I reminded myself to trust him and that it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t give me confirmation. With everything that happened thus far, I knew nothing was logical and everything was now shades of gray.
Smiling at him, I thanked him for being honest with me as I helped to bandage his foot. He was lucky and only ended up with one small cut. “How did you manage to avoid getting cut?” I questioned teasingly.
“I’m used to hiking in this environment. I guess I’ve grown calluses on my feet,” he teased right back. “How about we get a move on? We still have quite a way to go.”
“Definitely. I want to get as far away from that crazy man as possible,” I agreed, and we lifted our packs before setting off through the woods. I appreciated that he spoke of art and history to keep my mind off the experiences that had me close to becoming a crying mess. It was as if he could read my mind, and I enjoyed the easy conversation as we moved through the dense forest.
I was surprised when I heard the sound of water, a small trickle that I shouldn’t have been able to hear. “Klaus, do you hear that water?” I asked excitedly, knowing that there was a spring close by, and I could wash off the dirt and sweat from our travels.
He tilted his head and furrowed his brow. “No, I don’t hear it. But if you do, trust your senses to find it.”
What an odd statement, I thought to myself, but I concentrated on the sound and felt a strange tug that emanated from deep in my body. I couldn’t even place where it came from. It was something that showed me the way, drew me to the water that I just knew was near.
We approached the small stream, a trickle no more than ten centimeters across. Klaus was so excited that he picked me up off my feet and kissed me with a loud smack. “You did it! I knew you could.”
I beamed at him, “I guess my hearing has gotten better being in the wild. I can thank you for getting me out here and reminding me of my skills that my parents taught me.” It made no sense for me to mention the strange sensation that led me to the water. He wouldn’t be able to explain it, anyway.
I think he knew, but chose not to say anything as we stripped our dirty clothes off and used the water to wash away the filth. Though it was a small stream, we used our canteens to scoop the water up and bathe with it. Once we were done, we rinsed our clothes as best we could. It was getting late and we would be making camp again soon anyway where we could hang them up to dry by the fire.
“Can you just hike naked the rest of the way?” I asked, as I admired his firm ass as he bent over to pull out another set of clothes. His knowing smirk made the heat pool between my legs and I couldn’t wait to get our tent set up.
“I think that is an excellent idea,” he winked. “We should spend the rest of our travels without any clothes on. What’s a few scratches when I could watch your breasts bounce as you walk.”
“Totally worth it,” I replied jokingly. I sighed and reluctantly put my clothes back on. It was freeing to be naked in nature, but I knew we needed some form of protection from the thick brush that dotted the land.
“Don’t worry, love. When we find a site for the night, all those clothes are coming off and not going back on until we set off again.”
.
I was petrified by what happened with King Nix and Lorelei. I thought for sure that I would lose her to him. He would have drowned her before admitting that she was no longer one of them. I don’t know how he made it so quickly to us and I feared that we wouldn’t be safe when we crossed again on the way back. I could only hope that the coven would help us with more than just breaking the curse, if they could do that at all.
Concern filled me at the fact that I didn’t remember crossing a river in the past trip to the coven and I wondered if we were on the right path. Granted, this was a different way than I took previously, but I really didn’t know much except the general direction. The sight of the river caused more fear than just the King. I worried that I’d led Lorelei on a journey to be lost in the seemingly never-ending dark forest of Germany.
I went through the map in my head again as we looked for a place to set up camp. It was a straight shot from the inn, and I knew we kept on the direction needed. As long as we didn’t miss it by too far, we would be fine. The boundaries of the coven’s large territory were spelled to alert them to the presence of those not in their ranks. As long as we were close, someone would get us and lead us to the High Priestess.
Worrying wasn’t doing me any good and I shook away the thoughts and the worry so that I could just enjoy my time alone with Lorelei. More than anything, I needed to assure myself that she was safe and sound, and make every moment we had together count.
I stopped as I spotted a decent area that would give us enough room to spread out our camp, and a small amount of protection from the large bears that roamed the forest. So far, we had been lucky not to run into any, but I knew it was only a matter of time.
It was as if this spot had been made for people to stay, the ring of trunks close enough together to stop any large bears from fitting through, yet the limbs of the trees were high enough that there was no chance of a small fire reaching the high branches. The oval shaped space was cleared of any brush and I could see many broken off branches that would make perfect kindling for our fire without me having to search. The space was moss covered which would provide nice cushioning. It would do nicely for the night.
I stopped and bumped into Lorelei’s shoulder as I pointed, “I think that will do nicely for our naked campsite.”
She threw her head back and laughed, “I give you credit for your ability to find the perfect spot for us.” She grinned at me before taking off, as she called over her shoulder, “First one naked gets their pick of activities.”
I didn’t hesitate to run after her, ignoring the burning in my legs as I easily caught up and overtook her. I squeezed through the trunks and dropped my pack as she got stuck between them. I laughed as she realized that she needed to take off her own pack to fit. Pulling off my boots, I fell over as I struggled to yank one off. In my haste to be the first, I didn’t unlace it well enough. I landed with an oomph and Lorelei laughed at me as she stripped her shirt off and dropped it on the ground.
My own clothes were forgotten as I watched her with longing and fascination. “You play dirty,” I growled at her. “I love it.” I laid on my side and watched her as she put on a show for me, slipping her pants down slowly as she turned and bent over to give me a perfect view of her ass and her glistening pussy.
I couldn’t help myself and as she was busy unlacing her boots, I quietly crawled up behind her and nibbled on her cheek. She jumped and fell over, the soft moss cushioning her fall. “You jerk,” her laughter softened her harsh words.
I didn’t care that she laid on the ground with her pants still stuck in her boots, or that my own were still on. All I could see was the goddess before me, and I crawled to her before taking her mouth in mine. I kissed her with a ferocity that had my cock hard in an instant, as her soft lips against my own sent tingles down to my sac. I needed her more than air and I couldn’t wait any longer to take her.
Her nails dug into my back as she deepened our kiss as she tried to pull me on top of her. “We need to get rid of the rest of these clothes,” I chuckled.
“It would be more convenient not to have to wear clothes anymore,” she reminded me, before sitting up to take her boots and pants off the rest of the way. I got rid of mine and threw them to the side, not caring where they landed. She was already lying back waiting for me. I watched her chest rise and fall before I climbed on top of her and peppered kisses on the corners of her mouth and down her neck.
As much as I wanted to go slowly and give her every moment of pleasure she deserved, Lorelei had other ideas. She pushed her hips up and begged me to enter her. I couldn’t resist her pleas with my already throbbing need. I slid into her easily, she was so wet and ready for me, and didn’t go slow. We both needed this hard and fast, our desperation for each other almost burst
ing.
The moans that escaped her as she met my fast pace had me ready to come so fast that I had to slow down. Lorelei pushed my body off hers, nudging me to roll over before she straddled me. Her expression was one of ecstasy as she rode my cock hard. Gripping her ass, I begged her to slow down, “I can’t hold it much longer, love.”
“Let go for me,” her voice was husky and drove me wild, mixed with the feeling of her pussy wrapped around my cock. There was nothing I could do to stop from spilling my seed as my body jerked and I let out a roar. She continued to ride me through it and every movement sent waves of pleasure all the way down to my toes. “I love you, Klaus,” she cried out, as she fell over the edge herself and I felt the spasms of her walls as she squeezed my shaft.
My eyes teared up at the words I waited so long to hear from my beautiful Nixie, my soulmate. “I love you, too,” my voice hitched, as I was overwhelmed with emotion. I cupped the back of her head and guided her mouth to mine. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Klaus,” her voice was shaky and unsure, as she tested the words while not in the throes of passion.
I knew the words were what caused her to have memories back in my apartment before we had our fight, but I felt them with all of my soul and needed to say it. “Marry me, Lorelei.” As soon as the words left my lips, I winced, worried that I said the wrong thing and braced myself for whatever bad would happen.
Her head tilted as if in thought before her mouth split into a wide smile, “Yes.”
“You will?” I asked in shock.
“I would love nothing more than to be your wife,” she answered, her voice filled with all the love that she felt for me, everything she buried deep inside until this moment.
My heart soared and I rolled her over, kissing every part I could reach as the tears of happiness leaked freely from my eyes and onto her skin. “I will give you everything your heart desires,” I promised.
“You already have,” she said simply with a contented sigh. “Except I think we need to move because there’s a stick poking in my back.”
I got up quickly and pulled her up into my arms. She laid her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist as she started humming the tune that I remembered from our wedding night so many years ago. I started to sway to the music and remembered the last time we danced to that song. She wouldn’t know the significance of it, and I was forced to keep the memories to myself as we danced. All the love I felt during our first life together hadn’t faded through the centuries. If anything, it increased, and I knew now that I couldn’t continue to live without her. We had to find a way to break the curse.
My own life no longer mattered. It stopped to matter so many decades ago. If I didn’t have Lorelei in my life, I was nothing, a shell of the man I was. I would never love anyone as I loved her.
The sun was going down, and as much as I hated to be apart from my love, we had to get the campsite set up. She was just as reluctant as I to break apart. We never did get dressed as we busied ourselves with getting everything prepared for the night. I laughed as Lorelei pouted comically. “I don’t want to go back to wearing clothes. Maybe we can just live in this spot for the rest of our lives. I’m sure we could hunt off the land. That spring is close enough for water.”
“When we find the answers you need, we will live the rest of our lives wearing nothing as often as we can. Work would probably frown upon us working naked as would the general public. But I do have a nice apartment that we can spend every free moment in the nude. I hope when we get back you will move in with me.”
“I don’t want to go back,” she sighed longingly. “But if we have to go back to that life, I’ll move in with you and become your wife as soon as possible.”
I stalked over to her and kissed her, showing her how much I wanted my life to be with her. We ended up back on the moss-covered ground as we sealed our promise to one another.
The next morning, it was so hard to get up and leave our little sanctuary. If I didn’t know that the clock had already started on Lorelei’s life, I would have caved and never left our spot. It reminded me of the many months we spent traveling this same forest as we escaped her father.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I greeted her as she stirred. “We should be close and hopefully will get there by midday.”
She groaned, “I don’t want to leave this sanctuary.”
“I know, but we have to get answers. I don’t want to leave either, but this is much more important than anything else,” I responded carefully, as to not give anything away that I was bound not to reveal. “The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back and start our life together. Or maybe just make it back to this spot and live here,” I teased.
That was all it took to get her moving, and we were quickly packed up and ready to go. The trail was another hard one going up the large hills for the first few hours, but by the time we stopped for lunch, the hills gave way to lowlands still thick with trees. She didn’t complain at the quick break and was ready to leave as soon as we finished our food.
As we hiked through the lowlands, I spotted a rock formation sticking out from the ground that, to most, would look as if it were natural. I knew better, though. We finally arrived on the edge of the lands of the coven and if I examined it, I knew I would find symbols carved into the face. The symbols were a part of the vast network of these same markers that held the spell to alert the coven if anyone were to pass into their territory.
I took a deep breath and continued past it as we entered their land. I knew someone would greet us shortly and prepared Lorelei for what was to come. “Stay calm when the people come to greet us. They will be hostile but if we treat them with respect, they will not hurt us. Just follow my lead.” She gave me a questioning look but agreed.
It was at least another hour before a group of women converged upon us. They seemed harmless, dressed in clothing that were reminiscent of the Native Americans in the United States and they held friendly smiles on their faces. I could see by the way they held their hands, ready to cast magic at us if we dared to make the wrong move or say the wrong thing, that they were anything but friendly.
One woman, her blonde hair filled with streaks of gray and pulled into two long braids, stepped forward. “Do you realize you are trespassing on the Blumenhexe territory?”
I held my hands up placatingly and to show that I had no weapons or intent to harm them, “I’ve come to seek the help of the High Priestess.”
The woman scoffed, “And why would she help the likes of a human man?”
“She knows me and is probably waiting for me to return. I’m Klaus Hoffman and this is Lorelei,” I responded, knowing that our story was that of the legend, one passed throughout this community as a caution to stay away from black magic.
The woman’s eyes grew wide. “I suppose she will want to see you. Follow me.”
.
I didn’t know why our names caused the group of women to let us pass so easily but I wasn’t going to say anything to ruin it. After Klaus’ warning, I thought there would be a lot more dramatics. I counted eleven women, and with the two of us, our group of thirteen walked through the forest for a long time. I was bone tired at that point, and I leaned on Klaus as we came to a clearing.
I gasped as I took in the beauty of the large field of colorful flowers that led to a small village of homes. The homes themselves were small cottages made from what I guessed was wood from the surrounding forest. It was almost like stepping into a time capsule where everything was old but well kept.
Women dressed the same as the ones that led us, came out of their homes as we made it to the edge of the village. That’s when I realized that they were situated in a circle, worn paths leading from one cottage to another in a sort of a street. In the center of the circle was a large gazebo with benches underneath the roof of it, all of them set in a circular pattern. In the middle of that was a stage like area where a woman sat on a dais of sorts.
As we ap
proached, I gasped when I recognized her. She was the woman that spoke to me on the train that day. “Klaus, it’s the woman from the train,” I whispered as quietly as I could.
The woman cackled and I was surprised that she heard me from as far away as we were, “Yes, and I see you took my advice. Come sit. We have much to talk about.” She gestured to the bench in front of her, and Klaus and I took our seats.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the group that escorted us take their seats behind us. My mind spun, trying to figure out what in the world was happening. Klaus took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. It did nothing to calm the churning in my stomach, but I did feel safer knowing that he was with me.
“My name is Maddalina and I’m the High Priestess of this coven. I am a descendant of the witch that helped create the spell that saved your life three hundred years ago.”
“Three hundred years? How is that possible?” I blurted out interrupting her.
“Ah, I see you haven’t regained your memories as my oracle foresaw,” she said, as she tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. “No matter. We have done much to figure this out over that time period. It became more urgent to find the answer when our oracle foretold of this reincarnation three decades ago. It seems that the magic has broken down and something has changed this time around.” She looked at Klaus as she continued, “It seems you have paid the price expected, and we can help you end the suffering you both endure.”
I glanced at Klaus and the pain was obvious on his face. I didn’t know what he had gone through and I didn’t know if I would ever get that answer. “I have paid dearly and so has Lorelei. Are you sure it is safe to talk about this with her present?”
Lorelei Page 15
