Page 15 of Hoof It

Fifteen

Chapter 14

Jimazu

E very time Darcy buries her face in my skin and breathes in my scent, I’m pleased. I thought for sure that her human sensibilities would dislike it when I do it to her. I can usually keep my animal-like instincts under control, but that’s the one habit I’m unable to keep from acting on.

When I was a young kid, I’d heard of the billies and nannies becoming so obsessed with the scent of their mates that their whole day would be affected. Their mate’s scent could calm a bad mood, help them to relax, and even arouse them. But I had never dreamed of being lucky enough to experience it for myself.

As we walk closer to Darcy’s campsite, we don’t speak much. I’m lost in thought, and she seems to be enjoying the view. Though, I’m not entirely sure if she’s staring at the forest around us or at me. Not that I’d complain if it was the latter.

Before I step out of the tree line near the lake where Darcy and her friends set up their camp, I look around to ensure that there aren’t stray humans. I may be okay spending time with my mate and her friends, but that doesn’t mean I want to be surrounded by humans I don’t know. Especially if they react the way most do when they see a glimpse of me.

Seeing that no one else is around, I leave the safety of the forest and walk along the shore towards the tents. A small fire is lit, likely used when her friends ate this morning. My ears twitch as I hear one of them speaking softly. I place the basket of various fruits on the ground.

Darcy shifts on my back and speaks loud enough for her friends to hear her. “Good morning, bitches!” She slides her bag off her shoulders and lets it drop to the ground.

One of the tents opens and Lexi’s head pops out. As she notices Darcy wrapped around me on my back, her eyes widen briefly. She laughs and shakes her head. “Frankie, you gotta see this.”

Lexi steps out of the tent and Frankie is right behind her. “See what?” Her eyes glance around and when she spots us, she also laughs. “Good lord, Darcy. You look like a spider monkey clinging to his back like that.”

My mate laughs. “He likes to carry me. I’m not one to turn down a piggyback ride.” She taps my shoulder. “Can you let me down, please?”

I bend my knees and help her off my back before standing back to my full height. She steps in front of me. Her hand brushes along my arm as she steps to the basket.

“We brought fresh fruit. I thought we could have lunch together? I need to talk to you guys.”

Lexi and Frankie glance at one another before narrowing their eyes at my mate. My instincts immediately flare and I step forward until her back is against my front. My hands cup her shoulders. She relaxes against my body before looking up and back at me. She seems worried. I give her shoulders a light squeeze, and before I can stop myself, I lean down and kiss her quickly. When I pull away, her face has relaxed somewhat.

She faces her friends. “It’s not bad, I promise. I just want to be honest with you guys. I’d rather do it while eating though. I’m starving.”

Lexi continues to stare, but Frankie nods and moves towards the fire. As she turns, she pulls Lexi’s arm and directs her towards their seats. Frankie walks off to the side of the tents and opens a large plastic box. She rummages around inside of it, searching for something.

I watch my mate. She reaches up and gives my hands a brief squeeze, then steps away from me. I hesitate a moment before grabbing the basket and following behind her. As she approaches one of the empty seats, I place a hand on her arm. Putting the basket nearby, I sit where she’d intended to, then pull her down onto my lap. She wiggles around for a moment before settling in.

Lexi watches us the entire time, her eyes never leaving us. They bounce between my mate and I repeatedly.

I look around for anything that I can use to cook. I want to give my mate and her friends time to speak without worrying about food. Seeing nothing that I’m familiar with, I give up. Just then, Frankie walks up, her arms loaded with what I think to be food and cooking items.

Frankie notices me taking stock of what’s in her arms. One item at a time, she sets everything down. I recognize none of it.

“I would offer to make food for us all, but I have no idea what any of that is.” I motion to everything. “Or how to use any of it.”

Darcy turns in my lap and kisses my cheek before turning back towards her friends.

Frankie looks between the items and me then shakes her head slightly. “You don’t need to do that, Jimazu. I don’t mind cooking for everyone. I like to keep my hands busy.” She picks up a thin metal box that has a long handle and a latch. My eyebrows meet my hairline as I look at it.

“This is a cast iron pie iron. It’s used to make sandwiches or pies over a fire.” She unlatches it and it opens up. “The bread or pastry goes here and here. Then the meats or filling sit on the bread.”

Frankie pulls something white and brown out of a bag at her feet. The item looks fluffy and light. She squeezes a yellow substance on one side then places it in one side of the pie iron. Then does the same with a second piece before placing it in the other side. Next, a pink square is placed on one of the white ones, then a yellow square on the other. She points at the items in one square. “The bottom is a slice of bread. The pink one is lunch meat, specifically ham. The yellow is cheddar cheese. I put butter on the side of the bread that touches the pan so that it doesn’t stick or burn while it cooks.”

Frankie repeats the process twice more, but leaves the pink square off one of them. As she’s starting on a fourth, she stops and looks directly at me. “Do you want meat on yours, Jimazu? I just realized that I have no idea what you do or don’t eat.”

“I’ve only ever eaten fruits and vegetables. I don’t know what meat is.”

Lexi speaks up. “Meat is how humans get protein. It’s usually made from…” She stops mid-sentence and looks embarrassed before continuing, “Meat comes from animals. Humans are omnivores. We eat plants, like you, but we also eat meat most days. If you’re anything like regular goats, I’m guessing you’re an herbivore and only eat plants.”

Her words register within me. “You…you eat animals? Like forest animals such as squirrels and owls?” I can’t stop the horror from leaking into my voice.

My mate turns in my lap to face me before she speaks. “No, not those kinds of animals. I mean, some people do. Which in my opinion is gross as hell. But typically, we eat beef from cows, pork or ham from pigs, and chicken. There’s also fish, some of which are good and others are nasty. Other seafood creatures like shrimp and crab or lobster. From cows we also get milk, which we then get cheese and butter from. From chickens we get meat and eggs.”

Lexi speaks next. “There are some people who disagree with eating animal products, so they decide to go either vegetarian or vegan. Vegetarians will still eat things like eggs and cheese. Vegans will only eat plant products like fruits and vegetables. Instead of meat they’ll eat tofu. Cooked correctly, that’s pretty good.”

“Don’t forget pescatarians,” Frankie says.

“Right! Pescatarians are similar to vegans except they eat fish as well. Humans are weird about their food, if you think about it.”

I’m quiet a moment, then look at the three of them one at a time. “What about the three of you?”

Darcy answers first. “I mostly eat vegetarian. But I won’t turn down bacon, like ever. Every now and then I’ll have a burger.”

“I eat just about everything now,” Frankie starts, “but when we were younger I was a pescatarian. For a long time my parents had me convinced I was allergic to basically everything that wasn’t from the ocean. I’m not a huge fan of fish these days.”

Finally, Lexi answers. “I eat meat, except for pork. I watched this really in-depth documentary about pigs a few years ago and it was super gross. I haven’t been able to eat bacon or ham ever since.”

“No ham on yours then, I’m guessing?” Frankie asks me. I shake my head.

“No. I can’t fathom eating part of another creature like that.”

Frankie nods, then finishes creating mine. She closes and latches all four of the pie irons before she places them in the fire, each a small distance from the others. “Now we wait for the cheese to get melty and the bread to get toasty.” She reaches for the basket we brought and digs through it, pulling pumpkins and looks at them questioningly.

“If you poke a few holes in the tops, you can place them on the grate above the fire and roast them, similar to how I did the potatoes yesterday. Roast pumpkin is one of my favorites.”

Frankie reaches down and grabs a sharply pointed object. She uses it to poke holes in the gourds and carefully places them on the grate.

Lexi looks towards my mate and I. “So, you said you needed to talk to us, Darce?”

My mate squirms on my lap. I rub her back and she relaxes into me. “Yeah. I know that we’re supposed to start packing up in the next few days to head home. But…” She turns her head to look at me quickly before returning her gaze to her friend. “I’m not ready to leave. My PTO is for another week. I think I want to stay here, with Zu, longer.”

Her friends are quiet for a long moment. Frankie is the first to speak. “You think you want to stay, or you want to stay? And, what do you mean by ‘stay’? Like, permanently? Or just for the rest of your time off work?”

“Right now it means that I’m not ready to go back to normal everyday life. I want to stay here in the forest with him. There’s something between us, and I want to explore that. I’m not going to ask him to move to Indiana with me. I don’t even have a home there anymore.”

Lexi’s eyes narrow at my mate and my protective instinct kicks in again. I wind my arms around Darcy and nuzzle her neck.

“Don’t look at me like that, Lex. You guys let me move in after everything with Mat. And I love you even more for that. But, that’s your home. Not mine. Right now, my life is at a crossroads. The old me would pack up and go home with you guys because it was expected of me. I’d finally turn my phone on and respond to the fifteen million messages and calls from Mat. I’d go back to work as if nothing life changing had ever happened. I’d eventually start dating again and end up marrying some boring man that doesn’t fuck me right, but expects me to work, cook, clean, and take care of a ton of kids.”

I bristle at the thought of my mate being with anyone other than me, and my arms tighten around her slightly.

“But, that’s not who I am anymore. I think that last night with Mat killed that version of me. This me that I am now? She wants to embrace what fate has put in her path. She wants to move forward, chasing her happiness. She wants to fuck her monster that she can’t keep her hands off no matter how much she may try. She wants to live in the woods, fulfilling her cottagecore, swamp witch type dreams.”

Lexi and Frankie don’t speak. A quick glance at them tells me that both are crying silently. I remove my arms from Darcy and lean close to her ear. “I adore you, little mate. But right now, they need you.”

Darcy kisses my cheek, then stands from my lap. It only takes her a few steps to reach her friends. She sits on her knees and places a hand first on Lexi, then the other on Frankie. “I love the two of you. We’ve been there for one another through a lot of shit. There aren’t enough words for me to accurately express just how much I love and appreciate you both. But It’s been far too long since I did something for myself. Staying here with Zu? It’s what I need at this point in my life. He’s what I need. Be upset, or confused, just please don’t hate me.”

Darcy reaches up and wipes the tears from their faces one at a time. After an extended silence, Lexi looks towards me and speaks. “This is her choice, not yours, right? You aren’t forcing her to stay?”

I don’t hesitate to answer her truthfully. “You are correct. I have not asked this of Darcy. Would I like for her to stay here with me for the rest of our lives? Of course I would. She is my true mate. But that needs to be what she wants. I will never force her to do anything against her will.”

“You aren’t going to hurt her in any way, are you?” This time it’s Frankie asking.

I shake my head side to side repeatedly. “Never. She has told me some of what happened with Mat. The anger I felt as she told her story was unlike anything I have ever felt in my four hundred years. For the first time in my life, I wanted to hurt a human. Inflicting pain on another living creature, regardless of their size or species, goes against my very nature.” I pause for a moment. “But don’t think that means that given the chance I would hesitate to hurt him. I get the feeling that even Pan could forgive me that. As far as hurting my mate? That will never happen. She is my everything. I would happily give her the air from my chest if it meant keeping her happy.”

I leave my seat and drop to one knee. “She is to me what bones are to the fae, treasure is to dragons, and gold is to griffins. I will do any and everything in my power to keep her happy and safe. If she ever changes her mind about me, then I will let her go. This is my promise to you and my oath to Pan.”

I bring a closed fist to my chest and bow my head. A moment later a hand I don’t recognize enters my field of sight. “Jimazu…” I glance up through my eyebrows and see Lexi in front of me. I lift my head back up and look at her. She looks… Unsure? I’m not entirely sure.

“Jesus. I hadn’t expected all of that. Is he for real, Darce?”

Darcy chuckles a bit. “I asked him that same question last night. Ask him what he said to me.” Her lips tip up in a half smile.

“What was your answer last night?” Lexi asks me.

I look at my mate as I say, “I assure you, little mate, I am very real.”

Darcy shivers at my words and bites her bottom lip. The scent of her arousal hits my nostrils immediately. I lock eyes with her as I inhale deeply and widen my eyes. Her cheeks blush, and her arousal thickens.

Lexi clears her throat once. “Um, are y’all doing some weird sex thing right now?”

Confused, I break eye contact with Darcy and glance at Lexi. “Weird sex thing?”

“Yeah, like are you telepathically telling Darce all of the dirty things you plan to do to her once you get her back to your cave?”

I fall back onto my hind end and give my head several short shakes, still very confused. “What does that even mean?”

Darcy speaks up before Lexi can answer and possibly confuse me more. “Alexiana, leave Zu alone. Jesus H.” She rubs the area of her face above her eyes. “Zu, she’s just teasing you. Please ignore her.” She moves close to me and holds out her hands for me to take. I grasp her hands in mine and allow her to help me to my hooves. I dust myself off then sit back in the seat behind me. Darcy automatically sits on my legs again.

I rest my head on her shoulder. Darcy turns her face towards the side of my head and speaks quietly. “I hope you know that I have plans for you as soon as we return to the cave, my beast.” Her hand lightly grazes the fur near my cock pocket. “Plans that will take us hours. In bed. In the hot spring. Maybe even in the forest. I wasn’t ready for this thick cock last night, but I am now. I want you to mate me over and over again. I want you to fill me with your cum until it’s spilling out of me and I can no longer feel my legs.”

My cock starts to swell within the pocket and I attempt to shift in my seat. My hand works its way between Darcy’s ass and my upper leg and I squeeze the plump part of her, and it makes her squirm.

The wind shifts and I’m hit with a scent that makes my mouth water. A groan sounds from across the fire and I see Frankie leap from her seat and pull the pie irons from the fire. Lexi holds out a two-armed metal utensil and Frankie takes it from her. She opens it then clicks it together once before using it to pull the pumpkins from where they’ve been roasting. She places them onto four separate round things as Lexi holds them out to her. Working together, they unlatch the pie irons one at a time and remove the now cooked food from them, placing one with each roasted pumpkin.

I turn my face in the direction of Darcy’s ear and whisper, “Eat what you can, little mate. It’s going to be a while before you’re able to again.” Without thinking, I nip at her earlobe. She shivers against me once, then stands and walks to her friends with both arms outstretched.