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Janet did not shiver, though she was naked beneath her warmest green wool cloak, and the autumn breeze was brisk. She did not sway, though her swollen belly dragged at her. She stood straight and tall at the crossroads, her feet planted wide and oil dripping down her thighs, and waited for the fairy host to ride.The black, then the brown, then the white, she recited to herself. I must pull him from his steed and hold him like a lover, and then I must not let go, no matter what.“Fairies don’t fuck,” Tam had explained to her as they lay in his forest bower late the previous night. They nestled together like two spoons—which meant the child was a lump of sugar, she thought with a little smile. “Are you thinking about the babe again?” Tam said, poking her shoulder. “Listen to me. This is important.”“‘Tis hard not to think about the babe,” she admitted.His hands joined hers across her middle. They were silent for a moment, waiting for a kick, but the child, already more sensible than his parents, was asleep. “Soon he will be here,” he said, “and then you may think of him all you like. But if you wish him to have a living father, then listen.”“I will listen,” she said.“So,” Tam said. “Fairies don’t fuck. Such things are only for mortal flesh. They have no babes of their own, and must steal them. They find our vigor compelling but also strange, and fear it as much as they covet it. If you wish to break the queen’s spell over me, you must do what she cannot and lay a claim of flesh upon me.”“Have I not already?” Janet asked, amused. “My body holds the proof.”“Any man can plant his seed and feel no obligation,” Tam said, shrugging against her back. “And the fey have no understanding of the bond between parent and child. But thee and me, they will understand.”In these last months of pregnancy, it had seemed to take only a feather’s whisper across her skin to arouse her, as though the child wished her to remember how he had been gotten. Tam, knowing how easily she could be brought to readiness, had caressed her only briefly before he bent her forward and entered her. He took her hungrily as he spoke of the unearthly magic that would turn him into a serpent and a bear. He bit her neck as though with fangs, and scratched her back as though with claws, and she shrieked and scrabbled at the ground, almost like a beast herself in her wild throes. He gave her a moment to come back to herself, gasping for breath, and said softly, “So you must do when I am transformed for true. Hold me tightly, fuck me gladly, spend around me, and do not fear.”As Janet remembered his words and his touch, her own wetness joined the oil with which she had carefully prepared herself. She could not promise to be unafraid; it was the mother’s lot, she was already learning, to fear always for the safety of her babe. But the holding and the fucking and the spending, those she could do and willingly.Far off in the misty night, a hound barked. Janet’s skin tightened into gooseflesh at the sound, her nipples crinkling painfully as though in a cool wind. She drew the cloak more tightly around herself and peered down the road.The dogs came first, two white and red hounds, trotting down the road with no great purpose; they were bred to the hunt, she could see at once, but today they had been given no scent and were content to play. They eyed her and sniffed the air but did not approach her. Humans were beneath their notice, she supposed—unless they were prey. The thought made her stomach churn. The baby shifted, perhaps feeling her concern, and she ran a gentle hand over him to soothe him.She had thought the queen would ride at the head of her party, but first there came a retinue, some on foot with torches and some ahorse. The fey were shaped like men and women but moved oddly, as though backward-jointed and unused to having skin. Their long, loose hair, glistening like a slick of fat on a pot of soup, floated about their heads with no breeze to lift it. Their fine woven garb gleamed with a wealth of jewels and gold, but no highwayman would have dared to challenge them. As they came, strolling slowly up the road as though they owned the world, they sang softly, strangely, without instruments, in words and harmonies that slid across Janet’s mind and vanished from her memory.The horses, at least, were ordinary horses of prime quality and health, harnessed with leather alone—proof of the legend that the fey had no tolerance for iron. Janet, who had grown up half in her father’s stables, gladly kept her eyes on the beasts, wondering that they did not shy in terror from their masters. She had not really understood what unearthly meant until the fey appeared, and now she longed only to be as far from them as possible. I will take a snake and a bear for Tam, she thought, but did the queen turn him into one of the fairy folk, I do not think I could manage that.The torchlight seemed to shine brighter, and she looked up to see an open chariot made all of gold, drawn by two magnificent stags with gilded antlers. In it stood a woman of living flame. Like a hearth, she hissed and smoked and crackled. Janet, awestruck, no longer wished to flee. Instead she felt a vast and powerful yearning to creep closer, to reach out, to throw herself into the fire and be consumed—The babe kicked and broke the spell. She wrenched her gaze away from the queen, gasping, and crossed herself. How could she hope to win Tam from such a creature?But you saved me, she thought to her child, pressing both hands to her navel. So I can save him.The queen’s shuddering light glowed upon the three riders who followed her in single file, all cloaked and masked and gloved so no part of them showed. Janet stood very still, gathering her courage. The rider on the black horse rode slowly past her, so near she could smell the horse’s sweat and the sickly sweet jasmine blossoms braided into its mane. Then the bay, decked with ichor-black lilies that reeked of rot. Then came the white horse, garlanded with red roses just like to those that grew near Carterhaugh, and without permitting herself to think or pause, she flung herself into the terrifying parade and dragged Tam Lin down and away to the soft ground by the side of the road.He was fully clothed, but when had that ever stopped them? She yanked his trousers down and straddled him, her cloak sheltering them both, her taut, pendulous belly resting atop his softer one. His cock was also soft, but it rose quickly enough as she stroked it with her oil-slick thighs, and within a moment she had it hard and deep in her cunny. She clenched around him with a sigh of pleasure. He felt so good and right there, even in the midst of all this strangeness.The most essential task done, she lifted his mask. She had no real fear that she had captured the wrong rider, for she knew his rod as well as she knew his face, but it was still a great relief to see his familiar features, warm brown eyes blinking up at her as though just awakened from sleep. “My Jan,” he murmured. “You did it.”Janet’s back was to the fairy host, but there was no mistaking the moment when the queen realized her teind had been taken, for suddenly all around them was as bright as noon, and the flames that had hissed now roared. Janet could feel the heat of the queen’s approach, and heard tiny pops as night insects dived at the blaze and were immolated—as I nearly was, Janet thought, shuddering. Tam made a soft sound at the movement, and his hands settled comfortingly on her hips, the leather of his gloves near as soft as his own skin. She wished she could lean down to kiss him, and settled for gripping his shoulders.The queen came to stand next to them. Her face, wreathed in flame, was expressionless, and she did not say a word. She only lifted her hand, and Tam’s back arched in sudden agony. “Here it comes,” he gasped. “Hold tight—”His body shrank away beneath her, melting like snow. Her cunny was suddenly and shockingly empty and her hands gripped only folds of his shirt. She clutched at where he had been and found herself throttling an enormous serpent, flat-headed and dead-eyed, its back against the ground and its head arched up toward hers. It hissed at her, tongue flicking, and she could see its fangs.Janet knew every snake of England’s woods and gardens, but this one was strange to her. Cream-yellow lines outlined night-black diamonds all down its length, and it was fully as thick as her leg and as long as Tam had been tall. It hissed again, writhing in her hands, and it took all her strength to keep it pinned against the ground. Surely it was a demon snake summoned from hell by the queen. How could she fight such a thing?But she was not meant to fight it, she remembered, and dread grew in her heart as she realized what neither of them had thought of: the serpent’s pale belly was as smooth as her own, with no cock for her to ride.In desperation, she ground her bud against the creature, trapping it between her thighs. Its scales were rough, but not sharp enough to wound, and as it wriggled, still half trapped in Tam’s clothing, she imagined it was Tam’s skilled tongue working her. Her hunger grew, and she moaned.The queen’s flames blazed to her left. Sweat trickled down Janet’s back, and she dared to pull one hand away from the snake for a moment to fumble at her throat and release the cloak. She was glad of the crisp October air. Tam had taught her a great love for outdoor fucking, the explosive sensory alchemy of heat within and chill without. She longed for the warmth of his body against hers, but the serpent’s cold skin, which should have been repulsive, instead aroused her in a different fashion. The strangeness of it all, the undoubtable perversion, became excitement. And were the snake’s gyrations slower and more purposeful now? Was there a spark of Tam’s mind behind those gleaming eyes?She rubbed herself harder and faster against the serpent, whimpering softly, never daring to slacken her grip below its head. Its scales scraped across her most tender skin, abrading her, the sting only increasing her pleasure. I’ll be sore tomorrow, she thought, and then, shuddering, If I survive the night.A strange rattling sound came from behind her, breaking her reverie, and she swore softly—she had been close to her peak. She dared a glance back and saw the end of the snake’s tail emerging from the leg of Tam’s trousers, between her feet. The tail-tip was clad in chitinous armor, bizarre to behold, and it flickered madly, rattling like a child’s toy.Janet, her mind clouded by passion, saw only the shape of it, tapered and ribbed, hard and flexing, almost precisely the size of Tam’s cock. Just the thought of it shivering inside of her was nearly enough to bring her off.Still pinning the snake’s head to the ground with one hand, she reached back between her legs with the other and grasped the tip of its tail, silencing it. The snake thrashed under her, but Janet was strong in will and body, and she held it fast, fore and aft. Slowly, deliberately, she rubbed the rattle between her nether lips, drenching it, and then fed it carefully into her hungry, grasping cunt.Each ridge slid across her bruised flesh with a spark of pain. Janet whimpered as she pushed it in, feeling it stretch her slowly wider. The snake seemed confounded into stillness, or perhaps it was curious; the very tip of the rattle shifted within her, exploring the dimensions of the odd new place in which it had been planted. She almost sobbed from the feelings awoken by the alien touch, both repellent and desperately arousing.She took the last ridge within herself and groaned to feel her cunny so deeply full. Tentatively, she opened her hand; the rattle stayed firmly lodged within her. She stroked down the snake’s smooth tail and felt it vanish into her depths where only human flesh had gone before. The oil and her slick juices drenched the reptile’s scales and her questing fingers.The rattle’s bumps and protrusions were so strange inside her, and she clenched them as though she could compress them into a familiar shape. They pressed back against her walls, almost bruising her. The confinement seemed to distress or excite the snake, for it began to move the rattle inside her, not in and out like a human lover but from side to side, an impossible, hectically exciting motion.Her body clamored to be brought off, and she braced her free hand upon the ground, always minding that she stayed out of reach of the serpent’s fangs. Her instinct was to thrust, but the snake’s tail only moved with her, so she shifted and chafed her bud against its wide belly. Lightning sparked all the way up through her body and she cried out into the night.A wild grin spread across her face as she wondered what the fey folk were making of her unabashed fleshly hunger. She pressed down harder and worked herself faster, defying their devilish magics with the earthy humanness of lust.The squirming of the snake’s rattle brought her to the brink, gasping at the perverted wonder of being ravaged by this devilish beast. A last jerk of her hips and she hollered as she peaked, squeezing the rattle so hard that it slipped out. She ground herself desperately against the pale scales and was rewarded by throbbing pulses within her and a gush of musky liquid that drenched the snake and the ground.All at once she was exhausted and shocked by herself, proud and ashamed all at once, and desperate for the night’s trials to be over. “Oh, Tam, Tam,” she gasped, caressing the snake’s side, “come back to me now.”The snake flicked its tongue at her once and then contorted, growing as Tam had shrunk, then growing further until Tam’s clothes shredded around it and Janet, still astride the changing creature, was lifted from the ground. Its fangs became teeth, its scales turned to fur, and abruptly Janet found herself in the embrace of a shaggy brown bear.Her mind screamed at her to run, to protect herself and her child, but she steeled herself and did not move. The last quivers from her bout with the snake still reverberated within her, proof that she was equal to all the trials of this terrible night. And she heard Tam’s voice in her memory: No matter what form I take, I can never harm you or our child. Hold me fast and fear me not. Boldly, she dug her fingers into the bear’s fur, and scruffed him as though he were her favorite hound.As the snake had been large for a snake, the bear was small for a bear, weighing no more than Tam had. But his claws were wickedly sharp, and he sniffed the air with his wet black nose and growled deep in his throat. He disliked being on his back and rolled to the side, taking Janet with him; she hit the ground hard and was knocked breathless for a moment, but never loosed her grip.The bear sniffed again, and his rumbles took on a different tone. He rubbed his head roughly against hers and nudged her onto her back, standing astride her. She sighed as the chill of the ground soothed the ache in her lower back, suddenly aware of the toll her earlier exertions had taken on her overtaxed body. The beast’s fur was warm against her front and she felt almost cozy—but she could not let herself relax entirely, knowing what the night still had in store.The bear knew it too, it seemed. He drew his great head down her body, huffing in deep breaths, and she felt certain he scented her lust. With his head between her thighs and her hands still clutching the back of his neck, the earlier fantasy of Tam licking her cunt came vividly back into her mind. For a moment she even thought the bear might lap at her. But instead he curled one huge paw under her left shoulder, clearly meaning to roll her over. Ah, he is like a hound, she thought.That suited her well enough, except for the matter of needing to keep a grip on him. Carefully, she reached her left hand across herself, taking hold of his leg just above the paw. Now she could release the other hand and roll as he wished. She ended up a bit awkwardly, one shoulder on the ground and both hands grasping his leg as though it were a butter churn, but her knees were firmly planted and her bum was in the air, and that was good enough for the bear.He covered her body with his own and she felt his cock probing at her, seeking any port of entry. Hastily, she reached one hand down to guide it. The bear gave a sort of groaning howl at her touch and began thrusting rapidly against her hand. “Oh, leave off,” she gasped, “you’ll have me soon, and this is hard enough!”The bear’s organ seemed a peculiar shape in her hand, but she could not see it to be sure. Its size was not outlandish as she had feared; it was thick but short, and she thought she could take it well, provided the beast did not bowl her over in his eagerness.She brought the head of the bear's cock to her sore and swollen cunny, and he pushed it into her without hesitation. She yelled at the sudden aching shock of it, and he paused for a moment, startled, before pressing in further. Janet flung her arm over her eyes, almost weeping. The snake had been alien; this was unsettling in a different way, both so like and so unlike the lover who had taken her the same way only the night before. She felt overwhelmed by sensation: the smell of rich forest earth beneath her cheek, the bear’s soft fur rubbing over her body, and the heat and pressure of his cock buried so deeply in her that she thought it might kiss her womb.She had expected the beast to ravish her, but his thrusts were small and slow and gentle. It gave her time to collect herself and become accustomed to this new intrusion—and to realize that she could not remain in this odd position, half on her side. Now that her cunt was firmly clasping the bear’s cock, she felt she could tentatively release her death-grip on his leg, so she heaved herself up onto all fours, pressing her arse up against the bear encouragingly.He voiced that grunting groan again and draped his forelegs over her hips. He began to quiver rapidly, rutting into her with constant little strokes that chafed without satisfying. Her little bud throbbed and ached to be touched, but she could not possibly reach it. She writhed in frustration. Her pleasure was at the bear’s mercy, and he cared only for his own gratification.But her thoughts were in her control. As she had with the snake, she opened herself to the strangeness of it, the alien motions wholly unlike those of any man. Her passion caught flame from the spark of shameful pleasure in the knowledge that she was gladly letting herself be fucked by a wild beast, his pungent breath ruffling her hair and his fur caressing her skin.She pictured his cock pressing into her cunt, the color and shape and size of it, the way it distended her flesh and rubbed against the bruises inside her with flashes of pleasure-pain. She savored the immense strength of the limbs that clasped her, and the sting as a single claw-tip scratched carelessly across her thigh. She was so close to her peak now, swaying and gasping.As the beast shuddered against her, she imagined him finding his own pleasure, filling her cunny with his cream, and that brought her up and over the edge. She bucked against him, her cunt throbbing and convulsing as though she could squeeze the spend from him by pure force.Let this be enough, she prayed with the last of her strength. Please, God, let this be enough for her.The bear made a strange noise and shuddered, and then—blessed day—she felt his fur retreat into smooth skin, and there were wonderfully familiar hands clasping her hips. She dared to look up and back over her shoulder, and her eyes met Tam’s as he knelt behind her, his cock hilted inside her where it belonged.“Hello,” she whispered.“Hello,” he whispered back. “Should I... press on?”Every muscle in her exhausted body cried no, but she gave him her very best smile and said, “Yes.”He fucked her like a man, like himself, and reached around her with clever fingers to rub just where she needed it most. Her pleasure roared through her. She sobbed and dug her own fingers into the earth. Behind her, Tam gave a shout and spent deep and hard, quenching the fires of his lust in her overflowing well.He pulled out slowly and collapsed onto the ground beside her. They clasped each other tightly, foreheads touching, and then Janet recalled the last of his instructions. She reached out and grasped a fold of her green wool cloak and drew it over them both, a final shield against the fey magic that had nearly stolen him away.“Well done,” Tam said quietly.They looked up at the fairy queen. Her face still bore no expression as she gazed down at them.“He is mine,” Janet said. “Mine and mine alone. I have won him, and you have lost.”“And who,” the queen asked, “are you? No one. Nothing. A little wretch with a big belly.” Her voice hissed like steam from a burning log.“Then that is who I am,” Janet said. “But he’s still mine.”“Claimed with this revolting display,” the queen said. No human speech could have carried such disdain.“But claimed fairly,” Tam said. “And fairly won.”The queen leaned down until her heat nearly singed them. “Had I but known,” she said, “had I but known, Tam Lin, I would have cut you open and pulled you apart with my fingernails. I would have speared that pretty cock that your little tart here likes so much, and eaten it like a sausage. I would have fed your heart to my dogs, and kept you alive to see them worry it as though it were a rat.”Janet stared up at her. She could not breathe for fear.“However,” the queen said, straightening, “she is right. She has won. I have lost. The dawn approaches, and the gates will close when the sun rises, so I must hasten away and tithe a far inferior man, and hope that Hell will take him.”Janet exhaled, shuddering, and gripped Tam’s hand until her knuckles turned white.The queen turned from them and strode toward her chariot. “But mind your babe,” she called over her shoulder. “If he be a boy as fair as his father, then he will serve just as well for tithe in fourteen years, or twenty-one. And if she be a girl as brash as her mother, we would gladly feast upon her tender flesh.”Janet struggled to her feet, letting the cloak fall. “I will guard my child with my life and my soul,” she shouted. “And you had best beware, queen of the fey, for I will best you in any contest you can name!”The queen laughed. “We will see,” she said. “Farewell, Tam Lin—until next we meet.”She stepped into her chariot and flicked sparks at the stags, who had stood patiently waiting all this time. They startled and leaped forward. The other fey followed in haste, and soon Tam and Janet were alone.Janet sat heavily on the ground and shivered, naked and dirty and tired to the bone. She caressed her belly and hiccuped as the babe delivered a reassuring kick. Tam draped her cloak over her shoulders and dug through the ruins of his clothing to find his own. The full moon’s light seemed feeble after the queen’s fire.“How much do you remember?” she asked.“All of it,” he said. “I was trapped in the minds of the beasts and could not move or speak or shift them. But I saw it all. I felt it all.”She buried her face in her hands, ashamed.“Ah, Jan, do not.” He stroked her hair. “I have done worse while under the green hill. And you did it for love of me.”“Promise me I’ll never have to do it again,” she said.“I promise,” he said fervently. “I have no wish to do it again myself.” He patted his body as though to make sure it had survived the ordeal intact, with no stray fur or scales. “I greatly prefer this form over any other.”“As do I,” Janet said, taking his hand. He drew her to her feet, and she leaned against him as they began the long, slow walk back to Carterhaugh.And if sometimes, in all their many long years together afterward, Janet begged Tam to take her from behind and rut as the bear had done... or he hissed in her ear like a snake and it made her buck and cry out in pleasure... well, no one but the two of them will ever know.