Hi sweets! A little treat for yall!

This chapter WILL HAVE SMUT, you have been warned.

Chapter 8

"Good morning, mum!" Allie chirped, bouncing down the stairs.

"Good morning, Allie."

"Where's Tamlin?"

"I think he's off to an early start today." Katherine shrugged.

The milk had already been on the stove when she got to the kitchen, so she assumed he must have already left for the fields.

Allie grabbed a toast from the plate.

"Do you need me for anything?"

"Can you make the muffins?" Katherine poured some tea into Allie´s cup before pouring some for herself.

"Of course. I'll bake them in the afternoon so they'll be fresh."

Katherine hummed an approval, breathing in the smell of tea. It was going to be a long day, working and then going to Marguerite´s to bring in the spring. She hoped that this year would be better, that they would get better crops, enough to start recovering their depleted savings, even if she wouldn't have a sniff of coffee for the next decade.

It must be better than the latest years, at least now she had help in the farm, they could sow more of the fields. Tamlin had no experience as a farmer, but he was strong enough, powerful enough and there was that gift he had for tending to the plants, so, between the two of them, they would make it work.

He was, as she had expected, already in the fields. Rain lifted her head from the snooze as Katherine and Noble got closer and greeted them, catching his attention.

One look at him made it obvious why he wouldn't attend the Calanmai either at the Wyatts or at the Town Square. Tamlin looked like there was a light burning inside of him, he was almost glowing. He was Spring itself, the very beating heart of their court, there was no way he could be mistaken for just another faerie when he looked like that, and she very much doubted that any glamour would do much to disguise the preternatural glow.

"Good morning." He greeted her with a smile, and she noticed how much better he looked now than when they first met.

He had put on some weight, the work in the fields was bringing a touch of colour to his face, and even his eyes, that had been haunted and sad then, were now of a livelier green.

"Good morning." It was good seeing him in genuine good mood for a change "Bring that white face over here."

Tamlin chuckled and walked to where she stood, taking off his hat for her to put the sunscreen to his face, as she had done every day since that first time.

"You've started early today." She commented, feeling the warmth of his skin under her fingers. He had been so cold when he first started living with them, but it seemed that the food and the company were finally doing him some good.

"It's a lot of work." Tamlin shrugged with a smile "I'm not complaining, it's just… You know."

"I know." She nodded "That's a farmer´s life. Loads of work, but we give thanks for it. Means things are going well."

Things were going well indeed. Most of the fields she had set to work on that year were ready, just waiting for the seeds, the dark earth scented the air with the smell she had come to associate with early spring. It would be better this year, she wouldn't have to sell anything else, the Mother would be good and the Cauldron would give them a good harvest.

Katherine took a moment to enjoy the pale sunlight that made the dew sparkle like tiny diamonds on the fresh grass around them before setting to work.

"Have you been doing this all your life?"

"No, only since..." She didn't want to bring his mood down. Even though it was his own fault "I was a milkmaid before I got married, my family had goats."

Kiril had usually handed the farm-work mostly alone, or with some hired help sometimes. He joked that he didn't want her to spoil her complexion in the sun, even though he was much fairer than her, and she usually did the work in the home, to keep an eye on Allie.

"Your family is from Day then?"

She would usually have sighed at the question, but Tamlin had never asked her about her looks, even when Marguerite had hinted at it, even when it was so clear all over her. She was thankful for that.

"My grandparents were from Day, but I was born in Pearl Valley."

Even though her own mother had been a petite freckled Spring spawn, Katherine seemed to not have gotten a drop of Spring blood in her, she could easily be mistaken for her father´s sister.

"Pearl Valley?" Tamlin frowned.

"Antheor."

The town had been one of the founders of The Alliance, it had become natural for her to refer to it by it's new name.

"Close to Summer, isn't it? On the shore."

"Right behind the..."

"Sleeping cat!" Tamlin laughed, and she found herself smiling at his merry mood. All the locals referred to Pearl Valley like that, because of a mountain shaped like a sleeping cat which was the only access to the town by land "I remember it, I've been there a few times."

"I was born on a goat farm on the cat´s back." Just to talk of it brought up the smell of grass, goat and salt in her memory.

"You could see the sun set in the sea then, from your place?"

The sun and the moon, depending on what she was up to.

"Yes. It was lovely."

Tamlin didn't take his eyes from the fields, and his smile held on his face. He was a very handsome male, if one cared to notice, at least when he wasn't looking half dead.

The magic of the Calanmai, that ancient power, had chased him from bed earlier than usual and was hounding him ever since, demanding to be let in. It made him sharp and joyful now, but he knew well enough what awaited once the sun went down, he could feel it even now, as the golden disk rushed towards the horizon, the magic growing impatient, pressing on him. It would be so easy to just stop fighting.

"There's some chicken pea and beef soup if you get hungry." Katherine rode slightly ahead of him, astride, like a farm-wife must, her back effortlessly straight, and the saddle pushed her dress up enough that he could catch a glimpse of her thick calves if he looked down.

Which he had. A couple of times, already. Damned Calanmai, but she was beautiful. Somehow he had missed that.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Knocking some trees down until he was too exhausted to even stand, let alone think of Calanmaiing "Go have your fun at Marguerite´s."

She turned back to look at him. Her nose wasn't perfectly straight as Allie´s, but slightly aquiline, and it gave her a "don't try my patience" look.

"It's a pity you can't come with us."

"There will be other parties." He shrugged.

But not like the Calanmai. It was the biggest celebration in Spring, no other night was so pivotal to that agricultural court as the waking of the earth each year, and the beginning of the work that would keep them and the rest of Prythian fed for another twelve months.

Well, at least them. For some years now the crops had been barely enough to keep Spring going, let alone to export, and there was no reason to believe that this year would be any different. He wouldn't be doing it. Even if he wanted to, who would be willing to be the maiden? The crops would have to do with sun, water, and cow shite, and be glad of it.

Katherine´s hips swayed gorgeously with the mare´s paces. One day he would have to learn to control that urge in his true form, but, for now, it was so much easier to just break branches with his antlers and knock trees down with his weight.

He stayed back in the stables to brush the horses after she went to the house to wash for the party. Tending to the beasts helped to push back that pressure that threatened to crush him. Only a while longer, and they would be gone, and then he would let the magic in and rage in the woods.

"Choose another."

The Calanmai twirled around him, ancient and relentless. He had tried that every year, to convince it to go away, to choose someone else, to no avail. He was the High Lord, it was his body that the magic demanded, his power.

It was starting to rumble now, as the sun began to set, and he knew it was time. He had to be gone, he had to be far before it was fully down, he couldn't risk catching a sniff of their scent when they came fetch the horses to leave for the party.

He walked out of the stables in his High-Fae form. Katherine was no longer afraid of him, but he'd rather not try his luck. The woods were noisy, with the creatures waking up and getting their Calanmai fun, soon there would be fires all over Spring, and he would be able to feel the beating of the drums in his chest. It used to be delightful, the best night of the year.

Tamlin transformed and felt the hardened dirt under his paws. How long would he have to run this year, how many trees would he knock down, before being ready to drop of exhaustion?

"Shit." Katherine almost dropped the basket, but managed to catch it with her thigh.

"Mouth, mum." Allie reprimanded.

"Sorry darling."

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Allie was frowning, her hand on the doorknob.

"Was I ever not?" Katherine smiled "Don't worry, darling, it's just a headache. Stay at your aunt´s, promise? I don't want you coming home by yourself, it's dangerous."

"Yes, mum."

Katherine watched Allie mount Lovely and disappear down the road to the Wyatts´. Marguerite would be cross at her, but so be it, she was in no mood to party tonight.

A headache was probably the only thing she didn't have that night. Her heart was racing for no reason at all, and her skin felt hot as if she had been sitting in front of the hearth all day. It wasn't a fever or anything, she had already tried to fix it with whatever scraps of sunlight there were in her without any success, so she had thought it better to stay at home and see if a cold bath would make it better.

Her heart pounded on her chest, and as soon as she patted herself dry the heat on her skin was back. What on earth was wrong with her?

It was sometime after midnight when she finally gave up and jumped up from the bed with a curse. How could anyone sleep with that accursed drumming? The house was silent, but, for decency´s sake, she put on a dressing robe, even though the fabric seemed to stifle her skin.

There was still some dried up chamomile in the pantry, but by the way her heart was beating she might as well start munching on the bunch like a damned cow, and hope that she would manage to pass herself out.

She cursed loud and proficiently when she scalded her lips on the tea. There was no one there to reprimand her. She sipped at it again and cursed at the uselessness of it. She would have one shitty day of work ahead of her if she didn't manage to get some sleep soon. She took a gulp of it at once, and cursed some more at the heat of it, and the sweat that made the dressing robe, her hair, everything stick to her skin.

The back porch was cooler, the smoke-scented breeze still carrying the taste of winter, and Katherine allowed herself to growl out of frustration. She had to make that stop, to get to bed and get working the following morning, she had no time to fall ill now.

Night breeze blew softly from over the woods, beckoning her, so irresistible she found herself leaning forward over the rail.

The call.

She knew who was lurking in those woods, praying and meditating. Katherine felt something stir in her blood. For years now she had been without, ages since she last went hunting. She let the cup down and flexed her fingers, feeling that heat spread in her blood.

But did it have to be him?

Who else? Lucas Garmin?

It was just the Calanmai, it was no shame really, there was nothing wrong with it, no one had to know.

She could trust him with that, her friend Tamlin. That was all he was, her friend, not the- No, he was nothing else, he was just her friend.

She shouldn't go hunting him, he had said he didn't want to do that any more.

The wind changed directions, as if nudging her towards the woods.

Just ask him.

But they were friends. It would be so much easier if he were just another one of her sailors.

A low growl echoed in the woods, and Katherine felt the purr forming in her chest. She had been with a prince before, a prince of the Free Folk, who belonged to no court but roamed the world as they pleased. Was Tamlin as powerful and delightful as her prince had been?

It was sacrilegious to try to compare anyone to Raoul.

She stepped out of the back porch, the stone of the patio mercifully cold against her bare feet, the Calanmai drums beating louder in her chest.

It was the Calanmai. If he said no, she could pretend she didn't know what she was doing, that it wasn't her really. The ground was not as cold as the stone, and the drumming carried her into the woods, stepping on the roots to avoid the pebbles. It was overwhelming, the noise of the creatures and the heady scent of early spring, but she somehow knew where to go.

She had sneaked in and out of ships, tents and wagons, but that was the oddest place she had ever gone for a fuck. Katherine would have laughed if the idea of laughing alone in the woods at night didn't make her feel like a madwoman.

"Whatever you do, don't run."

She fought to keep the smile from her lips as she turned to face him. Tamlin was shirtless and glistening with sweat, glowing like a heathen god, with twigs and leaves tangled in his beautiful golden hair. His shoulders were tense, and he gripped the trunk of the nearest tree, as if he needed to steady himself.

"I'm sorry, Katherine, it's not me, I swear." He leaned back slightly, as if he had tried to step back but found his feet tied to the ground.

"Do you want me to leave?"

A simple enough question. Yes or no. A low growl rippled out of him, and she found herself purring in response.

"No."

She took a step towards him and pulled a twig from that lovely golden cascade. Every muscle in his broad chest was tense, his breathing controlled. Katherine almost wished that he would lose control, so that she could blame it on him. As if it made any difference who made the first move, when she had already gone to him in the woods.

"Then why are you holding back?"

Tamlin´s eyes were grey in the moonlight, his breath warm on her face, she felt the heat that radiated from him, like it did from her.

"I don't want to scare you."

He was sweet, he was her friend. She placed her hand on the blazing hot skin and felt the magic rushing beneath it, like the current under a frozen river.

"I'm not scared of you."

He was old and powerful, he could wipe that whole forest in a heartbeat if he wanted to. But he was also kind and trustworthy. Her blood was roaring with need. Tamlin had a lover´s mouth, the top lip slightly fuller than the bottom, like he had been made for kisses and whispering empty promises.

He put his hand to her waist gently, as if trying not to startle her, his touch scorching her through the thin satin of her dressing robe, and Katherine arched into him, passing her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. She could feel him shudder at the kiss, and most of that willpower had been using to hold back was gone by the time her back hit the trunk of that tree.

He took her mouth as if he might take all of her, it would have taken a female made of stone to not respond to that, not pull at that soft golden hair to go for his neck, salty with sweat and heavily scented with rain and greenery. The smell of early spring. The sound he made, something between a strangled groan and a growl, had Katherine breathless as she ventured on his shoulders, leaving one hand to roam his chest as the other was on his waist, pulling him closer.

"You smell so good." Tamlin´s breath tickled her ear, and she purred on his shoulder, circling his nipple with her nail.

She managed to do it only once before he pinned her hand to the tree, drinking up her chuckling, his desire hard against her lower stomach. The sighs, the heat, that was her life, that was who she was, how could Katherine have forgotten it for so long?

She bit back a smile when he dropped on his knees before her, running his hand up from her calf to rest her thigh on his shoulder. His first kiss had her swallowing down a growl, the second one made her brace herself on the tree, and the third one…

The magic hit her right in the chest like it had been barrelling down a mountain, and she clawed at the trunk to steady herself. It was like the sun itself was tearing through her veins, bringing her back to life in the arms of that male she barely knew. She could feel it flowing from everywhere, washing over Tamlin and over her, and, inside her chest, that golden flicker she had thought long extinguished. She was herself again, alive again.

Tamlin took his fingers to her, to aid the work of his mouth, and she remembered.

Violin. Tamlin plays a violin.

She roared as he brought her to release.

Tamlin felt like he couldn't let go of her if he wanted to, but why would he ever want such a thing? She had roared for him, the delightful creature. He tasted the origin of the world between her strong thighs, the soft skin on the inside hot on his face. Katherine hissed and he felt her legs shaking as she climaxed in his mouth again. She was eager and quick to pleasure, and it was driving him insane, but he had to give her as much as he could because the Cauldron knew that once he took her she would probably make him disgrace himself and his whole lineage.

She pushed his shoulder back with her little foot and he stumbled back as she prowled to him, that light in her eyes as if she was going to devour him alive, her skin reflecting the moon above to the point where she almost looked like she was glowing.

"Lay down."

Every hair on his body stood at the command, as she untied her dressing robe and let it slide down to the forest ground, nearly stopping his heart. Those structured dresses she wore should be made illegal, a creature like her should never be hidden under stays and petticoats.

The full breasts bounced lightly as she knelt down beside him, leaning in to slide her tongue in his mouth. They were heavy in his hands, and she drew a sharp breath when he tugged a delicate dark nipple between his index and middle fingers, the same ones that had brought her so much joy just now. She wasn't immune to her own tricks then.

Katherine pushed him to the ground and lowered herself over him, nimbly unfastening his trousers. One stroke. Two. She rolled her wrist lightly, biting at his lower lip, playing him.

There was no chance he would hold on long enough for it to be merely shameful, he was going to be massacred.

The ancient magic was running through him like the rapids of a river, running through her and into the ground, ricocheting around the trees and rocks to wash over them again, but Katherine rode it like she had been born for this. Tamlin tried to keep it off his mind, to remember all the towns in The Alliance in chronological order, anything to lessen his oncoming shame.

Springville, Pearl Valley and what was the name Avorn was going by again?

Her shifting weight was the only warning he received before she took him into that blazing hot wetness.

Katherine drew back and took the time to gently comb his hair with her fingers, clearing it from where she wanted to place her hand, and the gentleness of it laid him bare enough that his claws almost came out when she lowered herself fully onto him.

Was Avorn Springville?

Katherine purred as he caressed her thighs and waist, stroking up and down, caressing the underside of her breasts, drawing closer to the peaked nipples that showed through that soft black mane of curls. He teased her and she tightened around him, and the fight to keep his claws from coming out was the only thing that kept him from it.

"Are you still holding back?" Katherine complained, her thick alto voice hoarse from pleasure.

"Claws." He lied, burying his face in the rich black mane of her hair as she leaned in, shifting the movement of her hips. Katherine had a scent like olive leaves, daffodils and the cool mist over a stream, crisp and airy and fresh. Absolutely delightful.

"I don't mind them." She picked up pace, building up his pleasure to a dangerous level.

"Katherine-" She tightened at him calling her name and his claws slid out, scratching lightly at the skin of her back and making her press those wonderful breasts harder against him "Will you slow down, for the Mother´s sake?" He hissed, trying to rein it back.

Katherine stopped at the tip of him, her hot breath on his ear making him shudder when he realized what she was about to do.

"Happy to oblige."

She squeezed and slowly slid down the length of him, and rest in peace his reputation.

He had roared so delightfully that she had to do it again. And then once more, just because she could. He took revenge on her, and they dragged out the competition until neither of them could do anything but to drag their happy sore carcasses back home. Katherine had fallen asleep on top of her blankets, and woken up to the smell of the forest in her bed and the rain-and-earth scent in her hair.

She sat up, conscious of the ache between her thighs and that stickiness that still remained after she had used the magic for a quick clean before tumbling down in bed. She would need to wash before going downstairs.

Some of that spring scent would still cling to her hair for a couple of days, no matter how much she washed. Grandpa Titian had a recipe to wash it off completely, but she didn't have any of the ingredients at hand, why would she? She hadn't needed it ever since she had arrived in New Hope to be a good and honest farm-wife. Perhaps she could find them in the woods.

Until then, it was better to keep her distance from Allie. Her daughter had wanted her and Tamlin to get along, but surely not to that extent. Katherine winced as she adjusted her breasts in the stays, her nipples tender from Tamlin´s tugging and biting, and she shook off that small rolling wave of desire.

One night for each lover, that was the rule.

Katherine watched the rosy shades of dawn turning to blue as the leaves settled in the teapot.

"Good morning." There was a hint of lilac under Tamlin´s eyes, starker on his fair complexion than on her darker face. The male looked quickly through the doorway towards the sitting room, but Allie wouldn't be home for a couple of hours "Are you well?"

"Yes. You?"

"Never better."

She chuckled at his smirk.

"Tea?"

"Yes, thank you." Having poured the milk from the bucket in the pot, he proceeded to wash his hands.

If she had been expecting things to become awkward between them, she would have been sorely disappointed. Tamlin looked more comfortable around her than he had ever been before, leaning casually against the kitchen counter and snatching her own cup of tea before she could get him one.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

Katherine took the toasts from the pan and put the plate by his side on the counter. Not many males remembered to worry about those details, but it didn't surprise her that he was one.

"Yes. Do you know where the apothecary is?"

Tamlin nodded.

"If it's still across from the ice-cream place."

Katherine´s chest tightened.

"There's no longer an ice-cream place there. But the apothecary is still where it was."

Tamlin´s light mood darkened a bit.

"Ah."

Hybern had burned it down out of sheer spite, just because they could. The Hybern he had let into their court.

No, not him, the High Lord. Not Tamlin. Katherine pulled the pan from the stove again, serving her toasts on top of his.

"Your toasts are getting cold."

He picked one and bit off half of it.

"You sweeten your tea."

"Just a bit. I can get you some unsweetened tea if you'd prefer." If he'd rather have his own cup than pillaging hers.

"No need." He stuffed the rest of the toast in his mouth and washed it down with some more tea.

"I'd like a sip of my own tea if you don't mind." She snatched her cup back to down some of the now warm tea.

It was a strange intimacy. Long ago, that's what she imagined life in Day Court to be like, folks taking lovers as they pleased and no one seeing anything wrong with that. Her mother had imagined it that way too, and vetoed her marrying into that Court, much to Grandpa Titian´s outrage.

"Perhaps you should go to the apothecary in Willow Gate, everyone knows everyone in New Hope and I'd rather not be labelled a family-fucker."

Tamlin laughed so hard he bent forward, and Katherine enjoyed having her cup all to herself as he recovered.

"Katherine, for the Mother´s sake."

What was so funny about that? If Old Duncan caught a sniff of that she would never hear the end of it, and if it got back to Marguerite or Allie…

He must have realized she wasn't in the least amused by that, because he tried to hold back a smile as he gestured his own person with a sweep of his hand.

"Shape-shifter, remember?"

Of course.

Katherine let out a breath of a laughter, shaking her head.

"Shit, sorry, of course, I keep forgetting you're…" She waved her hand, and Tamlin beamed at her, the truest smile she had ever seen on his face. He was a very handsome male, indeed.

"I'm happy for it." He put his hand to her cup, tugging gently, and she allowed him to take it once more.

She didn't have to wonder if he wished he could forget it too.

That was it for today babes, have a nice week!