A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #1)(7)

Oh shit. Incubus. I hadn’t taken the draught to stop a demon’s lust magic because I hadn’t thought there’d be any in the Forbidden Wood. But why wouldn’t there be? They got a free pass all over the kingdom. My not having seen them in here before meant very little.

Thankfully, they weren’t dangerous enough to give me pause.

Grip tight on the dagger handle, I pushed through the pounding in my core and kept moving. Ignored the sudden explosion of wetness between my thighs, sending shooting sparks of delight every time my upper legs gave even a glimmer of friction. And what was that smell? Balmy and spicy and delicious. Fuck, that smelled good.

The sound of a wailing baby tore through the night air, desperately close, twenty yards or so to my left. The mockingbird of terror had moved in my direction on a diagonal. Somehow it was tracking me without being able to smell or see me.

Or maybe my smell-blindness elixir didn’t work as well as I’d thought…

I looked upward, thinking about climbing. It would be a struggle to reach the nearest branches. I doubted I could do it quickly or quietly, and even if I managed it, what if the creature could fly? It would be on me in a heartbeat.

Running might be my only option.

Before I could, the strange weight in my chest lurched. Lava spilled out and dripped down to my sodden core. I couldn’t stop a moan as an intimate presence feathered across my skin, as though someone were physically touching me with silky fingers.

My breathing turned ragged as I desperately tried to shut the feeling out.

It was…incredible, though. The best fucking thing I’d ever felt. Primal, almost, reaching down into the very center of me and pulling out a raw hunger I didn’t want to shy away from. Desperate desires flitted through my head, of touching, of tangled bodies, of the taste of a hard cock sliding into my mouth.

Fuck me, this incubus was a strong motherfucker. I’d never felt something like this before.

I had to push past it. I had to ignore the sudden, brain-fogging desire to drop down right now and spread my legs, begging to be taken. To be dominated.

When the fuck did a girl like me want to be dominated?

Right fucking now, that was when.

This was not how I got out of this wood alive. This was not real.

It certainly felt fucking real, though. This wasn’t like the demons in the village, who had a sort of oily presence in their lustful magic. This felt like a piece of me…a secret piece of me…exposed.

Fuck. Not good. I had to shut it out!

Keep moving, I urged myself. Keep going. You’re stronger than this. Resist!

I pushed forward again, stumbling like a drunk. How was I going to fight the mockingbird of terror in this state? Was the incubus working with it? If not, it needed to show itself so I could kill it really quickly and move on.

The seam of my pants rubbing against my slick sex nearly undid me. My hard nipples rubbed against the coarse binding surrounding them, which was suddenly not nearly tight enough. My quickened breath was not because of my fast walk.

This was so fucked up. I could barely focus on my extreme panic.

A low growl sliced through every band of pleasure wrapping around my body, and the desire fell away like cut ribbons. In its place, cold terror once again reigned.

I jerked to a stop, dagger up, eyes as big as the moon. The baritone rumbling continued, freezing my blood.

I turned my head slowly toward the sound on my right.

Shadow lined the rough grooves of bark on the large tree. Moonlight carved through the darkness beside it. I didn’t hear or see a damn thing. For a few solid moments, nothing in the whole wood seemed to move.

A shape popped out from the left, the opposite direction from where I’d been looking. The leathery body was bent over on two stout legs, its head still cresting mine by about four feet. Small arms and little hands reached forward as its huge mouth gaped open. I’d half expected something like a bird. Not the case. Two rows of teeth dripped with saliva.

It lunged at me, intent on snapping my face between its jaws.





2





I dodged and prepared to strike, but I didn’t get the chance.

A huge form blasted out from the space between the two trunks to my right.

I cried out and fell backward, my dagger falling uselessly from my hand. The form moved so fast that it was nearly a blur. I barely saw the hulking frame, its shoulders well above my head, and the enormous legs ending in six-inch claws. Darkness slid across it as though they were old friends.

A picture out of my nightmares.

The beast.

A fierce growl was all the warning the mockingbird of terror got before the beast plowed into it and took it back the way it had come. I didn’t get a chance to see the beast’s head. I did watch its tail slide across the ground, though, the spikes on the end whipping in the opposite direction.

A high-pitched squeal of agony accompanied the wet, gloppy sounds of teeth tearing through flesh. Fire raged through my body, but thankfully, the desire was long gone.

Not one to waste good fortune, I grabbed my dagger and jumped up. A moment later, I was running with everything I had. Ripping through bushes and ducking under branches, I didn’t stick to any kind of path. I didn’t care if I could be tracked or heard. I doubted anyone would chase a scrappy little shifter who couldn’t shift, not with the monstrous melee going on behind me.

I burst out across the Forbidden Wood’s boundary and raced around the village the long way to my house. It would be faster if I didn’t have to worry about jumping fences.