The Dryad and the Woodsman

Layn's quick reflexes allowed the cup to go sailing past. He saw his jacket on the peg by the door and made a beeline for it. Grabbing it and rushing the distraught Elmira, he wrapped her in his jacket.

"Sorry love, maybe someday I'll enjoy your naked anger. But now, you're too much of a temptation. Scold me if you must, but I only did what needed to be done."

"You IDIOT...! You could have been killed! It was coming for me. If it is my time then it is my time. I didn't need you to protect me." She screeched at him as he held her.

"Yes, yes I did. You are in my home, under my care. I refused to let you die without a fight. Look love, if I have bound you to me in some way, I'll release you. If you come to me, it is because it is what you want." Layn said not understanding.

"You'll, you'll...! Do I mean so little to you?" She demanded, tears threatening to spill over.

"No... you mean so much to me. Please, have a pity on me. I feel like I'm walking in some kind of Faerie's tale. Give a guy a boon and at least let me wake up." Layn stroked the irate Elmira as she softened against him. He had almost thought she had relented until she stiffed back up and pulled away.

"Someone is coming." She said flatly and stalked into the bedroom slamming the door.

Layn looked around and noticed that Elmira had fixed him a breakfast fit for a king. He smiled as he filled his plate with the diced potatoes, eggs and thick juicy steak. He had just set his plate down, when there was a knock at his door. Shaking his head, he went to answer it.

"Tory, what are you doing here?" Layn asked with distain, seeing his hated brother standing there.

"Hey brother, Mom said I needed to come up here and talk some sense into you. She said you're sitting on a gold mine. After the fly-over I did before the storm, I have to agree." Tory walked in uninvited and pulled off his coat and gloves, sitting down and digging into Layn's breakfast. "Good grub... thanks."

"What are you going on about?" Layn asked seething that Tory hadn't even asked. But then again, Tory never asked.

"Who holds title to the land to your north? There is this great valley there just full of Elms and Oaks. We could get ten million just from that alone. Of course, we'll have to cut in a road. Don't worry little brother; I'll take care of all the details. It will only cost you twenty percent. Family discount...." Tory said as he stuffed his face with Layn's food and smiled smugly.

"I hold the lands to the north." Elmira said, coming into the room again. She refused to back down from the rude appraisal of the newcomer.

"Well hello there." Tory cranked up the charm. "I didn't know you had company Layn." Tory half stood and reached for Elmira's hand.

"Please sit, you're still not completely well." Layn said as he saw her face go pale. "She is a guest in my home. She's convalescing. She was really sick." Layn used short tight comments toward his obtuse brother.

"Well it looks like we'll be sharing." He said with a suggestive tilt to his head. "I've been told that I'm stranded here for a few days, because of the weather. I'm sure Layn won't mind." He smiled at Elmira.

"There isn't enough room. Why don't you stay in town?" Layn said irritated.

"You're right about that. I'll send up Mom's designer to see the best way to expand this tiny place without losing its charm. It would make a great home base." He mused as he took in his rustic surroundings.

"Is he always this rude?" Elmira asked, looking revolted by the man eating the food she had prepared for Layn, to replenish his strength.

"Yes, I had hoped I moved far enough away...." Layn sighed, ignoring his relative.

"Does it always snow this much? If it does, we can save some money by making all the employees part timers. That way we don't have to provide insurance. I bet we can get most our workers for ten quid an hour. Half price. I met this one enterprising lad in town. He said he made a packet off the wood he's pulls out of here." Tory blathered on, like he was the center of attention.

"I don't feel well." Elmira said loudly. "I'll just head back to the room. Oh, and by the way, don't go making any plans about the lands to the north. I'm not interested." She smiled coldly and left the kitchen.

"Neither am I. I told mom I wasn't interested in logging my land." Layn said irritated.

"Well it's a good thing that I came up here then. I have three days to make you see the light." Tory smiled like he already had the contracts signed and the money in the bank.

***

There was a cold frost in the cottage the next two days, as Tory and a couple of other people decided to ride the property on their loud motorcycles to assess the money to be made. Speculating they called it. Elmira would just look at Layn and shake her head and lock herself into Layn's room. It was only after one of these trips, that Layn noticed she was wearing the same dress he was sure he had destroyed by cutting it off her.

It finally came to a head on the third day. Layn had slammed out of the house in frustration, because Elmira refused to talk to him. He was met by his brother and his friends.

"That's one fine looking woman. If you're not tapping into it, why don't you give me a shot at her? I could make her see things my way." He smiled evilly.

"Tory, you've had your fun. Now go home. You won't be cutting on my or Elmira's land, so forget it. Go back to your wife." Layn stated heatedly.

"What and ruin her fun of uninterrupted time with Clarisse? I'll have to get a pry bar to dig her out of her quim when I get home. No sense in me being left out of some extra fun." He smiled again, knowing he had hit his mark.

What Tory didn't expect was the quick hard right, which connected with his jaw. "Get the fuck off my land and never come back. Don't call, don't write. As far as I'm concerned you can have that used up slut. You deserve each other. I've got my own life now. You are both dead to me!" He accented his points with sharp punches in the gut, as he marched his brother to the rental car and shoved him in the back.

"That goes for the rest of you lot. Get out and never come back." He braced himself for a fight, as they scrambled to get into the car. "I'll return the motorbikes... now get!" He ordered the driver with a balled fist. He watched as they headed out of the yard and toward town.

Trying to shake his anger off, he went back into the cottage. "How can you stand being related to that poisonous person?" Elmira asked softly. "He has a mind of metal and wheels; of profit and loss. He cares of nothing but himself."

"He has always been the golden child. Whatever he touches turns to ruin, but our Mother always takes his side." Layn sighed, wanting nothing but to forget his family.

"You know he only seduced your wife to get at your money. He thought he could take whatever he wanted." She said sadly.

"I know, but I outsmarted him. I outsmarted them all. I already had my investments set, always looking for somewhere to escape too. I'm sorry if he bothered you." Layn sat down and hung his head. "I have to go into town and return the bikes they rented. Would you like to join me?" He asked forlornly.

"I'm sorry Layn, but I'm not strong enough to be that far away yet." She stroked Layn's head. "I'll be here when you get back, and then maybe we can talk."

"Yeah, maybe...." Layn said as he got up and went outside.

It took him an hour to load the motor bikes into the back of his truck. As he passed, he picked up the fuel can he found in the forest and tossed it in the back, just in case. He refused to look back to see if Elmira was watching him, as he pulled out of the yard.

While he was unloading the bikes at the local repair shop and fill station, he saw Cob and Jojo Mason go into the pub. Figuring it was the day for fights, he pulled in front of it and parked. Grabbing the fuel can out of the back, he entered and looked around the room for his quarry. Once he spotted them, he walked up and said loudly.

"Jojo, you forgot something last week." He tossed the fuel can in his direction, landing it at Cob's feet. "If I find you anywhere near my land again, I'll make you wish you were never born."

"Hey now.... What's this all about?" Cob got up and stood between his son and the enraged man. "No call for slinging threats in here."

"Yeah, I haven't been on your land! So there." Jojo said smugly.

"No, but you sure set fire to it. You damn near killed someone with your stupidity!" Looking at the older man, he asked. "Is that not your fuel can? Or is there another CM in these parts?"

"Where did you find that? I was told it was lost off the back of the work lorry." Cob asked, looking at his mark on the bottom of the can.

"I found it next to a burn trail up on my northwest border, where the fire was. It took us hours and I lost a young grove of trees. Elmira was more than half dead, all because I refused Jojo's demand to let him go up to Mrs. Greenbrier's land and poach trees.

"Is this true?" Cob asked his son.

"I don't know what he's talkin bout. I didn't see no stupid woman in a creek up there. I wasn't anywhere close." He would have sputtered more excuses, but Layn's fist shut him up.

Layn stepped around the older man and put his shoulder behind the punch. "I didn't say I found her collapsed in the creek... asshole!" He watched as Jojo fell back.

"Ho now...!" Cob jumped in between Layn and the bleeding Jojo. "Tell me the straight of it. If anyone going to give my boy a licking, it's going to be me!"

Layn told him of the fire and how long it took him to beat it back. He told Cob how he had found Elmira Greenbrier slumped in the creek and how he's been nursing her back to health ever since.

"Elmira Greenbrier...?" An old man exclaimed. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in a lifetime. A comely woman I'm told. The Greenbrier's have own that land north of yours for centuries. Some say this Elmira is a witchy woman. Some say a nymph. We thought they had all died out." The codger added, trying to ease the anger in the room.

"It weren't no witchy woman I had to fight the fever for. She's barley on her feet again, so close to the hereafter she was." Layn said angrily. "All because he couldn't leave well enough alone." He pointed at the cowering Jojo.

"Is this true?" Cob asked Jojo, slapping him across the head. "Answer me boy, before I hit you so hard your kids will feel it." He added staring down his son.

"It's not like he said. I was just doin some control burnin. I needed a clear track to pull some lumber out. I've done it for years. It's not my fault it jumped the creek. Sides now I can cut a road north of his precious land. It's only a few trees. There's no real harm done." He insisted.

"Those trees aren't yours to sell. I know fact sure, that Elmira didn't give you permission. And if you didn't do it deliberate, then why did I find a burn track and how did Elmira get poisoned by the fuel in the water?" Layn had his fist balled as tight as he could get it, wanting to punch the idiot again.

"I bet you're healing her up nice and cozy in your little cottage." Jojo sneered suggestively.

"Shut your yap...!" Cob said slapping Jojo across the mouth. "You'll keep your dirty mouth shut in front of your betters. Damnit boy, the mess you've made me." Cob elbowed his son in the gut, making him fall. "Get your ass up, you worthless piece of shite." Cob grabbed Jojo by the hair and started pulling him out of the Pub.

"Mr. Wyman, I'll take a look, come spring thaw. Jojo will pay his due, one way or t'other." He dragged Jojo out, cussing him the whole way.

"Well, there's a sight I thought I'd never see, and long overdue." A plump mid thirties woman said at Layn's side, putting a restraining hand on his arm. "I'm Maude, and this here is mine and my husband's pub. Take a seat and I'll get you a stout in welcome." She said and pushed him onto a stool.

"T'was a sight sure." Someone else said from across the room. "Jojo isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but his Da has always doted on him. I guess he's over compensating for him being the only boy in a house full of girls." The onlooker added thoughtfully.

"So young man, I hear you're from the old Taylor clan. I didn't think there any left that hadn't gone into the city. A fair few to the north, but when James left, he took many with him. What know you of this?" The old man asked.

"Yes, it's the third time you've been in my Pub without a how do you do.... Now sit and let us get to know you better man." Maude set a tall stout in front of Layn. "I might get the idea you're being unsociable." She crossed her arms over her formidable chest.

After an hour of constant grilling, old stories, and three stouts, Layn realized he had left Elmira alone far too long. "I'm sorry, I have to get going. I have a house guest and it's rude of me to be away." Layn excused himself. As he walked out of the door, he caught sight of a photograph.

"When was this taken? I thought you said you didn't know Elmira." He said, taking in the familiar face and figure.

"That picture was snapped over forty years ago. Tim O'Malley got him one of them new fangled cameras and went about taking pictures of everyone he came across. Cost him a near fortune to get them all developed. That be the Misses Greenbrier and some suitor or another. He thought he would take over the Greenbrier land. That was taken in the early days. That be Mildred in the background. She used to run this place. No one knows what happened to the bloke though. He just up and disappeared one night."

"Well Elmira must be her daughter then. They look close enough to be twins." Layn commented and waved goodbye.

"I think he's been bewitched. Mark my words." The old codger said, pulling on his beer and puffing on his pipe.

***

Layn sighed and rubbed his face once he parked his truck. He hoped his night would go better than the day he just finished. He was in no mood for another fight. But mood or no, a fight was waiting for him. As soon as he came in, Elmira pounced.

"Tipping a few with the lads were we. I'm not stuck here all alone, half dead, and helpless." She sniffed and curled up her nose. "You smell of brewery. I've been worried sick. I couldn't feel you. And what were you doing? Tilting the glass...!" She stood there, a toe a tapping and arms crossed.

"If you're going to take strips off my hide, can I at least sit down for it? I'm too tired for a third fight today." Layn sighed.

"Who were you fighting with now?" She demanded, hands on her hips.

"Jojo Mason. It was Jojo who started the fire. We came to blows in the pub."

"In the pub were we? Making a spectacle of yourself, were you? While I'm left here just frittering away! I bet Mildred just loved that. Millie always liked the rough and tumble." Elmira said, sending a shiver down Layn's spine.

"Mildred died five years ago." He stated flatly. "Her grandson and his wife Maude run the place now. How old are you my love?" Layn asked, too tired to rise to her bait.

"Not another one...." Elmira breathed sadly. "God, I hate the winter. They seem to be getting longer and colder." The anger left her hollow and cold after it ran its course.

"You need to get back in bed, while I fix us something for supper. That shade of grey is unbecoming on you." He got up and started to do just that.

"No need, I fixed some stew while you were gone." She said tiredly, and went to fix him a bowl.

***

Layn tried to keep his distance over the next week, as they tiptoed around the feelings that were swirling through the air. He slept on the couch or floor, so Elmira could have the bed. He spent almost every waking hour in the barn or shed, fixing things that had been neglected for far too long. Anything to avoid another confrontation.

He had gotten in the habit of calling Elmira pet names like 'My Love' or 'My Sweet' without realizing it. On one chilly night Elmira, tired of the dance, finally asked.

"Are you coming to bed, or are you going to catch your death, sleeping on the floor again?" Her eyebrow was arched as she waited for the answer.

"I don't know if I could trust myself next to you." Layn said truthfully.

"I know I can trust you. Mid winter is coming and the chill is in my bones. I could use your heat again." It was as close as she could come to asking him for what she needed.

"I'll be in, in a bit then." Layn said, hoping he could give what was needed, without taking advantage of the situation. It had been well over a year since his last encounter with a woman.

He waited until the room went dark, before stripping down to his underclothes. He silently slid in on the right side, putting himself between her and the door. He felt her sigh as he scooted as close as he could without touching.

"You weren't so shy the last time we lay together." Elmira said, with humor in her voice.

"The last time was to save your life. This time I fear that part of my brain will fail me and I'll do something untoward." He said, tucking the blanket between them.

"Damn, your magic is strong... stronger than I have ever felt before. The more you try to unbind me, the tighter I am bound. T'is time for us to stop fighting. Come to me and I will tell you if you do something unwanted." Her voice took on a husky quality as she opened her arms to him.

"My Fae-Woman, you already own my heart. Take my body if you will." Layn closed the fingers gap between them, and was met by a desire unimaginable. Neither one of them were cold after the first kiss.

Neither one knew who started or finished that kiss. But it led to another and another. Layn's brain didn't realize that one second, the clothes he had kept on for protection, had vanished. His only thought was; that if she was going to give herself to him, then it would be up to her. Putting thought to action, Layn hugged Elmira close and rolled her on top of him as his hands traced the contours of her lush body.

Even with the flames of passion engulfing her, Elmira knew what her lover was offering, as she leaned up to looked in his golden eyes. He was giving her control without reservation. She bit her lip as she found his manhood under her. Her being yearned for the coupling as his hands found her heavy breasts and started teasing the hard nipples.

They needed no guidance as they came together. Elmira only paused for a second as she felt him at the barrier of her body. Looking in his eyes, she plunged herself down, giving herself to him.

Layn saw the flash of pain, and knew what it meant. He marveled at the ageless beauty that now held him fully, as they adjusted to each other. Keeping eye contact, they started moving in unison. They started a dance that was as timeless as life itself.

As she moved, he responded, letting her set the pace. Lost in the moment, neither one cared of the cold, or the night around them. All their thoughts were centered on their core as they mated and bound one to the other.

As she increased her motion, Layn leaned up and tasted the breasts of his lover, making her gasp in delight. It was too much for her. She couldn't control the pressure building between them as she increased her movements into something more. She could feel him plunging in and out of her, filling her, making her complete. She, who prided herself in control, was now completely out of control, as her body strained for the release it craved.

Layn was trying to hang on, as the woman he always dreamed of, took him. He reveled in the freedom of their lovemaking, never wanting it to stop, but knowing that all too soon it would. He knew it wouldn't be long until he would add to the moist sticky fluids that were flowing down his member as she rode him with abandon.

As the pressure hit the point of bursting, Elmira felt her being clasp down hard on Layn. She felt the rhythmic spasms as bright lights flashed behind her eyes. Then all she saw was colors and her body started contracting uncontrollably. Her arms went slack and she was only being supported by Layn's hands on her breast. She felt him heave up and hug her as his body flexed with hers. She knew he was fertilizing her womb and she gloried in it.