14. Chapter 14

14

Chapter 14

A s Dahlia sat with Ilex buried deep inside her, she felt like she had come home. Their foreheads rested against each other, and she was completely lost in their embrace.

"Dahlia," her name was almost a prayer on Ilex's lips. They were both breathless in the aftermath of their joining—Dahlia didn't know what to say. She worried if she let herself speak, she would confess her heart's sudden, jolting thought: that she wanted to stay with Ilex. She thought she might grow to love them. It wasn't possible, though, was it? They had known each other for only a few days.

Instead, she held her tongue and wrapped her arms around Ilex, pulling them into a hug. They hugged her back, and they stayed like that, tangled up in each other for long minutes before she felt Ilex's cock receding into their slit. She immediately missed the feel of it inside her.

"Let me get something to clean us up, songbird," they said softly.

She nodded as Ilex stood, but they paused just as they were turning away from her.

"Actually, how does a bath sound?" They asked.

"Oh, a bath sounds incredible," Dahlia said, her voice a bit husky from all her moaning. Ilex smiled at her then, and her whole world shifted to center around them. They bent and scooped her up in their arms and strode gracefully out of the cottage into the late afternoon light.

Dahlia snuggled close to them as they carried her through the woods until they came upon a rocky outcrop with the most lovely pool of steaming water nestled at its center—a hot spring.

Ilex didn't set her down but instead strode straight into the hot water, lowering them both gently until Dahlia was submerged up to her shoulders. She couldn't help the moan that escaped her lips at the delicious heat.

She looked up at Ilex to find their eyes fixed on her mouth. She blushed, blaming it mentally on the hot water. She was in so much trouble over this Dryad. She still wanted to go to the celebration in Ichorna, but suddenly, everything else in her life seemed so cold compared to how she felt when she was with Ilex. She wondered what her life would look like if she didn't go back to Daosbor.

"This little spring is one of the many marvels the forest reveals if you know where to look," Ilex said.

"It's beautiful here. Have you always lived in this part of the woods?"

"No, I left my family a long time ago, but I spent my early years in the northern part of Wellsah. There aren't many other Dryads here in the south," Ilex answered without the tinge of sadness she would have expected as they described their departure from their family.

"And the humans aren't very kind to you, clearly," Dahlia said, anger coloring her tone at her memory of the bandits.

"No, they…well, they just aren't all that comfortable with the other types of beings around, I think. It's easier to stay out of the way."

"It isn't right, though, Ilex. You are just as much a part of this world as humans are. Why should you have to hide?" Dahlia asked, her indignation on Ilex's behalf getting the best of her. She didn't understand—it felt so wrong that Ilex wouldn't be able to go wherever and do whatever they wanted without fear of violence.

"Domhan na Rùin hasn't been my world since before I was born, songbird. We've been living away from the human cities for five hundred years," they said gently, cupping her cheek.

"But if it were possible—if you didn't have to be worried, where would you go?" She asked. She had always been a bit of a dreamer; she loved imagining and planning and wanting .

Ilex remained silent for a long moment, considering. "If you had asked me even a week ago, I think I would have told you I'd stay right here. But now," they trailed off, turning to look out into the forest around them.

"Now?" Dahlia prompted.

"Now, I think I should like to go wherever you go, little songbird. I know we will keep each other safe."

Tears sprung to Dahlia's eyes, unbidden. "Ilex," her voice broke on their name.

"I know we've only known each other a few days, but amongst the Dryads, when we meet our life partner, we call it The Knowing. It's a feeling deep in your soul that something is right, a sense of peace and surety when you're around them. We don't have mates, but we take life partnerships quite seriously, and we honor our intuition. I knew from the moment we first spoke that you were someone special. I have always wanted to be alone, but I find now that I only want to be wherever you are."

Ilex's words filled Dahlia's heart to the brim; the feeling they described, the intuitive sense of rightness, had settled in her sternum as well. What did she have to lose in pulling on this loose thread fate was offering her?

"Ilex, thank you for being so open with me. It feels impossible, but I feel so safe and happy with you—I'd like to try," she said, and she felt a tear escape and trace down her face. Ilex's long green lashes brushed their cheek as they blinked, and their lips pulled up into a gentle smile.

"Do not cry, songbird. We have so many possibilities before us," they said softly.

"I'm just so surprised and so happy; I left home meaning to see the world—I never dreamed I'd find someone like you. I didn't think anyone could want to spend time with me or truly enjoy my company," she said, embarrassed to admit her insecurities.

"Well, I am not sorry one bit to prove you wrong. I love spending time with you."

Dahlia laughed then, and it felt like the sun breaking over the horizon at dawn deep in her soul. Ilex laughed too, the sound sonorous and rich, and Dahlia knew she would never get enough of it.