Page 1 of Promised to the Satyr

One

Astra

I’m wearing clothes! Real clothes. It’s a first for me. Nymphs never wear anything that will shed when stepping inside a tree. I have a closet filled with sheer magical gowns and not one pair of jeans. However, the manticore Cade’s new mate told me I could take what I wanted from her room at the resort to make my getaway. I can’t exactly go into the human world with the wyvern shifter naked. I suppose that was one of the ways Father kept me in these woods and out of sight.

In jeans and a white shirt tied at the waist, I look like every other human roaming the earth. All I have to do is get to the meeting place by the lake and Drayce will fly us out of these woods forever.

My father thought he could give me to a satyr without even bothering to let me meet the fiend. Old-fashioned and high-handed, he set a date and kept it from me until the day before my wedding day.

Well, I hope Father will be very happy when there is a groom and no bride for the ceremony. A stupid tear tries to escape at the thought of leaving my forest, and I suppose Father too, but I force my anger aside.

These little white sneakers are not as comfortable as running barefoot, but I’m starting to get the hang of it.

The clouds gather and I begin to worry that a bad storm might keep the wyvern from flying. He thinks he’s in love with me, which is unfortunate. Most creatures fall in love with me. It’s part of being a nymph. We are alluring to men, women, and monsters alike.

However, it doesn’t work both ways. While Drayce is nice, I don’t love him and probably never will. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone. He’s my ticket out of this place, so I’ll use him to escape, and then I’ll find him someone he’s really in love with. His love for me is only because of my magic.

That tear makes its way to my cheek and I dash it away.

The underbrush rustles to my left.

I stop and crouch in case Father has come after me. Inching closer to a big oak, I slip inside the trunk to wait for him to pass. The human’s clothes fall away in a heap at the base of the tree.

The bushes move and the deer trail I was using fills with a man. He’s tall and broad. His dark hair catches the breeze. His eyes are intense and his full mouth tips up as if he knows a joke and won’t tell. Horns curl back from the top of his head. Though he wears a kilt, there is no denying the hair-covered bend of goat’s legs.

The satyr.

He’s far more beautiful than I imagined, but that doesn’t make him more appealing. I’ll not be forced to wed anyone, no matter what they look like.

My body says differently as I can’t help wondering what he hides beneath that kilt. I close my eyes and my arousal shakes the leaves of the tree I’m hiding within.

“I know you are in there, little nymph. Come out so we can talk.” His voice is deep and seductive.

Damn him.

I’m staying right where I am. I’m not going to be bullied by him, either.

He picks up my borrowed jeans and they look tiny in his hand. “What would I have to say to make you come out, Astra?” He holds the denim close to his nose and breathes deep. Closing his eyes, his lips tighten and the crease between his eyes deepens as if in pain.

I swear his kilt flares, but it’s probably just my overactive imagination. Though, he is a satyr after all.

He sits and folds the jeans and shirt and makes a little pile next to the tree’s trunk before smiling at the sneakers and placing them next to the clothes. Leaning back against the rough trunk, his shoulders are nearly as wide as the old oak.

If I crouched, I could touch him, but that would give myself away. I shouldn’t want to touch him, but heavens help me, I do.

“Shall I tell you about myself? Will that make you more inclined to come out of hiding?” He lets out a long breath. “Maybe your father told you that my name is Niko Barbaros. I was born in woods similar to these in Canada. It’s colder there, but I was happy. I had hoped to find a bride there when your father sent a letter. He asked if I would marry his daughter as she was becoming restless and needed a husband.”

Rage at my father rushes into my chest and if I’m not careful, I’ll solidify and have to jump free of my place within the wooden rings that hold me.

He touches my clothes. “I didn’t think nymphs wore clothes.” After a long pause, he says, “I initially told your father no, butthen he sent me a photograph of your face and I said yes. I think you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Beauty, ha. Of course, that’s why he wants me. When he tires of my looks, he’ll move on to the next. I suppose I could wait for him to tire and appease my father. Why doesn’t anyone care what I want?

Picking up one of the sneakers, he studies it from different directions. “It might have been better if I had come sooner and introduced myself, but I had a life to sort out up north. When I arrived, I learned you were apprehensive about our arrangement. I asked your father why you hadn’t responded to any of my letters. He said he’d kept them from you and that it was better for you to know me after our marriage. An old-fashioned idea.”

His back stretches as he takes a deep breath. “Astra, you don’t have to marry me.”

My heart is beating so fast, I may pass out and become part of this tree forever. I gather my wits. “How can I know you’re not lying?”

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