allowing a throng of nubile young women through his forest anyway. Sulking, she gave up on her plot to discern his carnal habits. It wasn’t as if he belonged to her solely. She had to be mad to even consider it, and yet she did. “Well. I’m not afraid. What if I wanted to visit you?” she asked as his fingers established a tight grip on the roots of her hair.
“You are welcome anytime you wish to come, Shoraya. Just as you may stay as long as you wish. It is exceedingly rare that I have visitors.” Beginning the first of what would be several twists, Gavenas paused. He leaned down close enough to warm her cheek with his breath. “And I do so enjoy having your company.”
Shoraya smiled, giddy at his confession. She imagined returning to him in spring or summer, regaling him with tales of her trip and with gifts from her journeys…finding her way back into his bed after being on the road. “I will remember that.”
“Please do. Now be still so that I may finish my work.” He kissed her on the cheek and drew back, resuming the twisting of her hair.
She did as commanded, studying the lake even as the sun began its descent in a burning sky. There was much she could learn from in Gavenas’s forest, from the large carnivorous beasts that gave them a wide berth as they came to and from the water’s edge. Listening to the song of the night, filled with mating calls, Shoraya sat between Gavenas’s legs, moving only when he urged her and yet impatient for him to be done. He seemed to take so much pleasure in tending to her that she longed for the opportunity to take care of him.
Her only curiosity was how…outside of worshiping every inch of his body with her tongue.
Chapter Ten
A routine had formed for Gavenas, and it wasn’t one that allowed for much sustenance. Not that the draught of sweat, the suckling of flesh, and the greedy intake of air was not sufficient to motivate him, but he was beginning to feel the exhaustion of limited meals. For many days as well as nights, he subsisted only upon desire. Sometimes it only took a glance; others it required but a brush of skin and his hunger for Shoraya surged.
He did not forgo his obligations. When one of his forest companions arrived in front of his den, he went out to help them. He still went out to forage, to place his blessings upon the great trees, the waters, and the springs, but he did not linger. He returned to the lake where Shoraya had taken to her sword practice or back to his den, where she rested with eagerness demanded by his blood and the beat of his heart.
Thoughts of her inevitable departure had ceased to plague him, as the pattern of finding her so receptive and eager for his touch burned away all of his fear to be replaced with the bliss of being able to take shelter between her thighs.
Whereas before she had gotten well, he had had plenty of time to ponder their nutrition and prepare rich meals; now that she was well, he barely had enough forethought to arrange meals complete with nutritious components.
He imagined that Shoraya must have come to the same conclusion as he while walking back to the den that night. He could smell the hearty fragrance of meat wafting from the vent openings in his home, root vegetables cooking in a steamy broth, and his stomach lurched excitedly.
He brushed aside the curtain and stepped inside to discover Shoraya seated beside the hearth. Her head was down with her chin resting upon her chest. She was leaning slightly forward. A stirring spoon lay across her thighs, upon her open palm, and she seemed to be asleep, but as Gavenas took a step toward her, she sat up to stare at him with wild, dilated pupils.
Gavenas went rigid with panic, wondering if she had had a relapse, if some measure of her poisoning had not been addressed, or worse—his care of her had fallen short in some way. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head, the action stimulating her whole body to wobble before she ceased. “I don’t think
“You are welcome anytime you wish to come, Shoraya. Just as you may stay as long as you wish. It is exceedingly rare that I have visitors.” Beginning the first of what would be several twists, Gavenas paused. He leaned down close enough to warm her cheek with his breath. “And I do so enjoy having your company.”
Shoraya smiled, giddy at his confession. She imagined returning to him in spring or summer, regaling him with tales of her trip and with gifts from her journeys…finding her way back into his bed after being on the road. “I will remember that.”
“Please do. Now be still so that I may finish my work.” He kissed her on the cheek and drew back, resuming the twisting of her hair.
She did as commanded, studying the lake even as the sun began its descent in a burning sky. There was much she could learn from in Gavenas’s forest, from the large carnivorous beasts that gave them a wide berth as they came to and from the water’s edge. Listening to the song of the night, filled with mating calls, Shoraya sat between Gavenas’s legs, moving only when he urged her and yet impatient for him to be done. He seemed to take so much pleasure in tending to her that she longed for the opportunity to take care of him.
Her only curiosity was how…outside of worshiping every inch of his body with her tongue.
Chapter Ten
A routine had formed for Gavenas, and it wasn’t one that allowed for much sustenance. Not that the draught of sweat, the suckling of flesh, and the greedy intake of air was not sufficient to motivate him, but he was beginning to feel the exhaustion of limited meals. For many days as well as nights, he subsisted only upon desire. Sometimes it only took a glance; others it required but a brush of skin and his hunger for Shoraya surged.
He did not forgo his obligations. When one of his forest companions arrived in front of his den, he went out to help them. He still went out to forage, to place his blessings upon the great trees, the waters, and the springs, but he did not linger. He returned to the lake where Shoraya had taken to her sword practice or back to his den, where she rested with eagerness demanded by his blood and the beat of his heart.
Thoughts of her inevitable departure had ceased to plague him, as the pattern of finding her so receptive and eager for his touch burned away all of his fear to be replaced with the bliss of being able to take shelter between her thighs.
Whereas before she had gotten well, he had had plenty of time to ponder their nutrition and prepare rich meals; now that she was well, he barely had enough forethought to arrange meals complete with nutritious components.
He imagined that Shoraya must have come to the same conclusion as he while walking back to the den that night. He could smell the hearty fragrance of meat wafting from the vent openings in his home, root vegetables cooking in a steamy broth, and his stomach lurched excitedly.
He brushed aside the curtain and stepped inside to discover Shoraya seated beside the hearth. Her head was down with her chin resting upon her chest. She was leaning slightly forward. A stirring spoon lay across her thighs, upon her open palm, and she seemed to be asleep, but as Gavenas took a step toward her, she sat up to stare at him with wild, dilated pupils.
Gavenas went rigid with panic, wondering if she had had a relapse, if some measure of her poisoning had not been addressed, or worse—his care of her had fallen short in some way. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head, the action stimulating her whole body to wobble before she ceased. “I don’t think
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