his mate. Her passion, her playfulness… and hopefully, eventually, her love. Clearing his throat of the emotion that unexpectedly swelled within him, he continued his story.
“It was not unusual for nymphs to work me up until I was pained with need and leave me to resolve my passions on my own effort. Dallying with nymphs makes a male quite intimate with his hand if they are not inclined to mate with you. On one occasion some of my seed ejaculated directly onto a flower bud as the nymph scurried away. The flower petals immediately dropped away to reveal a large pearly seed. Before I could even pluck it up and investigate a wind stirred it just enough that it fell into a crack in the earth. Almost instantly the ground surged with rock and vines burst up into a modest dwelling. It was unplanned and had some unfortunate consequences.” He thought sadly of his sister trapped forever beneath the stones of Arx. He leaned his head back against the tree willing the thought away. “After that, it just grew over the centuries as it was needed and however it desired.”
Turning his head, he met Diana’s eyes and found her staring at him her lips parted in wonder. “That is both amazing and a bit disturbing,” she admitted. “Are you saying that it’s alive… as in, sentient?”
“To a degree,” he admitted.
She shivered. “I’m going to try not to think of it as a living house when we get back or else I’ll never be able sleep there again.”
Silvas wrapped one arm around her genially. “No ghosts. I can’t guarantee that Arx won’t kill under any circumstances, but it is not evil and it does not contain the ghosts of the dead.”
“Really splitting hairs here, Silvas,” Diana said as she leaned against him.
He dropped his nose into her hair and smiled to himself.
They rested for there for a couple of hours, during which Diana entertained him with stories of her life in the human world before the wulkwos—or ravagers, as she called them—disrupted human civilization. When it was time for them to be on their way again, he stood to drape the harness of supplies over his shoulder and reached down to tug her gently to her feet.
As they stepped into the woods he glanced at his mate, affection filling him at the sight of her upturned cheek as she glanced up at the trees around them. A peace fell over him and he decided that he liked this. He liked it very much.
Chapter 29
The trek back to the palace went quickly, though Diana couldn’t help noticing that the forest seemed quieter than it had been before—and it wasn’t due to a giant white crocotta loping through. When they had ridden out with Raskyuil, there were the sounds of birds and insects in the air. Now it was nothing but unnerving stretches of silence. Although he didn’t speak of it, she felt Silvas’s concern through their bond.
When they made camp, he had been so tense that he paced the campsite, keeping guard as he warily watched over the camp. For three days, he didn’t close his eyes, nor did he allow anything to distract him. It had been uncomfortable bedding down with his glowing eyes scanning the trees. Whenever they settled on her, need had sprung to life inside her. His nostrils twitched and flared but he had made no move toward her.
She understood the reason, and damn if the forest didn’t freak her out even more now, but three days without his touch was maddening. Her desires plagued her. She needed to taste him on her tongue, to scent the height of his passion—admittedly a strange impulse for her—and take him deep within her body.
The need, although it died away after a couple of uncomfortable hours, to her horror never truly ceased, nor was she able to satisfy it manually by her own efforts. It always returned stronger than before, making her body quiver and squirm as if stroked by a hundred feathers. It was worse if it hit when she was in the saddle, her pussy teased through the fabric of her pants by the rocking lope of Silvas in the crocotta’s form. It left her panting, sweat glistening on her skin as she flushed hotly. As the days passed the episodes were getting more frequent.
By the end of day two, Diana had come to the brutal realization that she wasn’t sure how long she could go without his touch.