Page 29 of Sky and the Grumpy Troll

“Only if bonded with the right person. I do not know what it is like, since I have not truly experienced it.”

“So you don’t experience it with me?”

He went silent, his jaw working, then blew out a breath. “I do experience it with you. Not a deep bond yet, just a glimmer of what it could be. And it is… pleasant. Addictive.”

“Why would she fear that?”

“It becomes a lasting bond, with the kind of permanence that is difficult to shake. Perhaps that is what she feared. Or she may have feared that we were not compatible in that way, that she might lose me if we were to attempt it without success. I suppose I’ll never know, because she was adamant and I did not press her for more. But it is less common these days for trolls to deliberately engage with it. We are a sensible people, and a deeply emotional bond such as that seems better suited to the grand romance of books.”

“Is it in your books?”

“Yes. I do enjoy including it, because imagining that deep, lasting bond… it’s just…” He trailed off with a dreamy sigh. “I only wished to experience it, and once I realized you were compatible, it was too tempting to resist. But I apologize for not explaining what was happening.”

“So, to be clear, when I was holding your horns just a few hours ago so I could stand up on the wagon and do the Titanic thing, you were feeling some kind of way about it.”

“I still do not understand why you had to balance and yell that thing about being the king of the world, but yes.”

“But, you felt…”

“I was aroused.” He frowned. “Oh. Oh no! Have I been violating you by enjoying your touch there?”

I laughed. “I don’t think so. I’ve had my hands all over you, and it all made me horny. Can’t very well complain if some of my touches made you… rather specifically horny.”

His frown hadn’t gone anywhere. “Are you sure?”

“Next time, communicate better. But you know I want to fuck. You know I find you sexy, and the thought that you were secretly enjoying intense horny feelings makes me smile. How intense, by the way?”

He closed his eyes. “Sky.”

“No, I’m asking. On a scale. Like, is it nice? Is it wow? Is it oh-god-I-might-come-right-here-on-this-wagon?”

“It is not… it does not work that way. It isn’t purely sexual. It’s—” He stopped and started again, choosing words with the care of a man defusing a bomb. “The trolgar connects physical sensation to emotional response. When you touch my horns, I feel it physically, yes. But I also feel… you. Something inherent in your nature that speaks to something in mine. It is my understanding that that is rare.”

“Can I?” I reached up, giving him every chance to stop me. My fingers hovered near the base of his left horn. “Now that I know what it means?”

His breathing had gone shallow. “You don’t have to—”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”

He hesitated. “But, Bryndala…”

“I don’t know much about Bryndala, but I’d like to imagine her as someone who would encourage you to live your best life, not be sad and lonely and sexless for the rest of your days.”

Instead of answering, Moerrven stared off into the middle distance, his mouth a thin line.

“What’s going on in that big head of yours?”

“I want you to touch me. So much. But… what if…”

“Live a little, Moerrven. I’m not asking for your heart. I know that’s hers. But if we can take some pleasure and comfort in each other in this dangerous universe, why shouldn’t we?”

He stared at me for a long moment, then nodded, a small, tight movement.

I reached for him, searching for the spot he was talking about, a warm ridge at the base of his horn. His whole body shuddered. His eyes closed, his lips parted, and the sound he made was quiet and wrecked, the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard.

I traced the curve, learning the texture — smooth as polished stone near the tip, rougher and warmer where it met his scalp, and at the root, a softness I hadn’t noticed before, skin that was fever-hot and pulse-quick under my thumb. His hand tightened on my waist. His breathing was ragged.

“Good?” I whispered.