie her to you and just let you go. She might not be afraid if we tied her tight enough.”
I snap my teeth at him, telling him exactly what I think of that idea just as my ahandral shivers and shakes her head.
“No… no, that’s quite all right. I can’t do this without feeling like I have some kind of control.” Her lips press together as she stares down at her hands clenched in my mane.