Her Troll Defender (Beastly Falls)

Chapter 10

Jasmine

W hen I wake, it’s to the sound of birds chirping outside the window and bowls clashing in a kitchen. Eyes open, I don’t recognize where I am at all. Big bed, lots of pillows. The walls around me are stone, similar to Loth’s fireplace hearth. Sunlight streaming in lazily through the windows. Enormous trees right outside, housing those singing birds. It feels like I woke up in a Disney movie.

Sitting up, my brain spins, I realize I’m wearing a shirt that’s not mine. Looking down at it, I think it says, Rock Beats Scissors. I smile.

Images from yesterday come searing back into my mind. The forest. Loth. His arms carrying me, holding me. Loving me.

Another crash of dishes downstairs. Got it.

Carefully, I get up. My legs are sore, overstretched. Thinking of my legs wrapped around his powerful body makes me blush, but also makes me want more. I can’t find my panties. Sigh.

When I make it downstairs and into the kitchen, I gasp in amazement. Loth has turned his beautiful magazine worthy kitchen upside down. Muffins. Lots and lots of muffins.

“You going to compete with Midnight Brews?” I ask. Whatever sweet hello I’d prepared on the stairs is gone now. It’s like the fairy from Sleeping Beauty decided to have a hey-day here. Plops of batter scattered on the counter. Muffin wrappers in piles by the stove. A stack of dirty batter bowls in the sink, next to a muffin tin that clearly wasn’t greased properly.

Loth jumps, as if he didn’t know I was here. He grins at me with his fantastic fangs. “Good afternoon, darling.” He walks over, mixing bowl in one large hand, and wraps his other hand around my hips, holding my ass as he kisses me. “Are you panty-free?” He whispers, delight in his eyes.

“Afternoon? Did I sleep that long?” I don’t know when the last time I slept so long was. That’s not a luxury I can afford.

Loth laughs a great big belly laugh. “It was only a nap. Try one.” He hands me a muffin, then slides his hand up my thigh to my ass. He groans and looks around, as if to see where he can have his way with me right now. Blushing, I devour it without even contemplating the melty chocolate chips inside it, or the molten blueberries that explode with flavor in my mouth.

“Nap? Muffins?” Smiling, he makes me a plate of muffins and directs me to sit down. He goes back to mixing whatever he’s mixing while I eat. “Is there a muffin festival I didn’t know about?”

“You were whispering about muffins as you fell asleep. And, I aim to please. But I don’t know what kind of muffins you like, so I’ve made half a dozen. Blueberry chocolate chip. Pumpkin with brown sugar streusel. Cranberry orange. Apple strudel. Almond honey. Basil lemon mint.”

“Wow.” I grab another.

“It’s good to keep your strength up. Trolls are notoriously dedicated lovers.” He winks at me, and I snort laugh into my muffin.

Loth puts another tray into the oven, sits beside me, pulls my legs up onto his lap, and shoves a whole muffin in his mouth. Impressive. He runs his hands up and down my lower legs. “It’s going to be hard to get any work done if you walk around looking like you need more sex.” His eyebrows doe that serious Loth thing while his tongue runs over his lips and fangs.

“You have an impressive mouth.” I bite my lip, I didn’t mean to say that.

“Thank you.” His fangs flash at me again. “This is the last tray, then I need to do some potting work. Those damn mums.”

I put a hand on his arm. “I think the mums will be great. I know they aren’t your preference, but it won’t do to hold a grudge against the flowers.” Rolling my lips inward, I try to keep a serious face.

“Can I hold a grudge against Rook?” I shake my head no. Grudge holding seems like a bad idea in a town with a limited number of residents. Also, they’re just flowers. I keep my thoughts to myself.

“How many mates do you think have to get mated before the curse is lifted?” Loth’s face flinches a tiny bit at the shift in conversation. Then he gets a far off look in his eye as he thinks about the question.

“I don’t know. The town won’t talk to me. Maybe Sylvia has a better idea.” Does anybody know? Maybe that’s how curses work, I don’t know. Peeling the wrapper off another muffin, I contemplate the logistics of living in a cursed town.

“There isn’t much about my old life I miss, but I sure would like to be able to look things up with high-speed internet, or use my cell phone, you know?”

“We have a library to look things up. I have a phone, you know.”

“I do love libraries. Not quite the same thing, though. But I don’t know anybody’s number. Wait until you program numbers into a cellphone and then you never have to remember anyone’s phone number ever again!” It’s not like I have anyone to text, but it has been weird being so disconnected from the world around me. Although, if no one else is ‘connected,’ are we disconnected from each other? At Midnight Brews, people were chatting with each other. No one ignoring anyone else by staring at their phone. Hmm.

“You look deep in contemplation. Are you missing your former life? The convenience of it?”

Loth sounds worried. I shake my head no emphatically. “No, I don’t miss anything. I was just wondering about the idea of being connected and disconnected virtually versus in real life.” I shrug.

Loth looks thoughtful as he pulls out the last muffins from the oven, sets them on a cooling rack, then packages up the rest into big storage containers.

“I should go get my things from Red’s B&B. It would be nice to have my clothes here.”

“Why don’t you wait for me? I’ll wrap up in the greenhouse, then we can walk together. Maybe share some of these muffins in town. Otherwise, I’ll make myself sick on them.”

“Okay, I’ll be out to the greenhouse in a few. I’m going to go find my underwear first.” I flash him a grin and start up the stairs.

It takes about thirty seconds before he overtakes me on the stairs. I wondered how long it would take him. “You have more self-control than I thought,” I say in between kisses.

“I was trying to be chivalrous and let you eat. It was, after all, ‘muffin’ on your lips as you went to sleep. Not my name.” He bites my lower lip.

“Shall we go upstairs?”

“I think I’d like you right here on the stairs,” he growls.

∞∞∞

In the months since my mom died, I’ve felt lost, untethered from the world. It was just the two of us, and now there’s just me. And with the years she was sick, where my life was the small four walls of her—taking care of her—I realized that I have no idea who I am anymore.

But being in Loth’s greenhouse, smelling the rich loamy smell of the soil, the green of the plants, I feel a budding sense of purpose. Plants were Mom’s passion, Mom’s joy and work. But maybe years of watching her, working alongside her, have planted a seed inside me. One that also loves plants and getting dirty, encouraging new growth, new life.

“What’s wrong?” Loth sounds concerned. I turn to look at him, he’s bent over at me, staring intently at my face.

“Is there something wrong with my face?”

“You have a leak. From your eyes.” He points at the tears on my cheeks. I use the back of my hand to wipe them away.

“Uh, yeah, this reminds me of my mom.”

“You don’t have to do this.” The concern makes his golden eyes darken under the furrow of his brow. The twist of his lips makes his fangs more prominent. I like the look of them.

“Don’t be silly. I want to help. It feels good to work in the dirt again. I didn’t realize how much I missed this. How much it was a piece of me.” I smile, or try to, though judging by his still concerned face, it isn’t the joyful smile I’m trying for.

With a grunt, he turns back to his wheelbarrow full of compost and I continue to transfer seedlings, thinking of each seedling’s future home. Adorning flower boxes and pots along Main Street. Making Sylvia sneeze when they bloom. Competing with Esme’s tidy garden in front of her bed and breakfast.

It’s a simple life here. But there’s community. And no loan sharks. Most importantly, Loth.

When Loth comes by again with large potted trees, one under each arm, I stop to admire his strength. And the rest of him.

“Hey, Loth? Would you mind helping me grab that trowel?” I point up at the row of tools hanging neatly above my head. Everything is designed for him—so much bigger and taller than me. With a short chuckle, he sets his pots down and comes over to stand next to me.

“Which one?”

“This one.” I point up. Loth reaches up, his body so close to mine. I lean into him. He gives a small snort of surprise, but he doesn’t move away. Reaching up, I guide his hand over to the trowel I want. He grabs it with one hand, while the other rests on my hip.

We each turn toward the other, just enough that the workbench is behind me, and Loth is front of me. There is the slightest sliver of space between us. A breath. One hand still on my hip, the other between us, the trowel dangling between his thumb and finger.

“Is this what you want?” He asks. His voice deep and rumbling in that space between us. I can feel the sound-waves under my skin.

My hand over his, I look into his eyes. “Yes. This is what I want.”

Loth sucks in a breath, and I swear he sucks my heart in with him. This troll is all muscle, but so gentle with his plants. His roar shakes the foundations of the world, but his whisper makes my toes curl in delight. The way he looks at me, with those golden eyes, like I’m the only thing that matters—I’m the precious jewel that he will protect, takes my breath away.

Maybe the so-called curse is a good luck spell in reverse. I could never in one million years imagine my life feeling so good, so lucky as it does right now.