Forest of Spirits

by S. J. Sanders

  The eagle. He needed the eagle for this task.

  He heard the cry of the raptor in his ears and the violent tug as it separated from him and tore into the skies, allowing the world to condense around him once more as his form snapped back into place.

  “Holy shit!” Diana laughed, her fingers gripping his arm.

  He allowed himself to soak in her pleasure, and watched her face light up with happiness as she stared up at his eagle self. Through the eagle he looked down on her too, enjoying the sight of her upturned face even as he enjoyed the smooth perfection of her cheek from where he stood at her side.

  “What is that?” she breathed in wonder. “Did that really come from inside of you?”

  He cocked his head and regarded her with amusement. “He is me. A fragment of me.”

  “That’s amazing!”

  Silvas chuckled, a strange happiness shooting through him as he stooped low to swoop her up in his arms. Even cold, she smelled warm and inviting. He wanted nothing more than to bury his nose in the crook of her neck and breathe in that sweet scent. A shiver wracked her frame, and he wrestled against his desire with the iron control born of centuries of existence.

  “Come then,” he murmured as he adjusted her weight in his arms. “Let’s get you warm. My shadow eagle will mark the way.”

  She curled against him, arms wrapping around him in delight as the dark bird soared over the mountain ahead of them. Through her, he was able to see just how magical it all was. It made him recall his youth, when his shadow forms were new to him. She made him feel that way again as he experienced the marvel of it all through her.

  It was a precious gift to regain something that he had become so jaded to over the millennia, something he had thought he had long ago lost—his sense of wonder.

  Carrying his female in his arms, he moved with greater speed than she would have managed on foot. He was soon glad that he was carrying her when a steep cliff dropped away, leaving only a narrow ledge that he was able to pick his way along with sure steps. Diana clung tighter to him, her face burrowed against his shoulder as she trusted him, despite the terror that he could feel beating at her. It beat at him too, but he opened himself and sent waves of warmth and security to her until it eased to a more manageable strength.

  Her fear soothed, he followed the path laid out through the eyes of his fragment. As he crested the slope, he stopped, clutching Diana tighter to him. Ahead, he could see the second peak rise as a dark shadow against the sky. Even from where they stood, it seemed forbidding, a blemish on the heavens, but he did not worry about it now. There were more important things to attend to…

  His uxorem.

  He smiled to himself. Just below the rocks where he stood, his shadow eagle had found the entrance of a cave.

  Chapter 19

  There wasn’t much that could be done to make a cave comfortable, but Diana had to hand it to Silvas—he certainly tried. After stripping off his armor and building a fire, he managed to coax bits of moss that had accumulated in one corner to grow until it made a bed for them to lie on if they didn’t mind squeezing together in the small area. It would be a tight squeeze, at that.

  Setting her own armor against the wall with his, Diana straightened and frowned down at the makeshift bed at the other side of the cave. As she watched Silvas drape his cloak over it to add extra comfort, she knew she couldn’t complain about the accommodations. Despite his recent attitude, he was making an effort to see to her comfort. She could refuse it, but the alternative was to go without.

  Although she was still pissed about the way he had been acting and the fact that he lost her, his sudden reversal in attitude had been surprising, to say the least. At first, she wasn’t sure if she should trust it, not until that strange sixth sense of awareness came flooding back in and, once more, she could feel his mental touch.

  Diana still didn’t know exactly how she knew. There was a familiarity to it. When she focused on it, she could almost feel the weight of his hand on her skin and the faint scent—that sweet spiced smell—that she recognized as his own. More than that, the touch on her mind felt alien and ancient. Even as he watched, his colorless eyes fixed on her in a manner she would have called unnerving just days earlier, she could feel the intensity of emotion wash through her.

  She felt his admiration for her, his pride, as well as the territorial nature that wanted to cocoon her in a safe place. And his fear. Among all that, she also felt the all-consuming fire of desire, an endless need that tortured him and made her own desires spring to life again. Diana pressed her legs together, her face reddening as her sex throbbed so strongly that she squirmed and panted for breath.

  It was crazy how intensely she felt… everything.

  She met his eyes and watched as the corners crinkled when he smiled knowingly.

  “What is this between us?”

  Silvas cocked his head at her, his golden draped antlers tilting at a regal angle. He observed her for what felt like an eternity before he spoke.

  “It is the bond. It started the moment that we touched, and even now goes unfulfilled. In most beings, it manifests as a strong pull and necessity to be with each other… The pull itself is called ‘Instinct’ by many in the Eternal Forest.”

  “I definitely feel that,” she muttered, and he grinned in response.

  “With ancient beings, those of us who were once considered minor gods, such as myself, the attachment can be deeper. It is both a blessing and a curse.”

  “A curse?”

  That took her by surprise.

  Silvas gave her a wry look. “Immortals do not feel things the same way that mortal being do. I would say there are even fundamental differences between the way humans, trolls, orcs, and the various mortal races experience life and the spectrum of emotions. Because ageless ones, or even the long-lived races such as the aelves, have intense passions for those we are bonded to—an almost obsessive need and love for our uxorem, our mates—our long lives mean that many other emotions are filtered or experienced from a distance. To be exposed to human emotion… it is unsettling.”

  “And that’s why you’ve been distant… because you’re unsettled.”

  He inclined his head in agreement. “I did not realize that we had begun to bond until I felt the full force of your emotions… Your terror when you faced the wyrm struck me brutally, but less so than the full force of grief magnified by distant sorrows and regrets until they were a torrent within me. Distance gave me some relief, whether accomplished by shapeshifting or keeping physical space between us.”

  It made an odd sort of sense. He hadn’t started acting weird. If it was all part of this “bonding” that he spoke of, then it was something of which he had little control over. Except for the manner of dealing with it.

  He wasn’t off the hook for that.

  “And you lost me—on the mountain where literally anything could have happened,” she reminded him.

  She wasn’t sure if she imagined that he winced, but she hoped that he had. She wanted him to see how thoughtless he had been.

  “I did,” he agreed solemnly. “I do not recall ever being as frightened as I was when I discovered that you were missing.”

  “You were an asshole,” she stated.

  He didn’t say anything, although a flicker of remorse appeared his eyes and she felt in thrum through her before it was gone. She sighed. More things that immortals didn’t feel strongly. She wondered if he would have felt a stronger emotion had she been injured, or worse.

  When she said as much, he looked at her aghast, and the horror that struck her was so strong that she found it difficult to breathe.

  “Never say such things lightly,” he growled. “I would have destroyed the mountain and then grieved and raged until the gods descended to contain me. Possibly my mother would have left Cypris and confined me herself out of her fondest affection for me, hopefully before I did too much damage.”

  Well…, that answered that question.

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nbsp; Diana cleared her throat. “Where do we go from here?”

  Silvas gave her a speculative look and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “There are no real options. The bond will continue to make its demands. You are human, so its effect will build unnoticeably at first, I suspect. No amount of distance will change that. It will become a pressing need that will eventually drain you and make it difficult to sleep.”

  “And there is no cure for it?”

  He laughed, the deep sound rolling over her making her belly quiver as if tongues were licking her, and he shook his head. “The bonding is determined by the Fates and cannot be denied or ignored. For those races who dwell among the realms of our worlds, it is something that is looked forward to.” His voice dropped to a soft rumble. “The timing is unfortunate, as I have longed for my uxorem for centuries. I have imagined every touch of worship I would give to her throughout the long eons of my existence. Every touch, every flavor, every sigh that would be mine—every shout of ecstasy.”

  Heat flushed through her body at the promise in his voice. Her imagination had no problem supplying suggestions for where he could get started. She shifted, her hard nipples scraping against the fabric covering them as a rush of heat flooded from between her thighs, dampening her crotch. She squeezed her legs even tighter, the scent of her arousal apparent even to her. She had no doubt that he could smell it.

  She wasn’t even sure if she liked it, and yet she couldn’t deny that she longed for him in a primal way.

  It was her choice. She decided. She didn’t have to follow the insistence of her body, but she was pragmatic enough to know that she also didn’t have any interest in fighting against her need every day.

  The silvanus’s nostrils flared, and he growled low in his throat. “You are needing,” he murmured. “I can smell the perfume of your cunt from here.”

  A shiver ran up her spine at the crude words.

  “I still haven’t forgiven you,” she stated baldly.

  The corners of his lips turned up, a soft gleam brightening his eyes. “I know. It will be interesting to see if I can eventually change your mind and win your affections.”

  “If I fuck you to settle this bond between us, it means nothing. We may be bonded, mated, or whatever you call it, but it doesn’t mean that what I want has changed.”

  He hesitated, giving her a curious glance. “You would still wish to return to the human world?”

  “Yes. It is my home. My family is there. If I… bond with you, I want to make sure I can still go back home.”

  She had to. Who would tend to the graves of her parents and grandparents if she wasn’t there to do it? Who would take care of her grandparents’ house and weed the garden? She was all that was left of her family. Not going back would be like abandoning the memory of everyone she had lost. There was no question about it. Besides, she didn’t belong in this strange world.

  Silvas frowned, and she thought she saw a flicker of disappointment, but couldn’t be sure because the link between them closed for a moment. Her heart sank at being shut out, however briefly. His expression was impossible to go by as he studied her. He turned his head away, staring toward the entrance of the cave.

  “There will be no demands that you stay here. I can find you when the need becomes great enough to make it necessary to satisfy our discomfort.” He glanced over at her, his lips twisting slightly. “This is not an unheard-of arrangement, especially among those mates who need time apart after several millennia.”

  “I think I can live with that,” she finally said.

  She could live with it, but she hated how cold he made it sound. Diana pressed her lips together as she acknowledged that no matter how much she disliked it, it was perhaps the most accurate description of what their relationship would be like.

  His expression darkened, the lines of his face hardening with a certain deadliness. “I will not tolerate another male to sniff around you. I cannot. Knowing that another male is touching what is mine will drive me to madness. Understand this: I will claim the territory around your home as my own and terrorize any male who dares approach you.”

  Diana drew in a sharp breath, her pussy clenching. That shouldn’t turn her on so much. What he promised to do was beyond the limits of reason. It should disgust her that he would have no problem carrying out his threat, but instead her arousal spiked. She wanted to crawl into his lap and rub against him.

  As if he were reading her mind, Silvas seated himself on the mossy bed and opened his arms to her in an invitation. The imprint of what appeared to be a massive, swollen cock pressed against the front of his pants. It was obvious even from where she stood.

  Her uncertainty prickled at her. Should she trust his word? So far, he had followed through and been honest with her even when he delighted in scaring the crap out of her.

  But that was also part of his honesty. He never pretended to be anything other than what he was.

  She begrudgingly had to admit that she appreciated that quality. So many people in her town put on a brave face and pretended to feel things that they didn’t. They hid their true wants and fears from themselves as much as from others. Silvas was unapologetically who he was, and he was offering of all that to her.

  That had to count for something, even weighed against his recent behavior.

  Diana took a step forward and then another. He didn’t attempt to persuade her, nor did he tease. He just watched her, the intensity in his luminous eyes increasing with her every footstep.

  Despite his stillness, she could feel the surge of need coming from him. Although he didn’t so much as blink, she noted the way his ears tilted toward her and his muscles tensed with anticipation. But he didn’t move. He didn’t attempt to reach for her. He just patiently sat there with his arms open, waiting for her to come to him.

  Once she stepped between his legs, she slowly lowered herself until she was kneeling on the soft moss bed. Her hands came to rest on his knees as she met his gaze. His pale gray diamond-shaped pupils expanded, rounding out as a rush of his desire swept over her.

  It wasn’t just lust. Lust could be solved with a quick fuck and then forgotten about. They were taking the final step to link themselves together, and although she had all assurances that she could go on with her life afterwards, she craved that closeness, to pretend even for a few hours that she was loved once more.

  Anything could happen tomorrow, or the next day. Ever since the devastation, she hadn’t dared to want much of anything for herself. She had made do with what fortune gave her. She wanted this.

  Balancing her weight, Diana leaned forward into his arms. She felt those powerful muscles move up around her as he lifted her tunic and tossed it to the side. Bared, she scooted forward and slid her hands up his chest until she was able to coil her arms around his powerful neck. Aligning herself over his cock so that they intimately pressed together, she leaned into him so that her chest pressed against his.

  Diana could feel his lifeforce sing to her from where they touched. She was aware of the heat of his hands and the light caress of his pale fingertips skating over her skin as he drew his palms down her arms. The soft white fuzz that covered his skin felt like velvet, and Diana closed her eyes, delighting in his touch. When his hands reached her elbows, he leaned forward so that his arms could slip around her back and pull her tight against his chest.

  He growled, the sound vibrating through her from where their chests met, his eyes brightening like two white-hot flames.

  “Now you are mine, Uxorem.”

  Chapter 20

  Diana felt his hot hands slide down her back to her hips. He squeezed and pulled her closer against him, dragging her sex across the hard length of his arousal. Although cloth separated them, her eyes rolled back as he moved her over the hard knobs of his cock, each one striking against her clit.

  Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and a small hiss of air escaped her.

  “Silvas…” she whimpered and squirmed against his grip.
/>   To her chagrin, the lucomo ignored her silent demands as he dragged her back and forth at an excruciatingly slow glide against his thickening bulge. His head dropped down against her cheek, and she felt his tongue slick against her ear before trailing down her neck.

  “Patience,” he purred. “I have an eternity to worship you.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m human. We aren’t the most patient… I’m more into instant gratification, personally,” she panted. “At least in some things,” she amended. “This definitely counts as one of those things.”

  He chuckled and, on the next slide, thrust up against her, the contact making her choke on a startled cry of pleasure. It immediately shifted into a soft groan as he continued to rock her back and forth in in a hard grinding motion against his cock. A shiver ran over her skin, followed by sparks of pleasure racing through her that responded to the tightening in her belly. Her breath was coming in shorter gasps, each one sending a pulse down to her clit.

  Her orgasm hovered just in front of her, and she reached for it eagerly only to have Silvas stop and press her firmly down, hindering her movement. Diana shrieked in frustration, her hips jumping against his grip as her building orgasm dissipated.

  Drawing back her head, she glared at the silvanus.

  “You fucking dick,” she seethed as she slapped his chest.

  He lifted an eyebrow in amusement and rolled his hip beneath her. The action surprised her so much that she had to cling to him to keep from being unseated. This was apparently the reaction he wanted because he turned in one swift move, tipping her to the side in the mossy cushion of their bed.