Epilogue
Pikquarrys
Golden ribbons of light hang low in the sky. I reach up and touch one, swirling my finger in the particles. They crackle and pop, sparkling like tiny stars streaking across the night sky. Peridotys shrieks with the high, tinny laugh of a sapling. He snaps his hands together, trying to catch them.
My mate’s giggle joins his, and I turn to kiss the top of her head. The imprint of her body against my barrel and the sound of our foal’s happiness fill me with warmth.
“Go,” I urge Peridotys, pointing at the field of golden fire astrazaleas, where ribbons of gold leak from the flowers like the constant outpouring of lightning of the everstorms in Ashfall Valley, a few days’ travel northwest. “Run.”
Peridotys rises unsteadily. I hold out my hand, ready to help, but he makes it on his own.
On wobbly knees, he stumbles toward the field, hands outstretched. Bright red flowers crinkle under his tiny hooves. Sparks of bursting light glitter around him, and I swear, if someone sliced my chest wide open right now, they’d find the same sparkling inside.
“What a life.” I don’t mean to say the words out loud, but they slip out anyway.
Loreleivnna’s body shifts against mine with her chuckle. She drapes an arm over my flank and rests her head on it. “To think, you used to see me as an annoying brat.”
I snort. “And you still are, every morning, until you sip from your mate’s cock.”
“Barbaric centaur.” With a scowl under her blush-painted cheeks, she snuggles closer, the enchanted gold-and-purple lily necklace falling in the crease between her swollen breasts.
“I see you’re feeling agitated already.” I click my tongue and reach into my satchel, producing a stoppered gourd full of my slick. “Good thing your mate is prepared.”
Loreleivnna glares at the container, then at me, but she cannot hide the gleam in her peridot gaze. I give the gourd a swirl, remove the stopper, and lift it to her lips.
“Don’t be stubborn, little witch. You’ll feel better after a few sips coat your thorny tongue.”
Said tongue flicks out to lick her lips, and she continues glaring at me over the rim as she accepts my offering. Her throat bobs around the first drink, and she moans, taking the gourd from my hands to drink deeper.
“Very good,” I praise. A drop of clear liquid appears at the edge of her mouth as she gulps. “Drink up, and later, I will help ease the swelling in your breasts. You are such a lovely mate. How did I get so blessed?”
Loreleivnna sets the gourd aside, licking the excess from her lips. Her chest heaves, and it’s my turn to fantasize about the taste of her fluids coating my tongue.
“Now lie back, and give me your poor feet,” I instruct. “I cannot fathom the pain in your soles.” I scowl at my mate. “Though I fear your boots were not forgotten so much as deliberately left behind, you incorrigible little witch.”
With a giggle, she kisses my pelt before lying back on the blanket. “I love you.”
My heart swells. “As I love you, Blossom.”