Chapter 16

He seems... different,Linh thought, as Nathair poked another flower stem into her hair.

She regretted not braiding it completely, since she only did the top half while leaving the bottom half free. It was wet from their swim through his lake and up to his pond. Everything she wore was drenched, but at least the warm spring sun was drying her.

She fingered the fourth weed flower he'd put into her long hair, while staring up at his snake skull glittering in the light.

He seems more at ease ever since the first time I touched myself in front of him.

Her cheeks instantly warmed in memory, and she spun to hide her embarrassment from him. Her heart fluttered bashfully as her stomach flipped for the same reason.

She pressed on, searching for more herbs and any edible berries or nuts in the sparsely shaded forest.

An internal groan had her wanting to cover her face. He made me do it yesterday too. ‘Made her' was a bit of an overstatement, considering she quickly gave in when he requested it. I wish I'd known sooner he's always been able to smell when I'm aroused.

It was pretty damn obvious now since his orbs would shift to bright purple, and he never once hid it over the past three days. It was like he wanted her to see it, to make it known that he could smell it, and he wiggled his long, forked tongue in her direction every time.

Which, being caught out, only made her scent deepen. He seemed so cocky about it, too, the jerk.

When a shrub caught her eye, Linh crouched down to inspect the blackberries on it. Firstly, to check to make sure they weren't poisonous, and secondly, to hide her blush from her next thoughts.

I can't believe I've been doing it for him. As promised, he never reached out to her. His poor nest had multiple dents in it now from where he'd crushed it with his mighty hands.

He didn't come with her the second time, but she had a funny feeling that when she went to her bathing area to semi-panic, he'd eased himself. That, or he was so good at holding back his own need that he could make himself soften at will.

If so, he was incredibly forgiving.

Wouldn't most men lose their marbles if they had a woman masturbating on top of them?And not just once, but twice?

It didn't help that just the brush of his tail against her body had her remembering how she'd ground on it. I did that. I ground on a Duskwalker's tail. She'd just been so groggy with sleep and turned-on at the time that it sounded like the grandest idea possible. Each reminder had her clit throbbing for her to do it again.

She wanted to be mortified by what she did, how she kept responding to the memory, but Nathair coming just from watching made her feel like the most sensual, alluring woman in the world. Even when he scented her desire, teasing her for it, her body would thrum.

Oh gods. What am I doing with a Duskwalker? It felt so perverted to have one watch her as she touched herself intimately, which made it all the naughtier. Have I gone insane? Is that why I like it so much?

Although she'd acted awkward afterwards, unsure of how to react to him or what she'd just done, she found she didn't... regret it. It didn't make sickness cling to her heart or make her feel ugly on an emotional level.

Instead, she'd grow bashful, her head hot with a blush that wouldn't settle for hours. She'd find herself eyeing him, wanting more, wanting to touch him instead, but then her hands would start shaking.

For three days, Linh had been trying to push herself. To shed her fears like a snake moulting its skin. To get herself to a point where she could finally let go and ease him like he was allowing her to ease herself. Gosh, she wanted his hands on her so badly she almost caved and asked for it today when he wouldn't stop purring.

I feel like a frigid teenager.Like a trembling virgin about to lose her chastity.

She was none of those things.

Once she determined the blackberries were, in fact, safe to be eaten, she picked the bush clean. She slipped them into her bag that already had some mint in it.

Due to the stream nearby, the area surrounding the entrance to his home was moist. Everything was green, flourishing, and ripening, even though it was only the start of spring. Despite them being in the north, the mountains on either side of this valley protected it from harsh winds, making it warmer.

It meant Linh had a garden to play with, so long as she was willing to walk and find it all.

When she stood, Nathair placed his hand on the top of her head. He wanted her attention, and she gave it to him. He pointed to his chest, swiped two fingers in front of his nose hole, touched his elbow and leapt to his wrist, before pointing away. "I smell something over there."

Like with most sign language, Nathair's gestures weren't technically grammatically correct due to the shortening of sentences for the ease of conversations, and some of the actions could mean multiple words at once. But Linh was interpreting them into fully formed sentences, since that was what was generally insinuated.

She knew what he meant, and the fact she was getting good enough to understand Nathair meant every new word made her feel closer to him.

"Lead the way then," she said with a smile, thankful it was something other than fish.

That's what she thought, but as she came upon the orange fruits that had a sweet scent to them, she grimaced.

"That's a strychnos tree. The fruit smells sweet because it's decaying, and the nuts are highly poisonous," she explained.

His head reared back, just as his orbs turned a reddish pink. He circled his hand over his chest, which was very similar to how her people signed please, but she knew he meant "Sorry."

"It's fine," she said sincerely. "Not everyone knows plants as well as I do, and since you don't eat them, it's understandable that you wouldn't know. You're just lucky I know not to eat them."

Then, as if he wanted to make it up to her, he took her to a different plant.

"Can you eat this?" he signed.

"Can you lift me so I can check?" she asked, staring up at the dark-purple fruit protruding from the tree's tall trunk.

With a nod, he grabbed her hips from behind and lifted her to his shoulder. Her heart immediately picked up when he placed his palm over her inner thigh to keep her steady. She picked a bulbous fruit and opened it with her long thumb nails to get to its bright-red meat. Her mouth instantly watered at the sweet, juicy smell, but she checked its consistency.

"You're lucky!" she exclaimed, turning a grin down to his skull. "These fruit in summer in the south, but they ripen at the end of winter here."

He put her down when she began to pick them, just so he could do it instead.

"I could have done it," she stated with a forced pout, wishing to nettle him.

Nathair opened and closed his mouth mockingly, just like she knew he would. He lifted higher on the base of his tail, reaching heights no human could as he offered her fistfuls of plums. He turned to a second tree, as there were three huddled here, and gave her his back.

His muscles rippled around his exposed spine, and she could just make out the flaps next to the row of vertebrae, hiding away his massive back fins. Linh folded her arms to lean against the tree next to her, admiring each leap and clench of muscle. Dappled sunlight splashed across his body, making him shine with rainbows while the rest of him appeared a glossy black with grey accents.

He really is handsome.

She wanted to dance her palms over his scale-covered back muscles and see if they would respond to her touch. Duskwalkers shouldn't have a nice body like that. It's not fair. It made it harder for her to resist him.

Something in her periphery grabbed her attention, and she turned her lazy gaze to the side. She met eight eyes set in a small fuzzy cream-coloured face.

"Eeek!" she screamed, leaping away from the huntsman spider, which had been so close that if it had lifted a furry paw, it would have touched her chin.

Nathair spun while dropping plums to the ground, ready to defend her with a bone-chilling hiss. She tripped over his tail and landed on her arse with an oomph. He halted when he found her on the forest floor, rubbing at her arms like thousands of tiny spiders were crawling over her.

He looked around, searching for the danger, then threw his arms to the side. "What?"

Linh pointed at the spider that was the size of his palm.

Slithering over to it, Nathair cupped his thin jaw as he lowered to inspect it. He turned his head to her and tilted it questioningly.

"Sorry, but bugs kind of give me the heebie-jeebies." If he had been any kind of bug Duskwalker, she would have run for the hills, uncaring if a Demon got her. To her horror, he reached the claws of both hands out to it. "No! Don't touch it!"

Ignoring her, Nathair gently brushed the spider into his palm, and it walked on willingly.

"Nathair," she whined, cringing through another shudder. "Put it back."

She didn't want him to kill it, even if it made her skin crawl. It deserved to live, but just... not anywhere near her.

To her disgust, he slithered over to show her it, as if telling her not to be afraid. Linh squealed. She shot to her feet and backed up, throwing her hands up to ward him and it away.

From what she could tell, Nathair held his breath, since his chest was unmoving. She bet she smelt of mild fear.

He came forward again, so she backed up a little more.

"I really don't like bugs." Even if he'd been holding a butterfly, she would have wanted to hurl.

Nathair let out a dark, morbid, and evil little chuckle. Her face drained of heat at what that could possibly mean. He wiggled the hand holding the spider at her, as he came ever closer and looked as though he was about to put it in her hair.

Linh, realising what he was up to, nearly burst into tears when she ran. He fucking chased her with it! Considering he was usually lightning fast and didn't catch up to her right away, he was letting her be a few feet in front of him, but still...

His chuckle was cruel, the game mean.

That was until he wrapped his arm around her midsection. She kicked and bashed at his forearm, even when she watched him free the poor spider by letting it crawl onto a random tree trunk. Then he turned her to him.

"You're a jerk," she bit out when she finally calmed – since fighting him was pointless. She folded her arms and threw her head away.

He forcibly turned her face back to his, and his bright-yellow orbs glowed with joy. He let out a snicker.

"It's not funny. I'm really angry with you."

He circled his hand over the left side of his chest.

"You're not sorry. Don't lie."

His snicker deepened!

When she refused to soften her glare, he shot forward. A wet, forked limb swiped across her neck, just below her jaw, and her skin instantly prickled. She gasped and cupped her neck, her pulse fluttering faster under her palm.

He licked me.

Nathair then held the side of her face, staring down at her, and his yellow orbs seemed to say a thousand silent words. His chuckles morphed into a purr. She realised he was holding her, hugging her so they were torso to torso, and that she'd instinctually wrapped her legs around his waist.

He slowly leaned forward to lick her again, but down her cheek. The swipe ended at the corner of her lips, and the fork of his tongue ensured it was wide. His maw lingered near her mouth, and she dabbed her tongue at the seam of her lips, unsure if she wanted him to lick across them or not.

She was mad at him, and she knew the ‘kiss' would be unfamiliar. She was also kind of... curious.

Deciding the betrayal of him chasing her with a spider wasn't as terrible as what he could have done with it, Linh nodded, hoping his lack of movement was a question. She wanted a proper kiss, and not just her giving him a bunch of them against his skull like that one morning.

When he slipped his tongue across her lips, Linh knew she'd made the right decision. She instantly melted for it. It's so firm.

In case he only intended to give her one, she panted as she whispered, "Again?"

Nathair groaned and held her tighter as he did it a second time. She opened for him so he could dip it into the crevice of her mouth. Her stomach instantly tightened and clenched as her pussy quivered in delight at the strangeness that greeted her. His tongue split over the top of hers, and its roughness felt weird – which meant it was perfect.

Thrumming with arousal, she wound her arms around his neck and drew him closer with her ankles. The rumble in his chest vibrated against her breasts, making her nipples harden further. His hands spanned over her side and the back of her opposing shoulder as he pressed her tightly against him.

Linh fought his tongue to dance around each fork. It was messy and uncontrolled, but tingled her lips with each back-and-forth stroke. More, she thought with a moan, her pussy spasming in welcome of the foreign sensation.

He pulled away too soon, leaving her panting and buzzing with want. His tongue flickered into the air, tasting her as his purr deepened. With orbs purple, he set her down. Yet, her stomach flipped to sucker punch her heart when he cupped the side of her face and caressed her cheek with a clawed thumb.

Linh knew he was pushing her boundaries on purpose. He was being patient, but he wasn't willing to wait for her to take each step on her own – especially as she'd shown she found it difficult to take those leaps.

It was all happening too soon, too quickly.

Two weeks ago, she'd been in the clutches of a vile monster parading around with a human face. The fact she even allowed Nathair to delve his tongue within her mouth wasn't something she had been able to foresee herself doing so soon.

The pains and aches constantly lingered, and she often shrank at the thought of being intimate. Yet, her utter faith in him only made her dizzy in this moment. She was nervous, but for the right reasons.

His tongue hadn't been hot like hers, but it had been long, dexterous, and wonderfully textured. It wasn't even overly wet, like it was drier than a human's.

Why did he stop?Was it too much for him to hold back? She hated that she couldn't gauge what he was feeling because of his skull, and that his purr could be hidden by his racing heart. The idea that Nathair might be spiralling, his desire twisting to a dangerous degree, sent a thrill straight to her stomach.

She shouldn't be teasing this beast, but she couldn't seem to stop herself – not when he kept instigating it.

As he turned, heading back towards the wild plum tree to obtain her more fruit, Linh followed him in a daze. Her appreciative gaze was more delirious as she took in the play of his back muscles, wishing she'd thought to dig her fingertips into them.

She eyed his bony maw and licked her lips at the memory of that strange kiss. I really want to do that again.

She completely forgot about the huntsman incident.