27. Eldrin

Chapter twenty-seven

Eldrin

W e walked in silence for another hour or so, her decision stifling any desire to speak.

Amber was going to die. She was going to die. She was—

I had to stop thinking like that. It wasn’t going to do either of us any good.

Maybe she was right—legends and myths came from somewhere. Something had to have spawned it. Maybe the veinwart were creatures whose venom warred with each other, one in effect negating the other. The story did seem to indicate that. Though, another one of our legends was about a wolf who expelled diamonds with each cough, so it wasn’t as if all of them were logical.

Amber had seized on this idea, her excitement adding a little more energy to her steps. She was right—this was her decision. And I respected the fact that the alternative was likely a matter of whether the poison or Vanir would kill her first.

Moreover, with this plan, there was hope, as fragile as it was. The Darkening Woods had many mysteries, and it was entirely possible that the secret to the veinwart’s venom lay within the creatures themselves.

Or maybe this was all merely a wish and I was going to watch her die. The legend involved an elf who survived, after all, and Amber was very human.

In the meantime, I had to worry about getting us to the veinwarts’ den in the first place. Amber and I were in a part of the Woods where there were thick trees that could have easily held a human home in its trunk, with branches that reached desperately for the sun. The leaves were as large as our faces, golden and resplendent in the light. I took a deep breath. This was home. Home. Even if we never managed to make it back to our world, at least we elves had this here. We would never be without a piece of the Woods. No matter that I could not live without the Woods, I didn’t want to. I needed the Woods, and there was no other place I could envision being as content. It wasn’t surprising I felt this way—the Woods and I were bound together, after all. But at the same time, being here without Amber was a life I did not want, and it was far too likely that would be my fate.

And then, right when Amber started to softly hum a gentle tune, the air shifted, becoming heavy. The trees’ song stopped for a few heartbeats before resuming, something that would have been easy to miss if I wasn’t paying attention. But I was. And thus, I knew what we had to do.

“Amber,” I whispered, turning to her, “reach around my neck, and hold on.”

She stopped humming immediately. “What? What is it?” she whispered.

I faced away from her and knelt down. “There’s someone coming. Reach on to me, hold on, and do not scream.”

She did so without protest, her thin arms latching around my neck while her slender legs gripped my waist. It would do.

I stood, and jumped. First, I leaped from a boulder to a log, and then reached and grabbed onto a low branch, pulling us up. Upward and upward I went, carrying us both as high as I could go without causing the branches to shake, until I found a spot in the wide boughs that could hide us.

“Here,” I whispered, setting her down against the trunk. She let go, stepping backward and gripping the trunk, the rough bark giving her fingers a solid hold. She had done well. She had only made a little gasp when I jumped, and even now she silently stared at me, eyes wide. Any questions remained unasked. I nodded my head and moved next to her, holding her against me.

“Where?” she mouthed. I pointed below.

Her brow wrinkled. She couldn’t hear anything. I barely could. It was two elves, younger men, judging by their steps. Were they Vanir’s men? Unlikely. They could’ve just lived nearby and were hunting. Or they may have heard that we had disappeared and thought they’d find us on their own, desperate to earn favor from the king. It was entirely possible that Vanir offered a generous reward for our return.

Suddenly, Amber froze and gripped my hand harder. She heard them. She closed her eyes, leaning against me, and I held her. I would protect her from anything.

Would they think to look up here? I cursed under my breath. I could easily kill two of them, but their disappearance would alert others to this area when they didn’t return. I also didn’t want to commit murder, not for Vanir. Not when these elves could have just been pursuing their own affairs and had no interest in us. I would have to wait and see what happened.

They came closer, their steps becoming louder, their voices clearly carrying up to us. Hunters. They were merely hunters who were successful and talking about their quarry. Nothing about Vanir, or me, or any humans. Just hunters.

I relaxed, but made no move to leave the tree. Just because they weren’t looking for us didn’t mean they wouldn’t betray us. And if they did stay silent, I couldn’t ask them to risk Vanir’s wrath if he suspected what they did.

“It’s alright,” I whispered in Amber’s ear. “We’re safe. We’re just going to wait.” She nodded and kissed me on the cheek and I adjusted my grip so that my arms enveloped her completely. It was only the fact that our lives were at risk that kept me from giving into the urges that rose with her so close to me. Her scent. The form of her body against mine. The caress from her hand. I had to pay attention and keep my mind clear, lest we lose everything.

It was an hour before I trusted that it was safe to leave the branches, dropping us to the ground with the lightest sound. The elves’ tracks led away from us, and hopefully, since they had their prey, they wouldn’t return.

Once on the ground, Amber and I looked at each other, at a loss for words. She gave me another nod, her expression serious compared to the mirth she had expressed so recently. She seemed to understand—for all that the forest was peaceful, safety was fleeting.

And there was no guarantee we would be so fortunate next time.

A s the day and then the evening after our brush with the hunters wore on and the sun faded, my fear of being discovered mellowed, and once again I was left alone with my fear for Amber. Amber and her foolish plan.

I wasn’t about to lose Amber to this . Vanir was a cruel enough fate, but the veinwart? Would it be a second, self-inflicted bite that killed her?

She turned back to look at me as she strode along the path, giving me her signature smirk. “Stop frowning,” she said.

“I’m not.”

“The trees are perkier than you.”

I smiled, despite myself. “I am ‘perky.’”

She cackled, stifling her laugh with her hand. “No. Sorry, Eldrin. But that is not true.”

We bantered back and forth for some time, her prodding letting me forget that she would be taken from me, one way or another.

Her idea had to be the solution. It had to be. The second bite would cure her, because I could not imagine her dead. For all that I lived surrounded by death, the idea of Amber reduced to nothing but a skeleton grated at my being, for more reasons than there were leaves on a tree. She was so vibrant and alive—she deserved the long lives of us elves, not to be reduced to dust and then forgotten. Elves remembered their dead, and even used their bones to build our homes out of respect, but as a human, Amber wouldn’t be given such treatment. Vanir would likely leave her in the forest, exposed. Or burned.

She was the ember to my life, the one who brought me back to myself, the one who changed everything. There was no life that I wanted without her.

It twisted my soul more that even if this plan with the veinwart did work, I would still lose her. Once she was cured and free to leave, I would lose Amber forever. I could not ask or expect her to stay, not with Vanir desperate for revenge. Not with me, an overthrown heir who was just now finding the courage to consider taking back what was his. A life with me, in the Woods, would be nothing at all but a dance between danger and ruin.

But I refused to think of such things as I watched her sway along the path, her filthy frayed dress hugging her curves. She was like a little nymph, darting between the trees she called her companions, with no concerns other than those of nature itself. Even now, it was hard to take my eyes off her—every single part of me was drawn to her as a moth to the fire, and I would relish being consumed.

And then the rains started.

The calm fall evening was gone and a torrential downpour flowed over us, dousing us within seconds.

“What is happening?” Amber called out, her voice smothered by the rain slapping the leaves and ground. Her red hair was already plastered against her face, the dress pushing against her curves even more tantalizingly. “This isn’t supposed to happen. What sort of fall has rains like this ?”

“This is a blessing,” I said.

“Why?” She wiped her face. “Because we don’t need to shower?”

I grinned as she pushed soaking strands of hair behind her curved ears. By this point I knew well the jests she made, the tone that meant she wasn’t serious. “The rains are the best thing we could’ve asked for,” I explained. “It will make it harder for Vanir to find our trail.” I never stopped listening for him. Never stopped waiting for the whispers that announced that another elf was nearby. But we were still somewhat safe. We had time. And not even Vanir’s men would dare to hunt for us in this rain. It would be futile.

“I still don’t understand how this can be happening,” Amber said, shaking her head and blinking hard. “This is beyond rain.”

“It happens, sometimes,” I said. “The Woods has its moods.”

“Yes.” She looked up at the darkened sky once more. “I can see that.” Her arms were now wrapped around herself, rubbing her upper arms. The cold caused little bumps to form on her skin. She needed warmth, soon.

“Come,” I said. “Let’s find a place that is more sheltered.” With my hand on her lower back, tracing gentle lines up and down her spine, I guided Amber off the trail. I knew these trees, I knew how they grew, and as I suspected, there was a place not far away where the trees grew thicker, a little grove where the branches almost blocked the elements, covering us like a little open-sided hut. Here the light was dim, with the same branches blocking the rain also blocking out what little light we had. The floor of our shelter was covered with ferns and soft grasses. It wasn’t the most glorious bed, but it would do for a night. And it was relatively dry.

Now out of the rain, she wiped her face and eyes again and wrung out her hair, taking the chance to be free from the onslaught of water. “Here.” I took off my robe and passed it to her, holding it above her and shielding her from what was left of the rain. The scent of pine needles filled the air around us, and the falling water was now merely light drops—a minor inconvenience compared to the deluge.

“This isn’t what I expected. I didn’t know it could rain like this here. I’m sorry, but I’m still surprised.” Amber chuckled, leaning against me after we sat on the grass. She had taken my robe and had wrapped it around her like a cloak, but she huddled in front of me, her wet bare skin on mine. She shivered and I pressed against her, desperate to share my warmth. Her breasts made contact with my chest, and I resisted the urges that were budding in me anew. Though I wouldn’t be able to hold back forever.

“It isn’t common,” I admitted, trying not to focus on how her hand was moving across my stomach, dancing in slow circles. I hardened already, thinking of what it would feel like if her hands drifted lower. “But as I said, this is good. It will obscure our trail, and wash away any scent.”

“And he won’t guess where we are going?”

“I doubt it,” I said. “He likely expects us to go to one of the settlements and find someone willing to help. Maybe contact one of my allies.”

“Like we were originally going to.”

“Yes.”

We listened to the rain falling. Vanir was no doubt hunting the woods for us, but he very likely didn’t feel the need to hunt too hard. All he had to do was order that the border be watched, and bribe informants in the settlements. He probably assumed we’d need to go there eventually, for supplies and a cure. I cursed to myself. Maybe Amber was right—her idea was foolish, but the alternative could have easily led to Vanir’s trap. Who was I attempting to fool? Vanir certainly had at least one trap set for us, and likely more.

“And in the meantime,” Amber said coyly, “we get that free shower. And it gives me a chance to be next to you.” Amber looked up at me and my heart stopped. Her green eyes with flecks of yellow met my own, like she carried the forest itself within her. An arched eyebrow was raised, a question. A promise. Her plump lips fell open, just a little, as her hand worked its way over my stomach to the front of my breeches. Where she would find that I was already far ahead of her in that regard.

“Can I?” She paused over me, her hand warming my cock through the fabric. There was a strange tone in her voice, deep and broken. Yearning.

“Yes,” I managed to say. Whatever she wanted, she was more than welcome to it.

She dropped my robe on the ground, careful to avoid the mud. And then she turned her attention to me. Slowly, she untied the top laces of my breeches and pulled both them and the inner garments down, letting me free. The cool air hit me, a blatant contrast to the warmth of her hands, and the hot heat that I knew she had waiting for me .

Thinking of making it easier for her to touch me, I stood and gripped a couple branches that were nearby. I had to hold something—anything. Even the mere thought of what could be coming making me unbalanced. She stared at my cock, eyes wide, and wrapped one of her perfect hands around it, stroking me gently. I braced myself against the branches, gripping them harder—and then almost snapping them when she opened her mouth and took me inside.

Fuck.

I closed my eyes and saw lights. Her wet mouth consumed me, the poignant heat overwhelming everything. Her greedy tongue flicked around the tip, her mouth sucking, and she made this sweet little groan when she tasted me. Her other hand cupped me, rolling me expertly between her fingers as she took me to the root, her throat flexing around my crown. I bit back a groan as she took me deeper, the head of my cock hitting the back of her throat. My thighs flexed involuntarily as she swallowed around me, and I worked my hand into her hair to pull her back—but she flicked her eyes up at me and gave me an insouciant wink. “Is this alright?” she asked, slowly rubbing me in a steady rhythm that gripped me extra tight.

“Yes.” I said, and she smiled at the croak in my voice.

Alright? I was dancing on the edges of oblivion. Every time I dared to look at her, her mouth locked around me and devouring me, I almost lost control .

Yet I couldn’t stop looking at her. She was kneeling before me, focused on her task while her breasts heaved as she moved. That perfect mouth was so wonderfully tight. Her delicate hand was wrapped around my shaft, working me so hard in conjunction with her tongue. It was a sweet rhythm that was pulling me to release far too soon.

I couldn’t have that.

Somehow, I found the strength to gently move her away, hissing at the cold air hitting my wet member after the warmth of her. I bent down to kiss her and whispered, “You’re next.”

A look of surprise crossed over her as I suddenly helped her up and braced her, both of us now standing, against a tree trunk, near where I had been mere moments before. She gripped the jutting branches, as I had done, while I worked my hand under her dress and pushed aside her undergarments, exposing her.

“You’re ready,” I said, unable to keep the pleasure from my voice at the slick sweetness I found.

She moaned in agreement, spreading her legs further apart to let me inside. I delved one finger into her, and then another, so that when I was done she was standing and yet resting much of her weight on my hand. I moved in and out, twisting and exploring, then she helped me pleasure her by pushing down and grinding against me. Her sweet arousal washed over me, begging for more. I added another finger.

“Eldrin— ”

“Yes?” I did not stop moving, not while she firmly thrashed on me, taking what she needed.

“I cannot—it’s too…” Her protests turned into fresh moans that send a fresh ache of desire through me. I had to be inside her. Soon.

She leaned against me while I attended her, my cock pressed against her thigh, her perfect heat and wetness coating my fingers. Her brilliant hair surrounded her like a halo, the perfect goddess she was, taking everything I could give her. I was in no rush. If she wanted to take an eternity spending herself on my hand, I would let her. In fact, I could think of no better way to use the time.

“Eldrin,” she said, breathless. “I want you. Now.”

“You have me,” I teased.

“Not. Like. That.”

“Oh? You mean like this?” I worked my smaller finger around, clumsily flicking her little nub, her resulting cries telling me both that she loved it, and that she was ready for something else entirely.

“Or do you mean like this?” I adjusted her and moved her a few steps to the side, where her back could comfortably rest against the branches. I knelt down before her, much like she did for me. But this was her turn.

Slowly, I lifted her skirts, and she took them in hand, giving me full access to her. She was perfect—swollen, inviting me to touch. To taste. A perfect feast. I licked her, and was rewarded with a shiver that worked down her body. Careful to only touch that part of her with my hand of flesh, I spread her lips and sucked on that nub that was practically begging me to taste it. My mouth filled with her. I sighed. I’d consume all of her if I could, take her into me and never let her go. She was sweet, a taste that was uniquely her, a scent that I would recognize anywhere. My mouth devoured her, sucking and flicking on every part of her in turn, while I plunged the two fingers back into her.

“Fuck. Eldrin.” She squirmed.

I smiled, my mouth not leaving her. Instead, I moved my fingers harder. Her legs spread even more, her one hand desperately bracing herself behind her while the other held up her skirts for me.

“Fuck, Eldrin,” she cried out and shivered, clenching rhythmically around me as her release took over her.

She was a goddess, and she was mine.

When she was done pulsating, I took out my fingers and leaned back. That would do. For now.

Seemingly exhausted, she crouched over, heavy breaths shaking her body. Sweet satisfaction worked its way through me, almost better than the pleasure she herself had given me earlier. Now she could claim to be utterly spent. Now she was ready for me.

Gently, I helped her to the ground and bent her over, moving her so that her knees were spread apart for balance, her elbows bracing herself. Anticipating what I had in mind, she moved up her skirt and presented herself for me. Her perfect, swollen self.

I couldn’t wait any longer.

I spit on my hand and moistened my cock, hovering it at her entrance before I slammed into her in one swift movement. She cried out, her nails digging into the ground as her ass jutted into me. Her tight heat wrapped around me, urging me deeper into her, promising exquisite relief, if only I would seize it. And I would. Harder. Faster. I gripped her hips, my fingers digging into her flesh as firmly as I dared, working her and watching as she moved over my shaft, meeting my thrusts, pushing me ever harder. She was pushing me to take her, challenging me to see how hard I could go. I would never hurt her—never—but she triggered a primal part of me, one that was content to meet that challenge, to take it and give her everything that she wanted, and more.

Amber…

I had never known an experience like this, a wholeness, the sense that I was now complete. Before I had nothing. I wanted nothing. I was nothing. But she changed everything. The woman underneath me, sighing and gyrating, was the missing note of my song. And I would do anything— anything —to keep her safe.

“Eldrin,” she moaned. “You’re…you’re…” My name was repeated like a prayer as she lost herself in me for the second time. The pulses of her release gripped me tighter, and with an animalistic urge she took control, working herself over me.

“Amber,” I said softly, closing my eyes to focus on nothing but the sensation of her.

“I want to feel you,” she said. “Claim me.”

She was going to be my downfall.

Moments later I spilled into her in heady waves. I shuddered, lost. She heaved underneath me, damp from the falling rain, the skin of her ass red from where we collided.

“Did I hurt you?” I asked once I could speak, running a finger over a red mark on her hip.

“No.” She turned her head back and smiled, and then moved, making me spill out of her and face the cold once more. Already, I couldn’t wait for the next time I’d have that sweet slit around me. “It was perfect.”

“Good.” I took her onto my lap, where I sat on the ground, cross-legged. Her hot skin pressed against mine, her steady breaths comforting. My arms wrapped around her in a gentle embrace. She didn’t care about my skeleton arm, which was clutched against her flesh. She treated it as every other part of me. As one, our breaths mellowed, and we sought each other’s warmth against the cold damp of the coming night.

As if she read my mind, she moved and looked at my hand, the white bones stark against her pink skin. “What does it feel like? I mean, can you feel?”

“Yes,” I said. “The sensations are there, but it doesn’t feel pain the same way. It takes far longer to burn. And it can be severed, though smaller cuts are difficult to accomplish. It is bone—very strong bone—but not iron.”

“Can I…touch it?”

“Of course.”

Gingerly, she adjusted herself so that her back was flush against my chest, and traced a line along the bones. Her mouth dropped open in wonder as she explored. From the bones that made up my hand, to my forearm, to where they merged with flesh near the elbow, the transition as seamless as a dagger plunging into a sheath.

“It’s cold,” she announced.

“Probably for the best, don’t you agree?”

She laughed. “Very good point.” The laughter died down and she moved her hand so that she took my skeleton hand in her own, our fingers entwined. I reciprocated, meeting her live flesh with my grip. My breath caught, lost in the radiance of her life against the death magic that made up mine.

She accepted me. All of me.

“I’m glad I met you, Eldrin,” she said gently. “Whatever happens. Know that I don’t regret meeting you.”

My heart ached. Her beautiful words soothed any doubt I had left, not that there was much at all. “I could never regret you, Amber, never,” I said, planting a kiss in that beautiful hair.