Page 39 of Where the Shadows Land (Garden of Hope #1)

MAIRUK

M airuk traced their hands down Astoria’s arm and adjusted her position slightly as she worked her magic.

In the two weeks since spring returned to Mieotsy, Astoria and Mairuk spent most mornings honing her skills.

More of her power unfurled with each sunrise as they broke down the limits she placed over her magic.

Mairuk could not imagine going nearly three full decades without using theirs.

The elemental Spirit of Mieotsy gave many gifts.

If some king forbid them from using those gifts, their spirit would have broken many years ago.

The chill of early spring kissed against Astoria’s pale skin, and goosebumps rose across her body.

Mairuk licked their lips, recalling the taste.

Her red hair was tied up, to keep it off her shoulders, and Mairuk could not stop themselves from running their tongue up the column of her neck.

She made the sweetest, breathy little moans for them.

They considered wrapping their hands around her waist and bending her over the garden bed, and groaned .

“Are you alright?” The magic Astoria wove faded with the twist of her wrist, and she turned in their arms. Her brows drew close together as she looked up at them.

Mairuk licked their lips and pulled her body flush against theirs. They sighed as her breasts squished against their chest. Their hips rocked up into her and they tilted their head back from her blissful softness against their writhing olctae . “We would be better if we were inside you, our vixen.”

Astoria’s cheeks went as red as her hair, and the rich scent of her arousal ruffled their gills. “What about my magic training?”

“We adore your mind.” Mairuk lifted Astoria into their arms, and she squeaked out a giggle.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Outside the walls. It is time you tried something,” Mairuk said.

Astoria tilted her head, but otherwise remained silent as they carried her out into the open field between the garden and the forest. They set her down, then took twenty steps away and grinned. “Stop our approach with your magic.”

“What do I get if I succeed?”

“Praise, of course. We will carry you back inside and fuck you senseless in our bed.”

“If I fail?”

Mairuk’s grin turned wicked as they flexed their fingers. “If you fail, we will punish you. Bring you to the edge over and over again until you are a weeping, begging mess for us. If your begging is good enough, we will fuck you senseless where you stand.”

“Alright.” The red returned to Astoria’s cheeks, then stretched out to her neck and ears.

“The Orsea is an extension of your will. Maintain your focus and let yourself desire what it is you plan to conjure. What will you do if you want this game to stop? ”

“Shout or conjure fire.” Astoria called a small flicker of flame to the tip of her finger to prove her mastery.

“Correct. Are you ready, our little human?”

Astoria nodded, and Mairuk rushed toward her at full speed.

She squealed and ran toward the forest, pulling tangled roots up around Mairuk’s feet.

It did not slow them down, the brittle roots crumbled into dust under their weight.

Circling around a tree, Astoria sent a burst of green energy in their direction.

A slithering vine wrapped around their leg and stalled their steps.

The root held in place, squeezing Mairuk’s leg so tight it burned.

“Are you losing already?” Astoria’s tone was one of challenge. Her bright smile flickered when Mairuk broke through the root around their leg.

“It appears that you are.”

They grinned when she scrambled deeper into the forest. Her giggles rang off the fresh growth in a new song that raised every fiber of their body with need.

They held their position for three heartbeats.

She deserved a chance to get some distance, to believe she won.

Mairuk had no plans on playing fair for long.

They caught up to her within a few heartbeats, silent as a shadow.

She called vines from the forest floor. They raced toward Mairuk, two of the six hitting them.

The vines wrapped around their wrists and burrowed deep into the ground.

Astoria bit her lip with her focus. A bead of sweat dripped down her brow and her heavy breasts heaved with each panted breath.

“You need to make these vines tighter than that if you want to stop us, little vixen.” Mairuk ripped the vines free from the dirt and whipped them across the ground in her direction.

Astoria pulled the moisture from the air and threw a small, shimmering sphere of water at them.

It hit Mairuk in the chest, soaking their skin with the tingling water.

“You have made us wetter with your sweet cunt. Try again.”

Astoria turned and ran, looping around a tree and bolting deeper into the forest. Mairuk did not allow her to get far.

They cut her off in a handful of long, fast strides.

Green light flickered between her fingers, and Mairuk focused their power.

They banished her conjuring with the snap of their fingers.

She turned to run again, but Mairuk released their focus from blocking her magic.

With a soft incantation from their lips, low tree branches grew downward.

Astoria screamed and turned, running back to Mairuk.

Their arm snapped around her waist and clutched her soft body against theirs.

She wriggled in a desperate attempt to free herself from Mairuk’s hold, but they kept a firm grip on her.

“Our pretty little human. Did you truly believe your magic could stop us from reaching you?” Mairuk purred the question into her ear, and groaned when she shivered against them. “There is only one way we will let you go now, vixen.”

They waited for her to object, to tell them to stop. This was the first time they played this particular game with Astoria. Every instinct in their body demanded they fuck her right here on the forest floor, but they would stop it all if she as much breathed the word.

“Mairuk,” Astoria moaned.

Mairuk chuckled and squeezed her against them. They called the mycelium up from the ground below and commanded it to wrap around her ankles. They pulled back and clapped their hand down across her soft, round backside. “Unless you want us to rip it off you, take your dress off.”

Astoria’s hands stilled over the laces in the front of her gown. Her heart raced under her breast; one of their favorite sounds. They kneaded her ass in their palm and landed another smack on the other side. “We will not ask you a second time.”

Astoria undid the laces and lifted her skirt, slowly peeling the garment off of her body.

Mairuk groaned as the expanse of her pale, freckled skin came into view.

She removed the final scraps of clothing and let them join her dress in a heap on the ground.

She looked at Mairuk from over her shoulder, and they almost burst from the sight alone .

In half a heartbeat, they took her lips in a frenzied kiss.

Her taste on their tongue, and the feel of her plush, naked body against theirs, had their cocks writhing against her spine.

One hand wrapped around her left breast and rolled her nipple between their fingers.

Their other hand trailed down her stomach, to her hip, then squeezed her thick thigh.

Astoria whimpered as she tried to spread her legs wider, but the mycelium held her ankles in place.

Her thighs spread and closed in an adorable attempt to convince Mairuk to touch her where she needed them, but they denied her.

Her body was familiar now, and she was not anywhere needy enough yet.

Mairuk devoted all of their attention to her mouth, tangling their tongue with hers and drinking in both her flavor and sweet moans.

“Please Mairuk. I need you to touch me,” Astoria panted between the breaths she swallowed in.

“Where do you want our touch?” Mairuk kissed down her neck, letting their tongue scrape along the sensitive skin.

“Inside me, please.” Astoria rocked her hips back into them, and her desire dripped down her inner thighs.

“Beg. Tell us exactly what you want. Let us hear what you need, our pretty human.” Mairuk pinched her nipple roughly between their fingers. Astoria cried out and flung her head back against their chest.

“Put your fingers inside my pussy and ass. Stretch me. Fill me with your fingers and your cocks, please. Please!”

“You think that is begging, vixen?” Mairuk tutted and pinched her other nipple. They brushed against her clit in a featherlight touch. “We are not convinced.”

“Please? I’m so wet. I need you to stretch me, make me take your olctae . Root inside me and fill me, please! I need it, I need you. Please!” Astoria panted her pleas with every exhale. She rocked back into them, desperate and needy.

“No.” Mairuk brushed over her clit again. “You have not earned it yet. ”

“Mairuk!”

“Our name on your lips is such a pretty sound, but you can be more convincing, can’t you?”

“Please, please, please!” Astoria whined.

Each sweet, pleading beg that fell from her lips twitched their olctae and pooled more of her delicious desire on her thighs. Her scent shifted and took on more of theirs. Their influence pulsed through her veins, but they weren’t done playing with her just yet.

“Beg like you mean it.”

“I need you inside me, Mairuk! Please touch me, please. Please stretch me, please fill me. With your fingers, with your cocks, I don’t care, just please fuck me, Mairuk!”

Mairuk hummed and slipped one finger between her folds. A low, deep growl rumbled through their chest once her wetness soaked their fingers. “Let us hear you. When you want to come, you will beg for it. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”