“Darn, spring shower.” Dedrick Forester flicked his fairy wings several times to clear the moisture and then stepped into Melvin’s Chocolate Bar to rest while the clouds cleared.

He collapsed his wings and glanced around the crowded bar. A group of wood nymphs sat near the firestone. Their hungry gazes ran over him, sparking his ever-present lust into a flame, but when he smiled, they sighed and turned back to the couples swaying on the sunken dance floor.

Rebuffed by the wood nymphs’ lack of attention, he continued scanning the place for an empty seat. Dryads and fairies occupied the tall tables in the center of the room. The low hum of the patrons buzzed along with the tidal wave song the Sea Shell Band belted out from the far end of the pub.

Dedrick shrugged off his irritation with women in general, walked to the bar and grabbed a mushroom stool near Melvin Peckerwood. As owner and bartender of the establishment, Melvin knew all the residents of Endole. Wood gnomes and their pre-transformed fairy offspring, along with dryads and wood nymphs were all welcome at his place.

Just past his twenty-second year and in the last phase of the fairy cycle, Dedrick would soon lose his ability to fly. A fairy’s ability to fly was treasured above all else, and it was only a matter of time before he transformed into a wood gnome…unless he chose to seek the elders’ magic and became a dryad. But even that had a down side. Yes, he’d get plenty of sex and keep his wings, but he’d be rendered sterile, with no chance of an heir to the throne. “Hey, Mel, can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure, you can ask, but I might not answer.”

“What made you decide to become a dryad instead of mating and changing into a wood gnome like your parents?”

“Look at me.” Melvin stepped back and brushed his hand through his curly hair. Average in height as a dryad, his red hair stood in disarray as his bottle top glasses slid a little lower on his nose. “What woman in her right mind would want to wake up to find this unruly mop between her legs every morning?”

The rough insinuation to oral sex conjured a picture in Dedrick’s head. He groaned and wondered if he’d ever think about anything other than sex. “But you’ve been successful with your bar and all the wood nymphs seem to love you.”

A toothy grin flashed across Melvin’s face. “Yes, but I wake to a different set of them every morning. Keeps the boredom at bay and makes for an active sex life, but I’m not in danger of long term commitment.”

Wow, if I could only get a little of his action.

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