Page 10 of The Satyr's Wood

“There will always be things that you cannot see who are now sharing your world with you but guarantee you this—not one within my forest will harm you. On my oath,” he rasped.

Her eyes moved over his face, studying him for a long moment. Suddenly a faint smile tugged at her lips, and she nodded in acknowledgement to him.

“All right,” she drawled as she looked back out to the forest. “What was that you said that we are coming out here to do?”

“Gathering acorns,” he replied promptly. “We can spend the next couple of days grinding them, and then we will have to soak the flour to leech the toxins but given the time and effort we make acorn bread.”

Tiffany’s eyebrows flew up with interest. “Bread? Really? I haven’t had bread since I ran out of what I had taken with me. It has been days.”

“Then we shall make it a point to harvest many acorns to store for our bread,” he quickly assured her, thrilled at the prospect of being able to take care of his intended mate.

He would see to it that he gathered enough acorns from his woods to make sure that she never lacked bread until the next harvest. That started his mind reeling as to what other kinds of things that they might grow within the forest besides the usual wild fare. He did not have the patience or interest in the carefully planted fields and gardens of humans but there was much that could be allowed to grow naturally for their forage. But perhaps Tiffany would enjoy a garden to care for. If that was the case, he would see to it that the soil was upturned himself and inquire for appropriate seeds whenever travelers passed by his territory. All of her.

Picking up a large basket from the porch and tucked its handle over her forearm, he offered his free hand with the hope that she might take it but having no real expectation of such. His hand was rough, and each finger was tipped with a hard claw. They were not gentle hands but the hands of a creature who struck terror into mortal hearts. Until that moment he had never wished to be anything else than what he was, but now he wished that he was softer and possessed a more inviting, gentle appearance.

An uncertain smile curled her lips that tugged at his heart, but he truly fell in love with her right then and there as she nodded and placed her small hand in his. Her hand didn’t possess the delicate softness of a young girl but had many of its own calluses and scars. And as he stood there so close to her and without any sense of urgency under the light of the sun, he could see the small lines that framed her eyes and the few pale threads of age that stood out among the gold... and never had he wanted any female more.

The sun even brought out the myriad hues of blues contained within the seas of her eyes. He never considered himself a devotee of the solar gods given that he often preferred the secrets hidden within the night, but now—within her eyes he discovered something new to worship. He would forever praise the sun for revealing the glory of his mate’s beauty to him at that moment.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered in awe.

And for the first time he meant it and felt it even in the depths of his bitter husk of a heart. He had spoken those words often in the past but always it had been a fleeting praise of appreciation as he sought to satisfy his needs. Tiffany—he wanted to worship her beauty and hold it close to him as a cherished thing because it was not just her physical beauty but all of her that sent him reeling.

He let out a bark of laughter as his hand closed around hers, and her arm tensed as she gave a slight tug of protest. He gave her hand a squeeze and grinned down at her with silent reassurance that he did not intend anything by it. As before, she relaxed by degrees and her smile returned to her face as she allowed him to gently pull her toward the forest.

“My forest has many oaks,” he explained as he continued to clasp her hand in his while they walked always within sight of the dire wolves loping among the trees at either side of them. His cock ached and had extruded the moment he had her hand in his, its swollen shaft bobbing and leaking precum with his every step, but he ignored it and favor of focusing on his mate and showing her the pleasures his world had to offer. “And because of that, it has more acorns than you can ever eat. We can roast and grind them for a hot drink, or even make soups with them to vary our diet. You will never go hungry in these woods, my pet.”

He breathed deep as he walked through his beloved woods, enjoying the splash of sunlight spilling between leaves slowly changing their drapery from green to autumnal hues. They didn’t walk far before they encountered the first heavy offering of acorns spread across the forest floor. He watched fondly as she listened attentively to his explanation as to what acorns were good to take and which were bad and ought to be left behind, and he was unable to contain his smile when she immediately put his lesson to good use and joined him in meticulously picking through the scattered nuts. They companionably worked side by side, dropping acorns into the basket by the handful as the crisp autumn wind played with the loose strands of their hair. He never got tired of watching her or listening to the soft cadence of her voice in her awe and laughter as she slowly began to discover the wonders of his forest.

For the first time since escaping the labyrinth, he truly felt at peace. And at the same time he would gladly murder and rip apart anyone or anything that would attempt to take her.

Chapter 8

Tiffany propped her elbows on the counter as she watched Barbasa work a loaf between his hands, her admiration growing rapidly in the days since he had first taken her out into the woods and shared every secret he could think of. Since then, they had gone out every day while processing their harvest to gather even more nuts for the next batch or gathering wild berries to eat, and she basked in his attention, soaking up his every word. It perhaps was due in part because she didn’t see him for long stretches of the day, but it was also because he made every moment a new adventure between them that she missed when she was cooped up in the cabin alone.

Oh, she knew she could venture out by herself safely, but when she tried it hadn’t quite felt the same. She never ventured farther than a brief stroll before returning to the cabin to wait. But she didn’t complain either since she got the idea that he was often vigilantly roaming his forest anyway during this time, ensuring the safety of their home there, and she had the dire wolves for company who were always eager to crowd around her whenever she sat on the porch.

Dinix even followed her inside the cabin from time to time to cuddle with her so long as she kept the door open to come and go as he liked. In the end, she didn’t mind being alone in the cabin since she felt perfectly safe, but it was getting a bit boring outside of their daily excursions with Barbasa. It seemed that she not only looked forward to their time together but that she was also becoming a bit dependent on it... something which would have alarmed her just a few days ago.

To her surprise, despite his poorly disguised leering and frequent extruding at random times to tempt with her the glimpse of a cock that seemed to verge on scarily large, shewas comfortable in his company. Oh, she had no doubt that he desired her—it was pretty hard for her to ignore, although Barbasa seemed to be able to overlook the presence of his erect cock as if it wasn’t staring back at her—but he wasn’t aggressively pushing her toward anything. He was just very blatant about his interest and made no effort to hide it. Not even when he eventually curled around her as they lay together at night and the hard, hot length pressed firmly against her bottom. Every twitch of it against her never failed to send hot currents deep into her belly to the point that it was leaving her with a restless feeling throughout the day.

It was getting to the point where she was beginning to wish that he would make a move. Even if his dick frightened her a little, there was an ache growing slowly within her, one that she shouldn’t indulge in since she wasn’t staying. Barbasa’s offer, as generous as it had been, was only a temporary one. Which was probably the reason he good-naturedly tolerated the little adjustments she made to the cabin in his absence.

The table she sat at was one of them. She’d found it pushed into one corner with a heavy layer of dust and covered with a bunch of old crap that she was sure had been there since a good two or three decades before the Ravening. It had taken her most of that afternoon to haul the heavy tarps and pieces of some sort of machinery that appeared to be some kind of engine off it. Hunting down a cleanser had taken her a bit longer. Water and regular soap had been close to ineffectual. It wasn’t until she spotted a small shed just off to the side of the cabin and went to explore its contents that she found exactly what she was looking for. That was, once she got past the gruesome sight of numerous metal traps, long hooks hanging from the ceiling, and a butchery table stained so thoroughly with old blood that her stomach turned. As there was a bucket of water sitting next to it, she knewthat Barbasa utilized it and the clean hooks closest to it even if he touched none of the other dust coated things within the shed.

Returning to the cabin with the grease cleaner had felt like a small victory, but it proved worth the effort after she hauled the table into a bright spot in front of a window and scrubbed it thoroughly. It had taken some work, but the old furniture gleamed with the bit of wood polish she’d rubbed sparingly into it. The wildflowers that she’d gathered had been the final touch. Sure, it had probably been overkill, especially since they required a cupful of precious water that she got from the barrel of drinking water, but Barbasa had smiled when he saw them. He did, however, raise an eyebrow at the junk pile that had shifted onto the floor before quietly setting to moving it out of the cabin. She wasn’t entirely sure where he put everything since the shed hadn’t had too much room as it was, but the cabin felt quite a bit cozier afterward, especially now he was bent over the table, wearing a weathered apron with yellow ducks printed over it, turning out bread dough.

She shook her head in awe as she watched him work.Acorn bread. Imagine.

That certainly hadn’t occurred to anyone within town, and she couldn’t say why since there were plenty of acorns from trees that grew everywhere in the abandoned areas. Instead, they struggled with small farm plots to grow wheat, barley, oats and other food staples. Bread was communally made, baked and divided among those living there with extra portions going to men for doing more of the “hard work,” and thus needing more of the calories. Or some such stupidity since she was well aware of how the women worked themselves from morning to night without complaint. There had been many days that Tiffany had still been hungry following supper and would have been thrilled at having more of the hearty bread available. And now... nowbecause of Barbasa’s acorn flour, she had all that she could possibly eat.

She had certainly made quick work of what remained of his first loaf, much to her embarrassment. Barbasa had been strangely pleased, however, and in result appeared even more committed to feeding her. In fact, he was making bread that morning instead of going on his usual rounds, much to her private delight.

She certainly didn’t object to watching his powerful hands knead the dough. He was glorious to watch, even with the ducky apron that added to masculinity in the confidence with which he wore it. Her gaze drifted over him before returning to the loaf he was fashioning.

“Do you still plan to go out today?” she asked conversationally.

His yellow eyes flicked to her and a smile tugged at his lips. “Have you missed me that much?” he purred in return, drawing a snort of amusement from her.

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