Playing with a Wood Nymph

by Abby Wood

  "I don't know. I guess if he makes you come and puts a smile on your face." Felicity frowned. "You are not exactly smiling, are you?" Melanie shook her head. "Plus, I can make myself have orgasms. I don't think that's a sign of falling in love. There has got to be more to it than that." A soft, westerly wind picked up. Felicity's hips thrust forward, and a long moan of pleasure came from her lips. "Well, you let me know." She arched her back. "Oh, Oak, this is wonderful." Her chest rose and she spread her legs wider. "Oh, yes. Yes!" Melanie gazed down at her friend, watching her become caught up in the throes of ecstasy. A smile tugged at her lips. She'd enjoy nothing more than to lie beside Felicity and let the winds caress her too, but the promise of waiting for her life-mate demanded she hold out for Jared.

  Deciding to take a walk alone away from the others, so she didn't tempt her inner passion, she stood and linked her hands behind her back. Maybe she'd go to the waterfall and lie down. Instead of pleasuring herself, she'd dream of the day her beloved Jared came back to the forest, and the extraordinary life they'd have together. Ever since her parents died of old age, the waterfall had become her chosen spot to reflect on life and dream about days past. She missed her parents. Unfortunately, wood nymphs who marry have trouble conceiving, and her parents didn't succeed until they'd reached a rather advanced age. They'd only had a short time together, but those were the best years of her life.

  While the other nymphs preferred to linger deeper in the trees, Melanie sought out the hidden paradise where she found solitude. The sound of the water soothed her troubled mind on occasion and caressed her soul on days she only wanted to find enjoyment.

  She sat on the same boulder she'd reclined on the first time she spotted Jared. Wouldn't it be great to have a human for the rest of her life? Reproducing came easier to a mixed couple, and she did love little kids. She'd be very lucky if the Oaks blessed her and Jared with children.

  She ran her hand over her lower stomach and imagined her belly swollen with a baby that came from a true love union. With her breasts engorged with milk, she'd not only nourish her child, but feed her mate too. The first giggle of the week escaped her lips, and she hugged her arms around her middle in excitement. Please, Jared, come back to me soon.

  She wandered over to the mossy area, laid down with her arms folded behind her head and closed her eyes. She imagined her parents and the trees standing in the background smiling at her and Jared. They'd be so proud of her for being the chosen one and for receiving such a special gift.

  The odd snaps and cracks over the soft hum of water woke Melanie from her nap. She slowly sat up and brushed the bits of furry, green moss off her arms. The sun still rode high in the sky, so she mustn't have been asleep too long. She stretched her arms high above her head and stifled a yawn. Turning toward the scuffling sound coming from the denser trees behind her, she hurried to her feet. Overjoyed, she clasped her hands in front of her and peered along the line of trees for Jared. After so many days spent wondering if he'd return, she finally let her hopes of having a life with him bubble to the surface as she bounced on the tips of her toes. He's coming. He's coming.

  He pushed through dense underbrush and entered the clearing the same way she dreamed a prince might arrive to sweep her away to live happily ever after. She sashayed over to a boulder and leaned her hip against the rock, not trusting her legs to keep her upright. Her gaze absorbed every detail. He appeared exhausted, but stunning.

  Sweat-drenched hair, dark wet stains on his shirt under his muscled arms and on the front of his broad chest marked how difficult the hike up the mountain was for humans. Knowing the journey must have taken him at least three hours, she would let him catch his wind before surprising him. In the meantime, she'd be content to simply admire him.

  He removed his shirt, tossed it down and stepped through the maze of rocks ringing the pool. He dipped his hands in the cool water, splashed his face and dumped handfuls over his head. The sun reflected off the droplets cascading down his muscled chest, and she sighed. That man is all mine.

  Lawrence Potter, the human who lived at the edge of the forest, once informed the nymphs that trespassers needed to hold a pass of some kind from the forestry department to visit this area. How had he attained his permit to Dryad land? He must be a powerful man with lots of connections. In truth, he was a gift she would never take for granted.

  Unable to wait any longer, walking quietly, she approached him from the side and watched him splash water once more over his head.

  He shook his head to clear the drops out of his eyes.

  She tapped him on the shoulder. He slapped the bare skin, and she covered her mouth to keep from laughing. He must think she was an annoying bug!

  He reached down to pick up his shirt, and her amusement leaked out in a throaty laugh. He jerked around and came face to face with her. His smile grew, and she grinned back at him.

  "Hello, Jared." She clasped her hands together behind her back and sauntered around him in a circle, letting him gaze upon her body.

  "Holy shit, you are real. Jesus, I thought you were only a dream, but I had to come back here. I had to make sure." He pivoted where he stood to follow the direction she walked around him. "Did we meet the last time I was here? Why don't I remember?

  Who are you? Where do you come from?"

  She laughed. "I'm Melanie. I can tell you everything now that I too know the truth." She stood in front of him, placed her hands on his chest and trailed her fingers across and down to include his stomach in her explorations. "Let's sit on the moss and we can decide what we are going to do with our lives."

  "Our lives?" He lowered his brows and remained where he stood. "What the hell does that mean?"

  She clasped his hand and tugged him over to a large boulder. "Relax. I'll explain everything." She pulled him down beside her, placed her legs over his and hugged his arm. "Right now, I want to know everything about you. Where do you live? Do you have a job where you get paid money? How many children do you want?" She giggled.

  "Have you eaten McDonald's food?"

  "What?" He frowned. "Is this a joke? Did one of my friends put you up to this? It was Pete, wasn't it?"

  "Do you have more than one name?" She gazed up at him and ignored his questions.

  He simply stared at her, his expression unreadable.

  She tapped his chin. "Come on, Jared, the faster we get this over with, the sooner we can have sex. I mean, make love. "

  He cleared his throat. "Whoa, slow down. Listen . . . ." He rubbed his arm across his eyes. "What did you say your name is again?"

  She ran her leg against his jeans. "Melanie."

  "Melanie, bear with me here." He appeared nervous and ran his hand through his hair. "Why are you naked?"

  "Because I am a wood nymph; we are always naked." She let go of his arm, brushed her hair behind her and trailed her fingertips from shoulder to thigh. "Why would I want to cover up when the wind tickles my skin, and the leaves from the trees caress my body wherever I travel through the forest?"

  "Wood nymph?" He inhaled. "Sure, and I'm an elf." He barked out a laugh. "This is rich. Go ahead, put on your clothes, scamper back to whoever set this up and tell them I'm not falling for it."

  She threw her arms around his waist and leaned her cheek against his arm. "I am human, just like you, but I am a descendent of the Dryad family." She clicked her tongue. "The Oak trees have gifted me with the ability to disappear and reappear, to flutter through the forest in a happy state. A wood nymph lives for pleasure. Pleasure provides harmony, for both ourselves and our people, and satisfies the forest that provides us with protection. That is the only thing that makes me different from you."

  "Pleasure? As in, sexual pleasure? So what you're telling me is that your life revolves around sex." He shook his head. "This is too much. You're asking me to believe in a myth."

  "If I wasn't real, would I be able to do this?" She snaked her hand behind his neck and dragged his head down until their mouths met.
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br />   She moaned. Moving her lips against his, she tasted, tantalized and drew him instantly into the kiss. Her nipples hardened against his bare skin. The intimate contact only lasted a moment before he pulled away, gasping. His gaze locked with hers. Staying pleasure-free lately had played havoc with her emotions, and she found it hard not to climb onto his lap and rub her pussy against him. It wouldn't take much to send her into a blissful orgasm.

  "Okay." He nodded. "Let's say I play along with this little charade, and agree you're the real deal." He inhaled, filled his cheeks with air then let it out in a rush. She nodded. "Yes, I am. I'm glad you realize that. Arian—he's the elder of the nymphs—he told me the reason you didn't have sex with me the first time we met is because we are destined for each other." She smiled. "We have so much to plan." She squealed with excitement. "Do you want to live here in the forest with me or should I go back to your house?" She bit her lower lip. "Is it so terribly wrong if I want to go to your house? I've always been fascinated by how you humans live." She raised her brows. "Although, if it's allowed, I'd love to come back to visit the other nymphs here in the forest occasionally."

  "Slow down." He extracted his arm from her grasp, pulled his legs out from under her and stood. "I don't know what you're talking about. We don't have a relationship." He gazed down at her. "You're a hell of a woman, I'll grant you that, but I'm not going to take you back to my place or . . . or plan a life with you. That's not how things work."

  He ran his fingers through his hair. "I admit I felt compelled to return here, to see if you were real, but I'm sorry, I don't believe in . . . in wood nymphs." She narrowed her eyes at his obvious confusion, crossed her arms under her breasts and tried to explain over the lump of emotion in her throat. "But, you don't understand. This is supposed to happen. Arian said this has happened before. The Oaks gave us a sign. We are destined for one another. True love."

  "I don't care what this Arian person said. What you're asking me to believe is too fantastical." He paced back and forth for a few seconds while she watched with her heart pounding so hard it hurt. "It'd be totally different if we met in a bar, or hell, even set up on a blind date, but for me to come into the woods and have sex with some woman running around buck naked . . . ." He stopped, gazed down at her and licked his lips. "No, absolutely not. That's out of the question."

  "I can see your desire for me in your face." She stood, frustration coursing through her veins. "You want me, too. Oh, Jared, we'd be wonderful together. The Oaks have granted us something very rare. We can't insult them." She lifted the corner of her mouth. "I bet your cock fits in my pussy better than any piece of wood." She rubbed her tummy in slow, wide circles. "What makes you afraid to take pleasure from my body? I have already told you the Oaks have blessed us. Now that you know, you shouldn't have any qualms about fucking me."

  "You're not listening." He sighed and mumbled, "This doesn't make any sense." He stared at her. "Where do you live?" He walked back over to the rocks, picked up his shirt and shoved his arms through the sleeves. "If you're real—I mean, if you're really what you say you are, then prove it. Take me to your house. Give me some kind of proof and we'll go from there. But I swear to God, if I find out I've been set up, I'll kick the ass of every person involved."

  "If I show you my home, you'll believe me? Really?" She squealed and jumped up and down on her toes. "Well come then, I'll show you. I don't live far from here and you'll learn I do not lie."

  A ten-minute journey through the forest in human terms typically took her a few seconds, as she'd zip from rock to stump to fallen branch, but she controlled herself and stayed back to walk beside Jared. She clasped his hand in hers and didn't give him the chance to let go. He'd promised he'd believe her if she showed him proof. And a deal was a deal in her world too.

  She led him to her home where her parents had raised her and where she now lived alone. Her cave offered a private area where her beloved Oak trees protected and provided for her with a cocoon of shelter. She smiled in delight at bringing the man who loved her to the most important place in her world.

  Approaching the hidden cave, she wound her way through the maze of underbrush that carefully camouflaged the opening from curious eyes. At the entrance, no bigger than a large boulder, she squatted, smiled back at Jared then crawled through.

  Inside, darkness enveloped them. Melanie patted Jared's chest. "Wait here." She hurried to light one of the many lamps. The dark never bothered her, and she knew her way around the cave with her eyes closed. But she could sense Jared's apprehension and worked quickly to dispel his fears. Once the lights were on, he'd see how normal her home was and he'd relax.

  Chapter Four

  He'd lost his mind. That was the only explanation he could come up with for why he'd followed the strange woman to some cave in the middle of the forest. Standing there in the darkness, he wondered which of his friends had set him up. Pete's stupid tale about his grandmother's story must be playing tricks on his brain. Jared could almost believe Melanie was a wood nymph

  Hell! How often did a woman present herself to him butt naked and offer to give herself over to his pleasure? The corner of his mouth lifted. Okay, maybe it'd happened a time or two before. There was that one drunken woman at the hotel bar in Chicago last summer . . . . But damn it, that was different. That occurred under believable circumstances. Whereas this . . . . Fuck, this had to be a setup. Pete probably planned the whole thing . . . him and his stupid stories.

  Melanie turned a lamp on, smiled over her shoulder and hurried about setting her home ablaze with the soft glow of lanterns. He quirked an eyebrow and rubbed his chin as he took in the unexpected surroundings.

  The wooden chairs and benches were made of undressed timber, similar to what he'd expect to find in a log cabin. Even the knick knacks and whatnots reflected a certain rustic charm. The vase on the dining table in the corner of the room was constructed of twigs tied together with some sort of string. Its contents, a handful of brightly colored wildflowers, made him itch to take out his camera, especially the way they contrasted with the hewed wooden statues, depicting birds and wildlife, sitting on the neighboring end tables.

  If he didn't know better, he'd think he'd stepped into a normal family residence. Granted, the furnishings may be basic and old fashioned, but it was a home. Except, what kind of people lived inside a cave?

  "Can I get you something to drink?" Melanie disappeared into the dark recesses of the cave.

  He ignored the question and wandered over to the dining table. Three handdrawn pictures framed in maple hung in a line on the wall. Two of the pictures obviously depicted adults drawn by a child. The third drew his full attention. The man and woman stood with a child between them, their hands linked in a typical family portrait. Typical, but for the fact they were all nude, and they all had extremely long hair. On closer examination, he realized someone who possessed quite an artistic talent had created the charcoal drawing. The artist captured detail so well, he instantly recognized the child in the picture as being the woman with him now. All three people in the drawing wore identical smiles that hinted at a mischievous personality hidden behind extremely attractive faces. In all honesty, he'd never witnessed such happiness and beauty.

  "Those are portraits of my parents and me." Melanie entered the room and handed him a cold can of beer. "After they died, I drew a picture from memory of one of my favorite moments." She pointed to the family shot. "My eighth birthday. I received a rabbit."

  He blinked and shook his head. She made everything sound so normal. Didn't she understand how crazy this was? How unreal?

  "Go ahead, pop your top." She motioned with her hand at his beer. "We'll sit and get to know each other."

  He held the beer can toward the light. "I take it you come down off the mountain to go grocery shopping." There you go. Everything here isn't what it appears. She giggled. "Wrong. We have a human. Actually, he's what we call a hermit now that he lost his true love. He lives at the edge of the forest
and gifts us with things periodically for helping him do the chores around his cabin." She held up her can. "I've found I've developed a taste for the drink."

  "That'd explain a lot . . . ," he mumbled under his breath. She crossed her legs and smiled. Jared returned her smile but shook his head. How was she managing to stay in character so long? She acted as if she had all the time in the world to play this game.

  "How do you eat?" He opened the beer, chugged, and swiped his arm across his mouth. "Damn, that's cold."

  She opened her own can and duplicated his actions. "Yep, the back end of the cave is very cold."

  She set the beer on the end table and uncrossed her bare legs. Jared caught a glimpse of her pussy and his mind went blank.

  "I eat a vegetation diet. Wild onions, potatoes, greens . . . . And there are seeds everywhere we replant to harvest more food in the summer." She shrugged. "Simple things." She leaned forward and clasped her hands between her legs. "Although, if we decide I will live in the city with you, I'd love to try new foods. One time, some hikers brought something in a bag with the word McDonald's on it; I stayed invisible just to creep up close to sniff the wonderful smells as they ate." He straightened, his suspicions once again rising to the surface. "If you've lived here in the forest all your life—if your people have been here for generations, as you say—then where did you learn to read?"

  "From Mr. Potter, of course. He taught Arian, and Arian taught the rest of us." She shrugged as if the answer were obvious.

  "Of course." Jared frowned. "I'm sorry, Melanie, but this is a lot to take in." She smiled. "You'll come to realize fate is intervening between us and it's really out of our control. I told you, the faster we get to know each other, the sooner we can make love. Doesn't the thought appeal to you?"

  Another big gulp of the beer didn't quite settle the pulsing hardness in his jeans.