Read Online Running for Home by Zenina Masters - Free Book Online

empty when she heard, Do you take?
    She stared at Derix, and he spoke when she did. “I do.”
    The power rushed back into them, and it was different. Juno felt like she could fly and her vision was bright, seeing the blinding energy of Mel and the magic pulsing in the world around them.
    Derix smiled, and it was one of his slow smiles. He was made of gold, green and copper. All the colours were twisting around inside him.
    “Do you agree to become what the magic will make you?” Mel spoke aloud.
    Juno nodded, and she and Derix whispered again, “I do.”
    The power swirling inside her bonded to her skin, her bone, her psyche. The water called to her, and she wanted to answer; the sand called, and she wanted to run. The forest sang to her and invited her in.
    Mel whispered. “You can let me go now.”
    Juno released her and took a few steps toward Derix. He met her halfway. Their kiss boiled with power, and the clouds swirled above them.
    Through the roaring in her ears, Juno heard Mel mutter, “I owe Drak ten bucks. He called it.”
    Juno smiled against Derix’s mouth. “Race you to the hotel?”
    “First one there has to strip the other.”
    He took off ahead of her, and she shifted, sprinting past him with her fox tail flying. She was in her half-form for the first time in months, and it felt exceptionally free to run through the nearly empty streets with her ears pricked and her claws curled.
    She was halfway up the stairs when hands grabbed her from behind. She heard his growl a moment before he flipped her to face him.
    Derix had found his inner fox as well, and it was currently pressing her against the wall, holding her there as he lined up and then thrust into her.
    A howl broke from her throat, and she pressed her forehead to his shoulder. He shoved into her again and then pumped hard and fast until she howled again, and he barked in a series of yips as he matched her. The magic had pulled them together.
    He shuddered, and his skin reappeared from beneath the fur. “That was unexpected.”
    She shifted back to human as well and slowly lowered her legs. “The inner fox is one helluva drive. If you thought that sex was on your mind before...” She giggled.
    “You are joking.” He pressed his forehead to hers.
    “It was all in the small print. Fox males are notoriously unfaithful, but my parents managed to make it work.”
    He sighed. “You are going to have to tell me how. This urge to be inside you is all consuming.”
    She stroked the sides of his head. “You will get the hang of it, and I will be next to you. An erection won’t kill you.”
    He was slowly moving his hips, and she wrapped her thighs around him again.
    Juno was confident they would eventually make it up to their room, but she was comfortable christening every floor, one at a time.
     

Epilogue
     
     
    The family home was lit for the evening reception. Juno walked down the aisle with her grandmother at her side.
    The strange mix of elves, foxes and humans was only to be expected, but the hairstylist had gone to great lengths to fix Juno’s hair so that her newly pointed ears wouldn’t show.
    Derix was standing with a straight back and looking devastating in a tuxedo. Apollo was looking better as well, though a little queasy at the thought of his sister and partner making it official.
    Juno took Derix’s hand, and they said their vows in front of the witnesses.
    When their vows had been said, the reception began.
    Derix and his family hauled them off for family photos. His mother was enthusiastic, and his father was cheerfully lewd.
    The family shots with Apollo and her grandma were pleasant enough; the ones with both sides of the family were a little tense.
    It was only when Juno and Derix were looking into each other’s eyes that she relaxed. She reached up and touched his hair while he stroked her shoulder. The sound of the camera was a dim announcement that they were being watched.
    She drew his head down and kissed him,