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“What do you think elves would have done to a lone human female wandering through their territory?” His eyes hooded with desire. “It has happened even among drow elves, when our females crossed the realms before the realms collided together to kidnap attractive young males. Human females and males are often good breeding stock to bring new blood into our lines without polluting or weakening them.”
She shivered at the brush of his breath, her arousal blooming, but he did not advance and, at her hesitation, pulled back with a smirk. She wanted to grab ahold of him and pull him back to her, but he stepped away before she gathered up the courage to act on her desire. Inwardly she cursed but shook it off.
It was fine. There would another, better, opportunity once they stopped for the night. She would make sure of it.
ChapterTwelve
Ashul’s cock ached, his hetier swollen and overly sensitive as their every small movement brushed against his trousers. Despite the indifference he voiced to Robyn, that did not stop him from scanning their surroundings at the thought of a potential rival watching their passage. It was nonsense, of course. If they wanted her, they would have intervened and parted her from him… or at least attempted to. Though he did not relish being dragged through the woods by the leash, it did comfort him to know that they could not lose her.
The clear signs were everywhere: they were welcome. He could probably find a comfortable, empty cavern and not have to worry about being rooted out if he had such a luxury. It was useless to even think about when he did not possess that kind of freedom. He was not even sure if there were any natural caverns within the forest. As far as he could tell, there was not even a sheltered spot to seduce the female beside him. Not that it cooled his desire any. Normally that would not give him pause, but knowing that there were eyes on them as they passed among the trees made him unusually hesitant. He had not even seen her nude yet—he certainly did not wish to share that moment when he finally got that pleasure.
His tongue swept over his teeth in silent frustration. At his side, Robyn gave him a sidelong glance.
“Is everything all right?”
A drop of water hit his face at that moment, drawing a growl of irritation as he squinted up at the sky between the blazing foliage above. “Wonderful,” he replied sourly. “Reminders abound of exactly why it is so much more pleasant underground.”
With an unhappy chitter, Deroxas dropped from the trees to his shoulder and curled against his neck. He stroked the creature with a finger, and he cast a searching glance for any sign of shelter under which they might escape the rain. Robyn huddled deeper into her cloak at his side. Worry gnawed the pit his stomach as he eyed her. He seemed to recall that humans sickened easily. This was unacceptable.
She startled when he suddenly grabbed her hand and hurried forward. Humans who fell ill died all too easily. Panic filled him as the forest floor continued on uninterrupted without safety anywhere in sight. She could not become ill. What would he do without her? Aside from die himself? He was not worried about that right now, however, surprising as that was to him.
His lip curled back from his fangs in frustration as he stopped near a particularly thick cluster of trees, the light of pixies within the branches drawing his eye. Perhaps there was something behind there. There seemed to be a hint of gray stone; he could practically smell the cool, wet surface of the rocks. Pushing forward between the trees, he snarled as he encountered an unbreachable wall.
“May the gods curse this place to the rotten fields of Astlethar,” he hissed angrily, condemning everything to the dread kingdom of the underworld.
A soft whistle broke the air, and Ashul’s head whipped around as the rain steadily increased, plastering his hair to his head, the long ends slapping against his face and neck. A lean sylvan elf with large green eyes stepped out from behind a tree and stared back at him. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of the male’s mouth, his expression unconcerned to the point of tempting Ashul to violence at the lack of urgency displayed.
The sylvan turned, his green cloak swirling around him, and walked away. Ashul did not hesitate. Scooping his human up in his arms and ignoring her startled protests, he hurried after the male just as the sky opened up, pouring water down upon them.
“Ashul, what’s going on?” Robyn hissed as she finally went lax against his chest, craning her neck to get a better look at their guide. “And who is that?”
She was cold. He could hear her teeth clicking together as her body attempted to warm itself. Hugging her closer to the warmth of his body, he sped up so that the elf was not more than a short span ahead of them.
“A sylvan,” he growled. “Dwellers of the wood and, if I am not mistaken, one of those who serves as eyes of the forest. I knew that they were watching. I am hopeful that he revealed himself now to serve some useful purpose. He appears to be leading us somewhere.”
She shivered in his hold as she wiped water from her eyes with one hand, wet strings of white hair hanging limply from beneath her hood.
“Hopefully somewhere dry,” she joked weakly. “But if you are worried about it, we can stop and try to find somewhere to put up the tent. I was about to suggest it except someone hauled me off my feet before I could get a word out of my mouth.”
He gave her a small smile. “A tent will not permit us a fire to warm you and get you dry. Just hold onto me. I will keep you as warm as possible until we arrive wherever he is taking us.”
It was unlikely that it would be to the elven city. They were still strangers to the inhabitants of the forest. Besides, Ashul did not know how comfortable he would be in a far more vulnerable position than he was in the human town. He would be quite content with a solitary shelter somewhere apart from the prying eyes of the sylvans.
Ahead of them, the male veered sharply to the right, ducking behind several trees. With a growl of annoyance, Ashul sprinted forward to catch up and made the turn at the copse of trees only to come to a halt, the forest ahead of him empty. Shifting Robyn in his arms, he turned in a circle, his eyes scanning the trees for any sign of their elusive guide. A loud snarl tore from him as he turned to the left, coming upon another rocky wall. He spat a curse in his dialect but startled when Deroxas hopped from his shoulder and scampered to the wall.
“Deroxas!” he called irritably.
His tilted his head back as he stepped closer to the rocks. The squirrel suddenly reappeared at his feet, his tail flicking as he chittered again before diving back from where he came. Cautiously, he crept toward the wall, but his brow flew up at what he saw. A hidden entryway carved into the wall.
Tucking his human’s head beneath his chin, he ducked into a cool, dry interior and descended a number of stairs until he came to a round room with smoothed stone walls. It wasn’t a natural cave system, but something carved out of the stone itself as an emergency shelter, complete with a crudely cut hearth, the side of which supported a large bin full of wood. Around this there were several supply baskets with carefully woven lids, containing gods knew what. Those he could explore later. It was the crudely made table with a pair of chairs at one corner and a large pallet bed piled with dusty furs in the other that he was relieved to see.
At least they should be comfortable enough.
Despite the humble atmosphere, an image swam up to the fore of his mind of its potential for a cozy home—nothing like the splendor of the halls he spent his life in, but something more comfortable lit with lanterns and a warm fire in the hearth. A bit of magic and some hard work and more rooms could easily be carved out. There were no drafts that could come from a true underground system, making it not only closer to the upper world but warmer. This could be a home safe from whatever storms, whether made by nature or by dispute, that raged aboveground.
What he saw here was a simple sanctuary filled with food, but it was not a drow he imagined there with him. It was Robyn’s colorless form as she smiled up at him. He would have spun his magic between them, connecting them irrevocably and extending her life to match his, tying them even more firmly together.
A strong yearning tightened deep within his chest, but he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind as he carefully set Robyn into one of the simple chairs at the table and moved to the hearth to make a fire. Plucking the tinder box and fire starter from the top of the hearth, he dropped down in front of it and slowly coaxed a fire to life. He remained crouched there as the fire grew, slowly warming the shelter, and glanced over his shoulder at his necromancer.
