Page 4 of Whispers of the Dryad

I smiled, and he grinned at me.The tension between us already felt a little less.“Do you want coffee?”

Ash nodded and stepped inside after me when I turned to the kitchen.I made a second cup of coffee with the machine while Ash watched.“What?”I asked as I turned to hand him his coffee.The heat with which he’d stared at me burned my skin.Ash cleared his throat.“The coffee machine is… interesting.”

I raised my eyebrows, and Ash’s eyes locked on mine.The atmosphere in the room shifted, tension growing.This was a lot more like the Ash I knew.When I glanced down, the erection in his pants told me everything I needed to know.Heat washed over my body and pooled between my legs.I didn’t know what it was about Ash that turned me on like a switch flipped.I held out Ash’s coffee cup.“Here,” I said in a breathy voice.“Thanks,” Ash said, his voice just as husky.He took the cup from me.Instead of sipping the liquid or carrying it to the living room, he put it down on the counter next to him.His eyes stayed locked on mine.My breath caught in my throat when he took one long stride, putting him right up against me.Our bodies were so close to each other, a sigh would press us together.“Ash,” I started, but he dipped his head and kissed me before I could say anything else.Whatever might have been on my mind, his kiss wiped it away.“What are you doing?”I asked in a breathy voice when he kissed his way onto my neck.“Kissing you,” he said, his deep voice thick with need.“I’m still mad at you.”I had to hold onto a shred of pride, at least.“I made you a new home.”

“You made me a prisoner.”

“A prisoner in style,” he said.I gasped and pushed him away.“Is that supposed to be funny?”

Ash shrugged.“Yeah.”He didn’t look like he was laughing.Neither was I.“I don’t know what you want from me,” Ash said.“I told you I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t change anything.”

“It never does,” Ash said, shrugging again.His shoulders were thick and muscular, his arms sculpted by the gods themselves, and his chest was delicious.The way he looked at me with a nonchalant arrogance, with a heat in his gaze that suggested he wanted to devour me, made me want to let go of my anger and let him finish what he’d started, but where would that leave me?Right where I started.Damn it, being angry with him would leave me where I started, too, but without sex.The truth was I wasn’t all that angry with him anymore.He’d groveled enough, and no matter what, he was right—it wouldn’t change anything.Everything that happened in the past was in the past no matter which way we looked at it.I was going to be here for a while longer, and that was all there was to it.Being here for a while longer if it was with Ash wouldn’t be nearly as bad as being stuck here without him.“Fine,” I said.I was irritated that I had to be the one to concede, but at some point, my anger bordered on being ridiculous, and that time had passed about twenty minutes ago.Ash stepped closer to me and kissed me again, pushing me back until my back was against the kitchen wall.He ground his hips against me, his cock thick and hard in his pants, and I gasped.

Ash’s hands went to my breasts, and I moaned.He rubbed his thumbs over my nipples, and they hardened immediately, poking against the thin fabric of my tank top.With his tongue in my mouth, Ash pulled my tank top up and fondled my naked breasts.He tweaked my nipples, pinched them, and tugged at them.He massaged my breasts, kneading them, making me cry out with need.His attention to my breasts sent jolts of pure lust to my pussy, and I got wetter and wetter.As if Ash knew, he slid one hand down my body and pushed it into my shorts.His fingers found my slit, and when he pushed his fingers into my wetness, he groaned.“You’re so fucking wet,” he muttered against my lips.“You made me that way.”

Ash pushed two fingers into me, and I gasped, unable to say anything.Ash pumped his fingers in and out, massaging my breast with his other hand, and his mouth was on mine.He balanced me between his hands and mouth, and in no time, I was teetering on the edge of my first orgasm.Ash didn’t let me topple over into the abyss of pleasure.Instead, he pulled back.He tugged my shirt down and ran his hands through my hair.He kissed me again, and the way he touched me—cupping my cheeks, fingers in my hair—was almost sensual in nature.He kissed me as if he’d thought he would never get a chance to kiss me again.“Come with me,” I said when he finally broke the kiss.I took his hand and led him through the now-modern cabin and into the new bathroom.I turned on the water and let steam fill the bathroom.While it did, steaming up the windows and the mirror, I sank to my knees and pulled down Ash’s pants.His cock sprung free, rock hard and eager, the tip already slick with lust.I only took a second to admire it—thick and hard, smooth skin over the rock-hard shaft, and the bulbous head glistening with his need for me.When I sucked him into my mouth, Ash cursed words in a language I didn’t understand, and I bobbed my head back and forth, sucking him in deeper and deeper with every stroke.Ash pulled my hair into a ponytail and held onto it, encouraging me to do more.I sucked him into my mouth as far as I could.I wrapped my fingers around the part of his shaft I couldn’t cover, and Ash groaned.When I cupped his balls with my free hand and massaged them while I sucked him off, Ash bit out another curse before he pulled back.His cock slipped out of my mouth with a plop.“I’m not finishing like this before we get started,” he growled.He pulled me up and kissed me.His kiss was urgent, fiery, and I loved it when he kissed me like he was going to devour me.He bit my bottom lip, and the burst of pain that shot through me only increased my aching need for him.I worked his shirt up over his head and tugged it, breaking the kiss just long enough to get his shirt off his thick arms.When he was naked, I ran my hands over his perfectly sculpted abs, and his muscles contracted when I scraped my nails lightly over his ribs.I pulled my tank top over my head and kicked off my shorts so that we were both naked.I liked us the most this way.I pushed him backward into the shower until we were both under the spray.Ash looked up at the hot water pouring down on us.He looked almost bewildered, but he got over his shock quickly enough.He grabbed me and spun me around so that my back was against his chest, his thick cock against my ass.

He reached around me and pushed one hand between my legs again, turning my face to him with the other and kissing me over my shoulder.He cupped one breast, rolling my nipple between his thumb and forefinger while he drew circles around my clit with the other hand.I cried out and trembled against him as he pushed me closer and closer to the edge where I’d been before, aching for a release.I broke the kiss, gasping for air, and Ash moved to my ear, nibbling and sucking on my earlobe.It only pushed me closer and closer to the edge.He listened to my breathing.When I got too close to orgasm, he slowed down, sliding his fingers up and down my slit until I calmed down enough before he moved back to my clit, focusing his attention there.Ash rubbed me faster and faster, and when he picked up the pace it didn’t take long at all before I toppled over the edge and gasped and cried out as the orgasm rocked my body.It took my breath away, and Ash turned my head and kissed me again while I was in the throes of passion.When I came down from the orgasm, Ash pushed me forward, holding my hip with one hand, and I bent over, leaning against the wall with my hands.He guided his cock to my entrance.I held my breath in anticipation when his head pushed against my entrance and moaned long and low as he slid into me.My body stretched to accommodate his incredible size.No matter how much we did this, I had to adjust to him every time, and I loved the feel of him inside me.He filled me up completely and I trembled and shivered around him.Ash wrapped his arm around my chest beneath my breasts, his other hand still on my hip, and he pulled me up so that my back arched, pushing out my breasts.He slowly slid in and out of me, holding me in place, and I moaned.He took control and I melted into a puddle of need—I loved it when he took charge and fucked me just the way he wanted to.Ash picked up his pace, his cock sliding in and out of me as he fucked me harder and harder.I cried out as he slammed into me, his balls slapping against my pussy, and my cries echoed, bouncing off the tiles around us.He moved his arm around my waist up to put a hand on my neck and I arched my back even more so that my body was curled, my ass pushing against his hips as he pounded into me harder and faster.His hand around my neck felt as erotic as fuck.He could crush me if he wanted to—Ash was big and strong and he had magic on top of his physical muscle, but he knew just how much to squeeze, to grab, to hold so that I knew exactly who was in charge, but he didn’t hurt me.I was at his mercy and I trusted him more than I’d ever trusted anyone.He’d deceived me.He’d lied to me—or rather, left out an important truth.He was someone I shouldn’t have trusted.He also saved my life—more than once.He’d fought for me.He’d brought me back.That counted for something.It counted for everything.I cried out when I neared my second orgasm and Ash pounded on, relentless.When I orgasmed, I leaned against the wall, dropping my forehead to the tiles, and Ash let go of me to let me do that.He put both hands on my hips and slowly stroked in and out, taking his time rather than continuing his fucking.His slow attention only drew out my orgasm and my gasps and cries were a symphony around us, with the sound of the waterfall shower as a backdrop.When I finally came down from the sexual high, Ash pulled out of me.I turned around and collapsed with my back against the shower wall.

Ash wrapped his arms around me and kissed me.His kiss was sensual and caring.His tongue slid into my mouth, exploring, and his thick cock was slick with our sex between us, lying hot and branding against my stomach.Slowly, Ash’s kisses became hot and heavy again.Before I could do anything, he picked me up, lifting me as if I weighed nothing.I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he cupped my ass cheeks, holding me up.He lifted me a little higher, and I felt his cock against my pussy.I reached between my legs and guided him to my entrance before Ash lowered me again.When he slid into me, we both groaned and cried out in pure pleasure.Ash bucked his hips, holding onto me, and I rocked up and down with him.He slid in and out of me, and his strong arms held me up.When the rocking became harder, Ash stepped forward so that I was against the wall—I always ended up against the wall or on the floor with Ash—and he pinned me there with his strong arms and his cock.He fucked me against the wall, leaning his body against mine as he pumped into me, and I moaned and gasped and whimpered as the pleasure was so powerful it was hard to take it all in.Ash’s magic spilled out of him and filled the bathroom.Between the steam and the magic, it was getting harder and harder to breathe, but pleasure followed straight on its heels.Ash’s strokes shortened, and he pounded into me.I gripped his thick shoulders, my nails digging into his skin, and Ash gritted his teeth, sucking air between them as he gasped and grunted.He fucked me harder and faster still, and another orgasm crashed into me.This time, Ash didn’t slow down to let me ride it out.He fucked me harder and harder until I felt like I was made of pure pleasure, and Ash was the only one who worked on holding me up.The pure, unadulterated pleasure that coursed through me made me numb, and my body tightened, my pussy clamping down on Ash’s cock.Ash buried himself inside of me and released with a sharp cry.His cock pulsated and jerked in rhythm with my muscles contracting, and my pleasure milked his, pushing our orgasms to another level.We trembled and shivered under the hot water together as we rode out the waves of ecstasy.God, I’d missed Ash.I’d missed this.His power grew so thick in the bathroom, it pushed the steam out of the way so that we were wrapped in power alone.For a moment, there was nothing else but us and the power, and I felt the bond between us strengthen.It was the bond that had been forged between us because we’d done this.The magic bound us together, and as long as he was inside me, throbbing, pouring his release into me, I felt myself drink in his magic.Finally, the orgasms started to fade.Ash grunted, breathing hard, and slipped out of me.Carefully, he lowered me to the ground and planted me on jelly legs.“That was incredible,” I gasped.“I like this,” Ash said, and he tapped a hand against the shower head above.He was tall enough to reach it with ease.“I like it, too,” I said, breathing as hard as Ash was.“I didn’t think showering could ever be this much fun, though.”

Ash kissed me, and we stood under the hot water together.“I’m okay with it,” I said after we’d made out for a while.“What?”Ash ran his fingers through my wet hair, detangling it.“Staying here for a while longer.With you.”

“Really?”he asked.I nodded.“You did save my life.”

“Right,” Ash said.I kissed him again.“And I like being here with you.”

Even with the isolation and all the magic.”

“I’m glad,” Ash said.“Because I like having you here with me.”

“I know it has to end eventually… but let’s pretend, just for a while, that it won’t.

Ash hesitated for just a moment before he nodded.“Yeah, let’s do that.”

He kissed me again, and I was the fucking happiest girl in the world, no matter which realm we were talking about.

ChapterSix

Ash

My mind was full of Lorraine when I finally left her at the cabin and made my way through the forest.She’d forgiven me.If our sex was anything to go by, she’d forgiven me in a big way… again and again and again.She liked this life with me, at least for the time being, and that was all I could ask for.I liked having her around, too.She was nothing like Ava, nothing like I’d painted all human women to be.I knew it had been stereotyping for me to assume all human women were like Ava, but it wasn’t an unfair statement to say that humans always wanted power—more than they could handle.Somehow, Lorraine was nothing like that.Everything about her was different, sweet, new, and I didn’t know what to make of it.She forced me to think about who she was, and not just what she was.She forced me to get to know who she was under her façade, and I liked peeling back the layers and really getting to know her.Let’s pretend that it won’t end eventually.She had no idea how dangerous it was to do that.If I pretended that things between us wouldn’t end, I would be a lot more attached than I was.I was holding back because thinking about a permanent life with Lorraine was fucking dangerous.It was the kind of thing that would get me all twisted up and full of pain when she finally left.The fact that she wanted to not think about the future made me want to ignore that it was happening, too, but I couldn’t forget that after All Hallows’ Eve, she would leave and I would never see her again.

“You’re deep in thought,” a voice said suddenly next to me, and I jumped when Dolus appeared.He laughed at me, his broad smile splitting his face in two, showing his perfectly white teeth.“You should see your face right now.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.“I was thinking.”

“You seem to be doing a lot of that lately.”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

Dolus shrugged and tucked his hands into his black blazer pockets.He always wore all black, and it worked with his whole brooding, mysterious look.“It wasn’t like that when I met you and we started hanging out.It just seems to me that lately, you’ve got a lot going on in your mind.”

“Yeah,” I said.“Where does that leave your plans?”

I frowned at Dolus.“What are you getting at?”

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