Claiming Rights

Claiming Rights

By ID Locke

Many thanks to my betas for their kind assistance and for my readers for their continuing support.

I had a bounce in my step and a bag crammed full of the most mouth-watering Chinese food this side of the Far East. One thing I could say that I loved about living in the big city over the bump-in-the-road town I’d grown up in was the great food opportunities. One of the shifters in the cackle I’d joined was Chinese and he’d taken me to his second cousin’s, friend’s, uncle’s restaurant one day and it’d been instant love for what was served. I’d brought some take-out back for Etireh once and he’d adored it as well. He now demanded take-out from the place pretty often, actually.

I was still a little surprised that a dryad ate meat, never mind all the take-out he somehow convinced me to get him.

I also knew that by bringing him one of his favorite foods, I was pretty much guaranteeing he’d rock my world. Not that he wouldn’t even if I showed up empty handed. Etireh was always willing to nail my ass and I was totally happy to let him. The guy had a kink streak a mile wide and enjoyed my personal favorite, domination and submission, to a degree that perfectly clicked with my needs. When I’d first met him, he’d been working under the little fuck-fest of what he called the spring bloom. Even when that was done, Etireh still liked to get his freak on with me with cock-stirring regularity.

Lucky me.

I came into view of Etireh’s tree and paused for a minute to admire how pretty it was. Because Etireh was technically a half-dryad, he had what he said was an unusual tree that wasn’t really a tree. It was a bougainvillea, which was really a climbing vine, and was one of the most gorgeous plants I’d ever seen. Fine, I was a little biased because it was my boyfriend’s and I could barely tell one tree from the next, but it really was beautiful by anyone’s standards.

The main plant looked like a tree and was close to twenty feet tall with flowered vines spreading easily that distance around the base. The bracts, what I’d first thought were the flowers, but were actually leaves, were a vibrant red, with tiny white flowers nearly hidden in them. Thorns covered the vines, some only a quarter-inch long and needle thin while others topped eight inches long and were as thick around as my baby finger. The thorns had some stuff on them like poison ivy that made you want to claw your skin off from the itching it caused. It was like the ultimate in home security.

Raised voices, one of them being Etireh’s increasingly annoyed one, had me moving around the spreading vines to see what was going on.

“I said no. I’m not in the market for some random fuck. I have a boyfriend,” Etireh said in a cold voice.

“You should be honored that a pure-blood such as myself has decided to grace you with not only my presence but allow you, a lowly half-blood, the chance to worship my body. It does you no good to try and put on airs when we both know what you are. So you have a boyfriend. He can’t possibly compare to me.”

Somebody had an awfully high opinion of himself I stepped around the vines and stopped in my tracks. I’d seen Fae before, but the sheer beauty of them always made me pause. Etireh was better-looking than any human I’d ever seen, but he did look a little on the plain side standing next to the gorgeous hunk of Fae trying to get into his pants.

The Fae was facing my direction and he really was the picture of a Fae from stories and legend. Long golden hair; flawless, translucent skin; a lithe body that almost begged for you to do wicked, nasty sexual things to it; and gorgeous eyes the blue of a cloudless sky on a lazy summer day. He was impossibly hot and it was dead easy to see how the Fae were able to seduce humans without needing to do anything more than stand there and breathe. I’d heard that they could make humans come from nothing more than a kiss. Hell, I was totally into Etireh big time, but my dick still perked up and took notice of the Fae.

For the record, I’d still take Etireh over Pretty Boy any day of the year. The Fae just… was. Like a statue or a painting. There was no feeling or passion attached to him. Etireh, on the other hand, was… life. It might’ve had something to do with the fact that he was a dryad and the whole growing thing, but I think it was mostly the man himself. The Fae had me admiring him, but Etireh made me want just by looking at him.

“Worship your body? Right. Sounds like a grand time. I’ll pass, thanks.”

“Pass? Excuse me? I know half-breeds are on the plain side and I was willing to ignore that to sate my needs, but I had no idea half-breeds were stupid, too.”

“Stupid? Go fuck a mirror or something. You’re only interested in showing off how beautiful you are. I favor a partner who’s actually into the fucking. I also like some wildness to my lover and you couldn’t even come close if you gave it your all and tossed in a little Fae magic for good measure.”

Ooooh, burn-a-nator, Etireh.

“Wildness?” I could practically hear the lip curl of disgust from the Fae. “It must be that taint of human in you that makes you want crude things like that.”

Taint? Crude? What the fuck?

I didn’t like what the Fae was saying to Etireh and I didn’t like that he was trying to muscle in on my territory. I’d heard Etireh say no and good manners said that if somebody didn’t want to go off and get their freak on with you, you moved on. There was no need to be a pushy dick about it. If the person looked as good as the Fae standing in front of Etireh, it wasn’t like there wouldn’t be a line of people around the block waiting for the chance to jump into his bed if he so much as looked sideways at them. Dude was a total asshole and somebody needed to tell him that. I was
so
volunteering for that job.

“Hey, asshole, Etireh said no. And I don’t like you hitting on my boyfriend, either. That’s pretty fucking rude when he was damn clear about already being taken.”

Gorgeous But Snotty looked at me in surprise. After a brief glance up and down, the look he gave me was like he’d just discovered that he’d stepped in warm shit. Barefoot.

“You’re sleeping with…” The Fae sneered. “A shifter. Have you no sense of pride in your Fae blood, as thin as it is? This must be a joke, and if it is, it’s one in very poor taste.”

That tore it. I officially hated this Fae.

“Since you have such a low opinion of half-breeds, I could ask you the same question,” Etireh snapped out. “Why you’d want to bother with me when you obviously think I’m beneath you is beyond me.”

“He’s slumming, Etireh. Or at least he thinks that’s what he’s doing. You’re way classier than him any day of the week. I’m gonna guess that he’s heard about that big, beautiful dick you’ve got and wants a taste of it. I don’t blame him because it is definitely something worth sampling.”

The lovely blush that touched the Fae’s cheeks told me I’d hit the nail on the head. That he wanted to sample Etireh’s cock right now was just his bad luck. It wasn’t available to anybody but me anymore. Time to make sure this Fae knew that and spread the word around.

“Etireh is
my
boyfriend and I’m not into the whole open relationship concept. I never did learn how to share my toys
or
play well with others. Back the fuck off. Etireh wouldn’t want to have anything to do with a stuck-up asshole like you anyway. You’re not worth his time.”

The blush that looked enchanting just a few moments ago turned an ugly shade of red as the Fae’s temper burst. The pale blue of his eyes intensified until they almost seemed to glow as he glared at me. If looks could kill, I would’ve dropped like a fucking stone where I stood. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times as if he wanted to say something, but was too pissed to get anything past his lips. I smirked at him, sauntered up to Etireh, cupped the back of his head and pulled him into the lewdest kiss I could give.

I nipped at his bottom lip before pushing my tongue into his mouth. I fucked his mouth with my tongue and pressed my hips to his, thrusting along with the rhythm I was using on his mouth. Happy little trills vibrated from my throat when I felt Etireh’s cock harden against mine. His hands ended up on my ass, pulling me tight to him. When our lips finally parted, we were both breathing hard and I had the insanely normal thought that we were going to be eating cold Chinese food in an hour or two. The reason for that would be more than worth it, though.

“That’s… that’s so… humanly crude and barbaric,” the Fae gasped out.

I turned my head to look at the Fae. I’d forgotten he was standing there as I kissed Etireh’s brains out. A quick little glance down told me that while the Fae might’ve been saying one thing, his body had other ideas about the show he’d seen. Dude was all hot and bothered. Not that I could blame him. Etireh was hotness on legs without doing anything sexual. If he was getting frisky, his sex appeal went through the roof. I wasn’t a bad little piece of tail either. We probably looked smokin’, wrapped around each other. I’d have to suggest doing it in front of a mirror to Etireh later.

“You liked it. A whole lot, if that bulge in your pants is anything to go by. Too bad that’s all you’ll get to see. I’m not into public sex.”

The Fae glared daggers at me again, but part of that had to be because he wasn’t going to be getting any from Etireh or getting to see us go at it like animals in heat. I almost felt sorry for the guy until he opened his mouth again.

“You will regret this insult, Etireh. Other Fae will hear of how you treated me and they will…”

“Will what? Shun me? Look down on me?” Etireh snorted softly. “And that’s different from every other day how? Just fuck off and leave me alone. I’m sure you can bespell some hapless human into your bed if you really are… slumming. Go ahead and tell the other Fae that I’m off the market. Tell them that I’m fucking a shifter who’s a hotter piece of ass and a better lay than any of you have ever been. I really don’t give a damn.”

The look of surprise on the Fae’s face was priceless. I was willing to bet he’d never, ever had somebody say no to him and mean it. I reached for Etireh’s hand and twined my fingers with his, tugging him in the direction of his tree.

“Come on. I got cooling Chinese food and a need for some down and dirty sex.”

Etireh glanced down at the bag I was holding and smiled. He turned his back on the Fae and his vines parted for us. We walked into the bramble without a backward glance and headed for the main trunk. We walked into his home and I smiled at just how much it felt like home to me. I think if Etireh asked me to move in with him I would, even if it meant my having to give up regular TV. There were only a few shows I watched anyway and if I missed them, well, that’s what the internet was for.

“So why’d you let that asshole talk to you like that? You don’t have to take his shit, you know. You’re a way better person than that Fae could ever hope to be,” I said as I put the bag on the table of vines that rose up from the floor.

“Habit, I guess. He’s always like that. He is pretty boring in bed, but he’s also one of the few Fae who would let me spank his ass and, on rare occasions, tie him up. Not with my vines, but none of the Fae like the vines touching them like that. I suppose I took his verbal abuse in exchange for him letting me do that with him.”

Jealousy flared to life in me. I knew I wasn’t the only person Etireh had slept with. Hell, he was at least double my age, so thinking that he’d never had sex before I came along was stupid. But I had that little twinge of…
mine
rush through my veins regardless when I thought of him with that utterly gorgeous Fae. I highly doubted Etireh would find that flattering so I kept my mouth shut and mentally dropped the subject.

“So, did you want to eat first or do you wanna get your freak on with me?” I asked, knowing what he was going to choose, but asking him just to hear him say he wanted to nail my ass.

Etireh smirked at me. “What makes you think I want to do anything freaky with you today? Maybe I’m just not in the mood. Maybe I don’t want to let that absolutely delicious food go to waste.”

Say what?

“Since when do you put food over having my adorable and totally spankable ass?”

“Since I’m really hungry today is when. I can have your
adorable, spankable ass
any time I want. I only get Chinese from this place when you bring it to me since you refuse to tell me where it is so I can get it myself.”

I stared at Etireh, sure he was just yanking my tail. When he actually opened the bag and started taking out containers, it sparked something off in me. A high-pitched trill vibrated from my throat and I pounced on Etireh. Chicken fried rice scattered in a wide arc and Etireh squawked in surprise. He fell to his back on the floor with a grunt. I landed to straddle his hips, my hands pressing his shoulders to the floor.

“What the fuck, Wynn? You made me dump half the rice on the floor.”

“I just found out I’m the jealous type,” I growled at him.

“Over what? Chinese food? You’re being an idiot.”

“No, over you. You told that Fae you weren’t interested, but I’m thinking a little mark of claim might be a good idea. Can’t have a hot piece of ass like you wandering around where just anybody could think you’re available.”