Wild Desire Ch. 03

Daniella rolled over and kicked at her blankets. She pulled her sheet back up and over her head. She flipped onto her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut.

Feldspar's moans were still filtering up through the floor of her bedroom in their shared treehouse. Every so often she heard a loud smack followed by a keening cry of pain and pleasure, or a reprimand from Gneiss.

She had no idea what time it was. Faeries seemed to live by natural light, and her phone had died hours ago. All she knew was that she had fallen asleep almost instantly when her faery escort had brought her to her room, and had been awoken some time later by the exuberant noises below.

Daniella flipped back onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She was exhausted, and from the sound of things Feldspar and Gneiss were nowhere near finished.

She heard Gneiss utter a short, sharp command. Moments later Gneiss' moans interspersed with muffled praises weaseled their way up through the cracks in the floor.

Images from earlier in the night at the party flitted through Daniella's mind: Gneiss, shoving Feldspar down to his knees to lick her. Feldspar crying out and moaning for release as Gneiss mounted him and took her own pleasure. Feldspar desperately stroking himself to completion while his mistress and her friend watched.

Daniella slid her hand down tentatively over her breast. Feldspar, Gneiss, and Nephrite had teased her to within an inch of her sanity yesterday. Then she had endured hours of watching the faeries in the Meeting Tree indulging in their wicked delights.

Her body ached for long-delayed release.

Daniella's hand slid down her body, leaving a trail of goosebumps. She experimentally touched her center. She was surprised how wet she was. Daniella pulled her hand away, feeling guilty.

Down below she heard Feldspar start whimpering and begging Gneiss. His babbled and confused words cut off abruptly with a resounding smack, followed but a long, low moan from him.

Need bloomed through Daniella. She slid one hand back down and dipped into her wetness. The other hand roamed over her breasts and stomach, sending electric shocks down to her core.

She could imagine what was happening in the room below hers. Feldspar would be completely nude except for his choker of vines, his smooth, golden skin glinting in the moonlight. Gneiss would have him lying down so she could ride his face.

Daniella imagined his desperate pleas for release while Gneiss took him in her mouth and teased the head of his cock until he was ready to come. His hips would pump up of their own accord, just has they had the night before when Gneiss was riding him. And just like she had before, she would respond with a reprimand and a punishment.

Daniella felt an unexpected thrill as she imagined the sting of Gneiss' palm against Feldspar's flesh. He clearly enjoyed it, based on his loud moans. She began stroking herself steadily.

Daniella pumped her fingers slowly into herself and grazed her clit with her other hand. Gneiss was urging Feldspar on. Their moans and cries of pleasure were picking up speed now. Unconsciously Daniella's hands followed as they hurtled toward their pinnacle.

Suddenly an image of the Lord of the Wood in his throne popped into her head. His chiseled cheekbones, his full lips. She pictured what he must look like under his severe tunic. His broad chest, muscular and tanned from days spent in the sun.

She imagined him watching her. He had enjoyed watching her watch the revelries last night. If he could see her now, where would those jade green eyes settle? She could almost feel them sliding over her body. Would he urge her on? Would he promise her punishment for getting herself off without permission?

With a final flush, she shattered apart, just as Feldspar and Gneiss screamed their release through the floorboards.

Daniella awoke in the early morning. She felt surprisingly refreshed given how little sleep she'd gotten the night before. Her mind clear, it was suddenly clear what she needed to do.

She rifled through the wardrobe for the most decent set of clothes she could find, eventually settling on a crop top and pants that were fairly opaque.

She crept down the ladder, past Feldspar and Gneiss' room, then past Nephrite's room and the bathing room, until she arrived in the common room. She opened cabinets and drawers as quietly as she could, taking a knife, a few apples, a hunk of cheese, and some bread. She refilled her water bottle, hoping it would be enough to get her back to the stream.

With trembling hands she navigated her way down the tree to the ground. With the rising sun as a guide, she made her way away from the faery settlement.

After a steady twenty minutes of walking through the redwoods she made her way back to the immense aspen grove. The forest scents shifted into a strange mix of the heady, thick smell of a coastal redwood grove and the thin, dry mountain air of a high altitude aspen grove.

Daniella forged ahead, passing a few recognizable landmarks. Maybe she really would find a way to get back to civilization. An hour into her walk in the aspen grove she found herself somehow back at the entrance to the redwood settlement.

For a fraction of a second she contemplated sitting down right there and succumbing to despair. Instead she turned her back on the redwoods. She pictured the stream in the aspen grove. Maybe if she only wanted to visit a different part of the woods, she wouldn't trigger whatever strange magic kept her tied to this place.

Twenty minutes later she inexplicably arrived at the bank of the stream. Encouraged, she began walking along the bank. Eventually it would lead back to the parking lot. Then she could go home, finish her dissertation, and get back on track with her life.

Almost as soon as she thought of her old life she found herself approaching the redwood grove.

Daniella let out a muted scream of frustration. She turned her back on the redwood grove and pictured the stream. This time she arrived in only a few minutes.

She peeled off her shoes and socks and sat down on the bank of the stream. The water was frigid snowmelt and the sun was still too low in the sky to offer any real heat. She kept her feet in anyway, allowing them to go numb.

A few minutes after her feet started to burn from the cold she scooted back and laid down on the bank. She stared up at the sky, trying to come to terms with her situation. She was trapped — for life, if the Lord of the Wood was telling the truth.

She wondered what kind of life she could have among the faeries. Did human captives have jobs? Was she going to become some kind of sex slave for them? Was she just a joke to them?

She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. She had worked so hard for her career. She loved her life. She had been excited to finish her dissertation and go on the job market. At the last conference she had attended she had even had a few leads, and her poster had won an award. Now all of that was for nothing.

She laid there until the sun had risen high in the sky. Nephrite appeared in her field of vision.

"I want to be alone," Daniella said without any fight in her voice.

Nephrite settled herself next to Daniella. She idly dipped her bare feet in the water and leaned back on her elbows.

Daniella ignored her. She didn't want to see any of the faeries. She wanted to go home. The sun rose higher. It was nearly midday.

Daniella opened her bag and took out the bread and cheese. She didn't feel hungry, but she should be if it was lunchtime. As long as time still moved in one direction in the faery lands, she thought, and snorted.

Finally Daniella gave in. "Are you here to take me back?" she asked the faery.

Nephrite looked at her from the corner of her eyes and smirked.

"I had not planned on it," she replied. "I thought perhaps you would like a friend."

Daniella turned that thought over in her head for a few minutes. "I have friends, back home."

"Indeed."

Daniella sighed and looked back out across the stream. "I'm never leaving here, am I?"

"It is highly unlikely, unless your lord has need of you traveling on behalf of the wood."

Grief welled up in Daniella for everything she had lost. All the friends. All the opportunities. Her parents. Her dreams. It was all ash on the wind now. She curled up on her side and cried. Her whole body ached with a loss so big that her tears didn't bring any sense of release.

When her sobs had tapered off into shuddering, silent breaths, Nephrite spoke.

"I am a bit like you, I believe," her eyes slid to Daniella's unmoving form, aware of how ridiculous the statement sounded. "I am not human, true. But I am not of these woods," she continued. "Perhaps I can help you to understand their ways, as they were strange to me once as well."

Daniella rolled back onto her back and turned toward Nephrite.

"Surely you have questions about your new home?"

"What am I supposed to do?" Daniella could see that her question was a bit too broad for Nephrite to handle. "I mean — what am I supposed to do with my life here?"

Nephrite contemplated that. "You are a part of the forest now. Your purpose will emerge in due time."

Daniella rolled her eyes. "Fine. Give me that mystic nonsense." What else could she expect from a faery she added internally.

She stared up at the sky. It was funny how some things in the wood looked so normal, and others were utterly strange. The sky was the same exact shade of blue it was back home. The clouds trundled across the sky, unremarkable in every way. But here she was, in faery territory.

"I just don't know if I can live like that," she said after a long silence. Nephrite sighed. The sound came from deep within her bones.

"I have lived here a great many years. You will find a purpose eventually."

Daniella went back to studying the sky. She wondered what had brought Nephrite to the wood. Had she also been trapped by someone else's debt? Did she choose to move there?

Our of all of them, Nephrite had been the most decent. She decided she might as well keep asking questions, even if she just got frustrating faery answers. At least Nephrite seemed genuine.

"What should I call you and the others?"

Nephrite blushed and looked down as if Daniella had said something incredibly lewd. "Yes, well — I suppose what would be typical would be for you to choose something that — something appropriate?"

Daniella studied Nephrite. "Okay, so I can choose anything I wanted? I can call you Spiky, or Soap Bubble, or Orange Julius?"

Nephrite laughed, now more at ease. "Yes, although I'd counsel you to choose something that fits, or I may not realize you're speaking to me."

She paused as if to gather her courage, her face once again taking on a pained expression. "I hope I don't offend you that I don't ask you to use my true name. It's just... well, I just met you. And I don't typically do that with people I don't — I mean — you seem very nice — but it's really something I'm only comfortable sharing with..."

"I understand," Daniella said. She didn't, but she was starting to.

They passed a few minutes more in silence. Nephrite recovered herself a bit while Daniella pondered what she would call the faeries she was now apparently living with.

She studied the faery. Her skin was a similar to Feldspar's golden tan, only Nephrite seemed to almost have a muted green undertone. When Daniella looked so closely, Nephrite's inhumanity was unmistakeable.

"Moss?"

Nephrite wrinkled her nose in distaste. "No, no," she said in exasperation. "You can't steal another creature's name. It's... just not done."

Daniella sighed. "Fine. How about I just call you Faery One, and the other female can be Two, the male can be Three?"

Nephrite gave her a look through the corner of her eye, and nodded solemnly. Daniella frowned. It wasn't fun to tease when the other person took it sincerely.

The faeries were so cautious about giving and receiving names that she wasn't sure whether she was ready to name the faery woman. If she named her "Friend" would that make them friends forever?

"How about 'Serenity,'" Daniella hazarded eventually.

Nephrite bowed her head deeply. "I shall try to be worthy of the name, Spirited One." Daniella blushed as the name and dipped her head in return.

"I hunger," Nephrite said. "Will you join me at the Meeting Tree for tea?"

Daniella shook her head. She wasn't ready to go back yet. Nephrite dipped her head again and disappeared through the trees. Daniella packed up her bag. She was ready to explore the boundaries of the lord's territory.

Daniella had discovered that the territory's boundaries seemed to respond dynamically to her intentions. If she kept her mind on enjoying the creek or exploring the wood, she was able to range freely. As soon as her thoughts turned to going home, she found herself walking toward the redwood grove.

The afternoon passed quickly. She focused her attention on controlling her thoughts with each step along the bank of the stream. In the process she saw many parts of the forest she hadn't visited before. There was some pleasure in it, but mostly it was infuriating.

The woods were getting cold and the light was failing. Daniella knew she wasn't prepared to spend the night outside. She hadn't had anything warm to bring with her, and she didn't have enough food and water.

She knew she would have to turn back toward the redwood grove eventually. She squinted in the near dark, slowing her steps to avoid tripping. She thought of the blankets back in her room and wished she had thought to bring one.

She thought about going back. It was the only food and warmth she was going to get. She wasn't eager to see Feldspar and Gneiss, and she definitely did not want to see the Lord of the Wood.

She moved onward tentatively, continuing her mental game of keeping her thoughts away from home. As she walked, a tall shadow appeared from behind a tree just within reach of her. Daniella sucked in a breath and tensed, ready to bolt.

It took her a few seconds to recognize him as he stalked toward her in the low light. It was the Lord of the Wood, and he looked pissed. His hard eyes almost glowed with an eery green light, and his full lips were was set in a stern line.

"Little one, you have ranged quite far from home," he said. "It is not in my habit to come looking for wayward subjects."

"Then don't. I can take care of myself," she retorted. "It's not like I can leave your wood." Her eyes flashed in defiance, daring him to lie to her about the cage he had put her in.

His eyes flicked behind her, to the stream. Daniella followed his gaze. There was nothing there.

She took an experimental step backward, toward the water. Watching his face closely, she saw his lips tighten at her movement. She took another step back, followed quickly by a few more.

He stalked forward, matching her movement, keeping her within arm's length. He looked more stressed with every move she made toward the stream.

Daniella placed one foot in the stream and spun on her heel.

"Stop," he commanded. Daniella ignored the instinct within her to obey.

"Afraid I'll figure out how to go home?" Daniella scrambled toward the middle of the stream, leaving him seething on the bank.

"Come back this instant," he said tightly.

Daniella didn't bother looking back at him. She was already thinking about how quickly she could get down the mountain. After that she was going to skin Professor Craven alive for getting her mixed up in his mess with the faeries.

The stones were covered in slick algae. Daniella placed her feet carefully one in front of the other, testing each stone before putting her weight down.

She was halfway across the stream when the stone she stepped on moved. It didn't wobble. It didn't slip. It reached up and grabbed her ankle, pulling her legs out from under her.

Daniella landed in the water, the cold and shock knocking the wind out of her. A grey thing whipped out of the water, its grip on her leg like frozen iron. Daniella released a ragged scream of terror, scrambling awkwardly in the stream to get away from it.

The creature looked like a partially decomposed corpse of a woman. What was left of its hair hung in limp, tangled strands around a bloated, half-fish-eaten face. It opened its maw, revealing row upon row of shark teeth.

Daniella gagged from the smell of rotten fish and blood that rolled off of the creature. Her mind cartwheeled between thoughts, scrambling for any piece of knowledge or folklore that explained what it was.

Dead. It had to be dead. Its flesh was so noxious it couldn't possibly be alive. Zombie? Were those real? She didn't think so. She flitted from one half-remembered history lesson to another, trying to remember anything useful.

The creature leaned in close and grazed her neck with its teeth, scenting her. It licked a snake-like tongue along the jagged edges of its top teeth and hissed. The motion roused Daniella from her panic-strikes stupor.

It was a fucking water wraith. Daniella struggled to free her leg, thrashing and clawing at the hand gripping it. Around her three more wraiths emerged silently from the stream and glided toward her. She screamed again, throwing all her strength into punching and kicking the one holding her.

Against the decaying creature Daniella's strength was nothing. It stared at her with gleaming, hungry eyes, waiting for her to tired out. The three others surrounded her, waiting for their turn to drink.

"Curses," she heard from behind her, quickly followed by the sound of splashing.

Two of the wraiths shied away from Daniella, hissing at the approach of the Lord of the Wood. He reached her side in seconds and placed a possessive hand on her shoulder. Daniella stilled under the warmth of his touch.

"She belongs to the wood," he said, every inch the lord commanding his dominion.

They hissed and bared their teeth at him. For a long moment Daniella was afraid they would come to blows. The one holding her tightened its grip, tugging her slightly away from the lord.

"You will respect your lord," he said coldly. "Regardless of whether you believe she is my subject." Daniella's heart sank. His reprimand felt like it was addressed as much to her as to the disgusting creatures who had hoped to make a meal out of her.

The water wraith loosened its grip on her begrudgingly. With one last hiss at him, it sank back beneath the surface of the water, followed by the other three.

The Lord of the Wood lifted Daniella to her feet and hugged her to his chest. Daniella pressed her face against his comforting bulk. His heart was racing almost as fast as hers was. She clung to the front of his tunic, breathing in the comforting scent of earth and trees.

Gripping her tightly, the lord began backing out of the stream. Daniella squeezed her eyes shut, letting him guide her feet.

She didn't want to see how much farther until she was safe on land. She focused on her breathing, inhaling the scent that was uniquely his. He smelled like sun-dappled clearings, and saplings reaching for the sky, and owls gliding through moonlit nights on silent wings.

When she felt solid ground under her feet, Daniella went limp with relief. The Lord of the Wood sank down on the bank with her, holding her close. She could still feel the water wraith's cold grip on her skin. Daniella shuddered and the lord rubbed her back soothingly.

She rolled onto her back, staying nestled against his side. His warmth felt like the only thing keeping those things from dragging her back into their watery graves.

Daniella drew in deep breaths, slowing her pattering heart. She counted stars in time with her breathing. There were so many here. By the time she had finished counting them all maybe her horror would fade.