"I'll have to watch my family grow old and die without me?" I asked, thinking of Anne. What a horror that would be, to stay young forever and know that everyone I ever loved would die while I lived on with nothing but their memories.
"You will be able to make them a part of your forest if they so wish," he said. "That is what you requested when you asked for life within the forest."
"Oh," I said.
"I could not give that to you," he continued. "Because you are mine. Not mine to consume or sustain, but mine to partner with, to grow with. Breeding you will bring new life to our forest and cause a great expansion, far more than I could do on my own."
"Breeding..." I said, knowing my eyes were as wide as they could go.
The word was accompanied by a flash of intense longing so sharp it took my breath away, forcing my mind back to the aching part of my heart that knew loss like no other. It was that never-ending pain that drove me to risk my life going over the wall in the first place, that excruciating need to get back.
I had to get back.
"Yes," he said, his voice dropping lower, taking on an animalistic growl as he leaned his chest into my palm, pushing it back as his face drew closer to mine, forcing all of my attention back to his undeniable presence. I leaned back, untucking mylegs from under me to scoot back, but his arm had snaked behind me, lifting up as he continued to press forward towards me. I felt the soft moss under my back as he laid me down in it, my mind whirling round and round. I wanted this, I wanted to get away, I wanted to touch him, I wanted to go home.
His hand was on my thigh, sliding up under my skirt, leaving trails of fire. His hand found my underwear, and his finger slid along my crease, pressing the fabric against me as he stroked in time with his words that he enunciated like they were delicious bites. "Filling you with my seed. Tasting your pleasure. Mounting you. Fucking you."
I couldn't stop the moan from slipping from my lips as I lifted my hips into his touch.
His knee was between mine, pushing one of my legs to the side.
His fingers found the top edge of my underwear, and he slipped his hand inside, sliding his fingers through my hair and my wet folds, desperate desire causing me to clench and writhe with the need to have him inside me, on top of me, taking me. My hands were still on his chest. I was still pushing him away even as I rocked my hips into his touch.
"Wait," I gasped out.
"But you need me," he growled.
His hand stilled its movement, and it took every bit of my willpower not to rub myself against his touch.
"Courtship requires patience," I said, my words breathy in the soft air of the forest as I sought an escape that wasn't a rejection.
He withdrew his hand from my underwear, lifting it up to his mouth as he took in a deep breath, his eyes closing as he licked the glistening wetness off his fingers. "Delicious," he growled.
I let out a small whimper and his eyes snapped open, pinning me to the ground with the intensity of his gaze.
"You need me inside you, filling you up until you claw at my back and scream your pleasure to the treetops," he said.
Oh, I did, but that didn't mean I could.
I couldn't just stay here with him and forget the person I was before, the life I had before. At the same time, there was something to be said about enjoying the present moment.
"Will I change if we do other stuff?" I asked.
"Other stuff?" he asked.
"Like licking instead of mounting," I said, my heartbeat loud in my ears. "Fingers."
"Mating requires, as you put it, time," he said, his eyes drifting down to my lips. "Repetition."
The burning heat coiled in me, and I licked my lips, wanting more but also not ready for all of it. I didn't know this man on top of me. I desperately wanted to wrap my legs around him and take him into me, that was for certain, but my lust didn't mean I was going to completely ignore the fact that this was not a normal situation. His intentions towards me were clear, but how he pursued them changed, and I'd already thrown caution to the wind with my words and reactions.
I knew what I wanted, I knew what he wanted. The problem was finding the way to the compromise that didn't end up with him inside me until I was certain.
I couldn't just lie here and let him do what he wanted.
I had to take control.
I reached up, threading my fingers through the silky strands of his green hair until I found the base of his horns. I wrapped my hands around them. He sucked in a sharp breath, biting the edge of his lip with the point of one of his elongated canines. I pulled on his horns as I lifted his hips, dragging his face down towards my hips. He let out a low growl as a ripple of fur rolled over his shoulders, like a cape built from animalistic passions.
