by Ophelia Bell
He’d seen the look in her eyes when he’d stripped and shifted in front of her the night before. That sharp spark of arousal that had overcome her had swiftly been shut down by some misplaced sense of propriety that made him wonder who had raised her. That was no matter now, but at least he knew he could incite lust simply by being naked around her, so if that was what she needed, he would happily give it to her. Just not until the fire had warmed the place a bit more.
The flames licked higher and he fed another log into the fire. Soon enough he was able to shed another layer as he pondered the potential outcomes of the day, until he was in only his jeans and a tight cotton t-shirt. He expected to shed the rest soon, but opted to avoid shocking her first thing in the morning. Then he set to work cooking.
As expected, the scent of frying bacon was the thing that finally roused her somewhere on the second floor. His ears twitched and tingled when her feet hit the floor above and the creak of the wooden joints betrayed her movements. He kept cooking, tracking her noises while he fried several eggs and made toast. She moved across the hall to the bathroom, probably brushing her teeth and hair. Then she made her way to the top of the stairs and stopped.
He heard nothing but her breathing for several moments, then her steps retreated back toward the bedroom she’d slept in. Then returned and halted once more at the top step.
His mouth quirked to the side. Indecisive girl.
“Breakfast is ready!” he shouted in her direction. But rather than come down, she retreated again.
“Coming!” she called from down the hall near the doorway to her room.
Neph shook his head, laughing softly to himself at her ridiculous ruse. Finally her footsteps made it to the top step and came farther, but he frowned when he heard the soft swish of fabric accompanying her movements.
She entered the living room and crossed it, smiling nervously at him. Her wavy black tresses shone from a fresh brushing and her eyes were bright with a strange inner excitement that made him itch to understand. Had she followed all his instructions the night before? This morning? He inhaled slowly, hoping to catch a hint of whether she had … But if she were aroused at all, he couldn’t tell over the scent of fresh bacon.
But she wasn’t naked, which was obvious, and she was also obviously pretending that she didn’t know she’d broken the rules already.
“Smells delicious!” she said, sweeping up to where he stood with his hands full of two plates, one filled with toast, the other with the aromatic bacon. Her gaze tracked the dish and he caught the soft rumble of her belly. She reached out to steal a piece, but he lifted the plate just out of her reach.
“No you don’t,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her.
“What? You just said breakfast was ready. Why can’t I eat?”
Her eyes were fixed on the plate and the pink tip of her tongue darted out to lick her lips.
“You can eat when you take that off,” he said, nodding at the patchwork, kimono-style robe she was wearing cinched tight around her waist.
She dropped her hand and froze, her gaze finally tearing away from the bacon to look at him. The caramel skin of her throat rippled as she swallowed.
“It … it’s too cold in here …” She glanced over her shoulder toward the fireplace.
“Bullshit,” he said. “I could happily strip with that fire blazing, so I know you can handle the temperature. If you want my help, you have to follow my rules, Vrishti. Strip.”
Vrishti glared at him and tugged at the belt of her robe. “I can’t fucking believe I’m taking my clothes off for bacon.”
“Good girl,” he said, smirking at her and carrying the food to the table. He studiously avoided looking directly at her, hoping his nonchalance about her nudity would help keep her comfortable. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her pull the ties of the robe free. Her breathing sped up slightly and she hesitated for a split second before letting the silky fabric slide down her arms and catch on her hands.
“Um … I don’t suppose I should hang onto this?”
“Just toss it wherever,” he said. “You won’t need it.”
He retrieved the eggs, the bowl of sliced fruit, then the carafes of juice and coffee. All the while, he sensed her agitation.
Finally he glanced at her as he pulled a chair out from the table. “Sit,” he said. “And you can move your hands, kitten. It’s nothing I haven’t seen.” She had her palms cupped gently over the tips of her breasts. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that what his attention was drawn to most was between her thighs.
Silently she complied, and seemed grateful when he said nothing else but simply filled her plate with food.
He let her eat, allowing himself only peripheral awareness of her supple curves as she fed herself. Her breasts were full and dark-tipped, reminding him of chocolate. Idly he wondered why he liked to compare female body parts to food, but he’d always done it with Aodh too, so it wasn’t restricted to women. His tongue was his favorite way to explore a lover, after all, hedonist that he was.
When she sat back and sighed, her breasts jiggled alluringly and her hands immediately went to cover them again.
“Okay, this is why clothes are good,” she said, forcing him to realize he’d been mesmerized for a moment. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, huh? If that’s the case, why stare so hard?”
“I’m sorry. You’re … very different from a nymph. More …” He struggled for the words to express exactly what he saw when he looked at her, and finally shrugged. “Just more.”
Her face fell and she hunched over slightly. “I know there’s more of me. You don’t have to remind me. I met Assana … saw all the other pretty little nymphs running around half-naked in the Haven. That place is like supermodel central.”
“That isn’t what I meant,” he said, confused by her withdrawal. She had seemed defiant, strong-willed, in that moment when she’d disrobed. This transformation into self-consciousness was a step backward.
“Then what did you mean? Huh? I’m more what?”
“More sensual. I’ve been surrounded by nymphs for centuries. They certainly have some strong commonalities. That’s all I see anymore. Their physical perfection is designed to seduce. You’re nothing like them. You’re so much more.” He forced himself to stop before he blathered on about what she really represented to him. Baby steps. Get her to accept her beautiful body as a source of pleasure, not shame.
“Either way, I’d like to get dressed,” she whispered, her arms crossed tightly over her chest now.
Fuck, he wasn’t off to a very good start. Impulsively, he stood up and stripped off his shirt.
“Nobody’s going to be dressed,” he said, tossing the shirt aside and unbuttoning his jeans. Vrishti stared up at him with the same shock she’d had the night before when he stripped. “Don’t worry, it’s just going to be me as a normal human-looking dude. I’ll save my primal form for when we actually need it.”
When he stood in front of her naked, she was chewing on her lip, unable to take her eyes off him. “Um … you’re …” She pulled one hand from under her armpit and gestured vaguely toward his hips.
“Hard? Yeah, that’s because you have a beautiful shape, Vrishti. Fucking arousing as hell to look at.” Definitely not because every single instinct that drove him wanted to breed her. “The sooner you accept that you are a sensual creature, the better. We are Gaia’s children. That primal current ties us together. Denying what you are keeps you isolated from the power you’re capable of. You know this already … otherwise you wouldn’t have come to me and asked for my help awakening your estrous.”
She lifted her gaze to his, and his heart clenched at the fear he saw in her eyes.
“I’m just not ready for all this. Oh, god, I’m sorry.” Her bottom lip trembled and she sucked it into her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. Abruptly she raised her han
ds to her face, clearly more ashamed by her tears than her nakedness.
“Fuck, don’t cry.” Neph crouched down by her chair and pulled her hands away from her face. “You don’t have to do anything but feel right now. Just experience the world naked. Not even the whole world, just this little piece of it. It’s just you and me in this cabin. Right now, I’m going to wash dishes. You can help, or you can relax by the fire with a book. Just be here now, Vrishti.”
“Be here naked, you mean.” She glanced down at herself and took a deep breath, followed by a soft sniffle. She looked back up at him with a shy, sideways smile that made his dick pulse and his heart pound at the same time.
Neph chuckled. “Yes, naked. But be aware of the sensations you experience.” He reached up and traced a thumb lightly over her jaw. “Stay in the moment, Vrishti. Be aware of when something feels good or not. Let yourself enjoy the good without the burden of too much analysis. I’m the king of hedonism, so in a little while, we’ll have a snack and maybe open a bottle of wine. There are plenty more of those pies in the freezer … I think Aurum must have made them while she was here, because I’ve never tasted anything more delicious.”
Vrishti let out a shaky little sigh. “Wine and pie might help,” she said. “But isn’t it a little early?”
“It’s never too early to indulge when you’re trying to learn how to do it right. I’m happy to teach you how to let loose, but we need to start slow. Once your estrous hits, on the other hand … there will be no holding back.”
“My estrous …” She nodded and let out a frustrated huff. “God, I wish it’d just happen already. I wish this were easy for me, I really do.”
Neph grabbed the back of the chair and pulled it around so she was facing him directly. “It will get easier. Trust me, within a day or two—hopefully even less time—you’ll wonder why it was ever so difficult.”
Her face scrunched up, but he was relieved when she dropped her hands to her lap and tangled her fingers together instead of concealing her lovely breasts from him.
“What if it doesn’t happen that soon? What if it takes longer?”
He gently rested his hands on her knees and slid them down to her calves. She tensed slightly, her eyes widening at the contact. At this proximity, he was acutely aware of the scent of her arousal, as well as the way her nipples tightened.
“Kitten, if it takes any longer, it’ll be my fault, not yours, and I should resign as Dionarch. Any satyr worth his cock knows how to seduce a female, even a reluctant one, within a matter of minutes. We could do this faster if my goal was to fuck you, but it isn’t, so it may take just a little longer.”
“Is … is that what you’re doing? Seducing me?” she asked quietly.
“That’s precisely what I’m doing, albeit in a very unconventional way. The goal is to trick your body into needing a good fuck so much your estrous begins. We need you fertile to access the magic.”
He stood and continued his description of their goal as though he were simply outlining an itinerary for the day while he picked up the dishes from breakfast. Vrishti fidgeted in her seat for a moment before finally sitting on her hands to hold them still. He glanced up at her from the kitchen as he worked on the dishes. “Why don’t you relax on the sofa? Try to clear your mind. Watch the fire. When I’m done here, we can talk a bit more.”
She nodded and stood, her gaze darting shyly to him as she turned to walk toward the open living area with the roaring fire heating the space. Neph paused, empty dishes forgotten in his hands as he admired the luscious curves of her backside, the narrower arch of her waist, and the wavy mane of jet black hair that draped down over her shoulders. That ass … the mere sight of it … had his cock stiffening to a painful degree.
Baby steps, he reminded himself, clenching his eyes shut and forcing himself to refocus on the task at hand, grateful that the counter obscured the very prominent evidence of how turned on he was simply by her presence. He was perfectly capable of not having a hard-on in the presence of a beautiful woman, but this game he was playing with her might be the end of his sanity, and he’d be better off locked away in the Haven with his insane sister.
Vrishti settled herself on the sofa, reclining slightly against one arm and staring at the fire.
“Where did you go this morning?” she asked.
He blinked back at her in surprise. “Ah … this morning?”
“Yeah, I saw you walking down the road all bundled up. You don’t have to tell me. I just thought we could maybe have a conversation about something other than my … fertility, or whatever.”
“I went to the creek. There used to be a portal to the Haven there. That’s where I arrived when I brought my nephew and his mates out. I guess I keep hoping there will be a glimmer of the Source when I go and I’ll be able to go home. Mostly I just meditate while I’m there, though. It’s peaceful. Even more so right after a snow like last night.”
“The rain is what I think of most when I think of home,” she said. “I like this place, though. It’s comforting. Feels like a real home … like a family belongs in this house. Not at all like this … waystation, or whatever it’s become.” She gazed around the comfortable, heavy wood furnishings, the mismatched cushions, random blankets, and worn rugs that covered the hardwood floors.
Neph followed her gaze, trying to see the place as she perceived it. The love here was unmistakable in every log that had gone into building the place. The stones that made the huge fireplace had been pulled from the creek—he still sensed the touch of the Source on their surfaces, even though they’d been out of the water for decades at least. The trees that had been cut to build the cabin had all come from the very forest that surrounded them, drinking the water that Gaia’s Source shared with the outside world. There was certainly magic here, but he guessed that wasn’t the magic Vrishti noticed.
“They are family, though, aren’t they?” he said. “The ursa queen and her cousins grew up here. Her brother is mated to my nephew. She is family to me. Her brother is also mated to Aodh’s sister.”
Vrishti smiled and darted a bright, playful glance at him. “She’ll be like what … a sister-in-law? I have no idea how that works, but thank you. I don’t feel quite so bad about masturbating in her bed now.”
Despite her sardonic tone, Neph lost his grip on the soapy dish in his hand and it crashed into the sink. Dion’s balls, how did this female manage to throw him off so easily? He took a deep breath that caught in his throat. Clearing the obstruction with a cough, he glanced at her and said, “And how did that go?”
She pursed her lips and darted her gaze to the fire before speaking. “I’m trying to wrap my head around it all. I think I’m starting to understand why you asked me to do that. I mean … from an analytical standpoint, I guess. My body’s reactions are interesting.”
“You should stop analyzing,” he said. “Feel. Just feel. Your pleasure depends on more than simply the physical responses your body has to touch. It’s in your head, too.”
“I can’t help it,” she said softly. “This is how my brain works. I have advanced degrees in biology. Well, botany, actually, but still. I’m a scientist at heart. I like knowing … learning how living things work.”
He finished wiping down the counters and dried off his hands as he rounded the bar counter and leaned his hip against it, facing her. “And what did you learn about how your pleasure works?” he asked. He still held the dish towel strategically in front of his raging erection. This was going to be a long couple days.
Vrishti’s cheeks flushed. She crossed her bare legs, stretched out on the sofa before her, and rested her palms on the tops of her thighs.
“The showerhead was a little too much, but my fingertip felt nice in places. My … my nipples feel good when I touch them. And …” She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, then turned her head to stare into the fire again.
“And �
�?” Neph said, hoping she’d continue, but she only shrugged. “All right, then tell me what went through your head that moment when you thought you’d go over the edge … You didn’t, did you?”
Vrishti shook her head. “You said not to, so I didn’t. I was thinking about him … Aodh. I pictured him making love to me. That’s what made me have to stop or I knew I’d come.”
Her statement stung. Neph shifted his gaze to the fireplace as well in an effort to refocus on the conversation, but the image of his old lover tangled with this beautiful young ursa had dug into his mind, likely as vivid as her own fantasy had been. It did nothing to dampen his desire for her, but a dull ache took up residence in his chest as an odd counterpoint to the ache in his groin.
She was in love with Aodh, not him. The dragon was who she wanted.
He turned back around, found another thing to clean to avoid looking at her while he gathered himself to push on.
“Describe your fantasy. Tell me what you were doing while imagining it.”
She remained silent for a moment, her hesitance a thick presence in the air between them. Finally, she cleared her throat.
“I did what you asked. Used the shower to … stimulate myself, but it was just too much, too fast. When I got out of the shower, I found the mirror like you said and … and I touched myself while I looked. I liked how my fingers felt inside me, but when I imagined him taking their place, his mouth on me, his hands on me, his penis inside me …”
Neph’s focus was so intent on her the swift pounding of her heartbeat and her rapid breathing may as well have been his own.
“You’ve been intimate with him already, then,” he said.
“Not like that. I mean … he kissed me once. He told me he wanted to be inside me, but I’ve never even seen him naked.”
“Close your eyes, Vrishti,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at her.
“What? Why?” She stared back at him, wide-eyed.
“So I can fulfill your fantasy, or most of it, at least.” If he was going to do this right, he had to accept that what got her going might not be him. Not at the moment, anyway. He wanted Aodh every bit as she did, though his own fantasy was slightly reversed. The big white dragon liked to be topped, and Neph had always been more than happy to oblige him. But he would wager that Aodh would relish fulfilling Vrishti’s fantasy if he were here.
