Page 19 of Whispers of the Dryad

Ash looked worried.“What did she ask you?”

“She wanted to know how I feel about you.”

“And how do you feel about me?”Ash asked.I smiled and sidled up against him.“You know how I feel about you.”I slid my hand into his and put my head on his shoulder.Ash’s large frame was thick and muscular next to me.I’d become so accustomed to him; I knew every inch of his body, the feel of him, the taste of him.Ash tilted his head, leaning it against mine.

When I glanced up at him, it put our faces close to each other, his lips millimeters away.I brushed my lips against his.I wanted him—I’d wanted him since the moment he’d left, and I’d ached for him every second he’d been away.“I missed you,” I whispered, my lips almost against his.“I missed you, too,” he mumbled.I pressed my lips against his again and kissed him.The tension between us grew thick, as if someone had flipped on a switch.Ash slid his tongue into my mouth, and I moaned softly at the back of my throat.I slid my hand onto his lap, my fingers finding his thick cock, and he was already hard for me.I ran my hand up and down, and he growled into my mouth.He grabbed me around the waist, and with ease, he flipped me over onto my back.His large body pinned me down on the couch, and he ground himself against me, his cock hard against my crotch.I gasped, and we kissed hungrily.I turned into a puddle of need underneath him as our tongues danced together, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, running my hand over the muscles of his broad back.Ash ran his hand down my side, and I shivered at his touch.He cupped my breast, and my nipple hardened against my bra.With ease, Ash lifted my torso and peeled my shirt off me.“These modern clothes get in the way,” he muttered when I still wore my bra.I unhooked it when he struggled with the clasp and threw my bra to the side.Ash stared at my breasts.When he reached for them, his touch sent jolts of electricity through my veins, shivers running down my spine.When Ash dipped his head, he sucked the taut peak of my nipple into his mouth, sucking and gently biting me until I moaned loudly.I tangled my fingers in his dark hair, tugged at it while he worshipped one breast, and then the other.His large body writhed on mine, grinding himself against me, his back round as he consumed me even before we did anything.I reached between us and into his pants.His cock was searing hot when I wrapped my fingers around his shaft, and I pumped my hand up and down.Ash groaned with my nipple in his mouth, and the animalistic sound of his need for me turned me on more, making me wet.Ash abandoned my breasts as he kissed and nibbled his way down my body.He roughly tugged my pants down, getting rid of my underwear at the same time, and I was naked.Before I could do anything, he grabbed his shirt behind his neck and pulled it over his head.His naked torso was delicious—I would never get enough of his stacked muscles and the way they rippled under his skin.I could stare at Ash forever.He smiled at me, a cocky smile that suggested he knew I liked what I saw, before he dove between my legs.He planted kisses on my thighs, setting my skin on fire before he closed his mouth over my pussy.I cried out when he flicked his tongue over my clit, and pleasure rippled through my body.I trembled and squirmed on the couch as his attention to my clit sent waves of pleasure through my body.My toes curled, and my muscles contracted involuntarily as I crept closer and closer to orgasm.I wanted Ash to make me come, badly.He didn’t.Instead, he teased me, bringing me to the edge again and again, but just before I toppled over, he slowed down or changed his angle or onslaught so that I didn’t orgasm yet.I moaned my protest.Ash stood suddenly and picked me up.He threw me over his shoulder, and I yelped.He carried me to the bedroom and flipped me onto the mattress roughly.

It was delicious the way he handled me, the way he took what he wanted.When he kicked off his pants, his cock was thick and hard, standing at attention, and the tip was slick with lust.I wanted nothing more than for him to plunge into me, but I sat up and wrapped my fingers around his shaft again.I sucked his head into my mouth, and Ash gritted his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath.“Fuck,” he cursed as I bobbed my head faster and faster, sucking as much of him into my mouth as I could manage.The magic that oozed out of Ash’s pores filled the room, growing hot and thick.It echoed the heat I felt inside of me, and what he felt inside of him, no doubt.He held onto my head, fingers in my hair, and bucked his hips, pumping his cock into my mouth while I sucked him off.He went deeper and deeper, and I held my breath when he pushed into my throat.He bucked his hips a couple of times, stroking in and out of my throat, and my eyes teared up.When he pulled back, Ash was breathing hard.“Fuck,” he bit out again.He grabbed me and flipped me over so that I lay on my stomach.His hands on my hips pulled me up so I stood on all fours, and I arched my back, pushing my ass out to him.Ash gripped my hips, and his cock found my entrance with ease.When he plunged into me, I cried out, my body trembling with pure pleasure.He filled me to the brim when he was buried inside of me, and I shivered, my pussy tight around his shaft.He slid back and pumped into me again, fucking me harder and harder.I cried out loudly as his balls slapped against my pussy and his cock drove into me deeper and deeper.My arms went numb, and I collapsed my chest to the mattress.Ash rocked my body back and forth on the bed, which knocked against the wall again and again.The sounds of our sex were accentuated by my moans and cries, the knocking of the bed against the wall creating the bass to our symphony, and it was hot as fuck that Ash was pounding into me, taking out all his lust on me.I loved it when we had rough sex like this, fucking like we had when we’d just met.Still, there was emotion, too.I couldn’t think about that before the orgasm Ash had been building inside me erupted and rocked through my body.I cried out as the pleasure crashed into me again and again, like waves on the sand, and my whole body went numb until the orgasm took my breath away.When the orgasm slowly faded—Ash had slowed down at some point—he pulled out of me and crawled onto the bed.I rolled over, and he crawled over me, his large body covering mine.He planted a kiss on my lips, his tongue sliding into my mouth, tasting and probing.My thighs fell open for him, and Ash positioned himself between them.His cock pressed against my entrance again, and this time, he slid slowly into me.I moaned softly as he slid into the hilt and stayed buried there while I trembled around him.Ash kissed me, slowly and sensually, barely moving as he lay on top of me.He covered me with his body, and his intensity consumed me.Slowly, he started moving inside of me, and I moaned as he stroked, sensually, in and out of me.He coaxed a flame of passion into being, and as he bucked his hips harder and harder, that flame grew into a raging furnace of pure need.Ash’s power filled the room, spilling onto the bed, the floor, pushing into the corners until he and his power were all I could breathe.Our lips locked when he kissed me again, and he moved on top of me, bucking his hips faster and faster.

We broke the kiss as our gasping and cries became louder and more erratic, and he braced thick arms on either side of my head.He pounded into me, and my breasts jiggled as he brought me closer and closer to another orgasm.Pleasure grew at my core until I felt like I would explode.Ash’s strokes shortened, and when he gritted his teeth, his brows knitted together, I knew he was close, too.When the orgasm overthrew me, pulsing through my body with renewed intensity, Ash pushed into me as deep as he could go, and I felt his body contract and pulsate with pleasure.The orgasm rolled through him, and his body stiffened, his muscles bulging as his body jerked and his cock pulsed inside of me.I shivered as we came together, our bodies melded together and our souls seemingly merged as one.When Ash and I were together like this, our bodies tightly against each other, where my pleasure became his and his became mine, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.I couldn’t imagine ever being apart from Ash, and all that mattered in this world or any other was Ash and me being as close as we were.Finally, the orgasms faded, and we came down from our sexual high.Ash collapsed his large body on mine but only for a second before he rolled off me so that I could breathe.He pulled me tightly against him on the bed, and I felt his heart hammering against me as I lay on his chest.When we’d first met, he’d always walked away after we’d slept together.It was only recently that he’d started staying the night, cuddling after we’d slept together.I loved the way things had changed between us, the way we’d become more than just the sum of our passion.“What’s on your mind?”I asked Ash, looking up at him.“Oh, nothing important,” he said.I wasn’t sure that was true.Lately, he’d been a lot more withdrawn and, in his head, than before.Then again, as much as I felt like I’d known him a lifetime, I barely knew him at all.I ran my fingers up and down his arm.“You know you can talk to me about everything,” I said.Ash nodded.“Yeah.”After a moment, he added, “That goes for you, too.”

I smiled at him, and he kissed me before he pulled me tighter against him.We could talk about a lot of things, and we had, but we could also be silent together, and sometimes, that meant so much more.I loved being with Ash.I loved what we had, although I couldn’t explain it, and technically, what we had, where we were—none of it was supposed to exist.That was the thing, though.The good stuff always seemed too good to be true.I just hoped that when this fantasy finally ended, whatever came after wouldn’t be jarring or a letdown.I’d become quite accustomed to living in this world of magic, and leaving it all behind was almost impossible to imagine.Just like imagining a life without Ash had become almost impossible too.

ChapterEighteen

Ash

Iwanted to do something to show Lorraine how I felt about her.More than I’d already done for her.I wanted her to know just how special she was to me.When we’d been together, I hadn’t told her about what I’d found out.I had to find Thalis and Nasia first.I had to figure out how I could change things so that Lorraine could stay with me in the magical realm forever.Now that I’d read about Thalis and Nasia being able to do that, I knew that it was what I wanted.I wanted Lorraine for the rest of eternity.The plan I’d had to leave this place behind was in the past.

I didn’t want to give up what I had anymore; I wanted to make it richer and brighter and better.Having Lorraine by my side would do that for me.I was very aware of what Lorraine would be sacrificing if she chose to come live here with me.Nasia had run away from a terrible life, which wasn’t unlike what Lorraine had gone through, but Lorraine had ties to the human world that she wouldn’t want to break.Her sister was very important to her.Druses and dryads and other magical beings didn’t ever share family ties.We didn’t have siblings.Instead, we saw each other as a kind of family, but we weren’t bound to each other with that tight bond that humans had with their family members.It wasn’t something I would ever understand.All I knew was that when Lorraine had first come here, she’d been terrified of what would happen to her sister.She’d only calmed down about it when I’d taken her to see that her sister was okay.Since then, she hadn’t asked about her sister—she was set at ease—but that didn’t mean that she didn’t miss her sister or want to see her again.She was patiently waiting to go back home.If she chose to stay with me, then she wouldn’t go back home.How would she feel about never seeing her sister again?I lay in bed with Lorraine, her arm flung over my chest, her hair tangled on my shoulder, and the deep rhythm of her sleep was soothing.I stroked my fingers along her arm and relished her warmth.I loved waking up next to her every morning.I couldn’t always spend the night with her—I had a duty to the forest to make sure everything was safe—but when I could, I was here with her, and I wanted to wake up next to her as often as I could.Her breath changed, and a moment later, Lorraine tilted her head up at me.She smiled.“You’re awake,” she said in a husky voice.I could wake up to that voice for the rest of my life.“I am,” I said.“I want to take you somewhere.”

“Where?”she asked.“It’s… a surprise.”

“Is it away from here?”she asked.I nodded.“Let’s shower and get dressed.”

Lorraine smiled and slid out of bed.I marveled at her naked body as she walked around the bed and out through the door to the bathroom.She was so fucking hot, it was hard not to want to drag her back to bed and have a repeat of last night.I got out of bed and followed her to the bathroom.The shower was incredible, and when we stood underneath the hot spray, our naked bodies slick with soap and water, I couldn’t keep my hands off her.I wanted so badly to fuck her, to push her against the wall and claim her as mine again and again.I wasn’t going to.I wanted to take her somewhere special, and we didn’t have a lot of time to do it in.When we finished in the shower, we got dressed, and Lorraine dried her long blonde hair.Finally, she turned to me.“I’m ready,” she said.I took her hand and we stepped out of the cabin.We walked together, hand in hand, toward the edge of the clearing.Before we reached the trees, I pulsed my magic and pulled Lorraine tightly against me.“What—” she started, but in a white flash, we were taken away from the meadow, from the immortal realm, and we landed on the curb next to the house where Lorraine lived.“Oh my God, Ash!”she cried out.She spun around, looking at the world she’d left behind.“What are we doing here?”

“I’ve brought you to see your sister,” I said.“I think you miss her, so you should spend some time with her.”

“Spend time with her?”Lorraine asked, confused.

“I thought no one would be allowed to see us.”

“I think we can make this exception if you think that she will understand it.”

Lorraine nodded.“If anyone will understand, it’s Cat.Oh my God, you’re amazing.”She stood on her toes and planted a kiss on my lips that made my body hot and bothered and my cock hard all over again.I would never get enough of her.“Thank you,” she breathed when she broke the kiss.I walked with her to the front door of their house and Lorraine took a deep breath.She hesitated just a moment, but before I could ask, she pushed the door open.“Cat?”she asked, stepping into the house.“Are you home?”

There was no answer.I followed her into the house.I’d seen it before, but it still shocked me.It was small and quaint and homey, and memories clung to the walls.“I think she’s at class,” Lorraine said, looking around.“If she’s still going, which I really hope she is.”She walked to the table and ran her hands over a stack of books.I walked to the books and frowned.“What’s this?”I asked.“It’s Greek mythology,” she said.“Greek mythology.”I flipped the book open.It was filled with information about the gods and goddesses.“This isn’t myth, it’s real.”

Lorraine laughed.“I know.Most people don’t think it is, but Cat believes it’s real.That’s why I’m positive she’ll understand.She’ll get it.”

I nodded and slowly paged through the book.“Does she know anything about Thalis and Nasia?”

“Who?”Lorraine asked.“It’s a couple who were torn apart through hatred but brought together again, united by their undying love for each other.”

“I’ve never heard of them,” Lorraine said.“But maybe you should ask Cat.Here she is now.”

The front door swung open and a younger version of Lorraine stepped in, her hair short and her clothes more modern.She froze when she saw us, staring at me and then at Lorraine.“Lorraine?”she asked, unbelieving.“Is that really you?”

“Hey, Kitty Cat,” Lorraine said warmly, and the two sisters flew into each other’s arms.I watched the reunion, felt the warmth that flowed from their love for each other, and I knew it had been the right thing to bring her here.Lorraine and Cat were sisters, and I could almost sense the bond between them.“Who’s this?”Cat asked, her eyes growing wary when they broke away from each other and she looked at me.“What is he doing here?”

“This is Ash,” Lorraine said.“I’ve been staying with him during all this.He’s been looking after me.”

“Ash,” Cat said as if she was trying my name out.She studied me.What did she see when she looked at me?I wore my human look, of course.I wasn’t going to stand here looking like the drus I was, but Cat still seemed to be suspicious of me.I nodded at her.“Can I make you guys something to drink?”Cat asked.“That would be great,” Lorraine said.“Hot cocoa if we have it.I haven’t had it in ages.”

I made a mental note to find out what this hot cocoa was.Cat nodded and beckoned for Lorraine to follow her to the kitchen.I hesitated.I wanted to leave them alone to talk, but Lorraine gestured for me to follow them.When I hesitated, she grabbed my hand and dragged me through the small house to the kitchen.“You’re going to love this,” she said to me, making me sit on a stool while Cat moved around the kitchen.She reminded me so much of Lorraine, the way she carried herself and did things.

They were almost identical, if not exactly, in the way they looked and in the way they moved, talked, and laughed.“So,” Cat said while she waited for something, turning to Lorraine, “does this mean you’re back?”

---