Chapter Twenty-Five
Torin shifted on the bench and rubbed both palms against the stiff trews constricting his protesting muscles. If he’d ever doubted it before, he knew for sure now. He didna belong in a world where a man’s cock was forced to struggle for air. He’d seen few kilts while he walked the island and it appeared these days it was mostly women wearing the lovely plaids. Why in the world had men given up such a feeling of freedom to suffer such uncomfortable clothes?
“‘Tis the way of this time. A combined result of history and the mixing of many cultures.” A husky voice floated just beyond his right shoulder as if drifting on the passing wind.
“I canna believe yer out among so many mortals, Cu Sith. Do ye not fear ye’ll be discovered?” Torin kept his gaze centered across the street on the windows of the clinic glinting with the final rays of the setting sun.
“Most mortals of this time no longer believe in the Fae or the magic of our dimension. When they see my paw prints marking the sand, they shrug them off as those of a stray dog.” The bench shook and the wooden slats beside Torin creaked as if a heavy weight had just settled on them.
“So ye still wander among them?” Torin shifted again, tugging at the crotch of the skin-tight jeans. Hell’s fire! That damnable seam was about to cut his bollocks in two.
“Aye. Since they dinna believe in the Fae, they explain me away as a homeless cur.” A long-eared hound with black-and-tan coloring shimmered into view on the seat of the bench. “When I speak, they hear nothing but whines and growls because I make it so.”
“Not even the children?”
The dog’s mouth split into a panting smile, his tongue lolled out one side between yellowed teeth. “Ah—the wee ones know me for what I am and they understand everything about me. But the adults think ’tis only their imagination. They’ve lost the magic from their lives. ’Tis truly quite sad.” He rested an over-sized paw on Torin’s leg. “Ye do realize if ye had manifested trews in a larger size, ye wouldna be so miserable?”
“I shall be fine,” Torin snapped. “‘Tis just a matter of getting used to wearing the uncomfortable things until I escape this world.” How dare Cu Sith hint he might be a wee bit vain. Torin shifted on the bench again and cast a fuming glance at the grinning dog.
“We’ve all sensed your troubles,” Cu Sith growled. “Ye shouldha never lain with the woman before ye told her what ye needed.”
Torin scrubbed his face with an irritated swipe of one hand, the stranglehold of the jeans forgotten. “Do not tell me what I already know. I fully realize she thinks I’ve just used her to fill my needs. I couldna make her understand. ’Tis different now. I find her so very…different.” If the fairy dog decided he must make his presence known, the least he could do was provide some useful information.
“Aye.” The hound nodded. “Any fool can see her heart is pure. No wickedness surrounds this lass as it did your conniving Eilean.”
Realization of foolish choices grated through him like a rusted blade. “I know now of the mistakes I made in the past. I shouldha opened my eyes.”
“Dinna waste your days drowning in regret. ’Tis the past that has led ye to this place. All things happen for a reason, Torin, even though the reasons are sometimes no’ apparent for quite some time.” The gangly dog lumbered off the bench and shook his body until his velvety ears clapped about his head. “I came to warn ye that ye best make haste and see that she understands ye dinna merely want her for her power. Another man vies for her hand and neither of ye will be safe from Arach for verra much longer. Luckily for you, the man inside that clinic is a bigger fool about finding the words to speak his heart than you are. At the speed with which he’s able to convey his interest; the beast will have already destroyed this world and you and her along with it.” After a slow glance up and down the street, the dog shimmered and faded out of view. “We will help ye all we can, Torin. But ye’d best make her need only you before that human finds the right words and this world is lost to Arach’s destruction.”