7. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Lucy
Dutton raced through the trees like his butt was on fire.
The gnarled branches scraped relentlessly against my trembling arms and stinging thighs, their sharp edges leaving faint red trails. Yet, with every ounce of strength, I clung desperately to Dutton, my heart pounding in my chest. I had no qualms about Dutton holding onto me or worrying about a man touching me. Not when that ogre was back there fighting against the entire camp.
The repulsive ogre, with his grotesque features, had a repugnant stench emanating from his hulking frame. His enormous, wicked, yellow eyes fixated on me as if I were his next meal.
I dry heaved at the thought of that thing coming any closer to me and gripped onto Dutton’s tunic a little tighter.
“Try to keep quiet,” he whispered as he ran through the thicket. More scrapes slid across my skin, and I tried not to wince.
Sure, I was used to the outdoors, sleeping, roughing it, but I hadn’t done a lot of manual labor. I was a spoiled researcher because of my father. No ill will toward him, at all, but I now wished my skin was toughened up, just a little.
Dutton effortlessly leaped over a fallen log, causing my stomach to collide with his strong, muscled shoulder. The air filled with the sound of rustling leaves and my empty stomach trying to come up my throat.
Good thing I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, because it would be all over his back by now.
Dutton stopped, his body turned to look from left to right. As he did, my body was slung like a rag doll. He trotted over to a large, hollow log and threw me off his shoulder, my head dizzy. He set me down at the mouth of the log, and I put my hand over my head to steady myself.
Dutton didn’t check on me; instead, his eyes were on the surroundings. “Get in and don’t make a sound,” he ordered through gritted teeth.
I did as he said, keeping my dress over my body, and scooted inside.
“No matter what you hear, you don’t come out, do you understand?”
He stared at me. The command was final, and I nodded to appease him. I didn’t want to be an ogre’s fudging toy then his breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I thought these ogres were stupid, but something told me that this ogre meant business.
“I thought…” I went to say, but Dutton pinned me with a look. “This one is different, Lucy. He’s the oldest, biggest. The orcs warned us about this one. He will be hard to get rid of.”
A horn blasted in the distance, and my stomach dropped. If that horn was blown, it meant that Sugha was calling for more orcs, for help.
Orcs didn’t like calling for help, so it must have been serious.
“I need to go back.” He stood up, growled under his breath, and grabbed bushes from ten feet away to put them in front of the trunk of the tree.
I crawled toward him. I could feel the blood draining from my face when I grabbed his wrist, but I needed to know.
“Elmira… is she your mate?” I barely got it out when his demeanor softened, and his lip curled into a smile.
“That she is.” Dutton continued to pack shrubs around me and pushed my head back into the log.
I shook my head. “Then why haven’t you mated with her? Don’t you want her?”
Dutton scoffed and kneeled at the base of the trunk. “I suppose you wouldn’t get it. You’re human and just arrived in this realm, but just because she’s my mate doesn’t mean she will automatically accept the bond.” He stared off into the distance from where we came. “We are destined to be together, but the journey to get there is part of the fun. Besides,”—he winked—“I enjoy riling her up, pulling out the bond. Stretching the bond longer intensifies the pleasure, until one day she will jump my bones and fuck me into oblivion.”
My face regained its color as the blood that had drained from it was replenished, turning my face crimson.
“I see.” I ducked back inside the log to contemplate what he just said when I heard a roar.
“Stay in the log until I come back.” He pulled a sack from his pocket and untied the twine. He sprinkled the powder around the trunk and where his feet had been. The yellowcress was the only thing keeping me safe right now.
I leaned back into the damp wood. The moss and various plants that grew inside were being trampled by me, but I didn’t have it in my heart to care. I was hiding for my life and felt silly for doing it.
The orcs and the shifters were fighting for me, and I was hiding like a tiny child. I wiped my hand down my face, feeling the guilt weighing heavy on my chest. They knew this could be a dangerous excursion, but it didn’t make me feel any better. We hadn’t been out here for a full week and were already facing problems.
What if someone died? If one person died who was mated, their partner would follow because two souls bound cannot live without each other. That was hard for me to grasp because I hadn’t seen it before, but if someone died because of this ogre, I would see it firsthand.
Mates could live for a long while here, too. Everything lives a long time, even eternity if they didn’t get killed with a weapon or another person in a spar. I couldn't believe that people here didn’t age past thirty as well.
There are a few humans who live here. We will grow old and die, unless we find a mate. Like my father, or me. I giggled at that thought. My father, nearly eighty years old, finding a mate. They say coming to this realm is no mistake, that every human that arrives is destined, fated for something greater.
I had yet to believe that, but then again, the dream from last night was still stuck in my head. If that orgasm was my destiny, I’d die a smiling woman.
I let out a puff of breath.
Why was I thinking about that when an ogre was attacking the camp?
A branch snapped from outside, and my heart stopped. The notebook that I had carried like a security blanket crinkled under my weight. I stopped breathing, thinking that it would help whatever was outside to walk away.
The yellowcress would keep my scent hidden, but moving, talking, and breathing? They could listen and find me without question.
The small taps of movement came closer, and my eyes widened when I saw a shadow at the entrance of the log. I closed my eyes, curled my legs up toward me, and wrapped my arms around them. I hoped that by acting as if I wasn’t there, they would think I wasn’t there. Because I had nowhere else to go. The other end of the log was crushed, leaving my entry as my only exit.
Branches moved, and the greenery slipped away. I could see it in my mind, even though my eyes were closed. The breeze came inside, moving away the musty scent of the log.
Maybe it was Dutton?
No, Dutton would have made an announcement. He was too cocky. He wouldn’t scare me. At least, try not to scare me.
A warm breath fell on the scratches I got from being hurled through the Wood, and a growl came from the creature, which sounded so familiar. It was the same growl from my dreams.
My eyes opened, staring down into my lap, and I knew I had to look.
I raised my head, turning it slowly, ready to meet the creature that had its nose sniffing my arm. So far, they hadn’t hurt me, but I wasn’t about to rush my movements and make a grave mistake.
As a rough tongue cautiously brushed against a scratch, a tingling sensation spread through my body, eliciting an intense shiver of pleasure. From the periphery of my vision, I caught sight of a pair of horns gracefully bending down, their tips gently grazing my skin, accompanied by the sound of delicate licking.
Was it a goat? A ram?
The curls on top of its head were blocking my view.
“Um, hello?” I spoke shakily, and then I saw the most golden eyes I had ever seen. The pupils weren’t human, reminding me of an animal. His pupils were like a goat’s, which were rectangular in shape. The nose was also more animal like, with slits going upward and with fur on. Their lips were similar to a human’s, but the top lip had a split just as a ram or a goat, with whiskers and soft hair.
I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, but it was no creature I had ever heard of in all of Bergarian. All creatures looked human-like. Even the orcs, except they were green, and their private parts were yet to be talked about openly.
This… was an animal with human-like qualities.
“Hello there.” I laughed nervously.
Although I hadn’t seen their body yet, I was quite disturbed by the way my body reacted when they leaned back down and continued licking the scratches on my arms.
Oh, this was bad, so bad.
This was an animal, right? I should not have these sorts of feelings.
I pulled my arm away slowly, but the creature whined and grabbed hold of it. Four fingers and an opposable thumb with claws, wrapped around my wrist and pulled it back. I didn’t fight; too shocked to see that this thing had an actual hand.
I mean, what did I expect? A hoof?
I laughed internally, hoping not to spook the thing.
“Hey, um, can you stop?” The creature stopped and tilted his head up at me like he understood, then backed away. He was on his knees, and his lower body was fur, no pants. The fur was part of his body.
He studied me with those piercing golden eyes, and a wave of unease washed over me as I realized this creature seemed to comprehend my words. How was this possible? No one told me there were beings like this. The creature’s partially human, partially animal appearance unsettled me further.
As it backed away, I climbed out of the log and scrambled to my feet, putting some distance between us. My heart raced in my chest, unsure of what to do next. Was this creature a threat or something else entirely?
I studied it, now that it wasn’t right in front of me, noting the seamless transition from fur to skin on its lower body. Its physique was lean and muscular. The hooves for feet had me gawking, and I raised my hand to cover my mouth.
A satyr, a faun? Those were myths, mostly in Greek mythology, and this creature was standing right here in front me.
I went with faun because when I thought of a satyr, I thought of those things with a musical instrument at their lips, drunk, mischievous, maybe not as beautiful. After checking this male out and gaining some footing of who this was, I found him utterly breathtaking.
I squeezed my notebook to my chest as I stood before him. “Can you understand me?” I asked because I couldn’t be sure. He could have just stopped just because I spoke.
He nodded his head once and took a step forward, and my eyes zeroed in on the front part of his body. There was a pouch where his private parts should be, and it looked well stocked.
Maybe he has some food in there, berries? You know, like a fanny pack.
Or maybe his big, fat sausage.
I’m going to hell, no wait, the Underworld. Now, I know all these creature myths exist, I’m beginning to believe something beyond science exists.
“Easy.” I put my hand out to keep him away.
I wasn’t afraid because he was male, as I very much knew he was, by his sculpted physique. The fact that he was a faun, very different from me and the way my body was reacting, made me uncomfortable.
What were his intentions besides licking my wounds?
Did he wanna…
It made me clutch my pearls.
Was he helping?
Did he drink blood?
I didn’t know what this thing liked to eat.
Maybe my pussy? That rough tongue might feel good down there.
Immediately, I clamped my thighs together.
No, no, no. Intrusive thoughts, bad. We do not want to think about that tongue anywhere.
Sure I do, those horns scraping against my thighs while he vigorously lapped at my clit.
It’s an animal, Lucy.
Well, he is mostly animal.
We don’t even know if it talks, but he understands.
Wait, he has an opposable thumb!
Ugh, so do monkeys, but that doesn’t mean humans—
I was so lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t notice that he’d stepped closer to me, and both his hands were cupping my face. I was too stunned to move when he came nose-to-nose with me.
“Ucy.”
Charles fudging Darwin.