Page 12 of The Satyr's Wood

Sucking in her lips, she regarded him as steadily as she could manage while pretending that she was unaffected. In reality, she was barely keeping herself in place on her chair and not wiggling her bottom to provide some tiny bit of relief to her swollen bud. With great effort of concentration, she focused down on her h and.

“Do you have any two of clubs?”

“Two clubs,” he murmured with a sly look in echo of her request. “Two clubs can be quite fine. I can rightly give you two clubs with a bit of innovation.”

That was it. With a muffled groan, she flung her hand down and hurried out the front door to seek some privacy. Barbasa stood from his chair as she passed but she waved him back.

“It’s okay, I just need... air. I need some air,” she squawked with embarrassment. Gods she was behaving like a young virgin than a woman in her forties, yet she couldn’t seem to help it. “I will be back in just a minute.”

He didn’t ask what she intended, and she thanked the gods for that. She would have died of embarrassment to admit thatshe was so turned on that she was going to go out there to desperately rub one out. She knew that he would be happy to take of her desire, but she still wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to take the gamble. The impermanence of their situation aside when she wished for a male who wouldn’t leave her aside, she felt as if this was all a game to him. And while a part of her appreciated his jovial flirtation, she didn’t want to be a game or conquest.

Hurrying around a small cluster of trees so that she wouldn’t be seen from the cabin, Tiffany yanked down her pants and sank two fingers into her soaked, slippery passage with a grunted, bit-back moan. She stroked into her pussy and along her clit until her breath came out in needy pants and her thighs shivered with her impending orgasm. Biting hard on her lip to keep her cries of pleasure contained, she pinched her nub between her knuckles, sending herself hurtling off the edge as her orgasm swept over her and sagged against the tree supporting her.

She had a feeling she would be spending time daily at that damned tree.

Fuck. This male is going to kill me yet.

Chapter 9

Barbasa grunted as his cock spilled a copious amount of seed against the thick roots of the tree in front of him. His lips twisted into a faint smile as he stared down it, the long thick ropes of semen covering the splatter that had gushed from a certain female’s wet cunt. A shiver of excitement ran up his spine in reaction and his tail flicked rapidly as his cock let loose another thick stream, pumping the last of his cum in a final burst.

Over many days, he had fallen into a strange routine with Tiffany that he was still struggling to make sense of. The simple companionship was new and something that he had never experienced with a female. He hungered to be in her presence at all times and not just because he yearned to seat his cock deep inside of her. That part was easier to understand and normal for a satyr. It was more that he simply yearned to be close to her in all ways and was beginning to resent the long hours they were apart when necessity sent him out to patrol his territory.

Certainly, he didn’t need to do it every day... his pack would inform him of any intruder, but there were certain signs that they would not notice and things that required his direct attention. As much as he wanted to remain at her side within or around the cabin, it was not possible. Nor could he fairly keep her trapped there when she should find familiarity and comfort within their forest. It did set right with him that she was so afraid of it.

But that was not the most confusing this. It was her denial of her own desires that drove him mad with frustration and confusion. He did not understand it. She desired him. He knew that much for certain. He tasted it in the air as it bloomed with every erotic temptation he offered, and yet she resisted fulfilling her mutual desire. He knew exactly what she was up to whenevershe scurried outside to escape him. He could smell it on her when she returned to the cabin with a flush on her face and his cock would be hard enough to chop wood. And every time he excused himself and followed her enticing scent to the tree coated in her sweet release to spill his own seed over it.

It was a compulsion that he could not resist—and did not want to.

Part of his urge could be explained as a way to cover her scent so that no other male picked up the perfume of a ripe, unmated female and follow it into his territory, tracking it back to their door. But that was only a small part of it. A large part of it was an impulse formed from a deep instinctual need that rose to the fore. He didn’t even think of it, his body demanding that he go and cover her scent with his own and make it his.

That need was stronger than any fear, and truth be told, if any male even thought to take what was his, they would very quickly be a very dead male. He hadn’t even fucked his female, and he was feeling a strong possessiveness, protectiveness, and an upwelling of shockingly powerful love for the small human. And gods help him, the taint was reacting to it. It rose violently within him now as he contemplated the imaginary rival, and a territorial growl escaped him as he peered suspiciously among the surrounding trees. Stepping back from their combined mess, his nostrils flared as he scented the air, his ears twitching at even the slightest sound, as he sought any sign of an intruder.

He would tear apart anyone who dared to come close. Tear him with claws and teeth until their blood ran down his throat and their flesh fed his appetite.

The birds fell silent at his growl, and even the hum of insects disappeared until nothing but silence pervaded his woods. The mingled scents of himself and his mate were strong and there were plenty of scent trails of animals burrowed nearby and thosethat had passed along the game trails, but nothing else that threatened his territory.

Another shiver ran over him, his thick skin and hide quivering with the force of it. He glanced back at the cabin, catching sight of it between the trees. The glow of hearth’s fire and the few lamps Tiffany had set out to comfortably illuminate the space for her weaker sight drew him with its warmth. The taint, however, pulsed with an angry hiss through his psyche. It demanded that he defend and stake his claim. To go to the edges of his territory and send his warnings clearly to any who may think to venture toward the boundaries of his woods.

His cock swelled with replenished seed, and he groaned deep in his throat as he turned away from the cabin. The taint curled deeper within his mind, its once painful hooks softening as it merely flooded through him. His breath hissed from between his sharp teeth in a snarl and he sprung forward, heading deeper within his wooded abode. He would mark his inner boundary first so no other denizens of the wood be tempted crossing over from the fae realms, and then he would deal with the outer boundaries that followed along a trail of rocks in the grasslands just outside the forest.

Strength from the taint rushed through him, giving him extra speed and endurance as he bounded along game trails that ran in heavy networks through the forest. He could feel his pack running with him as they darted among the trees as veritable shadows, the occasional howl breaking through the deadly silence of the woods. He knew the moment he hit his boundary. He had patrolled them often enough and had usually contented himself with leaving nothing more than pheromone laden scratches on the largest of the trees. That was no longer enough. Turmoil ran sharply through him as he caught the faint scents of a reynard, a vulpine creature that had claimed a burrow somewhere within the dense forest beyond Barbasa’s territory.

A small fox darted among the trees, drawing his attention and his nostrils flared, scenting the air. He held up his fisted hand, signaling to the pack to not attack. It was not the reynard. Rather it was one of the male’s spies. Barbasa grunted in acknowledgement and dipped his head quickly as he drew back. The male was wise enough never to venture close to their shared border, though his foxes crossed through it often enough. They did not bother Barbasa, however. They were merely small animals that posed no threat to him or his, even if they were eyes and ears for their master. So long as they did not venture too close to spy upon his dwelling, he had no argument with the male or his beasts.

Turning his attention away from the reynard’s territory, Barbasa gave a few strokes of his cock, spraying a thinner, pheromone rich splatter along one tree and then another. Since it didn’t carry his seed, it rose rapidly to serve his purposes, allowing him to complete his task and move on. In this manner, he continued his task throughout the day until he had marked all of the required trees and rocks. Scenting no threat, and his task complete, the taint retreated enough to allow him the necessary peace to return to his female.

He did not explain his whereabouts when Tiffany looked over at him curiously as he stepped through the door sometime later, a pair of fat rabbits hanging from his fist. Just the sight of her sent a sense of calm rushing through him that brought a smile to his face. She had been busy again while he was away, adding more of her small feminine touches. The previous day, he had brought her bunches of the longest, thickest grasses and thin strips of willow over the week and she’d been busily applying herself to learning how to fashion simple baskets under his instruction. Now a lopsided basket was now sitting beside the hearth that she’d apparently finished during the day while hewas gone. She had filled it with the woodchips for their fire in place of the pile that had previously sat there.

She had also brought in more fresh flowers and had herbs hanging to dry that he had pointed out to her during their walks close to the dwelling. Though he knew that she needed to learn his forest well, he liked the fact that she chose to remain at all times within the heart of his territory while he was away, and she seemed to be content with walking those familiar paths that he’d taken her on that he knew were safe and well-marked for her. Regardless of which path she ventured down, she was always there when he returned, anyway, calming him and banking the taint.

Whatever curse had carried over since exiting the labyrinth, he now understood that, for some reason, it quieted whenever he was safely denned with her. He had even taken to cuddling with her beneath the furs when he crawled into bed without worry. It was as everything about her—including his pure, raw adoration of her was an antidote to that terrible poison festering within him.

He only prayed to the gods who oversaw and toyed with the worlds of men and fae that she would never witness him in the grip of the taint’s madness. If he could control it and find small ways to make her life easier and more comfortable there with him, he was certain that he could make her happy. None of that would be easy but he was a stubborn satyr. He never lost a game that he set his mind to. And as he had decent piles of tanned fur and supple leather exquisitely cured and fashioned by satyr secrets, he could easily begin with adding to her comforts when he took them to the mixed human and fae settlement to trade. They always greeted his work with pleasure and gave him much for them. He would find some things suitable to make his mate smile.

Should he take her? He was certain that she would find the market enjoyable but there was still the threat of the humans hunting for her. He doubted that they had given up, not when he still caught their scent lurking outside of the boundaries of his forest. Perhaps she would prefer to stay while he went. If that was the case, he was not worried about leaving her alone, other than the distress that came to him at the idea of being separated from her for so many days. Other than that, she was a capable female. She was smart and knew where to stay within his territory and she had the pack to keep her safe. He was also certain that his marking would keep intruders of the fae variety out while he was gone. Still, he would wait some days just to be completely certain that she would feel safe and secure during his absence before broaching the idea to her.

Once she was ready, however, it would only be his greatest pleasure to delight her by showering gifts upon his mate. He even had some trade credits accumulated in the settlement. He could get her soft pillows and a blanket to wrap around herself to ward off the chill when a fur would be too bulky or heavy. The thought brought a light, happiness to his step as he carried the rabbits over to the sink, his footsteps clipped with barely restrained excitement as he began to make plans.

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