Read Queen of the Sylphs for Free Online

other classrooms. Lunchtime. Rachel sighed. So much for the great process of learning.
    She quietly set down her chalk and went to close the classroom door, and the sound of children galloping along wooden floors was immediately deadened, or most of it. She crossed the room to the last desk in the corner at the back of the class and crouched down, her knees protesting a bit, and looked up at the blue uniformed man who sat there, staring at his clasped hands on the desk. His hair was as blue as his uniform, and he looked to be a young man in his early twenties, but Rachel knew that was only an illusion.
    “You didn’t participate in class today,” she said in a gentle tone. “Why not, Claw?”
    The battler hunched down, his shoulders up around his ears. “I didn’t know the answers,” he said.
    Rachel smiled and set a wrinkled hand over his. “That’s why you’re here, sweetheart. So you can learn the answers.”
    Claw looked up, miserable and unconvinced.
    Rachel’s smile softened, and she reached out to lay her hand on his cheek instead. This battler had all the power of any other, but he was an emotional wreck. He had been for years, since long before she’d been asked to be his master. He’d been abused by his former master, used as a slave for decades like Mace, but unlike Mace he’d been broken by it. Claw had no faith in himself and a terrible fear that Rachel would decide he was useless and desert him. Telling him she’d never leave was useless. Claw wouldn’t believe her. He couldn’t.
    Wincing a little, she rose and unbuttoned her dress. Claw watched as she did, watched as she took the garment off and laid it gently over the back of a chair. She was old and fat and wrinkled, but he didn’t care. She was his master, and that was all that mattered to him. Someday, she hoped she could get him to understand that he mattered as well.
    She opened her arms.
    “Come here,” she called to him, and with a sound nearly like a sob, he did.
    By the time lunch was over, the classroom was returned to perfect order and Rachel was back at the blackboard. Claw answered two of the questions that afternoon, and to her mind that was a success.
    Solie stared breathlessly up at her lover, her hands clasped behind his neck and tangled in his long hair. Heyou grinned down at her.
    His skin was dry, unlike hers. Unless he thought of it he never sweated, and she was so used to it that she rarely noticed anymore. She didn’t now. Instead, she tugged on the back of his neck and Heyou sank down next to her, pressing soft lips against her mouth as he gently rocked against her. He could project his lust at her if he wanted, driving her absolutely wild and making their bodies desperate and violent, but this was in her mind more enjoyable. She felt more like a participant this way instead of just a passenger.
    For six years, Heyou had been her battler, her best friend, and her lover. Her dearest confidant. He remained the best thing to happen in her life. She still reacted to his touch with the same ardor she’d felt the first time, still loved his sometimes crazy company. His being gone for even a few days had left her lonely, and she’d pulled him into her room the moment he got back. Galway would be busy with his family for a while anyway.
    They rolled across the wide bed, Heyou pulling her up and over him so that her long red hair framed his face. She sat upright, his length still deep inside her as he reached to caress her breasts. Solie sighed, leaning back and baring her chest for him, staring without seeing at the stone ceiling. He stroked her nipples and she cried out, the fire he always brought building in her belly. She let it carry her along, the muscles in her thighs flexing as she rose up and down on him, biting her lip to keep herself from screaming.
    Not that it would matter if she did. The stone walls were too thick to let sound travel through, and even if it did, there was only a battler on duty outside. Even