Page 4 of Cruel As A Tree

I heard the human's voice, sharp from the other side of the trunk as she argued with her familiar.

"I'm not fucking a tree, even if it can talk!" she snapped.

Excitement pooled with the lust growing in my body, stoked by the scent of her and the crude intention of her words.

There was a moment of silence.

"I don't care what I promised you. Can't just order me to do that, especially not to a tree," the human said. "Consent can be withdrawn at any time."

There was another moment of silence.

"Ok, fine, that will work, but I don't see the point of this unless this tree is an ent or something," the human said. "Oh great tree lord or whatever."

She paused. "You really want it word for word?"

Another pause and the human sighed.

"Oh great Lord of the Forest, I offer you a formal courtship period," the human said.

She lowered her voice to speak to her familiar. "What does that even mean?"

"The offer is accepted," I said, as the trees rustled with my excitement.

I stepped out from behind the tree, letting the human take in the full splendor of my new form, one that had been shaped by the pathways her scent had carved in my mind. She had brought something new to my forest, a missing element that was more important than blood and death for feeding the rapid expansion of my lands as they took over the wasteland, eating away at the spell that kept the area surrounding the school barren.

This human carried the scent of fertility, a scent that travelled with her as she took a step back in fear at the sight of me.

I would breed her.

Chapter

Three

LILLIAN

The most beautiful man I'd ever seen stepped out from behind the tree.

His hair was green, flowing down his back like a waterfall of moss over the edge of a cave. Two silver antlers rose from his forehead, a crown of flowers twining through them, including the bell-like ones that chimed as he took a step towards me, his ocean eyes pinning my breath in place for a moment before I remembered to breathe, sucking in a breath in a sudden gasp. His devilish smile widened as my eyes dropped down to his bare chest, chiseled and tawny, glimmering as if he had been rubbed in gold dust. He had the body of a dancer, muscular and lithe, like he could lift me up in the air or spring over my head in a single bound.

Heat flared through me at the sight of him, and I squeezed my thighs together at the sudden rush of desire.

I barely had time to take in the fur leggings that hung down from his hips and the thick bulge in the center of them before he was invading my personal space as if he owned it.

One moment he was by the tree I thought I had been talking to; the next he was in front of me, his body separated from mine by mere inches.

One of his arms wrapped around my waist, and his hand was on my thigh, lifting me up.

I let out a gasp as I was suddenly swept off my feet.

Veveron slithered off my shoulder, gliding down to the ground as the overpowering man moved my leg to wrap around his waist as he carried me back until my back rested against a tree. His horns were a few inches from my face for a moment, giving me a glimpse of a purple glow that trailed through them like crystal under bone, as he pressed his face against my neck, breathing in as his lips brushed against the sensitive skin.

My entire body awoke at his touch, the hair lifting up on my arms as his hot breath against my skin set fire to my awareness.

"You will ripen with my seed and the forest will feast on the spring of our magic," he murmured, his voice humming against my neck even as it seemed to spiral in and out of the trees around us, a surround sound of deep, masculine longing. His hand slid up to cup the underside of my breast, sending both heat and panic racing through me.

Then he pressed his hips between my legs, a log of heat separated by the thin fabric of my panties, connecting with my clit to send a throb of need through me.

For a moment, all I could experience was him, holding me, pinning me, touching me, rubbing on me.

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