Read Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly for Free Online Page A

into the shop proper, and I can help you select something that would be suitable for”-she touched my shoulder, rubbing her fingers together-“someone who has relations with a dragon.”
    I followed her around the wall, blinking slightly at the bright overhead track lighting, the shelves full of colorful packages, a row of mannequins modeling a number of risqué leather outfits, and the number of people strolling up and down the aisles with shopping baskets on their arms.
    “Toys for him, toys for her, toys for the ethereal, or toys for shape-shifters?” Dido asked politely.
    “Ethereal?” I asked, surprised. “You mean like ghosts and such?”
    “Of course,” she said with a little shrug of her thin shoulders. “Spirits have sexual needs, too, you know.”
    “How do they-no, never mind. It’s not important. Why don’t we start with leather wrist cuffs? A couple of them, and if you have the ones with sheep skin on the inside, that would be awesome.”
    “Restraints are in aisle D,” she said, leading me to the correct aisle, and giving me a basket before leaving me with a murmur promising more help if I needed it. I spent a fascinating ten minutes picking out a pair of over-the-door wrist restraints to use on Baltic, adding two more sets of regular cuffs to replace Pavel’s, which had been destroyed with the house, and after a few moments’ thought, tossed one of the under-the-bed restraint systems into the basket for Pavel, as well. “I have no idea if he had one, but he’ll probably like it,” I murmured to myself. The next forty-five minutes were eye-opening, if not fascinating, as I strolled up and down the aisles, my brain boggling at all the items available. I had stopped to consider something called a vibrating nipple teaser, wondering if Baltic would enjoy it, when I heard a familiar-sounding voice asking where the spectral whips were kept.
    I put the nipple teaser back and moved cautiously to the end of the aisle, but I didn’t see anyone in this section of the store but a sales clerk.
    “Ethereal items can be found in the blue room,” the clerk said, gesturing to a blue door at the back of the store. “A demonstration model is available. Do you need assistance with it?”
    “Do I look like the sort who doesn’t know how to use a spectral whip?” a voice asked out of nowhere.
    “You are incorporeal, sir, so I can’t say what you look like at all,” the clerk pointed out.
    “Faugh. I’m just saving my energy. Tell Marsella I’ll be in the blue room, if she’s looking for me.”
    “Constantine?” I said, my eyes narrowing as I searched in vain for any sign of him.
    His form shimmered into view, a surprised expression on his face that swiftly changed to joy. “Ysolde! My beloved!”
    “I thought that was you. Spectral whips, Constantine?”
    He looked abashed for a moment before grinning. “You have no idea how stimulating they can be. But what are you doing here? Trying to spice up a boring sex life, eh?”
    “My sex life is anything but boring, not that it’s the slightest concern of yours,” I said with dignity.
    “Is that so?” He poked at the items in my basket, pulling out an object made of plastic, shaped like the letter C, with knobs on either end. “The Ultimate Man Button Massager. Man Button?”
    “I think that’s ... You know ... .” I waved vaguely toward my behind.
    “Prostate?” Constantine asked, his face screwing up in thought. “Really? I had no idea Baltic liked it up the-”
    “That’s not for Baltic,” I said quickly, snatching it back and burying it under the oral stimulator. “It’s for Pavel.”
    His eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. “You mean that you-”
    “No!” I took a deep breath, wondering why I was always called upon to explain the obvious. “Pavel had a variety of toys that were destroyed when Thala sang the dirge and exploded our house. I felt bad that he should lose them, so I am trying to replace them with things I think