She grips my upper arms, digging her long, claw-like nails into my flesh as we fuck. And this time it is a fuck.
It’s not slow. It’s not easy.
It’s the kind of fucking you do when you can’t get enough of someone.
I grit my teeth, but it’s not pain I’m feeling. It just makes me want her more. Makes me thrust my hips forward with more force, pushing myself deep inside her. Her head dips down and she bites me on the shoulder and at the same time, I grab her hair, pushing it out of the way so I can push her tits up to my mouth and take her nipple between my teeth.
She lets out a moan when I bite back. But she doesn’t complain and she doesn’t ask me to stop.
And maybe that’s my problem?
Maybe that’s why the ache is there?
I have been trying to hold on to my humanity when I was never human to begin with.
We are fucking like gods and goddesses, because that’s what we are.
Damaged versions, yes. But does it matter?
And that’s when reality just… slips.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - PIE
There is suddenly a lot of laughter in the air. And the jingle of those tiny bells I’m wearing as jewelry. And we’re running.
I look over at Pell and smile. “Pell! You’re… little!”
That’s when I realize it’s me giggling. Because I’m not a grown-up—well, have I ever technically been a grown-up? Debatable. But the point is, I’m a kid again. Only I’m nothing like the kid I remember. I’m still a wood nymph chimera. And Pell is still a satyr chimera. But we can’t be more than twelve. Definitely not teenagers.
Pell looks super confused for a moment as we continue to run through an amazing field of tall grass and wild flowers. Blues, and yellows, and purples, and oranges. So many colors just bursting out all over the place. And the field is surrounded by a thick wood. But not a foreboding one. The trees aren’t dark and twisted. The leaves are the most spectacular shade of gold and the trunks are covered in smooth, white bark.
It’s incredibly spectacular. Some CGI right out of a blockbuster movie.
Pell’s confusion melts away as I continue to giggle at him. Then he’s laughing too.
I feel like we’re maybe a little bit high, that’s how surreal this is.
But we’re just kids. So I don’t think we are.
I think… I think we’re just happy.
Pell laughs. And we’re still running. My new legs feel natural now. I can jump things like a deer. Single leaps and I’m over things. I can bounce, and vault, and trot. I feel like a horse, but better.
I feel… like a wood nymph and the moment that thought manifests, I suddenly have this overwhelming sense of belonging.
My hooves are better than feet. The cloven halves can grip. There is no possible way I will slip, even when we run through mud. I am sure-footed, and nimble, and I love it. Like this is what it means to be me.
I laugh as we run. And Pell looks back at me, grinning. He’s faster, but he waits. And I am a hundred percent sure he will never leave me behind.
Soon we’re at the edge of the flower meadow and then we slip under the shady canopy of golden leaves and enter a world of white tree trunks. There’s a path in the woods. It’s dirt, and smooth, like you could be a human running barefoot on it and never step on a stray twig or pebble.
Then I giggle again, because I am barefoot. I just have hooves.
My body is similar to the one I was wearing in the last room. Surely that’s what’s happened here. We went to another room and now we get to be kids.
I’m maybe, kinda, sorta pissed that Pell and I didn’t get to finish that sex we were in the middle of having, but not really.
I’d rather be a kid. Not the kid I was, because she sucked. Her life was shit. No one was ever running beside her in a wood or slowing their pace so she wouldn’t get left behind. That life was nothing but being left behind. But a kid like this? I could be this kid forever.
Pell lets go of my hand and takes off in front of me. “Race you!” he calls.
And we do race. I’m good with these legs now. My running is natural and I’m so fast. I bounce from step to step and leap fallen trees like they are nothing.
This is what freedom feels like.
The race becomes a chase. And it feels never-ending. And that’s OK with me. This is all I want to do. I just want to run in these woods with Pell forever and ever.
But eventually we come out on the other side of the wood and I’m just about to pass Pell up and enter a new flower meadow when he grabs my hand and we stop. Just on the edge of the new space. Right there under the canopy of golden leaves.