Chapter 25

25

KOVI

A chill runs down my spine as I sit on a bench in front of several campus trees, and it has nothing to do with the cold, December air. I tap my toes in nervousness, gazing at the doors of the far-off lecture hall building. If I fixate on them, maybe he’ll show up faster. Everything has to be okay, it has to be…

“I always wondered if you felt pain in the winter.” Niko’s voice breaks me out of my train of thought. He sits next to me holding a stray orange leaf. “With the trees dying for the season, I wondered if you, like, die too. Which is weird now that I say it out loud.” When he wags the leaf, I look up; indeed, the trees above us are mostly barren.

“I’m…fine.”

“You don’t seem fine,” he says, sipping his coffee.

“Well, it has nothing to do with the trees. This is their natural life cycle; the roots are alive, and the leaves will be back. Besides, some trees are evergreen, so there’s that.” I shrug and look back out at the lecture hall—no Tanner in sight.

“Then why are you so jumpy?” he asks, readjusting his cap filled with snakes.

“I’m not jumpy, I’m just…nervous.”

I bite my lip, then pause when he touches my shoulder. “Your boy will be fine,” he says in a calm tone. “He’s been studying with a real dryad all semester. He won’t flunk out, I can promise you.”

I crack a slight grin. “Thanks.”

We sit and wait in silence for another minute. “We’ve got it bad for our humans, huh?” he mutters.

I snicker. “We sure do.” Niko has long since gushed about his romantic adventures this semester.

“With all this hooking up and falling in love, maybe this is the beginning of a new chapter in human-monster relations,” Niko says with a grin.

I smile. “That’s what the dean said.”

“I never thought I’d want to live in a world where humans and monsters copulate,” he mutters.

The doors open in the distance and I sit upright, watching students pour out. “I never thought I’d get the chance to beg that little kid for forgiveness. But here we are.”

“Here you are,” he says just as I catch a glimpse of red in the crowd. When Tanner spots me, his green eyes light up like we haven’t been dating for months. He makes his way across the lawn, and I don’t let him get to me as my feet instinctively propel me forward.

He grabs me in a big hug and spins me around. “I got a B, I got a B…” he chants.

“What?!” I pull off and smile at him as he holds my elbows. “No way.”

“Yup! B on the final means a B in the class.” His voice is filled with unbridled joy. “I’m passing this semester, which means I’m not getting kicked out of college, which means you can’t kick me out of your life yet, babe.”

We both break out in laughter, and then I lean in. I take his mouth and place it on mine —this was going to be the result regardless of his final exam score. “I’m so fucking proud of you,” I murmur against his mouth.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he says between kisses.

“You keep saying that. Tan, you earned this on your own.”

He pulls back and smiles, and I take in his gorgeous face. Despite the red stubble and tenuous eyebrow scar, he looks just like that boy I met in the park over a decade ago. “Well, it certainly helped that I had a very sexy dryad on my side to help me study.”

I giggle and peck his lips while I hold his waist. I never want to be this in love with anyone else. I’m only distracted when Niko and his boyfriend approach.

“You guys headed to Mummy Mocha?” Niko asks, holding hands with his human.

“Yup. Drinks are on me,” Tanner says.

“What?! No I wanted to buy,” I say in protest.

“Let me pay for some coffees,” Tanner insists, dragging me by the arm.

“Aw, you two,” Shonda says, appearing at his side.

“I heard free coffee, I’m in,” Owen remarks. Rachel shoves his shoulder, and gives me a wave. We all laugh, and I’m once again thrilled that Tanner has a crew of human friends.

Soon enough, the seven of us pile into Mummy Mocha. The place is mostly empty, but we’re promptly greeted by my eager best friend. “You passed?” Seth says.

“Well…” Tanner mutters.

“The boyfriend got a B,” I say, ruffling Tanner’s hair, and he squirms with a smile. “He did great.”

“Yes! Thank monster god!”

“You just don’t want to lose your best employee,” Tanner replies. The zombie walks by and grunts. “Err, best human employee.”

“That’s exactly it.” Seth winks. “Drinks are on me.”

“Hey, what? I wanted to buy!” Tanner tries to argue, but Seth wags his finger.

“As manager, I am enacting a pharaoh decree: I’m buying your coffees.” Seth puffs up his chest and saunters off while I laugh.

I sit down at the two tables pushed together where the others are already chatting. While Niko tells Shonda about how his roommate became his boyfriend, I turn to my guy already studying me.

“What?” I ask in a hushed tone.

“Nothing.” He takes my hand and circles my palm. “Just…really glad I passed.”

“I knew you would. I wasn’t worried in the slightest,” I lie.

He snorts. “I wanted to formally thank you for helping me study.”

I kiss his knuckles. “Your love is thanks enough,” I mutter.

“Well…I was thinking as thanks…” His grin turns naughty and he leans in. He purrs in my ear, “We could go into the forest and enact that one fantasy of yours…”

Which fantasy is he…?

Oh.

Oh fuck.

I shiver and look down—my entire lap has turned into my tree form. I grit my teeth and focus, and my lower body morphs back into jeans and sneakers. I thank the monster god no one seemed to notice.

In one sentence, Tanner literally had me sporting wood.

“Um…are you sure?” I mutter.

“After you told me about it the other night, I’ve been kind of…curious.” Tanner’s remark has my cheeks heating up. When I admitted my deep, dark, animalistic fantasy, I didn’t think he’d want to take part in one. The zombie approaches with drinks, so Tanner picks his up and winks at me. “What do you say, babe?”

I smirk and sip my hot coffee. “I say…get your basket ready, red riding hood.”

He nearly spits out his coffee, and the look of shock on his face is priceless. I truly love this man.

I’m floating inside the trunk of one of the bigger trees in the West Woods. From here, my dryad form can commune with most, if not all, of the flora in the immediate vicinity. This is how I know that one human is approaching. Tanner’s footsteps are heavy compared to the typical squirrels, and he’s arrived right on time. No one else comes to this part of the woods anyway, even during the mid-afternoon. Knowing it’s my boyfriend, my love, the man I’ve taken as my mate, has me excited beyond measure. The primal dryad in me wants to intercept anyone who might intrude on the forest, my forest.

And so I do.

I extend only my wooden head and neck from out of the tree bark, high above the ground. I look down and silently watch as my red-headed human casually strolls along holding a basket. He’s wearing a brown fleece jacket over red flannel, and tight blue jeans; he’s like the sexy lumberjack of my fantasies, and right now, I’m his predator.

“Gee, I sure hope I’m safe out here in the woods!” Tanner’s voice travels up, causing some birds to fly off. I grin at his cheeky acting. His feet slow down, and I know he’s not looking up for a reason. He wants me to make the first move, and I’m more than happy to grant him this.

Snapping back into the tree trunk, I compel the surrounding arbor to crane forward and around. Vines and branches interlock, and I’m able to travel through them with ease. I’ve fabricated a dome of wood, thereby trapping Tanner.

“What is…going on?” he asks in a dramatic tone. I can hear his smirk, so I decide to stop teasing. I’m ready to take what’s mine.

I phase out of the tree behind him and reach my arms forward, like I’m trying to catch him off guard. My vines grow outward, and when I reach his shoulders, I spin him around with ease. Now, I have him in my branches, the wood wrapping his shoulders as I tower over him. The overcast December sky is like a glowing halo on his beautiful face. “Human…” I growl. He studies me, eyes filled with surprise. I’m even scaring myself with my aggressive voice. He seems breathless, likely because he’s never seen me inside a wall of trees before.

This might be a mistake.

“Time out,” I say in a calmer tone. I let go of him and continue, “Are we still good?”

He gulps and nods. “Yeah. I was just…startled for a moment. But then I remembered it’s you.”

“Are you sure? Green light?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Because this isn’t fun if—”

“No, no, I’m into it! Green light!” He nods vigorously, but I’m skeptical. He’s had two counseling sessions so far with the school therapist covering his fear of tree monsters. Still, that baggage doesn’t go away overnight, and he’s going to continue the therapy in the coming year. “Time in!” he chirps with a thumbs up.

“Okay, but you tell me if this role play stuff is getting weird,” I reply.

“Well…” His eyes fill with heat, and he steps forward. “Is it weird, Mr. Tree Monster, to say I’m…kind of turned on?”

I grin. “Oh?” I wrap my branch arms around him.

“Yes. You’re so big…with your branches…” He trails one finger along my wood, and I shiver in response. “You could have your way with little ole me…”

His voice has me weak, but when he continues to stroke up and down my vines and branches, I shudder. Each caress sends jolts of supernatural arousal down to each of my roots and up to the leaves on my head. No one has ever turned me on this much. “I am, after all, a human who got lost in your words,” he purrs.

I shut my eyes and try not to burst at the thought. Tanner already has me on edge, and this was so not part of my plan. I sense his body heat get closer. Then, he places his lips near mine. “Take me, dryad,” he whispers.

That primal instinct reawakens. I open my eyes and fully emerge from the tree. He looks up and drops his basket, and I grin. Reaching down, I lift him up under his shoulders, spin him around, and then pin him against the massive trunk. Without a moment to breathe, I summon vines to bind his arms up. He gasps and struggles, and seeing that only makes me command the plants to increase their hold.

He’s my prisoner now.

I move forward, crowding his space, then take in his scent. His delicious aroma is masculine and musky, so different than the forest surrounding us. As he struggles, I move my vine hands forward, and in ten seconds flat, I undo the buttons of his shirt. His pristine chest is exposed now, and it thrills me to no end. When I kiss between his pecs, he shivers. Then, I move to suck on his right nipple and tweak the left, rendering him a squirming, gasping mess.

I want so many things with Tanner right now. I want to edge him until he’s delirious. I want to suck him and fuck him all at once. I want to wrap him up in vines and cocoon him forever. Okay, maybe that last fantasy is harmful, but I’d love to try the other two.

But no, tonight we had a plan, and kink is all about sticking to what you agree on. I reach down for his basket. “My oh my, pretty human, what do you have here?”

When I pull out the contents, he opens his eyes. “That’s mine, Mr. Tree Monster.”

I hold it up to him in my wooden hand, and he smirks. In my branches is a tiny bottle of lube and a hefty, silicone, self-pleasure toy, a cock sleeve. Today, however, I’m going to use it on him. My human. My mate .

“I’d like to use it…” I ask with a grin.

“What? You’re going to undo my pants and have your way with me until I scream?” he asks, breathlessly.

“No one can hear you out here…” I growl. I smirk and spread my vines until they deftly undo his pants. Before I pull down his boxers to expose his obvious hard-on, I look at him again.

“Green light,” he whispers with a smile. He’s all tied up and consenting to be my sex prisoner. This is the best day ever.

I yank his pants down and his hard cock bounces up. Like a kid in a candy store, I can’t help myself—I lean forward and kiss his hardness. He sighs in delight. Then, the next move surprises even me. I morph my tree hand into budding leaves and make it circular, almost like a wreath.

Then, I proceed to gently, lovingly, stroke him off with it. The feeling should be feather-light, teasing almost, and no wood or splinters are anywhere near him. My leaves feel the pulse of his cock, and I increase the pressure, then loosen up. I jerk slowly, speed up, then slow down. This has the effect of making Tanner almost hyperventilate. Glorious .

“Fuh… fuuhhh …wow…” he rasps.

“You like?” I ask in the deepest tone I can muster.

“Yes…yes, Mr. Tree Monster.”

I titter and reach into the basket—bingo. “You’ll like this more.” I take out the bottle of lube and drench his dick with it. Then, I take the sex toy and tease just the cockhead with it.

“How is this…human?”

“More,” he whimpers. He struggles against my vines, but I have him at my mercy. It’s all so hot. And it’s gotten me impatient for the main event.

I jerk him off with the plastic sleeve. I take it down with ease, then back up. The slick sounds fill our little dome of wood. We’re the only two beings on the planet.

“Oh…oh… oooh …oh yes.” His whining sounds of pleasure are music to my ears.

“You like this, human?”

“Yes,” he mutters, eyes shut.

“You can’t fight my vines, can you, human?”

He struggles against my plants as I jerk him off. “No,” he whimpers.

I grin and, on instinct, stroke his lips with my free hand. Without stopping my rhythm below, I command, “Open up, human.”

He doesn’t hesitate. When his lips part, I run my branch fingers along his mouth. Then his tongue teases them, and I thrum with pleasure. When he sucks one into his mouth, I nearly lose my mind.

The tree dome around us quivers. Tanner is getting me close. No one’s ever sucked me in this form before. He continues to run his tongue along my branch, sending waves of pleasure throughout my roots. All the while, I increase my speed down below. I jerk. He licks. I jerk faster. He suckles me. It’s ecstasy.

“Fuck, Tanner…I mean…human.” I groan and he grins as he kisses my bark.

“Please, Mr. Dryad.” He grins at me coyly while taking my branches in and out of his perfect lips.

“What?”

He licks up and down my branches. He swirls his tongue around, sending shudders down my dark trunk spine. “Please, let me…please…jerk me faster.”

“ Yesss …” I hiss. I pick up the pace, and Tanner’s face gets redder. He grits his teeth, his eyes are shut, and I feel the tremors all over. A vein bulges on his neck, and I know he’s right there.

I stroke his nipple with my free hand and say, “You give me much pleasure, human. Now come for me.”

With a strangled cry, it happens. I feel Tanner’s whole body convulse and his hips thrust forward. My boyfriend shoots into the cock sleeve, and the connection I have with him in this moment puts me in ecstasy. I stroke and stroke, thankful that this sex toy has a reservoir-tipped end. He fills the clear plastic toy with semen, and I grin in delight. Seeing him orgasm, feeling his body quake with pleasure, and knowing I pulled it from him has my inner dryad going wild. Then, something incredible happens, and sparks fly through my very soul. I become one with the forest at large. Every leaf and root in a one-mile radius suddenly connects to me with paranormal energy, and I transcend to another level of existence.

My tree dome blooms. In the dead of winter, I’ve brought back to life the forest. Flowers burst, falling down from the sky. It’s like an orgasm, but…different. The ecstasy is there, but it’s a float into euphoria, not a fall off a cliff like usual. But it’s equally satisfying, and I can’t describe it in human terms. I don’t shake or lose control.

I just…exist. In pure bliss.

I eventually let go of Tanner, and when his arms come down, he looks up. “Wow,” he mutters, rubbing his shoulders.

“I know.”

“You didn’t have to do all that,” he says with a smile.

“I didn’t.” I wave my branches around and allow the trees to return to their prior state. The bloom is over, and we’re once again surrounded by mostly barren canopies. Then, I shift down to human form, in my jeans and green hoodie. “You did it. You brought me to orgasm.”

He snickers and tucks himself into his pants. “Hardly. I think you did that to me.”

“No, I’m serious, Tan.” Once he’s dressed, I lean in and hold his elbows. “It was…something else. I didn’t…shoot like I usually do, but it felt so…raw. Free-ing. A dryad orgasm. You did that.”

“You’re the one who had your way with me, Mr. Big-Scary-Tree-Monster.” We chuckle and I catch his lips with mine.

“But feeling you in that moment…brought me closer to the forest.” I lean my forehead onto his. “Making love with you is…so much more than the human or dryad in me can comprehend. So thank you.”

“For what?”

“For letting me explore this. For giving me a second chance. For loving me.”

“We were always meant to be here, Kove. Ever since we were little, up until this moment.”

We seal our love with another kiss and the forest shakes around us. I love this man with my whole heart, and nothing in the future will uproot what we’ve been growing all these years.