Chapter Seventeen – Taran
Chapter Seventeen
Taran
If taking the shape of a human male was going to make her feel more comfortable around me, then I was willing to give it a shot. I’d never tried to achieve a human shape before, aside from morphing my face to look a little more human so my handler, Harrison, wouldn’t freak out every time we had a meeting. It had helped in my interaction with Thea, too. But now she wanted more.
Given her biophobia, I could understand her request. It didn’t come from a place of entitlement. She was doing her best, and given the circumstances, she’d progressed a lot from the frail, anxious woman who couldn’t make herself go into the woods. I wanted to make this easier for her. I wanted her to stop flinching when I reached out to touch her, and I wanted her to hold my gaze with trust and confidence.
It was a small price to pay.
It wasn’t like I was betraying my own nature or species.
I began morphing my body, not entirely sure what I was doing. I shrunk my trunk, glued my roots together to form two legs, and narrowed the region between what was supposed to be my chest and what was my head, forming a long, elegant neck. I turned two of my thickest branches into arms, and grew long hands with spindly fingers at the ends of them. My head was a bit more difficult. I simply had too many vines and branches, and their purpose was to protect me from the heat of the sun, from rain, storms, and other weather-related things. I couldn’t give up on all of it, so I settled for turning my leaves and vines into long, dark hair, and leaving a few of my branches standing atop my head in the form of what could be considered horns.
This was the best I could do. From my leaves, I created clothes, so Thea wouldn’t feel embarrassed. A pair of leaf pants was all I needed to cover my ever-growing erection. Now that I looked more like a man than a leshy, it was even more obvious, and no amount of reasoning with my cock would make it retreat into my body.
I extended my arms before me and looked at them. They were strong and sinewy. I brushed them over my leaf shirt, then looked at Thea, eager and equally afraid to see her reaction.
Was this what she wanted? Would she consider me... handsome?
“Wow, that is...”
She was speechless, her mouth agape. I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not.
“What?” I encouraged her.
“That is simply amazing!”
I beamed at her. Now that my face was decidedly human, my smile was different – bigger, brighter.
“What do you think? Do you like it?”
“Come here.” She reached out her hand. “Come closer.”
I bent my knees and knelt in front of her. I’d never done such a thing before. Leshy didn’t sit, kneel, or lie down. We just stood, and we lived our entire lives standing.
Her fingers brushed my cheek. I didn’t take my eyes off her. She seemed to be mesmerized with my new face. Her gaze traveled from my eyes to my straight nose, down to my full lips, then back up to take in my long, tangled hair, and my branches that had become horns.
“You look half man and half stag,” she said.
“Is that a compliment?”
“I suppose so,” she chuckled.
“I’m happy it makes you feel more comfortable.”
She nodded. “It does. Thank you for doing this for me.”
I would’ve done anything for her. Anything. No questions asked, no regrets after. Her soft hand on my face, her fingers in my hair as she tried to detangle it – it was everything. I lived for her touch.
And I knew... I knew, and I couldn’t forget she was still Thea Everhart, and her father was still Bill Everhart – the tree killer, as Markus had fairly named him – but in this moment, when I was so close to her that I could feel her breath tickling my newly acquired nose, none of that mattered. It wasn’t enough to deter me.
Though it should have been. It should’ve been more than enough to make me want to destroy her whole family.
“Can I touch your face?” I asked.
She was taken aback for a moment, and almost pulled away, but then whispered, “I guess that’s only fair.”
I gently pushed her long, dark hair off her right shoulder. It was wet and heavy, and a few strands remained stuck to her jaw. I brushed them off and felt her soft skin under my fingertips. I dragged a deep breath in. My chest didn’t expand like a human’s, because that wasn’t how I breathed. I breathed through my entire body, and it didn’t show in a physical way. I was filled with her scent, mixed with the freshness of the stream she’d just bathed in, and the scent of pine and earth. It was delicious. I only wanted to breathe her.
I felt the familiar stir in my cock. There was pain at the base – that was how much I wanted her.
She was the first to end the moment. She leaned away and squeezed her hand into a fist, placing it on her lap. She averted her gaze and looked in the distance, at the forest.
“We should get going,” she said.
I’d barely touched her hair and chin. I wanted more. I wanted to prolong this moment somehow. And then I remembered – she was wounded. The cuts from the broken glass couldn’t have healed so fast.
“This morning, you patched up your wounds. Do you want me to check them?”
She winced and touched her ribs. “I removed the bandages so I could wash. They’re fine. They’re just scratches.”
“One of them was deep.”
She hesitated, then lifted her sweater. There was a long cut on her ribs that was bleeding a little. It was nothing to worry about, but if she was giving me this chance to touch her again, I wasn’t going to squander it.
“I’ll bandage it for you,” I said.
“Okay. Make it quick. We really have to go. I think we only have a few more hours of light, and then we’ll have to stop for the night.”
I took the first aid kit from her backpack and started patting the wound gently to clean the blood. I took my time, marveling at her tiny waist, the gentle curve of her hip, and the round mound of her breast right above her ribs. I wanted nothing more than to place my hand flat on her bare skin and feel how she breathed, how her heart beat in her ribcage.
I’d never thought human anatomy could be so fascinating, but maybe it was just female anatomy. Or maybe it was just Thea. I didn’t want to see any other woman naked. Only her.
I bandaged the wound and packed up the first aid kit. Thea tucked her sweater into her pants and stood up. She swayed a little and grabbed onto my arm. I was more than happy to support her.
“I’ll carry you, remember?”
“But you look human now. Well, sort of.”
“So what?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
I shouldered her backpack, then lifted her in my arms bridal style.
“There’s absolutely no difference. I’m just as strong.”
“Okay.” She placed one arm around my neck and her other hand on my chest. “If you say so. I can try to walk, though.”
“And you’ll be too slow.”
Come to think of it, I would’ve been too slow if I used my feet as they were now – human. It would’ve been a waste of time, and very unnatural to me, so from the knees down, I changed my legs into roots. That was more like it.
Thea didn’t even notice. As I put the stream behind us, she dropped her head on my shoulder and asked,
“Is it okay if I doze off? I’m so tired.”
I smiled. “Sleep. I’ll take care of you.”