Page 28 of The Demon of the Wood

He felt a twinge of guilt, but now his heart was racing, and his mind was doing somersaults trying to figure out what she had seen to think that. And to know if that’s what he was doing. Nesting was something demons did when the mating bond was forming. It was characterized by overprotectiveness, gathering items to care for the other, and usually for the males, showing off. Had he been doing that?

As he brought out the fabric, he pursed his lips. He’d gone back and bought her the brocade before he left. And he had been resisting the urge to buy her everything, the feeling of needing to show her she would be safe and provided for with him strong and overpowering.

Fuck.

Maybe hewasnesting. That wasn’t good. Not good at all. Melina had been with him a little over a month now, and he hadn’t sensed a cycle from her. But he would have to be alert now. For demons, the mating bond was a mutually progressing thing. And both responded to the “mating frenzy” when the female became fertile with fervor. But Melina was not a demon. She wouldn’t feel a tug or pull like him. And he had experienced nothing like that before. He didn’t have his parents or colony to guide him through that.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He shook his head, grinning, and pulled out the brocade fabric wrapped in parchment paper. “I bought you this.”

She looked from him to it curiously, then took it. She carefully unwrapped the paper and let out a gasp when she saw the fabric. “But, Kaemon, it’s so expensive!”

He felt his wings bristle happily.

Fuck.No.

Hewasnesting.

“It’s nothing. I have so much. Please, let me share with you.”

She set the fabric down and came around the table, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. It startled him at first, his body heating, desire twining tightly around him. But he shook his head and wrapped his arms around her in return.

“Thank you, Kaemon. Thank you for everything.”

He held her for a long moment, letting his mind race and then settle. The thought of sending her away felt like agony. But he would have to figure something out soon. He remembered the conversation of the goblin with the man in the market. It wasn’t safe for her to stay here forever with him.

fourteen

Melina

Acoldnorthwindblew harshly against Melina, and she wrapped the cloak tighter around her, burrowing under the hood. The weather had been getting warmer, but the temperature dropped the night before and the sky held a gloomy gray hue. She struggled to forage as her hands became cold and numb in moments without her gloves and her grasp was too weak.

With a sigh, she gave up and started trudging back to the cabin. She’d begun Kaemon’s shirt the night before—even though he protested she should do hers first—and she might finish it today instead of foraging. She stepped through the clearing to see Kaemon walking towards her, relief washing over his features.

“I was about to come find you. Another storm is coming through, and a nasty one at that.”

He led her to the cabin, stacking several logs on his arms to take inside. She opened the door, a blanket of heat warming her, making her cold cheeks sting as the wind whipped and howled outside. When the door closed, it rattled, little snow flurries hitting the window. Kaemon grabbed a pelt and rolled it up, placing it at the base of the door to insulate the heat better. Melina had never been more thankful to be in a small, easy to heat cabin over the large house of her uncle.

Kaemon made a fire as she huddled next to him, breaking twigs and stacking them in the hearth as he struck flint to make the fire come to life. They nursed the flames, letting it grow and grow. Kaemon brought in several more loads of wood, handing them to Melina to stack against the wall.

“Do you think we will need so much in the cabin?” she asked.

Kaemon nodded. “Just in case it’s as bad as last time and the wood gets covered. I’m going to get some meat from the smokehouse. You stay here.”

“I can help!” she protested, but he pointed to the hearth.

“You will be by tending the fire.”

Cold rushed in when he opened the door and she pulled her cloak closer around her shoulders. She stoked the flame, watching and adding in another log as needed while Kaemon prepared, trying to beat the storm clouds that rolled in. When he’d brought in enough supplies, he joined her by the fire.

“Will Silenus and Naida be fine?” she asked.

“The water nymphs adjust well below the surface. It’s when they venture above water their bodies struggle. And Silenus has been through many winters here. He knows better than I do how to survive.”

As snow fell outside and the temperatures continued to plummet. The sun hid behind a wall of gloomy clouds that cast the world in a gray darkness. The fire kept the cabin at a decent temperature, but they stuck close to it, her cloak still around her shoulders as she worked on his shirt. Kaemon pulled out a book from the shelf, laying down on the bearskin rug and reading from the well-worn volume.

“What is that?” she asked, her eyes gazing at it hungrily.

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