Chapter 23

23

TANNER

Walking into the Halloween Ball, I’d be lying if I said I’m not feeling self-conscious. I don’t care that my date is a dryad, and I don’t give a crap that he’s way taller than me—in fact, it’s a turn-on.

But walking into a room full of your peers is a daunting task for anyone. And now, with my relationship budding like a delicate blossom, all eyes could be on us. Phoenix shifters, vampires, werewolves, and of course, humans, are among the many species seated near the entranceway. The tables are covered in black linen, and candelabras mystically float several yards above the dance floor. Multicolored lights flash all over the ceiling, but from shifter magic or lightshow technology, I’m not sure. Speakers hang from the gothic columns, making the room vibrate—the faculty zombies and ghosts have outdone themselves tonight.

The linoleum dance floor is jam-packed, and I’m pleasantly surprised to see most of the student population moving, shaking, and generally enjoying the merriment. Of course, a chunk of them have now turned to watch us.

So much for not making an entrance . I squeeze Kovi’s wooden hand, and he wraps his vine fingers around mine. With one last smile up at my boyfriend, the dryad, we nod and take another step together. More heads turn, and murmurs break out around us, even as the latest hip-hop songs blast through the sound system. I suppose it’s not every day you see a human and dryad out on a date, but I didn’t think I’d be the center of so much attention.

But I don’t care. I tip my chin high and stride forward, squeezing the branch hand of my boyfriend. No one can put me down now. With Kovi with me, I feel like the tallest guy in the room—awkward choice of words considering he might literally be the tallest guy in the room. Some ogres in the crowd may have him beat, but they’re not the monster I want to dance with.

“Yeah! Woohoo!” Seth is hooting and hollering at the side of the dance floor, his wraps flailing about as he does so. Blake, Shonda, and several others are behind him, applauding us. I’m touched that we have so many people supporting us.

Once we’re on a corner of the dance floor far from any harpies or bat shifters flapping up and down, I stop walking. I take the opportunity to tug Kovi forward with my left hand and have him face me. Grinning up at him, I take out my right hand, and a moment later, I’m holding both of his branch arms.

The beat thumps harder as the music upticks in tempo into “Disturbia” by Rihanna, an utterly appropriate Halloween song. “This is my jam!” I shout over the music. Kovi smiles down at me and doesn’t pull away as I get closer. I move his arms back and forth to the beat, and a few moments later, he begins to shimmy himself. He’s awkward, for sure, with his lumbering legs of, well, lumber, but he’s so endearing. It means a lot that he’s willing to groove with me in front of the entire school.

Everyone in the room is singing along to the words, but I only have eyes for the tree monster in front of me. When he puts his branches on my shoulders, I hop forward and sing louder. I do a spin underneath him and we laugh. When I spin again, I pull him closer and back up into him. The few inches of space between us disappear, and my sweaty body gently presses against his wooden form.

Holy underground world, I’m grinding on a dryad.

Before we make the mistake of getting even freakier on the floor—the professors are here!—the tempo slows down. The familiar twangs of a country tune play overhead. “Crazier” by Taylor Swift is a classic, and one of the most romantic songs I know. Couples around me slow down and proceed to hold each other in a gentle embrace. I unfurl myself from Kovi’s big arms and look up at him. He nods, seeming to understand me without saying a word, and puts his branches out.

It’s awkward at first, but eventually he settles on wrapping his wooden vines around me. He gently binds me up and kneels down. I step on the giant trunks of his knees and manage to get my arms around his wooden shoulders. Then, slowly but surely, the ceiling gets closer to me.

As Taylor Swift croons about her feet being lifted off the ground, Kovi literally has me above the floor. I’m floating several feet in the air, grabbing tightly onto Kovi’s neck and shoulders while his branches gently hold up my backside. I’m high up, but I know he has me. In this moment, I should be afraid, but I’m not. Because this dryad looks at me like I’m the last human on earth, like I’m worthy.

So we sway together, surrounded by all our friends at this monstrous school that has quickly become my home. And when I lean in to kiss him, the pieces of my heart that I thought were barren begin to flourish. I’m falling in love with this dryad, and I’m ready to take on the world with him.

Several days later, I park my car somewhere in the West Woods. Kovi insists it’s a private spot, even in the middle of the morning, so it’s the perfect location for our new definition of intimacy. I can see it being comfortable, considering it’s a small grove with a relatively flat, grassy surface. I didn’t think I’d ever have sex in the forest, but Kovi has instilled in me a newfound appreciation of the woods.

Once out of the car, I leave the door open and lay down several picnic blankets two yards away. I place the rest of the contents—a singular pillow, a towel, and a bottle of lube—beside the red-checkered fabric. Perfect . “We good to go?” I ask.

“As long as you agree to the rules.” He takes another walk in a circular perimeter, staring at the trees. I know he has some dryad trickery up his sleeve. “May I?” he asks.

I nod and smile. “Please.”

In the next instant, he’s morphed into his dryad self. He’s attractive in both forms, but the next sight completely takes my breath away. He raises his branch arms, and the trees around us bend forward. My jaw drops as the trunks shift, forming a perimeter of walls made of arbor. The canopy reaches upward, nearly obscuring the sun.

“Woah,” I mutter. Kovi, me, and my car, are all occluded from vision. Even if some random hiker walked by, they would only see a fortress made of leaves, wood, and vines. Kovi did what he promised—he created a private and secluded area in the forest.

All for us.

“So…” He looks at me, having morphed back to human, and nervously plays with his fingers. I know this means I need to take the lead.

“You…are amazing.” I pat the blanket next to where I’m sitting. “Care to join me?”

He nods and sits down, and my heart beats faster. I’m about to have forest sex with a dryad—how is this my life? I want so badly to let Kovi give in, to let himself go, and enjoy pure sexual bliss. I reach for the buttons of his shirt, but before I can strip my boyfriend, he takes my wrists.

“Are you sure?” He bites his lip.

“Are you?” I try to give a placating smile. “I want this. And considering the work you’ve gone through with your tree powers, I’m thinking the moment is right.”

Heat flares in his eyes, but he doesn’t let go. “You remember the rules?”

“Yes.” I nod quickly. “I’ll jump in the car when the time comes, I promise. It’ll shield me when you um…come undone.”

We both snicker. “Is this weird?” he asks.

“We go to Creepin U. Everyone’s weird” We laugh out loud, our voices bouncing off the barrier of trees. “But Kovi, I trust you. And I want you.” I gradually lean forward and kiss the corner of his mouth. He shivers—why does kissing him always feel like the first time? I kiss the other corner, then lean forward to his ear. “Let me suck you off, please,” I whisper.

That does it. In a blur, we’re a mess of limbs ripping off each other’s clothes. We kiss hungrily, like we might not ever have this again. Soon enough, we’re both down to our boxers. Yeah, I’m just as hard as him, but I bat his hand away when he tries to touch me. He’s already had me…now it’s my turn.

I kiss down his neck and he lies back. I travel down that dark muscled torso, exploring him with my mouth. I lick and suckle each pec, alternating between his left and right nipples. He sighs in delight, and I feel his erection tenting his shorts. When I travel down to his abs, he alternates between gasping and moaning. At long last, I pull down his boxer shorts, and his hard cock springs free. He’s so into this, and he’s fully flesh. So far so good.

I want my boyfriend to feel as amazing as he makes me feel. I want to service him like I’ve never pleasured a man before. As I lean in and place my tongue on his sack, it dawns on me that I’ve never actually savored intimacy with a dude, they were all hurried affairs in the dark. Kovi is the only exception; he makes everything feel right. He fits my life.

And as my tongue trails up those seven inches of towering heat, I want to show Kovi exactly how well we fit.

“May I?” I purr. I kiss the underside of his cock and it quivers in response.

“Fuck,” he whines. “Fuck, I won’t last long…”

“That’s not a no…” I mutter with a grin. I stroke his cock just to make him squirm.

“Okay…do it slowly…” he whispers, eyes clenched tight.

“Do what?” I tease.

“Slowly…” He raises his head and makes eye contact. He’s equal parts hungry and anxious. I lick my lips, desperate to make my man, my monster feel that ecstasy. He’s breathless as he utters the next few words: “Tanner…please, slowly…suck me off.”

I don’t need to be told twice. There, in the woods, surrounded by towers of supernaturally bent trees, I give Kovi the sex he’s been craving. I open wide, pull my teeth back, and take him in. His cock is warm, tasty and pulsing with need. He’s not too thick, but thrumming with a burning virility I’ve never felt before.

Looking up to see the fruits of my labor is a priceless sight. Kovi’s eyes are rolled back. And his hands are gripping the blanket. I want to memorize this beautiful sight. This is the best day ever .

I suck and suck, taking him to the back of my throat. I swallow his saltiness and take a few detours at just the head. His uncut cock is a thing of glory, and I lap up all the precum leaking out. I’m trying to remain cognizant that Kovi could shift at any time, but he’s all man so far. Trying to be vigilant is hard when you’re, well, hard. I’m bricked up in my shorts, but this isn’t about me. So, as my chest pounds with nervousness and arousal, I continue to suck down to the base and back up to the head.

After two minutes of my jaw workout, his burning cock begins to pulse more. I grab the lube without letting him leave my mouth. He tastes so good. Kovi hasn’t said an intelligible word this entire time, so I must be doing something right. I lick up and down, then take him into my throat.

“Tanner…” he mutters. His head thrashes back and forth and I freeze. “Tanner…stop…” he whispers.

Reluctantly, I pull off and promptly place the bottle of lube in this hand. He nods with an urgent look, and I quickly dash off into the car. Once the door is closed, I gaze out the driver’s window to catch my boyfriend going at it. He’s stroking himself off to completion; despite being in the car and two yards away from him, it’s still freaking hot.

The next thing I see is nearly indescribable. I’ve witnessed Kovi shift into his dryad form, that’s nothing unexpected. But where I anticipated him to resemble a statue of wood and thorns, instead, his body expands. As Kovi shouts out in the throes of his orgasm, his body is gone, replaced with an unimaginable tangle of greenery and vines. The branches spread out rapidly, like a wildfire made of flora. The vines reach me and completely engulf the car. I understand now why we planned to have this type of protection. Without my car to shield me, I could have gotten hurt again.

After ten seconds, it’s not quite over. The trees around us quiver, and Kovi’s form changes once more. Now, every branch and vine blooms with gorgeous flowers.

“Woah,” I mutter. Petals of pink, white, yellow, and of course, green, fly out. For sixty seconds, my car is surrounded by a floral wonderland.

Once the budding subsides, his wood form retracts down to the dryad I know. He’s lying there, his wooden eyes closed, and his limbs splayed out, starfish style. I take the opportunity to open the door.

“Kovi?”

“Come here,” he mutters, in a tired, wrecked tone, like he just ran a marathon. He speaks in that deep voice that I’m growing to adore, beckoning me, and I beam. If you told me three months ago that I’d jump into the sheets with a tree monster, I’d say you were delusional.

But now, as I lie on top of his wooden chest—firm, grainy, yet supernaturally soft at the same time—I find peace. I curl up on my dryad and nestle my face into his neck. I take in his piney scent and caress his sexy tree bark chest.

“How was that?” I mutter.

“Good,” he croaks.

I snicker. “The flowers were beautiful.”

He moves his head up, and I do the same. Looking at him, I’ve grown to recognize his wooden face already. He’s Kovi, my monster, my man, and I want him to be everything. “That never happened before,” he says. “You did that.”

I gasp and he smiles, stroking my chin. I crane forward and kiss him. Here amongst the twisting trees, we’ve officially learned to make love our way, and I couldn’t be more content.