7. Scruffledorfs

ALDRICH

We have been driving in silence for quite a while. I’m not willing to wake the little beastie who passed out on a bright pink and yellow cushion in the back of Suisy. Clover hums softly, and I find myself softly stroking her thigh.

“So, are you a vampire or something? I don’t think I ever asked. Did I?” Her question comes from nowhere. “You are a very pretty man, guy, thing?” She rubs her chin. “You’re clearly not a human. My guess is either a vampire, a demon, or…” She pauses, then gasps. “Perhaps a bigger scruffledorf?!” Her eyes go wide with alarm, then narrow on me.

Now she is suspicious? I have been practically glued to her side for almost forty-eight hours.

“You mentioned that earlier when you were… relieving yourself.” She blushes and focuses on the road, so I continue, “What in the realms is a scruffledorf?”

She looks around for a moment before whispering, “They steal your knickers. It’s why I wear this.”

She pulls her shorts up far enough that I can see the small metal jewelry around her thigh.

I reach out and delicately touch the dainty piece, tracing my finger along it. Her skin reacts to my touch, goosebumps jumping up to greet me, and I can’t contain my smirk.

“I don’t see how such a small piece of metal protects your… knickers, as you say, but I assure you, I am certainly not a demon or a knicker-stealer. I am Fae, love.” I glance back up to her eyes and see the heat in them. My, it seems my sunshine might be warming up to me as well.

“Oh! Is that like a fairy? Can you shrink? Do you have wings?” She bounces in her seat, and I snort. This girl is unlike any I’ve met in all my years to move on so swiftly from such a moment.

“I think the humans did call some of us fairies, though many Fae found it insulting.”

“Why? I think fairy is a pretty name, and you’re very pretty too. Seems to fit, I think. You can be my special fairy.”

I take in her bright, happy eyes as she giggles and shake my head, failing to stop the smile from taking over my lips.

“You know I’ve not met many Fae or super people, as you call them. But I’ve met a few—” She then devolves into a ridiculous story of a Bigfoot and chicken nuggets, and I can’t help but smile. How long has it been since I have felt this way? Decades? Centuries?

“Are you from Mip’s world as well, then?” she asks suddenly.

I am going to have to get used to these spontaneous questions.

“Ah, I am not. However, I’m not originally from here either. I’m from the Fae Wilds.”

I tell her a bit about my home, and she nods. It’s nice to talk to someone, and it’s been so long since I have thought of such things.

Hours later, we finally climb out of the van. The area we stopped at seems barren besides a rickety stall and lined machines with tubes attached to them. She puts a card into a machine and plugs a tube into the rear of the van. I would never stick anything in an animal’s rear, so why she is doing it to her beloved Suisy is beyond me.

“It’s gas. We use it to keep Suisy going,” she tells me when I give her an incredulous look.

“It feeds on gas?” I feel less and less sure about this vehicle Suisy the more I learn about it. I wrap my arm around Clover in case I need to pull her away from the feeding vehicle.

She gives me a curt nod. “Yup.”

After a moment, the machine makes a loud click, and I jump, lifting Clover a bit as I do so. She giggles and pats my arm. “It’s okay. It means she’s all full.”

“I see.” I gently release her, eyeing the machine as she puts away the hose. “All right, all done,” she says, spinning on her heel. She gives me a peck on my cheek and pulls me back inside Suisy.

Bright lights of the city glitter in the distance, and I can’t help myself. I pull her into one more embrace. The fear of losing her, and the guilt over what I’m forced to do feel like an anvil hovering precariously above my head.

“Aldrich?” Her beautiful voice pulls me out of my mental lashing and back to reality. I glance down to see a slight frown on her normally cheerful face. “As much as I enjoy hugging, you’re squeezing me a bit tight.”

I ease up, but I don’t let go of her completely. I don’t think I can at the moment.

“My apologies, love.” I lift her up, carrying her to the back of the van and placing her gently upon her cushioned bed. “Perhaps we could have a brief respite before traveling into the city? It’s been centuries since I’ve been in the presence of so many. We can hug horizontally. I promise not to squeeze so tight.” I’m not prepared for her laughter, but oh, what I wouldn’t give to hear it a million times a day.

Mip rises from the cushion beside us and rolls his eyes. He jumps into a different doll body and starts stabbing me with his unimpressive sword. “Not on my watch,” he announces, and Clover giggles. Then, like he completed his goal, he teleports back to his cushion and snuggles in. I know the little shit would be glaring at me if his button eyes could move.

“Can we put a pin in the horizontal hug? I thought maybe we should go. Get far enough ahead of Blobby and find my other mates before we accidentally go back.”

“Indeed, we should.”

I let go of her just long enough for her to start tidying up the pillows before my willpower slips and I push her onto one of the bigger cushions and jump in on top of her. She giggles, and my cock hardens. I’m not sure horizontal hugging will be enough anymore.

She pushes me away, smiling as she does, so I close my eyes. The sounds of crickets and her soft breathing settles my nerves… if only just. My fear of fading back into the realm with the cursed one constantly nudges against the back of my mind. Not fear for myself, but fear that she’d try to chase after me, so I hold her ankle and trace circles on her soft skin. I can’t get enough of it.

I let my mind wander, and I scoff, thinking of Clover’s tiny protector with his tiny wooden sword. It wouldn’t do much against the dark one, and yet, he was trying to get her out of there. What was I doing? Throwing myself to the ground, ready to give up. Once again, I berate myself for my cowardice. ‘Twas as if I had never encountered such a beast, and yet, in the other realm, I am the only one with the capabilities to engage in battle with him in that hellscape of his own making.

A remnant of the Sorcerer Morfran.

Clover pulls away, and I tense, not wanting to fade right into the hands of the shadow.

“Aldrich?” her sweet voice whispers.

“Yes, love?” The nickname falls from my lips before I can stop myself. Not that I would want to. She’s mine now, after all. Fated or not.

“My feet are ticklish, and I might kick you in the head, and it’s a very pretty head, so I wouldn’t like to do that.”

“My apologies.” I slowly squeeze her ankle, letting it go and letting the world grow kinda hazy around the edges. The longer I touch her, the more I can hold on to the mortal world she resides in. The world I used to reside in, for a time, anyway.

“Let’s go. If I drive carefully, I might not wake Mip.” She holds her hand out to me and smiles, then winks.

I take the offered hand, smirking, and press a kiss to her fingers. Heavens above… I’m not sure if the three hundred years of celibacy did anything for my self-control. The more time I spend with Clover, the more I turn into putty in her hand.

She giggles, pulling me into our seats, and I push all thoughts of throwing her down and ravaging her, in more ways than one, aside. There will be plenty of time for ravaging later. After I save her… and perhaps after I get my powers back.