Page 36 of Whisper Woods

“Come, rest with me before we have to leave.” I hate the reminder, but love the idea, and so I go and settle in the space he’s made for me between his legs. Reclining there, leaning against his chest, his legs caging me in, I feel more at home than I ever have.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again.” I almost purr, Rafe playing with my hair taking away my tension.

“I didn’t think I would either. It was… disappointing.”

“Tell me about yourself.” He bristles slightly at my question, which is worrying. But at least it points in the direction of him being real. I mean, a figment of my imagination wouldn’t bristle at being questioned. Right?

“What do you want to know?”

I struggle for a moment, too many questions rushing to the tip of my tongue. I want to know him. I want to know him as intimately as I know myself. And yet, I can feel the reluctance in him. The cramp in my chest returns when I think of questioning him. It’s like there is a wall around him that I don’t know how to get around, warning me that there are questions he will not—can not—answer. So I stumble.

“Favourite colour?” I ask eventually. Rafe eases under me and I know I went in the right direction. He keeps petting me while he thinks. Wolf sighs contentedly, more than pleased with our current situation.

“Once a year, during the winter, the sky at home lights up in the most beautiful auroras. It’s magnificent. Streaks of blues and greens, purples and pinks light up the sky. One year the entire sky lit up in a brilliant blue-green light. I can’t describe it. It was like the Gods themselves were in the sky that night. That colour is the most beautiful colour I’ve ever seen.”

He makes no effort to elaborate on where exactlyhomeis, but I’ve heard of the auroras. During the winter you can see the edges of them on the fringes of the Whisper Woods to the southern border near the ocean. Where it’s rumoured there are dragons. It’s an area even the bravest beings don’t dare to tread.

Maybe Rafe comes from the Overlands? They’d possibly see the auroras there, the islands are to the south west of Carconnois, between us and Ulydessia. The strange feeling returns as I try to make the mental jumps to put together the information. I may not have faetuition, but my instincts know enough to tell me to leave it alone.

“That sounds incredible. I’d love to see it.” I sigh, settling back further against his chest. Rafe hums gently, pressing a kiss to my hair.

“I think you would like it very much.” He sounds wistful, his fingers tracing absent shapes over my biceps. “What about you? Your favourite colour?”

Smiling lazily I answer, seeing it clearly in my mind. “Green. But not just any green.” I shift on my ass a little, excitement bubbling at the memory. “It’s the green I see when I let Wolf take over and we run. Flying through the Woods together, it all rushes together and blurs into the green of the Woods. It’s so beautiful. I cansmellit, you know? It makes me feel—” I stop suddenly, all too aware how much, and how fast, I’m talking about a colour. Heat fills my cheeks and I know I’m blushing. I feel like an idiot. It’s been a long time since I’ve rambled like this. It’s just Rafe, he makes me forget myself.

“How? How does it make you feel?” Rafe prods, squeezing me with his thighs.

I swallow against the lump in my throat. “Free. I feel free.”

Rafe hums against my head again, his arms wrapping around me to rock us gently. “Sounds beautiful.”

“Yeah, it really is.” Comfortable silence wraps around us, even though I can feel the ticking clock of our separation looming in the night.

“Savoury or sweet?” I ask, desperate for more of him.

“Savouryandsweet. I’ve never been one to deny myself pleasure.” He nips playfully at my ear making me laugh and squirm against him. “What about you?” I’m a little distracted by the way his lips are kissing a soft trail down the column of my throat, but I manage to choke out an answer around my flustered arousal.

“Salty. I’m sweet enough.”

Rafe breaths a soft chuckle against me amidst his kisses. I continue to pepperhim with questions, irrelevant things that help me piece together the picture of him, while he keeps on kissing and touching every inch of me he can reach.

Eventually, it’s not enough and we twist and turn until we are lying side by side, kissing as if it’s our last breath. As the pink light of dawn creeps above the treetops, we writhe together until he’s pinned beneath me and we’re rutting together. We come as one, our release mixing on our stomach between us and our kisses slowing into lazy, soft brushes.

I collapse, rolling to the side so I don’t crush him entirely—though I’m pretty sure he could take it—shimmying down to rest my head on his chest and trace patterns in our cum on his stomach.

“I have to go.”

Bile rises in my throat, panic making me grip his waist, pin him to the ground. I want to shoutno!That he can’t go. He can’t leave me.

But that’s insane and so I choke it down. Smother it, along with Wolf’s howling whine. He doesn’t want Rafe to go either. Rafe’s heartbeat is unsteady under my ear so I take a deep breath.

“Okay.” I sound just as enthusiastic as him. He kisses me again, his lips slanting over mine with heartbreaking sweetness. When we part and he stands, I fold the blanket, handing it to him, but he shakes his head.

“Keep it. For next time.” He smirks, but the smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Fuck, I want to cry. I can feel the burn of it in my chest, only years of training keeping my feelings under a heavy mask is keeping me together right now.

He’s standing just out of arm's reach, like he doesn’t trust himself to be any closer. To be fair, neither do I. As he pulls on his clothes, or the muddy remains of them from where they were flung, I hug the blanket to me like a lifeline.

“So I’ll see you again then?” I sound pathetic, but when Rafe looks up at me from where he’s bent buckling his boot, I don’t feel pathetic.

---