Page 13 of The Satyr's Wood

Tiffany gave him searching looks, a tiny smile playing at the corners of her mouth betraying the fact that he couldn’t quite hide his feelings as thoroughly as he thought. The soft warmth of her amusement wrapped around his heart, bringing further life and joy to it as she stood and stretched before wordlessly joining him at his side. And beneath his excitement, contentment soaked through him as they prepared dinner together.

“You are in a good mood,” she observed in a husky voice, sending a small shiver of pleasure through him.

He inclined his head in agreement as he peeled the hide from the flesh. “It is a good day,” he replied. “A good day for manythings, but mostly because of the beautiful female waiting for me in my home.”

A small flush stained her cheeks, and the corner of her mouth drew upward into a charming, crooked smile. “Flatterer,” she feigned to scold him. “I am anything but beautiful these days. I am getting older, and this dystopian hell doesn’t even have decent moisturizer.”

He shook his head in disbelief as he gave her a sidelong look. “There is none more beautiful in my eyes. But if you wish for moisturizer, I will find some herbs to soothe your skin,” he promised her, delighting in the appreciative smile she gave him in reply before bumping him affectionately with her hip.

Yes, his mate deserved the best of everything. Whatever he could find worthy of her and carry home would be hers. Perhaps one day he would even take her to the settlement—though that day was long off. His territorial nature was slow to trust potential rivals when he had not yet claimed her, and she had not yet claimed him in turn. But eventually he would.

Whistling merrily to himself, he set to work as he allowed himself to dream of a future that was still out of reach but was becoming increasingly more real to him by the day. But first thing was first—he needed to introduce her to the rest of his woods. Afterward, if he had his way, they would frequently travel together through the forest as she finally found herself truly home. And more importantly find her place with him as he found his with her.

Chapter 10

Tiffany glanced around curiously as they walked deeper in the woods. When Barbasa suggested that she accompany him that morning, she hadn’t realized that this was what he had planned. This was no mere walk to the trees out skirting the cabin to gather food. They were moving at a steady pace into the deeper part of the woods where branches caught on her clothing and hair in vicious tugs and scraped over exposed skin with their crooked, wooden fingers. Eesha and Ashel flanked them in an easy lope, their heads constantly swiveling as they caught every new sight, sound, and smell. Every now and then, Barbasa paused to point out some important feature or landmark so that she understood that he was trying to familiarize her with the forest while simultaneously taking her on patrol with him. She had somehow gone from sheltered, temporary guest to something more.

“What are we doing?” she whispered as he paused beside a track pressed into the soft soil of the forest floor.

His eyes lifted to meet hers and a small smirk played at the corners of his lips. “Connecting with our home forest, but beyond that... hunting. No matter what else a satyr does, we are always hunting. We live for the chase, and even when we mate, we continue to chase our female out of our love for hunting her,” he purred before a slow smile stretched across his face. “We are perhaps as wolfish as the wolven lupi themselves, but as it happens our second favorite prey could only wish for such a quick death,” he added with a dark chuckle.

She blinked at him. She had heard of people whispering about the lupi before as they had apparently stolen women from some of the settlements further to the north if rumor was to be believed. A wolfish species that was straight out of a werewolfblockbuster, except these monsters didn’t shed their skins to appear human. More than that, however, her mind kept circling back to the fact that he was calling the forest their home. Did that mean what she thought it did? Was he claiming her and inviting her to share his forest, his home, and his life with her. The prospect made her pulse pound faster with excitement up until her eyes dropped down the track he gestured to.

There was something so familiar about it that she frowned and squinted harder at it until she made out the faint impression of a boot with a thick tread. Reeling back, she drew a sharp panicked breath until the satyr caught her arm and steadied her, his yellow gaze warm on her. She swallowed thickly and forced herself to look back at the boot print.

“Someone... someone is in the forest,” she whispered.

He rumbled softly in agreement and scuffed a hoof over it as she stared at him in bewilderment. “Human by the look of it. Fae boots and slippers do not leave this style of marks.”

“I don’t understand. I thought you said that they couldn’t get into your forest.”

He shook his head and smirked. “Not at all. I said that they will never find my cabin... due to the fact that any human male who enters my woods uninvited will not get out alive. I make an exception for females and younglings, preferring to chase them out then sentence them to the same painful ending.”

Something in her belly unclenched at his words and her lips twitched. As blood thirsty as her satyr was, it seemed that he did have some sort of standards. It was also highly reassuring that no matter who entered the forest, no one would ever find her because Barbasa would be certain to kill them before they had the chance.

“You said your second favorite prey. What is your first?” she murmured.

His eyes glinted, the yellow warming into a molten gold as they began to glow. “You, of course.”

She grinned at his words, a silly smile stretching across her face despite the obvious threat lurking nearby as a warmth rushed through her body and lit her from within. Although there were heavy sexual undertones to his observation, there was a depth that lurked beneath his words that conveyed a far deeper feeling than mere flirtation.

And she was not objecting.

“Good answer,” she scoffed lightly. “So, what are we going to do about favorite prey number two here?”

Despite the bravado of her words, a small shiver still ran through her. She believed him when he said that no one escaped him alive but some small part of her would worry until the threat was dealt with.

Barbasa gave her a knowing smile but tipped his head to the west. “The prints double back rather quickly in that direction. I suspect that they encountered something they were not prepared for.” He sighed with exaggerated disappointment that made her snicker in amusement. “The pack does like to ruin my fun.”

She shook her head at him. Only he would think dealing with intruders to be some sort of entertainment while she found the possibility mildly terrifying. Because of that, however, she couldn’t help but to ask the one thing weighing on her mind. “Do you think it was someone looking for me?”

His lips parted as he hesitated to answer. “The scent is like that what I caught on the air the day I found you. I believe it was one of the males pursuing you.”

Tiffany nodded grimly. That was what she figured. She rolled her shoulders and tried to shrug it off. Ultimately, it didn’t matter. As much as she hated the idea that she was still being hunted by them—which was far less thrilling and desirable of aprospect that Barbasa hunting her—it was also clear that they were unable to venture far into the woods in search of her.

“They will probably be back if they are still trying to find me,” she pointed out. “Cheer up. You may get to slaughter someone yet,” she teased, earning a wicked grin from the male.

A deep, growling chuckle rose from the satyr’s chest, and he wrapped an arm around her to drag her against his side in a tight hug. He nuzzled her neck, eliciting a giggle from her.

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