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“...a leering, sneering obscene little harpy...”
― Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

“Before you go . . .�� “Yes?�� “I want to see you.��
No. You don’t.��
“I do.�� She grinned.
“I promise not to judge.��
“It’s not your judging that concerns me. All humans judge.
we don’t look like the other centaurs. We’re predators.
“I can’t tell if you’re trying to scare me or seduce me.�� She shrugged. “Whatever. I want to see.��
Are you all right?�� she finally asked when the silence went on and on.
She wasn’t sure he was going to answer until he said, “I’m fine. Just . . . thinking about your response.��
Caid shook his head, took several steps back. “I’m . . . I’m . . . walking away from you now.��
“Will your sister show me?��
“Stop talking to me,�� he ordered as he walked away. “And stop staring at my ass.��
“Just wondering how it looks with four legs.��
He stopped.
Faced her. “What?��
“You know,�� she admitted, “that sounded less . . . strange, in my head.��
“Did it? Really?”
― G.A. Aiken, The Blacksmith Queen