Wild Desire Ch. 04

Just as she was finishing the final touches on her drawing the rabbit approached her, its eyes filled with uncanny intelligence. She stretched out a hand for it to sniff, marveling at its trusting nature. She stroked it tentatively. Its fur was softer than she had imagined.

As the rabbit ambled down the moss-covered path, a movement from behind a nearby tree caught Daniella's eye. Silent as a shadow, a grey wolf slinked along parallel to the path. Its yellow eyes were trained on the rabbit as it crept along half-crouched, ready to give chase.

Daniella's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes flicked to the rabbit. It sat and scratched idly at its shoulder. It lifted its nose to sniff the air, giving no sign of alarm. The wolf was only a few feet from it, its teeth bared. Daniella stood rooted to the spot. The wolf had to know she was there, but for the moment its focus was entirely on its prey.

The wolf's body unspooled in a sinuous flash and in a fraction of a second it was on the rabbit. Acting on instinct Daniella threw the only thing she had — her sketchbook — at the wolf. The book bounced off its head with enough force to startle it into releasing its jaws. It whipped its head around to her with a surprised yelp. The animal flattened its ears and stared at her in apparent confusion.

"Go, get out of here!" Daniella shouted, waving her arms at both animals. The rabbit lay on the ground, stone still. The wolf backed one step away, still assessing her.

Just as Daniella was about to shoo it again, she was yanked backward and thrown on the ground. The change was so sudden that she was disoriented for a moment, too stunned by the air being knocked out of her to understand that she was now looking up at the sky. Daniella coughed, her confused body struggling to get air back in.

She rolled onto her side and pushed herself halfway to sitting. Immediately a foot came from behind her and kicked her onto her face.

"Stay down, human," a cold, unfamiliar voice commanded.

Daniella groaned and pushed herself up enough to brush dirt away from her eyes.

Her attacker grabbed her by her hair, dragging her up to sitting in one cruel motion. Daniella screamed and her eyes smarted with tears. She gasped and struggled to regain her balance.

The faery holding her stepped from behind her, holding her in place by her hair. Daniella's heart sank. It was the pink-haired faery woman she had seen humiliate Feldspar on her first night in the faery territory. Her eyes were cruel and cold. She looked Daniella up and down with distaste.

"You dare — dare — to profane our home?"

Daniella struggled against her grasp, but it was iron-tight. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about," she managed.

"You would upset the balance. The natural order of things," the faery shrieked, her voice on the edge of hysteria. "Do you have any idea the consequences you risk? Do you even care, human?"

Daniella's rising anger sagged as Gneiss' and the lord's words came back to her. There were things she didn't understand about the wood. There were things the faeries could feel that she couldn't begin to imagine. She glanced nervously toward the wolf and the rabbit. Both were gone.

"Now you begin to consider the wisdom of your actions?" the pink-haired faery hissed. She pushed Daniella roughly. She landed awkwardly, sending a sharp pain through her left wrist. Daniella gritted her teeth and groaned, cradling her injured arm to her body.

Her attacker circled her, eyeing her with satisfaction.

"Never forget, human, that you belong on your knees," the woman purred. Daniella's eyes blazed defiantly through her pain. The woman snarled in response and delivered a sharp kick to Daniella's gut. Daniella grunted and doubled over in pain, her breath coming in short huffs.

"Someone obviously needs to teach you your place. The Lord of the Wood has been lenient in the extreme."

The faery continued stalking around Daniella in a slow circle.

"Should I break the hand that threw that pathetic book? Or perhaps I should have more fun with your punishment... make it really memorable," she mused.

Daniella glared at her briefly and then stared stoically ahead. The faery jerked her right hand away from her injured wrist, holding it in her unmovable grip. A small squeak of alarm escaped from Daniella, and she swallowed the scream of pain she wanted to let out at the jostling her wrist had taken.

The faery played with each one of Daniella's fingers, considering. Daniella squeezed her eyes shut. If the faery broke her hand, it would hurt like fuck. But it would heal. She just had to focus on that. Eventually all injuries could be healed. Pain was just nerve endings sending signals to the brain, no different than heat or cold. She would survive it.

Daniella let her mind drift. She left her screaming wrist and aching stomach and stinging scalp behind, ignored her stuttering lungs and pounding heart. She traveled through her body, taking stock. There — her toes, they felt no pain. They felt just fine. She settled her awareness there as she waited for the sickening crunch of her right hand to come.

"No, that's not quite right," the faery woman said to herself.

Daniella vaguely sensed some unknown danger, and then the blow came. Abruptly the faery dropped Daniella's hand and closed her hand around Daniella's neck. Daniella's eyes popped open and her awareness rushed back as her throat closed.

"Do you feel that, human? Apply pressure to the right spot, and I can set off a cascade of harm that will end you. Not unlike what you were prepared to do with that wolf."

Daniella's mind was a cacophony of panic. She choked and thrashed wildly. Her hands pushed and scratched desperately at the woman. She struggled to get to her feet to kick her away, trying to aim for her stomach. It was like hitting a brick wall. The woman didn't even flinch.

Daniella's strength faded quickly. Her vision started to go grey at the edges as her lungs burned for air. Her legs went limp, increasing the pressure on her neck as her full weight dangled from the faery's grasp. She pried and scratched at the hand around her neck, but soon even that was too hard.

Daniella's mind calmed. She closed her eyes against the hateful faery's twisted look of satisfaction. She didn't want that to be the last thing she ever saw.

"She's had enough, Garnet," a sweet male voice drifted to Daniella's awareness.

The pressure on her neck didn't let up. Daniella could feel consciousness slipping away.

"Garnet! She's a human, she'll die," the man said, closer now. "Let her go." A command. Daniella struggled to open her eyes. She knew that voice. Tenuous hope curled in her gut.

"You don't command me, Feldspar." The faery woman gave Daniella an extra, bruising squeeze around her neck.

"Either you listen to me, or you answer to the Lord of the Wood," Feldspar retorted, his usually gentle voice laced with steel.

"Fine," Garnet snarled. "You will regret defending her."

She shoved Daniella backward as she released her. Daniella coughed and gulped air desperately. She dry heaved and sputtered, bracing on her hands and knees. Feldspar dropped down beside her and put her arms around her to support her.

"Are you all right?"

Daniella coughed in response. Her throat ached too much to talk. She just shook her head and sucked in a few more shaky breaths. Now that the threat was gone, her whole body shook in shock. A ragged groan tore from her ravaged throat.

"May I?" Feldspar asked, indicating with his hands that he wanted to touch her.

Daniella nodded, uncertainly. She felt so raw.

He gently lifted her to her feet and brushed dirt from her clothes. His deft fingers ran over her joints searching for breaks. She hissed in pain and tried valiantly to keep still for him as he manipulated her left wrist. He tilted her head to the side and examined her neck, and despite herself she flinched at his touch. Immediately Feldspar pulled his hands back, folding them against his body.

"I did not find any serious harm. You will have bruises, and you will be sore, but you will heal. Let us go back to our tree and I will make you my special tea."

Daniella nodded her consent. She just wanted to go somewhere familiar and safe. Feldspar offered her his arm and half carried her back to their shared treehouse. Once he had settled her on one of the large easy chairs in the sitting room, he set about making her a brew with a slightly concerning number of ingredients.

"I hope you appreciate this. This is my secret 'Gneiss beat me to within an inch of my life' day-after healing tea," he said. Daniella blushed and rolled her eyes at him, pretending she wasn't interested. She was all to familiar with Gneiss and Feldspar's proclivities, and more fascinated than she was willing to admit.

Feldspar placed a steaming cup of fragrant tea in her hands. Daniella sipped it tentatively. It tasted like black licorice and cayenne pepper, with hints of chamomile tea. She grimaced and started to put the cup down on the coffee table.

"Ah-ah, you must drink it all."

Daniella gave him a baleful look and chugged the rest. For a horrible moment she thought it might come back up. She shoved the cup into Feldspar's hands and pressed a pressure point on her good wrist to quell her nausea. By the time Feldspar had finished tidying up the kitchen, she felt much better. She cleared her throat experimentally. It still hurt a little bit, but she had to admit that she felt much better.

"She would have killed me," she said hollowly.

Feldspar patted her knee. "Probably not. Garnet was enjoying herself, but I doubt she would go so far as to take a life in the wood. Her own would be forfeit if she did."

He paused and fiddled with a loose thread on the couch for a few moments. "The lord has shown you favor. She would not be so foolish as to anger him. She may have gone too far as it is."

Daniella snorted. "From where I'm standing his favor is awfully fickle."

Feldspar gave her an incredulous look. "You are — the lord has — if he showed me even half as much..." he shook his head. Finally he just said, "You had best not share that opinion with anyone else, or you will find yourself very unpopular indeed."

Daniella blushed indignantly. Nobody knew what her relationship with the lord — or lack of relationship — was like in private. Still, Feldspar, Gneiss and Nephrite were the closest thing she had to friends, and they were the lord's chosen family. She needed them on her side.

"I'm sorry. Friends?"

Feldspar rubbed her back and nodded. "Let us not speak of it. Shall we find Nephrite to help get you ready for tonight? We must do something about these bruises."

The Meeting Tree was especially resplendent that evening, filled with twinkling lights and jewel tone flowers. Daniella held her head up high as she swept through the doorway, her flowing, black dress billowing around her. Feldspar and Nephrite flanked her, daring any of the other faeries to so much as look at her. Gneiss walked next to her lover, her hand placed protectively on his lower back.

Daniella was grateful for the show of solidarity. As far as she knew, Feldspar hadn't told the other two faeries much about her attack. But somehow, it seemed like they already knew. Gneiss had been vibrating with angry tension all evening, and for once it wasn't directed at Daniella. Nephrite had found Daniella a jet black silk dress studded with twinkling jewels. When Daniella had met them to leave for the evening entertainment at the Meeting Tree, all three of the faeries wore coordinating black outfits, a stark departure from their usual pastels. The message was clear: mess with any one of us, and you answer to all of us.

The Lord of the Wood watched them from his throne of vines, a slight smile on his face as her took in their unusually stark wardrobe. He took in each of his entourage in turn. With his golden skin and hair, Feldspar looked especially out of character in all black. The lord's eyes flicked to Gneiss' hand on Feldspar's back, and then up to Gneiss' hard-set face.

It was Daniella, though, who he couldn't look away from. Her strawberry blonde hair fell in waves around her face, tanned from the last month of spending her days in the sun. She met his gaze with steely eyes, cold as the night sky.

The lord hopped down from the dais and walked out to meet her halfway across the room. He stopped a few feet from her, assessing the inscrutable look in her eyes. She met his gaze, unflinchingly hard. He frowned a bit, sensing her anger.

"My loves," he said, his greeting ostensibly meant for all four of them. His eyes, though, rested only on Daniella. He bowed deeply to her. Something softened a bit in her. She was all too aware that the assembly of faeries were likely watching. She extended her hand to him. The lord took it and kissed it, sending a tiny thrill of joy ricocheting through Daniella's body. She quickly retrieved her hand, rubbing the spot as if that could stamp out her attraction to the handsome faery.

The lord gave Nephrite a kiss on the cheek. He turned to Gneiss and gave her a deferential nod. She returned the gesture, her hand never leaving her sub. The Lord leaned in and kissed Feldspar gently on the lips, one hand reaching up to stroke the blonde man's face.

A wave of humiliation and rejection swept over Daniella as she watched the lord slip his tongue into Feldspar's mouth. When they parted, Feldspar smiled dreamily at the lord and leaned against Gneiss. The beautiful domme slid her hand down from his back to palm his ass and winked at him with a devilish smile.

Daniella blinked back tears, remembering the lord's words from earlier that day. She counted her breaths. She refused to let the faeries see that she was upset. She watched the four faeries walk in step back to the dais. Gneiss and Feldspar twined around each other, the lord beside them, brushing his hand gently against Feldspar's. Nephrite walked alone but so clearly part of their family.

Daniella wondered if she would ever feel like she belonged among them. The lord glanced over his shoulder at her and tilted his head in invitation. Daniella gave him a forced smile and drifted away to disappear into the crowd.

The evening passed by slowly. Gneiss and Feldspar made love on the dance floor. Nephrite drifted around the Meeting Tree chatting with faeries Daniella didn't know. The lord observed all from his throne. It was essentially the same as any number of other nights at the Meeting Tree. Daniella leaned against the back wall of the tree, listlessly picking at her food. She wished she could go get some fresh air, but she didn't dare leave alone. She rubbed her wrist and swallowed surreptitiously. Feldspar's tea had helped, but the pain in her wrist and neck was starting to come back at full intensity.

Daniella closed her eyes and let herself drift along with the faery music. The band was playing a wild, heavy beat in time with the sound of moans coming from the couples on the dance floor. Daniella could easily pick out Feldspar's voice from the others. She peeked an eye open. Gneiss was treating him gently tonight, lavishing him with gentle caresses and kisses. She closed her eyes again. The music rose to a fever pitch as the action around them reached its peak.

In the afterglow the band played a dreamy, slow waltz. Gneiss led Feldspar away from the dance floor, the two of them immersed in their own world. They languidly drifted out of the Meeting Tree, leaning on each other in a sex-drunk stupor. The last thing Daniella wanted was to play third wheel. She cast about the room looking for Nephrite, but the quiet faery was nowhere to be seen.

Shit. She would have to walk home alone. Daniella stood to her feet, tense and alert. She scoured the room again for Nephrite, this time on guard for the hot pink hair of her attacker. She measured the distance to the doorway and studied the faeries in her path. She tried to remember if she'd ever seen any of them in Garnet's company.

Daniella took a deep breath and pushed away from the wall. She threw her shoulders back and strode purposefully through the crowd. She wove through faeries, giving a demure nod of her head when necessary. She was almost out the door when a hand landed on her shoulder. Daniella whirled, prepared to meet her assailant.

"Little one?" The lord's deep green eyes met hers. The look of concern there almost broke her resolve to stay away from him.

"I — " She was about to tell him she was leaving, but the unpleasant sensation of eyes on her skittered up her spine. Daniella glanced around. Several groups of faeries near them were pretending — poorly — to ignore them.

"I was just going to get some air — my lord," she said, adding his title a bit belatedly. The way his eyes darkened at the name sent a tremor of delicious pleasure through her. Oh, he loved it when she called him that. It made it so much harder to stay away from him and pretend there was nothing between them.

"Dance with me," he said, his tone more of a command than an invitation. Daniella's stomach did a flip at his tone. She gave him her right hand and let herself be tugged back toward the dance floor.

The amorous couples had dispersed and the music had resumed a gentle, lilting tone. Faery couples bowed and made way for their lord as he led Daniella to the center of the floor. Daniella blushed as she felt their eyes slide over her. The lord turned to her and tugged her close, holding her gently against his body.

Daniella swayed against him. She wanted to close her eyes and pretend. Pretend that the lord was a normal man, and she was a normal woman with a normal crush. She wanted to believe that this thing between them could end well. She wanted to forget that the lord was obviously involved with Feldspar and Gneiss. She just wanted to feel his strong arms around her, and get drunk on faery wine, and let herself feel young and carefree, if only for a night.

The lord held her right hand in his, leading her through a slow waltz. Daniella tried to place her injured left hand on his side where she knew it was meant to go. Her wrist screamed and she pulled it back to her body immediately. The lord frowned in concern. Daniella pretended she didn't see him and carefully rested her hand on his chest, making sure she kept her wrist flat.

"Are you well, little one?"

Daniella gave him what she hoped was a convincing smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He huffed in annoyance, drawing a real smile from her. If he was going to torture her, she was entitled to give at least a little back to him.

"You are being difficult," he said, his voice a mixture of play and warning.

He spun her in time to the music, deliberately throwing her off balance. Daniella hissed at the sudden shift in their positions. She snatched her wrist back to her body as the lord led her through the dance.

"Little one," he said, his voice suddenly soft and broken. "You are injured."

He stopped mid-step and tugged her back to him. He wrapped his arms protectively around her, tucking her injured wrist safely between them. Daniella's stomach dropped as she had the sensation of falling sideways, upwards, and downwards all at once. She closed her eyes involuntarily, afraid she might faint or get sick. When she opened them they were standing on the dais, right in front of the lord's throne.

"What the..." she whispered against his chest.

The lord arranged himself on his throne and pulled her down into his lap. Still a bit disoriented from whatever magical means he had used to transport them, she folded bonelessly into his arms.

"Let me see," he said, reaching for her wrist. Daniella braced for the pain of contact, but it didn't come. He ran his fingers feather-light over her wrist and frowned as he took in the swelling and bruising.