21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Simon
She knows my secret.
My mate took it better than I had hoped. I expected her to be disgusted and reject me. Seducing her and bringing her pleasure would be my weapon when I needed to tell her something important.
She was more compliant and more understanding when she knew I could make her feel good.
Despite not knowing how to pleasure a female in the beginning, she had made it easy with the sounds she made. I liked how she directed my horns where she wanted me. I needed direction in the beginning, but I knew her body now.
We walked silently through the Wood, and I could feel its subtle power around me, buzzing for me to reach out and touch her. I wanted to be closer, and I knew she wanted me too, but she was holding herself back. Like my touch would eventually break her.
That was what I was hoping.
My mate wouldn’t let me hold her in my arms and carry her. She wanted to wander while we walked and take in the sights of the forest.
I think she was worried about our earlier interaction. My shaft is quite large, and she is small. That was a minor thing to overcome. I had seen an orc’s, and if they could place their cocks inside their mates, then I was sure I could bury myself in Lucy.
Right now, I worried for her feet. They were not tough like my hooves. Her feet were soft, and with the twigs, branches and leaves, she could hurt easily.
Humans were fragile.
I watched my mate intently while she wrote in her book. Knowing she used something I gave her brought me pride. I provided for her. I took care of her and made her happy.
Technically, it was Calliope’s, but she gave it to me one day, hoping that I would try to write.
My fingers were not that good yet. I could thread knots, tie ropes but doing something as intricate as writing, that was far beyond what I needed to learn while living in the Wood.
My mate stepped on a piece of soft, velvety purple moss, its vibrant color contrasting against the earthy tones of the surrounding lands. The mosses spread across the lands, even finding their way into the depths of the Wood.
As my mate gingerly placed her weight on it, a gentle crunch resonated beneath her foot, accompanied by a burst of tiny lights. Intrigued by the enchanting display, she knelt down, pressing her palm onto the moss. More of the tiny stars erupted from its surface, shooting upwards towards her face, filling her eyes with wonder and causing them to widen in awe.
Her pencil moved frantically in the notebook while I stopped and checked our surroundings. After making my mate’s arousal bloom so much, I had to take the yellowcress and sprinkle it over the both of us.
Even with the root, I could smell myself on her skin where I rubbed my seed onto her belly.
When she knelt and took a closer inspection of the moss, she lifted her backside into the air. My shaft stiffened in my pouch, and I cursed myself and looked away. There was something about her being on her knees, her ass in the air. It was my animalistic side, wanting to take over and rut her from behind.
My cock did not fit.
She was my mate. It was supposed to fit inside her. Why would her body not accept me? Was I too large?
I grunted in disappointment, and Lucy stood to brush off the clothing I’d made for her. The book already had pages and pages filled since I had given it to her.
She smiled, put her notebook under her arm, and reached for me. Her giddiness made me smile when she gripped my hand.
I stared at the fingers she just intertwined with mine. Lucy nodded her head in the direction we were going. “Come on.”
My heart fluttered, and my ears waved back and forth. I could hold her hand while we walked. It was better than before, feeling so far apart, but now?
Lucy swung our hands back and forth. “Have you never held hands?”
My thumb grazed over her knuckles. “No, never. You are the first.”
She beamed at me. “My father was the first to hold mine, but he doesn’t count because he was my father. I guess you would be my first, too.”
I would be her first for everything, that was for sure. First to stick my fingers inside her and soon, my shaft. I knew her taste when no one else did. I knew she was mine in every way.
But why did I not fit inside her?
I hoped this witch could help because I was lost. I didn’t have all the answers and now, new questions had risen.
Lucy said I was a faun, to begin with, not a goat. I didn’t see how that was possible. I only remembered being a lowly animal. Yet, I differed from anyone in the herds that I had lived in.
I didn’t find desire in mating; I did not rut. I didn’t know how many times farmers tried to catch me and dispose of me because I was not doing my duty. I had no desire for those females.
Could I have always been a faun? What happened to me to become all animal?
Lucy squeezed my hand and tugged on it. “Hey you, watcha thinking? I asked you a question?”
My eyebrows raised, and I cleared my throat. “Just about where I came from. If I was a faun.”
Lucy nodded. “I’ve been thinking that, too. I really believe you were a faun, before. It makes sense.”
I tilted my head to the side.
“You speak well, Simon. Like you have done it before. You have learned quickly how to use your hands and walk on two legs. That isn’t an easy feat.”
“The bond—”
Lucy stopped and stood in front of me. “No, no bond. You have done these things before me, Simon. You’re smart, and walking and talking, they’re like riding a bicycle. Once you start doing it again, it comes naturally.”
I did not know what a bicycle was, but it didn’t matter. I huffed and pulled her closer to me. I wanted her touch, her body close to me.
“With how long everyone in Bergarian lives; technically living immortally until fatally wounded, I think you are old.”
I scoffed. “I am not old. I feel young.”
It was Lucy’s turn to roll her eyes. “All the orcs are old, King Kane is old, yet they look no older than thirty. Every creature here is ageless, besides the humans.”
“The elder orcs have aged,” I countered.
“Except them, I’m still trying to figure that out. There are always exceptions in science. Anyway. I know what you are. There are stories about you on Earth. The majority may not be true, but your presence is known there. I think”—she tapped her lip—"you, or at least your kind, have lived on Earth before.”
My mouth dropped. “You think there are more of me?” I squeezed her hand. “I am not alone?”
Lucy shook her head confidently. “Nope, and I bet there are more. The way the religion here relies heavily on the human versions of Greek Gods, I bet there are other creatures and species from Greek Lore. Minotaur’s, centaurs, Medusa, Pegasus. Gods, could you imagine?” She stood up on her toes and leaned into me. “All those creatures might be here in the Wood! Or better yet, in someone’s farm.” Her face paled. “They could get eaten!” She squealed and pulled on my arm. “We have to save them.”
She pulled on my arm again, almost yanking it from my body. I whirled her around until she slammed into my chest. “There were no others like me.” Calliope stated she met no other animals like me.”
Lucy pressed her forehead to my chest. “We should still look, just in case, after we meet up with the witch. Could you imagine meeting a Minotaur?” Her eyes sparkled.
“I do not know what a Minotaur is, but you cannot meet them,” I growled.
Lucy pouted. “Why not? It’s part of my job. I need to draw them and take scientific no—”
“Have you drawn me?” I interrupted. “Have you drawn what I look like?”
Lucy bit down on her bottom lip. “Mm-maybe. Part of you, um.”
When we walked through the Wood, I knew she was drawing and taking her notes. What she wrote, I wasn’t sure.
“Let me see.” I pulled her away and tried to grab the book from under her arm.
She squealed. “No! Don’t!” She put it behind her back, but since I was taller, I could reach it. I pulled it away from her and hopped away.
“You have drawn me. I must see.”
Lucy cried out. “No, you big meanie! Give it back!”
I chuckled and trotted away from her, climbing the nearest tree using only my hooves.
“What are you doing? Come down here, you cheater!”
“I cannot help that your feet are not as skillful as mine.”
I flipped the pages of the notebook. She had already filled it with pictures in our short time walking. The roots, the white fluff from where she slept; it was all there. Then I stopped at one page and my eyes widened. It wasn’t a picture of just me—it was one part of me.
My cock.
She drew my cock!
“Hey, give that back!” Lucy shouted as she ran towards the tree. Her determination to retrieve her notebook was both endearing and amusing. I couldn’t help but smirk at her persistence, then I quickly flipped the page to hide my… private parts from her view.
She could have the real thing—if she wanted.
“Simon!” she snapped. “That has educational stuff in there.”
Educational? It has my cock inside it.
I flipped back to the page with my body and sat on the limb. I let myself dangle just above her fingertips.
“Simon!”
“What do these words mean?” My claw ran down the page. “What did you write?”
Lucy put her hands on her hips and stared. “Why do you want to know?” her face blushed.
I smirked, amused at what she could have written. I wish I knew how to read, but obviously, I didn’t have the capability. “Tell me what it says, and I’ll give it back.”
I’d just steal it back from her later.
Lucy wrung her hands together. “Ah, stuff. Just stuff we did, what happened. A description of what it looks like.”
I gave her a fanged smile. “And what does my cock look like, my mate?”
Lucy’s face turned a beautiful shade of red. I wanted to lick the apples of her cheeks. “Just that it’s big!”
I snorted and gazed down at the drawing. She had captured every detail, and that must have impressed her.
Except I am too large.
I flipped the notebook closed and jumped down from the limb. She scowled and ripped it out of my hands.
“This is private!” she snapped and held the book to her chest.
I walked closer to her, and she backed away from me until she hit a tree behind her. I put my hand beside her head, closing her in. Her scent surrounded me. Her body trembled, not out of fear, but… because she liked this. She liked it when I pushed her and played with her.
“Tell me, Lucy. Do you like my cock so much you had to draw it?” My nose flared, and I rubbed my face against her cheek. “You want me inside you, don’t you?”
Her arousal perfumed. I prayed to the goddess that the yellowcress root held, and that ogre didn’t come stomping around.
“Tell me,” I whispered.
“S-simon, I—”
“Call me your mate.” I pressed myself against her. “Tell me.”
Lucy shook her head and held the notebook tighter around her chest. “I can’t say that.”
“Why?” I growled. “Have I not proven myself?”
Lucy’s mouth dropped. “N-no. I am just saying mates would be able to fit, wouldn’t they? You are just so big, and I… I… I don’t think we are compatible in that way. Your real mate—”
My cock fell out of its pouch, and I pressed it against her. “You think this is made for someone else?” I growled. “It only does this for you.” I gripped my shaft and held it tight. “Only you.”
Lucy swallowed and let out a slow, steady breath. “I just worry that… someone better is meant to be your mate. You don’t know how to claim a mate. As Sugha said, different species claim their mates in different ways. What if you are wrong about knowing I’m yours? I am not even sure how to tell if someone is my mate—I’m human.”
I wrapped my hand around her wrist and placed her hand on my chest. “Do you feel this? It beats for you. It wants you. Why can you not believe that? Don’t think like this.” I pulled the notebook out of her hand and threw it on the ground. “Think with this.” I placed my hand between her breasts.
I tried to hide my disappointment when she still did not call me her mate. I leaned forward and licked her from her shoulder to her cheek.
She sighed and wrapped her arms around me.
I prayed to the goddess that the witch we sought would help her see reason.