Hamadryads' lips are composed primarily of bark.
They're a fair amount harder than most lips I tend to kiss, but that doesn't detract from my eagerness at all. I've always had a bit of a thing for dryads, and every time I have sex with one, I remember exactly why. To begin with, all nymphs are utterly picturesque and heartwrenchingly beautiful, and with these wicked tattoos all across her body, this one is even more attractive to me than most. And best of all, flora nymphs always make my head spin with some poison or other, and it drives me fucking crazy.
"Feel that?" she whispers into my ear as I [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT]. "You stupid animal. You're all mindless beasts. One little whiff of the right aerated chemicals and you just can't resist your filthy primal urges. Aphrodisiacs, pheromones, musks… Oh, you're all so easy to tempt…"
"As if you aren't just as hungry for it." I [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT], grinning as she gasps and moans. "That's right, you little [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT]. You talk a lot of shit about us animals, when you plants are dumping your fucking pollen all over the place every spring. Sticking your flowers out in the open like godsdamned exhibitionists hoping to get pollinated. How many other trees do you fuck during the growing season, hm? Bet it's a lot. Bet it's a ton. You [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT]."
"Harder," she pleads, pushing her hips against me. "Harder…"
[WEBNOVEL CENSOR: GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF LESBIAN SEX]
"Tell me where I need to go. Tell me where Anna is. Right fucking now, bitch. Talk."
"Ohhh, Gods…" She gasps and huffs, turning her head to face me with a look of pure bliss all across her expression. After I kiss her for a minute or two, she moans and lets her head fall back against me. "I don't–I don't know where she… Where she is. I'm number four… Out of seven. There are… There are three others. She said. Three other places… To prove it's you."
"Gods, she would turn this into a progression game. That's so Anna. Gotta solve all her riddles in order to win. Lucky for me, the last two were easy. Mindless. I just dodged some flying gnomes and flirted you up. And then… And then…"
Wait.
"Huh? Hey, why–Why'd you stop?"
"Uh, I just realized something." I go right back to [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT], talking directly into her ear. "You flipped on me, and sold me out to that little dude, didn't you? So maybe you know more about him and why he's after me. Hmmm. Has he contacted you since last night?"
"Um, hey, can we–Fuck, mmm! Gods, that's good! Fuck! Ahh… Ahh… Can we… Like, have sex first? And then… And then I'll help… help… you. Fuck, ohh…"
"Fair enough. I'm gonna pollinate your stamen, bitch."
"Do your–Mmm! Do your worst!"
The Thunder comes out and I [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT] to fuck her… brains out? Do flora nymphs have brains? What about, like, stomachs? Clearly they have [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT]. But isn't it a fauna thing to sexually reproduce like this? Plants reproduce through pollen and stuff, not having sex, but here she is having sex with me anyway, so maybe nymphs are different?
These are the things I think about while [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: SEXUAL CONTENT].
Once she taps out, I step away and realize just how much my fucking body aches. While she's basking in the warm afterglow of getting absolutely hammered by yours truly, I curse myself for forgetting to stretch out first. Kahri said it literally seconds before this started, and somehow I forgot to do it. Damn. Whatever. I toss the strap and take some more of the meds she gave me, then start stretching naked in the woods.
Better late than never, I guess. Oh, it hurts…
A couple minutes later, we're sharing a [WEBNOVEL CENSOR: DRUG USE] and lounging on the forest floor leaned back against her trunk. She's still a little sensitive and twitchy, but I have her under my arm to hold her steady. The two of us smoke in silence for a little while, regaining both our bearings, and then she lets out a long contented sigh before speaking.
"Worth the wait. You really are as good as the rumors say."
"Practice, attentiveness, and core strength. That's all you really need." I kiss her head, enjoying the cozy scent of her autumn leaves. "Glad you liked it, baby girl. Sorry I left you waiting. I don't like doing that to people, but you did drug and abduct me, so…"
"We'll call it even," she snickers, kissing my cheek. "I like this too. The closeness. The affections. Sharing a smoke after. I kinda thought you'd be gone already, but here you are with the lovergirl aftercare, hm?"
"Nah, that'd just be disrespectful. Don't get me wrong, more often than not, I do hit and dip, but not with girls I actually like. This might be a quick little fling, and I dunno how long we'll be close like this, but I like to make sure my girls are taken care of properly no matter how brief our time together might be."
"And that's the part that's missing from the rumors, isn't it?" She sighs again, and it almost sounds annoyed for my sake. "They just say you're a womanizing asshole–which you are, for certain–but then they leave it at that. This right here is proof there's more to you. But I guess drama sells and compassion doesn't. Does it ever bother you, what people say about you online and stuff?"
"Not often. I just don't think about it anymore. Only becomes my problem if I engage with it, so I kinda insulated myself from that sorta shit. I used to go looking for what people were saying about me. These days, I just do my thing and ignore the rest. It's so much easier this way. I don't care anymore. Doesn't matter anyway."
"Still." She's absentmindedly fidgeting with my fingers. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that. Can't be easy. But… Anyway…" After kissing the back of my hand, she relaxes against me and rests her head on my shoulder. "I don't know much of anything about that tiny fellow. A couple things stood out, but they're all inferences on my part. If that sounds helpful…"
"Yeah. Please. I could use some insight."
"Okay. Um. Well, he came along with that gorgon and the tall man just about an hour before you got here. How he sussed out that I was involved at all is a mystery to me, but I suspect the gnomes might've given me up. Idiots."
"Yeah, those guys hated me. But how'd he know to go to them? I'm the only one who could've solved the sphinx riddle that pointed me this way."
"I think it was just a coincidence. He might've been looking into you through some means and ended up here just because you have history. Like, if I'm looking to really get to someone, I could see the logic in going to check out their highschool. You know? Maybe to dig up some embarrassing secret or whatever."
"He'd have to get pretty damn lucky to find any secret I'd actually be embarrassed about. But I feel you. I guess that makes sense."
"Yeah, and so he threatened to douse me in kerosene and burn my tree down if I didn't poison you. I was way too high at the time to argue back, so I figured I'd just go along with it. You know how that went."
"I'm always glad to be poisoned by a girl as stunning as you."
"Oh, stop it. You damn charmer. Anyway, that's what happened. My inference is that he's after you for two reasons. The little guy was very distraught about his Pantheon being so small and overlooked, and seemed pretty intent on knocking the big bad Greeks down a peg."
"Yeah, I kinda got the same impression. Kahri did too. That's the gorgon. She changed sides, we hooked up, and now we're friends. But she didn't know much about him either, so…"
"You passed on me for a gorgon?"
"Baby girl, I was fucked up beyond any sorta lucidity."
"Relax, I'm joking. I love reptiles. So that might be one reason why the little fellow was so intent on beating you. But I think there's more to it than that. See, he was bragging about having ties, more or less. Like, that he was sponsored. As if somebody else had invested in his little revenge plot against you. So I think his motives were both personal and instigated by some other party. Somebody who also has a personal gripe with you, maybe, or perhaps somebody who doesn't want you to find the dead girl. Any ideas who might be after you? Any enemies?"
"More than I can count," I chuckle, taking a long drag and exhaling a cloud. "Nah, too many to approach it like that. I've got a feeling it's the second one. I mean, the corpos did run this whole sting operation, so it makes sense they might be invested in keeping Anna prisoner. Interesting. A secret enemy. I bet that'll be the final boss fight before I can rescue her."
"Would that make me the mid-boss or the gnomes? Number three? Number four?"
"Oh, sweetheart, it's totally you." I give her a kiss and snicker. "Guess I oughta get some quest XP for slaying you, huh?"
"Oh, yes, of course, because you did impale me upon your sword. I am defeated." She laughs with me and kisses back. "I guess this is the part where I tell you the next clue. Before I do, fair warning. Your girl Anna did tell me the correct answer in case you couldn't get it, but that little fellow made me tell it to him. So, he already knows. I'd expect trouble, if I were you."
"Well. Thanks for the warning. Let's hear it."
"Go to the place where you stood on top of the world."
"Huh. What? Mount Olympus?"
"Um. No. Try again."
"Mount Everest?"
"Not that one either."
"Uhhh. Apollo took me on a few ride-a-longs."
"That would be atop the Heavens, handsome."
"Damn. Um." I scratch my head. "Fuck. I'm… kinda dumb."
"She said you might struggle with this one a bit."
"Gods, she really knows me. Do I get a hint?"
"That is the hint, darling. But maybe I can nudge you in the right direction a little with this. She used the words 'on top of the world', but I think saying 'at the top of the world' is more apt."
"But… At the top? Uhhh. The… North Pole?"
"Still thinking too literally. It's more figurative than geographical."
"Figurative. Like, metaphorical? Metaphorically at the top of the world… Oh, I've got it. Easy. Too easy, Anna. It's obviously gotta be where we first took acid together. At the top? High? Super duper high? Pfft. Basics."
The hamadryad hesitates, then winces apologetically. "That's not it either, seedling."
"Fuck. I give up. Can you just tell me?"
"She set this whole thing up so only you could solve it. So you can solve it. I mean, I don't know you that well, but Anna was insistent on that much. And I like you, honest, but not enough to potentially piss off the daughter of Hades by spoiling her puzzle, you know? Just… Keep trying. I believe in you. She does too."
"Godsdamn. Them are potent words. Fine."
"Great. Where did you stand at the top of the world?"
I start drinking again, chugging down gold rum. "Fuck! I dunno!"
"You do! She promises you! She said you would know!"
"Well, I don't! So now what? Guess the whole thing is fucked, and Anna's gonna be stuck in custody somewhere, and it's all gonna be my fault 'cause I'm a stupid fuck up who can't even make sense of some simple fucking puzzle tailored specifically for me! Gods damn it! Fuck! Ohhh, Gods, I hate myself. I hate myself so fucking much. Why am I so fucking stupid?"
"Hey, hey," she soothes, sitting up to straddle my legs and perch in my lap facing me. "Don't be so hard on yourself. The only source of negativity here is you. And you can choose to cut off its flow, if you try."
I drink more, fed up and done with this girl. "Fuck off. How about I just try being happy? Wow, that worked! I'm fucking cured! Just tell me the damn answer already. Or maybe I'll do what the little dude did and make you tell me."
A few sparks flicker off my body.
She sits stunned, biting her lip, staring.
It looks like she's actually scared of me.
I'm fucking livid up until I'm not, and then I feel sick.
"Shouldn't have said that." I groan and let my head fall in my hands. "Shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Fuck, I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"No, it isn't."
"I mean that I'm okay. We're okay."
"Nah, I'm not okay with me right now."
"That's separate from the two of us, isn't it?"
I don't have anything to say to that, so I shut up.
"Deep breath," she murmurs, laying her hands on my shoulders to feel them rise and fall as I do what she says. "Good. Thank you. We're gonna take another try at this, but we'll do it together, okay? The question is, where did you stand at the top of the world? Metaphorically speaking, that could mean a lot of things. But there's one in particular that stands out, even to me. Before this, I only knew of you, and what little I knew of you included one big detail. I think it would be best to remind you that one of the meanings of being at the top is victory. Triumph. Something you fought for. Something you earned. Something you–"
"Kicked the shit out of Eva Zakayavich for," I interrupt her, then dryly laugh a weak little sound. "Took the belt from that bitch like it always belonged to me. Damn it, Anna. Top of the world…"
"Mmhm. Say it. What and where?"
"MMA World Championships. Right here in Primeval. Over at the Highland Gardens Stadium. Wait, or does she mean my old gym? 'Cause I really don't wanna go back there right now…"
"No, yeah, it's the stadium." She grins a little and softly kisses me. "You did it. I'm proud of you. I'm sure Anna will be too."
"Yeah. I did it. Yippee. I have severe and untreated anger issues."
"The fact you reined it back in was all I needed. Seriously, we're good. I don't blame you for losing your cool for a second. You're under a lot of pressure right now, aren't you?"
"That's no excuse."
"Fuck excuses. I'm talking about explanations."
"Sometimes I wonder what the difference is…"
"You can't give up," she tells me, gazing deep into my eyes. "The Nicole Astoria I know keeps fighting. Even if she gets knocked down. You're tough as nails and you know it. Anna needs you to fight for her. So? Will you?"
"Tooth and nail." I take another deep breath and sigh. "Yeah. Tooth and nail. I'll fight for her forever. Thanks for helping me remember that. Uh…"
"Aife." She kisses me with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you. Again."
"Y–Yeah. Same. Uh. My friends usually call me Nico."
"Oh? Are we friends? Is that what we are?"
"If… I mean, I'd like to. If you want…"
"Hm. Well, that depends. What happens to all this, between us? I like your romantic side, and I don't want to just be, like, your old pal who you just get drinks with on Thursdays and that's it."
"Nah, that's not how I do things. We wouldn't just be friends. Boring. I firmly believe friends should have sex whenever they like. And also be romantic. And flirt. And snuggle. And make out. And date. And sleep in the same bed. And live together. What can I say? I'm a lovergirl through and through."
"I'm in. Let's be friends. Can I get your number?"
"For sure! We should add each other on Grapevine too."
"Oh, I already follow you. Here's my tag though…"
Once we trade info and I give her the same rundown on how to get in touch with me that I gave Kahri, I pack my shit up and get dressed again, ready to get back to it. That was two lovely tangents back to back, but tangents all the same. Again though, I'm certain Anna expected me to get distracted by my insatiable lesbian lust along the way, so I don't think I'm too far behind schedule.
"Alright, Aife," I mumble, placing a quick call to her number so I have it in my recents list. "I better get going. Thanks again for, like, being cool. And stuff. And, y'know, helping me out there with… Yeah, uh, thanks. I had a great time with you. We'll link back up sometime soon, for sure."
"Don't be a stranger," she yawns, already lounging in her branches. "You know where to find me. If I'm not here, you're not gonna find me. So hit me up prior if you're gonna come by."
"For sure, baby girl. I love you. I love you so much."
"Uhhh. What?"
"I said I love you. You're the one for me. I'll never love anyone else ever again…"
"Oh, you're doing the fuckboy bit. I'm gonna do the hard to get but playing along bit. Love me all you like then. Whatever. It's one sided, loser." She winks, then leans over her branch. "Oh, and hey."
I glance up at her, curious.
"Let that gorgon girl know I'd be interested in double booking you with her."
"Holy shit, really? Damn, I'm pretty sure she'd go for that."
"Yeah, and I know your ass would go for that, so there. Get outta here, Nico. Your girl needs you. Scram. You darn varmint. Get off my fucking lawn! And so on. Later, sweetheart."
"Yeah, later, babe! I looove youuu! Deuces!"
I take off at light speed, heading for the stadium.
I'm not gonna be as nice the second time around. If that little dude tries to keep me from Anna again, I'm going through him. Directly through him. Aife's right, Anna needs me, and she's waiting on me to save her, and I keep getting off track like the horny idiot I am.
It's time to lock the fuck in and get this done.
I'm gonna kick the shit out of anyone in my way.