Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
ESMERAY
Twigs snapped underfoot, almost inaudible over the rushing in my ears as I crashed into the brush. Leaves caressed my face and my bare legs as I wove between the darkened shadows of the trees.
Then, a howl drowned out every other sensation.
This wasn’t the mournful, wild howl that had drawn me away from the festival. This was a howl of victory—of a wolf who had already had a successful hunt and was ready to feast.
My lips pulled back from my teeth in a wild smile even as I continued to run, my breath coming in short pants as I pumped my arms and willed myself to run faster.
Drakkan may very well catch me. I even wanted him to, and I hadn’t even given a thought to what favor I might ask of him if I escaped the forest. But I didn’t plan on letting this chase be over too quickly.
A feeling like fear, but far more potent and intoxicating dripped down my spine as I tried to put as much distance as possible between me and the clearing. My legs burned with the effort, and the sweet, heavy scent of earth and decaying leaves filled my nose.
Behind me, the forest rustled, and I could nearly hear the pounding of clawed feet against the ground in pursuit. Drakkan was far bigger than me, and far faster.
My mind raced as I took in my surroundings, squinting through the darkness as I ran, looking for any possible advantage.
A thick blackberry bush over a small gully caught my eye, and I made a split-second decision. I dove headlong for it, crashing through the leaves into the ditch below it. I paid no heed to the brambles caught in my braids or the dirt smearing my dress as I pressed myself flat on my belly.
Pressed into the ground, I could nearly taste decaying leaves and metallic dirt. Even as I concealed myself under the bush, I craned my neck to peer over the lip of earth at the edge of the gully.
A primal growl filled the air as Drakkan crashed into view.
A shiver ran up my spine so forcefully that it nearly made the bush above me shudder as I saw he had dropped to all fours.
Thick muscle bunched under his bark-like skin as he launched himself forward, clawed nails digging deep into the soft earth and golden eyes glowing like lamps in the darkness.
He still moved with the same predatory grace as he did when he slowly approached me in the clearing, but now it had an untamed edge to it that made my mouth grow dry and my hands tremble.
But this was not fear for my life—this was raw anticipation. I waited for a voice in my head to ridicule me, half expecting some part of myself to balk at the idea of letting myself be hunted by this primordial being, knowing what awaited me when I was caught.
After all, I had seen the impressive length hanging between his legs come to its full hardness as I suggested he chase me.
But he had been right. Despite the absolute foreignness of his appearance, I had gotten a sense of familiarity when we spoke—as if he was an old friend reintroducing himself.
I had always gotten a sense of being watched over when I was in the woods, but not in a malevolent way.
Drakkan was the presence who had unknowingly been my companion and my quiet call to the wildness of the woods for many years.
Now, I wanted to drag out this hunt not because I feared what waited at the end, but because of the sweetness of the anticipation that coated my tongue as I watched Drakkan charge blindly past me in search of his bride.
I would be his bride, but only after he had earned it.
As the chaotic rustling of his passing faded, I eased out from my hiding spot. My hands and knees stung with small scrapes, but the sensation only heightened my awareness of every inch of my skin as I brushed my palms on my skirt.
Keeping my ears pricked for signs of Drakkan’s approach, I turned and doubled back the way I’d come. I didn’t run but moved as quickly as I could while remaining quiet. I dodged low hanging branches and picked my way carefully through the brush.
The only noise was the harsh scrape of my breath in my throat and the gentle swish of wind through the leaves. I strained my eyes to see in the darkness, until finally they caught on a black gash in a large oak tree that was not penetrated by the light of the full moon.
It would be a perfect hiding place, and I had one more trick up my sleeve.
I slipped into the large hollow in the ancient tree, the wood tight around my ribs like an embrace as I wiggled into the crevasse. Then, I maneuvered around as best I could to face the opening and lifted my hands in front of me.
Quickly I sketched a few symbols in the air: witch marks for secrecy and stealth.
Under normal circumstances, I would not be able to make myself fully invisible, but tonight was the full moon, and wild magic pulsed in my blood.
A feeling like cold water rushed over me and I shivered in response as I faded from view.
No sooner had I let my hands drop than golden eyes appeared in the darkness of the clearing.
I hadn’t even heard Drakkan turn to follow me, but here he was already, feet away from my hiding spot. He stepped closer, his clawed feet making no noise as his head swung back and forth, searching.
He was not just a feral beast who ran through the underbrush, but a skilled predator as he prowled expertly through the darkness.
“Did you think there is anywhere you could hide in my woods that I could not find you, little witch?” he spoke into the darkness. His voice was a deep rumble that went straight to the pit of my belly and coalesced in a pool of warmth.
“You are clever, and skilled enough with your magic to evade any man, but I am no mere man,” he continued. He stalked closer to my tree, but his eyes did not settle on my hiding spot yet.
“Even now, I cannot see you, but I can smell your sweetness.” His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath in as if sampling the air. “I can taste on the wind how much you liked the chase. How wet it made you. How ready you are to be caught—to be the bride of this forest.”
I raised a fist to my mouth and bit down on it to stifle a surprised gasp. I shifted, knowing he was right. From the moment I had heard his howl behind me, signaling his hunt, anticipation had gathered in my core until now it felt warm and aching. Begging for attention.
“So, what do you say, little witch?” Drakkan’s eyes finally landed on the crack in the tree where I stood, although I knew he could not see me. “Are you ready to let me taste that honey straight from the source?”
I tore my hand from my mouth and scrubbed my witch symbols from the air, removing my camouflage. Drakkan’s eyes flared as I came into view and stepped from the tree, the golden orbs momentarily as bright as the stars above.
I tried to step towards him, ready and aching for all that he promised, but a grip around my ankle stopped me. I looked down to find a vine wrapped around my foot. The leaves whispered and a brush against my other ankle caught my attention, and then my wrists.
As the vines pulled me back, flush against the tree behind me, I raised my eyebrows at Drakkan. His response was a feral grin, elongated canines glinting in the moonlight.
“I am this forest, and every inch of it responds to my commands. You had your fun—now it’s time for me to have mine,” he growled.
The vines around my wrists pulled my arms up above my head, pinning them to the rough bark behind me. I nearly had to reach up on my tiptoes, the position leaving me stretched out and vulnerable, the entirety of me open to Drakkan’s perusal.
I shivered.
Once again, I waited for some part of my brain to object to such treatment, but my sanity seemed to have fled under the intense scrutiny of Drakkan prowling toward me.
Instead, his singular focus lit a fire beneath my skin.
Having the sole focus of a god—a primordial power as wild and unknowable as nature itself looking at me as if I was the only thing in existence at this moment—made me feel as if I had drunk too much cider at the festival.
My head felt so light I might be floating, but desire was heavy in my gut.
Drakkan stopped mere inches from me, so close I could feel his warm breath ghost across my skin as he leaned in. At his height, he blocked all else from view, surrounding me in his raw power and masculine energy.
“Unless you would rather run away again, little witch?”
Even in the darkness, I saw Drakkan’s muscles twitching beneath his dappled skin. The leaves adorning his antlers shivered, as if with the effort of holding his desires at bay as he gave me one last chance to change my mind.
I took a deep breath and dove headfirst into the hypnotizing well of lust he had uncovered in my soul. “Make me your bride.”
Drakkan covered my lips with his as his hands gripped my waist. I gasped into his mouth as the vines around my wrists and ankles tightened, keeping me pinned and helpless as he devoured my mouth. The sound that ripped its way from his chest as he tasted me was an animalistic snarl.
His fingers tightened against my ribs, the edge of claws digging in. I squirmed, trying to get closer as he crowded me against the tree at my back.
The hard length of his torso pushed against me, and I gasped at the feeling of his textured skin.
While it wasn’t rough like the bark it resembled, it had smooth ridges and whirls that brushed against the bare skin over my witch mark.
I could feel it even through my dress, the texture teasing my nipples to painful hardness as it rubbed against me.
I whimpered, trying to rub my thighs together to relieve some of the flame that had been quickly stoked to a bonfire inside me. The vines at my ankles responded by pulling my legs even farther apart.
Drakkan pulled back from my mouth, nipping at my bottom lip with his canines as he did.