Myths and Gargoyles by Jamie Hawke (interesting books to read in english txt) 📕

reach near orgasm on its own. But now, with everything going on with Red and Pucky, I actually said, “Maybe, yeah. Maybe.”

She laughed, then pushed the door the rest of the way in and wasn’t shy about letting her curves show as she walked through it. My eyes were so focused on the way her blue skirt clung to her beautiful ass, I didn’t notice the lush jungle and flowers surrounding us until she turned around and chuckled.

“This is where I come to think,” Elisa said, guiding me along to a group of flowers and a small pool at the edge. “Sometimes,” she said as she kicked off her sandals and pulled her skirt up just enough to not get it wet, then stepped into the water and sat at the edge, “I come here and soak my feet. Sometimes I strip and just let the sun shine down on me from the skylight.” She leaned back, looking up and letting what little sunlight was left glow on her, highlighting her blonde hair in a way that made it appear gold. “How do you relax?”

“Me?”

She smiled, patted the edge of the pool. “Who else? Come on, soak your feet. You must be exhausted.”

If not for the nap in the car, I was pretty sure I’d have passed out by now. Still, even with that rest, she was right. I sat next to her, undid my shoes, and put my feet in the water. It was warm, comforting, and now I noticed the hint of a eucalyptus to it.

“So?” she asked.

“Oh, to relax.” I leaned back, thinking, and traced a circle in the water with my foot. “Play games, I guess. Me and my buddy, Chris…” She glanced around nervous, and I paused, then asked, “What?”

“We should be safe here,” she said. “But… still probably good to not mention Normies anymore. If the Legends hear you and go after one of your loved ones, well, you can imagine that wouldn’t be optimal.”

“Not at all,” I said with a laugh. “Okay, my buddy, we used to put on a good shooter, get a bottle of coke and some chocolate chip cookies, or sometimes a couple of pizzas, and just unwind. That was until this friend realized that getting in shape would get him laid, and he kinda gave up our time in favor of pussy.” I put my hand over my mouth. “Oh, damn, sorry—I don’t mean to be so crude.”

She laughed. “What? Pussy?” She raised an eyebrow and smiled in her pleasant way. “There’s nothing wrong with that word. I happen to like it quite a lot. Pussy—see how it rolls off the tongue?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but stopped, processing her words, and laughed. “Anyway, yeah, nowadays I’m not sure how to relax, I guess.”

My mind said other, more inappropriate answers that maybe she’d be fine with based on what she’d just said, but I chose to stop it there.

“Anytime you’re here and want to use the pool, feel free,” she said, and then nodded to see Red and Pucky approaching. “And them, they’ve been treating you right?”

“Better than I could’ve ever hoped.”

She stood, leaving her sandals, and said, “Ladies, we all need to unwind before the big day of training tomorrow. What’ya say?”

“I’d say the man has had enough training for today,” Red said. “What’d you have in mind?”

“I was trapped in there with that witch, unable to move. Now I want to break loose. Dance!”

Red laughed. “We can help you there.” She turned to Pucky. “You did say something about salsa, no?”

Elisa laughed, clasping her hands together. “This will be fun.” She went over to the wall, where she started selecting music on a screen that appeared similar to how others had worked in the first safe house I’d been to.

“What’s the deal?” Pucky asked, eyeing Red.

“What?”

“You’re… goading me on.”

“Am I?” Red turned to me with mock innocence.

“Actually, I agree,” I admitted. “Pucky, is there… you have a problem with…?” I nodded to Elisa.

“Of course not,” Pucky said.

“So then, what’s going on here? Because you act differently around her.”

“Pucky here was raised in the forest,” Red started, but I held up a hand.

“Sorry,” I said, “but I’d rather hear it from her, if she wants me to know.”

Pucky rolled her eyes, craned her neck to look around Red and see that Elisa was still fidgeting with the screen, and said, “Yes, I was raised on a lot less than this, and some of that time was spent in the woods, living among the trees. We didn’t have any of this and it feels so over the top, so ridiculous.”

“And…” Red said, but stopped at a glance from me.

“And I might have had a crush on Elisa’s eldest brother once, but she totally taco-blockoed me.”

“So you see her as wasteful,” I said, “and are annoyed that she stopped you from getting with a guy who, if you had gotten with him, possibly would’ve prevented us from having whatever it is we’re having?”

Pucky frowned. “Yes.”

“And does all that seem like a good reason to be annoyed?”

She rolled her eyes, tried not to smile, and then hit my arm playfully. “Shut up.”

“Fine, fine,” I said, laughing and rubbing my arm. “I’m just saying, I’m sure she’s not the only princess to be over the top, and we’re not only limited to fairy tales there.”

“As for the other thing,” Red said, and then turned with a twinkle in her eye as Elisa approached. “Elisa, did you know Pucky here used to have a thing for one of your brothers?”

Elisa looked genuinely surprised. “Never. Oh, that would’ve been grand. We could’ve been like sisters!”

“But you cock-blocked her,” Red went on, much to Pucky’s annoyance. “Oh, sorry, pussy-blocked.”

“I don’t know what you…” Elisa started, but then she brushed a lock of blonde hair behind her ears, lost in thought for a moment before saying, “Ohhh. Oh, shit.” She looked up and then took Pucky by the shoulder, staring very seriously into her eyes.