Chapter Seventeen
I hadn’t seen her for three days. I could hear her shivering in the cabin, its windows dark and the chimney barely billowing. The poor maiden couldn’t leave in her metal death trap for a hospital or a store. It was buried in the snow, and from what I could tell, her ankle still bothered her. So instead, she was rationing her food and wood.
I couldn’t just sit by and watch her slowly die.
I’d promised her as long as she was in my forest, she’d be safe, and I meant it.
After my gifts, she offered a blanket she’d constructed for me. I wore it as a cloak so I could smell my lover on me all day. I hadn’t received an offering from a human since before they’d invented electricity. The gesture alone gave me strength.
How had it been only half a moon phase and I was already so besotted by her? I remembered my time before her, sure, but my woods were different with her here. Better. Even though she was just a mortal, I could tell all the birds were happier, the trees were dancing more, and even the clouds looked fluffier.
Yet, I knew she couldn’t stay. She didn’t trust me now. I had taken the risk of loving her. I had to come to terms that our time together was fleeting, like the vibrant colors of the autumn leaves.
At times, I’d daydream of her coming with me through the portal of my forever tree. We could be together in the Otherworld for eternity. I’d give her a burrow and fill it with my love and all the babies she wanted. I could take her to the great halls and show her all the rows and rows of books. We could be mated, lovers, eternally devoted to one another. The idea of Shea being my consort, my goddess, admittedly took up a lot of my time. But the sacrifice she’d have to make was too great. I could never ask that of her.
She had an aunt and brother she’d miss dearly. Her parents, not so much, if I had to guess.
She had goals and plans with her schooling.
I couldn’t ask her to leave Earth behind to be with me. I’d never be that selfish. So instead, I sat in a trance far away from her, fiddling with every knot on the blanket while my witch regained her strength.
Finally, on a sunny afternoon, after half of the snow had sunk into the soil, she edged into my forest. I could hear her heartbeat, quick like a hare’s. I didn’t want to hide from her any longer, so I went with a form somewhere between a man and a beast with my antlers proudly showing. I remained unclothed, because modesty was a Puritan belief I had no need for.
I went to my throne and sat. It was a carved-out oak across the forest from my forever tree, surrounded by dense trees that darkened the canopy, even in winter. I was unsure she’d find me, but being the intuitive woman she was, she did. I bet she could sense the hum of my magic. The longing of my aching heart.
Her face was just as stunning as I recalled. The cold air stung her porcelain skin, blooming pink across her cheeks. She wore her red skirt and a green coat. Her hair was down in waves, topped with a green garland. Pride soared in my chest when I realized it was my holly and pine woven into a crown around her head.
I sat up straighter in my throne as she edged even closer to the trail that led to me. The snow had blown off, but ice remained between the craggy edges of each steppingstone.
“Hello,” she said timidly. Her breath puffed the frigid air.
“Hello, Shea.” My tone was neutral, maybe even too neutral. I wanted her more than anything, but I couldn’t show her that. I had already come on too strong. I’d kept things from her and let my foolish wishes ruin everything.
Her mittened hands nervously clasped together in front of her. “I-I came here to let you know I miss you.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, and I would like to talk.” She remained far away, near the trunk of a pine. Her energy pulled tight against her body.
“You think I am a monster.”
“I don’t. I just wasn’t expecting you to be . . .”
I lifted my chin. “Say it.”
“A god.”
“I am. I cannot change that.”
“I know that now.”
“Ah, so you will not try to hack into my tree once more?”
She swallowed hard at my words. “That was a grave mistake. I am sorry.”
“You are forgiven.”
She gave me a slow nod and then squared her shoulders with a sharp breath. “You said I needed to come to you of my own free will. With love in my heart and devotion on my lips.”
She remembered.
“Yes, that I did.”
“I’m here to do just that. I guess my only hesitation is not understanding what this could be.”
“It is quite simple really. You worship me. You feed me with sexual energy, and in turn I bless you with fertility.” With my statement, I picked up the copper contraption that had once been inside her.
“When you say fertility, are you sure you can get me pregnant?”
An amused chuckle left me. I knew not to be offended. She was a modern woman. She didn’t know the likes of me. “Yes,” I said in a kind tone. “It would be no worry. I have seen to it for thousands of years.”
“But our baby—” She swallowed hard. “My baby, it would be half god? Would it be able to leave this forest, or would it be stuck here like you?”
“That I do not know. I am forest-bound now because I am weakened. People have forgotten me so I am not as powerful as I once was. I have to stay close to my source of power, which is the tree. I am unsure what that would mean for my offspring.”
“H-have you had kids before?”
“If I ever sired previously, it was in an orgy so I would have no way of knowing. Things were different then. The villagers would celebrate together. I was not looking for a mate.”
“When was the last time you kissed a woman before me?”
“Her name was Beverly, and she was going on and on about how humans just landed on the moon. Clearly, she was mad. I distanced myself from her before things progressed.”
“1969,” Shea whispered. “You haven’t kissed a woman for fifty years?”
“As I said before, I have been forgotten. Left for dead.”
“What if I don’t want to forget you? What if I don’t want to leave you?”
Hope shredded my chest as my heart squeezed.
“You protected me when I was vulnerable. You see me so clearly, and I feel celebrated by you. I want to give that to you as well, Dianus. I can’t imagine life without you.” She pulled up from where she leaned against the tree. “If what you say is true, then I’m yours. I want to be with you.”
“How do I know I can trust you? Humans are not known for being selfless and loyal.”
“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
“Take off that coat for starters.”
She yanked off her mittens, unzipped her coat, then draped them over a rock.
“Now the rest of your clothing.”
She shucked off a sweater, then a thermal shirt before peeling off her skirt with thermal leggings layered underneath, ditching her boots and socks as well. She hid her wince when her feet touched the snow. I was impressed.
Now standing in just her bra and underwear, she reached behind herself, unhooking the modern contraption, letting her heavy breasts fall as she pulled it away from her chest. I tightened my hand in a fist, only able to pull my gaze away from her breasts in time to see a flash of her center as she stepped out of her underwear.
She crossed her arms, then on second thought, she lifted her chin with sultry defiance as her hands skimmed the slopes of her breasts before moving lower, to her belly and hips.
“Keep touching yourself.”
“You like it?”
“You know I do.”
“Do you like it when I do this?” She side-stepped and twisted, showing off a peek at her backside.
“Mm-hmm.” I forced myself to remain with my back flush against my throne. She could never know how badly I wanted to lean forward, to steal a closer look.
She arched her back, giving her bottom a jerky, little shake before she turned back to face me.
“On your knees.”
The second her knees hit the stone, her energy rolled to me like a wave, euphoric and potent.
She sat on her heels, her delicate hands running up the softness of her thighs. Her nipples stood erect with the chill of winter.
“Caress your breasts and tell me what you miss most about me.”
She cupped each globe. “I miss your jokes. I need to hear your laugh again.” She squeezed both mounds before rubbing her palms in circles over them. “I miss hearing all about what you’ve seen in the forest and your observations of humanity. You’re such a great storyteller.”
She tongued the pads of three fingers and began to tweak a nipple. “I wish I could wake up to you again. I sleep better beside you. I’d give anything to hear one of your lullabies mixed with the crackle of a fire you built for me.” She tilted her chin, her eyes growing heavier. “You always knew how to keep me warm and safe. The cabin isn’t the same without you. Your scent is all I think about. Your smile. Your beard between my legs.”
Each word ladled more praise on my aching, parched soul. I could feel each sinew in my body growing stronger, my blood rushing faster.
“Show me what is between your legs.”
She opened her knees, arching her back slightly. Her belly curved above her cunt, temping me with its softness. I wanted to squeeze it once more, to see it grow with my child.
Her hand delved to her cunt as she gave me a heated stare. “Do you see what you do to me? Do you see how much I ache for you?”
“Show me.”
She braced a hand behind herself as she ran her fingers through her lips, into her core, and back out.
“Now prove your devotion to me and crawl to this cock.”
She flinched as the gritty stone bit her knees and palms as she followed my command. Her rump jiggled behind her with each shifting motion. I stared at her prowling softness while I stroked my shaft, needing the energy of her lust. The rush of it caused me to spurt toward her, my release landing on the unforgiving path to my throne.
When she saw it splatter on the ground before her, Shea’s eyes grew large before narrowing in a sensuous squint. With her ass still up in the air, she braced herself, lowering her face as her little pink tongue darted out as she locked eyes with me to boldly lick up my seed off the stone.
“Shea.” The statement came out tortured. Because I was.
Continuing to crawl, she made her way to me, kissing the top of each of my feet before kissing up my shins, squeezing my thighs in the process before that daring, little tongue of hers licked the remaining cum off my skin before she seized my cock in her hands.
“I’m yours, Dianus. I’m here to worship you. You’re my wild god.”
With her declaration, she ran her tongue up the underside of my cock before swirling it around the tip. My cock grew even longer, thicker, the color of my head a dusky pinkish purple that looked so good between her pouty lips.
Both of our eyes flared as I tried to hide my reaction to her as she took me in her mouth completely before she swirled her tongue around me again, then continued to kiss and lick my length.
“You’re so hard,” she mumbled against my shaft.
Her breasts spilled out over my thighs, causing her nipples to skim my skin with her motions. I twisted her tit, pinching her nipple until she held her breath. My slight torture just made her hornier. Her legs shifted to offset the throb surely happening in her core.
“Darling,” I whispered, moving some hair off her shoulder to cup her face.
My Shea knew how to take a cock. In all our trysts, she had never fully taken me into her mouth until now. She was shy. But now, emboldened, she was proving herself to me.
And I loved it.
I needed it.
She batted the head of my dick against her tongue with a drunken sigh. “I can taste your pre-cum and it’s amazing. It’s so earthy and sweet.”
Tingling erupted throughout my body at her words before she plunged, bobbing her head until it hit the back of her throat.
“Sweet stars, Shea.” I gathered her hair, fisting it to the side of her head, helping her Yule crown stay on in the process while she dipped again and again.
She held my cock while tonguing my nuts, sucking one into her mouth. I rolled my head back, resting my antlers on the top of my throne as her wet trap of a mouth explored me, teasing me in different ways while her hands worked in synch with her affections. With my eyes closed, the sounds of her breathing mixed with the slippery smacks of her lips filled me.
I was anew. Each stroke of her hands, suck from her mouth, and whimper from her lips brought me back, instilling my potency in the Earthly realm.
Remade. Remembered. Revered.
The energy built inside me, vibrating the ground around us subtly. I opened my eyes to see the snow shake from the branches, the air gusting enough to swirl pine needles behind Shea as she knelt before me. When I exploded in her mouth, she kept her eyes on me, gulping and swallowing every bit of my spend before popping off with a puckish sigh.
I cradled her head, sweeping the pad of my thumb up her cheek. “I love you, Shea.”
“I love you, too.”