Page 53 of Whisper Woods

This is it. The moment on the cliff. Jump and fly, or retreat.

But there is something I know. Beyond my instincts, beyond Wolf’s furious howl, with every fucking cell in my body.

I tenderly cup Rafe’s powerful and wicked jaw, soothing the tense muscles there with my fingers. “Whatever it is, Rafe, I’m in this. Whatever it is. One-hundred and ten percent. I’m with you. I trust you.”

His good eye flicks back and forth between mine. Reading the unspoken words. Seeing it splayed all over my spirit and whatever this is between us I’m still too chicken-shit to claim. I can feel the way his jaw is flexing under my hands while he considers. And then he nods. A gruff grunt of understanding.

His clawed hands cover mine, pressing against my hands before he takes them in his. He keeps hold of one hand, tugging me as he steps back.

“Then… come with me. Let me show you.”

And I follow, willingly, into bliss, into the ether, into oblivion. I don’t know. But I follow.

Rafe

“So you come fromTathys? A city on the other side of the Whisper Woods. And they walled themselves off a billion years ago to keep their magic safe and not deal with whatever fuckery was going on at the time. But now the walls are broken and you have to rejoin the world or whatever? And something to do with the Woods and my friends?” Seff exhales a long breath from his mouth and pulls back a branch to allow me to pass.

“Eh, that might be a slight over-simplification. But overall, yes.” He falls in behind me as I pass, the heat of his chest brushing my back. The Woods on this side of the portal is dense, deliberately hostile to prevent anyone from stumbling upon Tathys’s borders.

Apart from mild motion sickness when we’d passed through the portal, he had taken everything I explained remarkably well. In fact, the portals themselves seemed to be the thing that had bothered him the most. It did not, in fact, lead directly to Tathys itself. I explained, much to his growling frustration, that such gateways existed all throughout the Woods at one point, to allow beings to cross without having to journey so far on foot. But due to time and disuse they had gone dormant.

“I still don’t get how Theo and Marieth and all that is tied in.” He doesn’t sound peevish, just genuinely confused. Reaching back, I try to grab his hand for a comforting squeeze, but accidentally manage to brush against his hip and cock before I’m successful, drawing a lustful hiss from him. “Seriously, don’t get me hard right now. Too many spikey things.”

Smirking, I squeeze his hand again, not dropping it even with the awkward angle. There is a reason he’s walking behind me on the narrow path, though.He’s stillverynaked. I offered him pants but he insisted they wouldn’t fit.

“Don’t worry, Seff. I’d hate for something to happen to your assets. I’ll protect you.”

He laughs, tugging on our joined hands to pull me back so he can playfully maul at my neck. It tickles and I bark a laugh so embarrassing I’d have to gut any being who ever heard it.

I twist in his hold, but his other arm wraps tightly around me. Sure, I could break free if I chose, but I’d much rather not. I squirm against him as he continues to bite and kiss along my neck, using the scruff of his stubble to tease the over sensitive skin. His body is hot and hard as he rubs against me. And despite that hardness, I don’t think it’s even sexual, it’s just been too long since he’s been touched.

“Stop!” My attempts at authority are seriously diminished by my laughter. My stomach cramps from trying to keep it in check. “Stop! I thought you wanted to know this.”

With heavy, dramatic reluctance Seff stops his playful attack. I think I’m even more disappointed than he is when he releases me. I kind of wish I had gotten dressed earlier so I could have something to fidget with.

“Ugh,fine.”

I cast an eye over my shoulder to watch as he stretches out his arms, giving himself a little shake before running a hand through his mop of sandy hair. He catches me watching through half-lidded eyes and gives me one of his cocky smiles, the one that uses his dimples to full devastating effect.

Rolling my eyes with a scoff, I continue on, leaving him to hurry to catch up.

“Right, so where were we?” He asks, leaning over my head to pull up a low-hanging branch for us to duck under.

“Theo and Marieth.”

“Right. Yeah, that.” His voice is muffled, like he’s rubbing his hand over his face as he talks and there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm in his voice, which is understandable.

He was the same when he explained everything that happened at the cottage that day. I still cannot believe Seff,my Seff, went through that. It was brutal tohear, and despite taking the time to comfort him—and myself—through the retelling, I’ve made a note to take the time later, when we’re home, to truly take my time taking care of him.

“The cottage was located on a pulse point.”

“That’s like, a pool of magic right?” Seff interrupts.

“Yes. Whether the pulse point existed before Marieth or was created by her magic, I don’t know. Either way, her magic ultimately defiled the pulse point. I believe that between her, and Tathys, the Whisper Woods is losing its strength. You and your friends, for one reason or another, were the ones able to solve the Marieth problem.”

“So shouldn’t that mean that Tathys would getstronger? Like, more magic for it to suck up or whatever?”

“Yes, and no. No one can truly know the will of the Gods. The magic it took to orchestrate its own healing seems to have drained the Woods further. Or maybe, they are just done and want to be whole again.Thatis a matter for the Orun.”

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