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Category: Erotica/Erotic Science Fiction/Science Fiction
Description: When Marla Roberts gets lost in the Northern California redwood forest, she doesn't expect to find a gingerbread cottage inhabited by two hunky males with pointy ears and flaming red hair. They're elves, they tell her, and so is she. She soon discovers that an elfin menage offers sensual treats she'd never find in the human world. What's more? if she passes all their tests, they have an even bigger reward for her.
eBook Publisher: Changeling Press LLC, 2009 2009
eBookwise Release Date: May 2009

24 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [95 KB]
Words: 19389
Reading time: 55-77 min.

Somewhere about a mile back, Marla Roberts had taken a left turn into LaLa Land. Her cell phone and GPS didn't work in this part of the woods. She knew that much, even if she didn't have the first clue where she was. And now, it appeared she was driving in circles. She passed the same gingerbread-y cottage three times now. Even if there were more than one example of post-Grimm architecture in the northern California forest, they wouldn't all stand snuggled up to the base of that particularly huge redwood.

No, she'd been this way before--more than once. She might as well admit the truth. She'd never find her way back to Mendocino without asking for help.

She got out of her car, opened the gate in the gingerbread-y fence, and followed the gravel path to the tiny porch. Something made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she went. A feeling that someone was watching her. How utterly clichéd and patently bogus at the same time. What did she expect--a witch with a wicked-big oven? She'd knock on the door. Someone would answer. She'd get directions and head back to civilization. End of story.

She climbed the step and crossed the porch. Before she could knock, the door opened. A man stood on the other side of the threshold.

And, what a man. He was as unusual as he was drop-dead gorgeous. He had hair so red it must have glowed in the dark. Orange-red, red-red. Screaming red. Match that with moss green eyes and ... what the heck? ... pointy ears, and he looked like a creature that might hide under a toadstool, except for one thing. He stood well over six feet and had shoulders so broad they nearly touched the doorjamb on both sides.

His gaze traveled over her, and he smiled. "Nice."

"I'm sorry. I know I'm staring."

He shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"I'm lost," she said. "Can you tell me how to get back to the main highway?"

"You're not lost. You're right where you're supposed to be." He turned and went back into the cottage.

"Excuse me?"

"Come on in," he called from inside.

She stuck her head over the threshold and looked around. If she'd expected the witch's cottage, she could have thought again. This was more like a bachelor pad. Very neat but a bachelor pad, nevertheless. One end served as the kitchen with a butcher-block workspace, six burner gas range, and gleaming stainless steel appliances. A sitting area filled the other end, dominated by a huge flat-screen television. The center section held nothing but an enormous bed. All of this stuff would hardly fit in her house. How could a tiny cottage hold it all?

She ducked outside and glanced from one end of the structure to the other. Tiny. She checked out the interior again. Not tiny.

"Are you going to stand out there all day?" the man said.

She crossed the threshold and took a few steps inside. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" The man opened the refrigerator and stared inside.

She started to say something, but nothing that came to mind made any sense. Everything about this guy and his place was strange, but she could hardly say that without insulting him. "Never mind."

"You want a brew?"

"No thanks."

He closed the refrigerator, unscrewed the top of a bottle of beer, and took a long drag. After a moment, he belched. "You might as well. You're going to be here for a long time."

She stepped farther inside. "So, can you tell me how to get to the highway?"

He tossed the cap of his bottle into the sink. "Nope."

"Why not?"

"Can't. I've never been there."

Oooo-kay. Never been on the highway. Did he drop out of the sky in front of the cottage? "Can I use your phone?"

"Don't have one. There's no one out there I want to talk to."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "So, you don't drive."

"Cars pollute."

"How do you get supplies?" she asked.

"Delivery."

"But, you don't have a phone to call for them."

His eyes twinkled. Really twinkled, light flashing from them for a split second. "I have standing orders for things."

"Then, I imagine one of your delivery people can tell me how to get to the highway."

"I imagine." He flashed her a self-satisfied grin. "They're due out next Wednesday."

"Well, thanks for nothing." She turned on her heel, and her nose almost connected with a chest. She backed up and found herself staring at the first man's blue-eyed twin. Also tall, identical red hair and weird ears, and the same big, hard body.

"Where are you going?" the new one asked.

"Anywhere away from here." She stepped around him, went outside, and started down the path.

"You won't get far without your keys," one of them called after her.

She stopped in her tracks and fished through her purse. She'd put the keys in there when she left the car. She searched all the contents and didn't find them. She patted all her pockets and then reached inside. Nothing.

She turned back. "What did you do with them?"

Green eyes winked at her. "Come on back inside."

"Come on, love," the other one said. "We don't bite."

"Unless you want us to," the first man added.

"My brother thinks he's a comedian," Blue Eyes said. "He gives the family a bad name."

"I'll say," she answered.

"Look, you don't have your car keys. You're not going anywhere," he said. "Even if you were, you'd end up going around in circles again."

"How did you know I was doing that?"

"Happens to everyone in these woods," Green Eyes said. "Come on inside, and we'll sort things out."

"Free dinner if you stay," the blue-eyed one added. Both of them stood there looking handsome but otherwise non-threatening. What the heck? She wasn't getting anywhere her way.

"I guess I'll take that beer, after all," she answered.