It was in that moment that I saw the realization that I knew her secret in her eyes. It confirmed everything I suspected without her having to say a damn word.
Harlow shifted uneasily on her feet; she was considering bolting.
“Relax, I have secrets of my own. If you ask nicely, I may even share a few with you.”
Her fingers drummed against her biceps as she stood there, her pulse still strumming a wild rhythm in her throat.
“Great, you know my big furry secret. So what?” she stated with extra sassy sarcasm.
Ignoring her question, I began to walk the perimeter of the clearing that currently granted us privacy. I reached out and plucked a dry corn leaf off a stalk. I studied it between my fingers, finding the texture fascinating. The way sections of it still held some flexibility, while the rest of it was brittle.
“You’re not as alone as you think you are. It seems this town suits you well.”
After completing one lap around the edge of the clearing, I approached her again. Using the leaf as a makeshift pointer, I gestured to the cross frame behind her.
“Don’t you find it strange that there’s no scarecrowmounted on that frame?”
She looked back at the wooden structure before returning her gaze to me. “Haven’t given it much thought. So, there’s a scarecrow missing. Someone alert the local sewing club. I’m sure they can assemble a stuffed decoration in no time.”
Her response may have been full of edge and snark, but there was an underlying uncertainty to it.
This time, when I reached out for her, I made contact with her hand. My fingers curled around her wrist, gently easing her hand away from its death grip on her arm.
I didn’t rush the movement. Instead, I gradually brought her hand to my cheek—the one with the inked stitches on it. Loosening my hold on her, I granted her freedom to explore my face as she felt inclined.
“This field is mine to watch over. Everything in it answers to me.” I paused. “That includes you.”
The pads of her fingers traced over the tattooed lines on my face, paying particular attention to the one near my eyebrow. Despite the minimal contact, just having her touch me like this had me imagining where else on my body she could explore.
“I’m not sure I understand.” The tip of her nail dragged along my jaw, and it just about undid me.
Forcing myself to sever our connection so I wouldn’t get wrapped up in too much emotional suffocation, I released her hand and stepped back abruptly.
“You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”
Her hand dropped to her side, and she shook herhead. “Try again. You brought me here to see if I could handle all of you. Time to put up or shut up, Bale.”
I loved it when she was a bossy kitten. It did things to my dick that made me want to plow her straight into the earth.
“Try not to scream too loud.”
I’d hate for you to lose your voice before you can scream my name properly.
I strode past her to pluck my flat-brimmed cap from the arm of the frame. After securing it firmly on my head, I smirked at her.
From there, the transition was as smooth as a freshly sharpened scythe culling the fields. My blood thickened into sap, my bones grew stronger than the thickest tree roots, my hair hardened into golden straw, and my flesh turned tan and rough as decaying bark.
In my scarecrow form, I maintained most of my size and shape. However, the finer components of my body transformed into an entity that scared more than just crows looking for a free meal.
As for my face? The cap cast shadows over it, but I knew that one look at it and Harlow would either freeze or run. My eyes were darker than scorched earth, a twisted grin played across my lips, and my stitched tattoos turned thready on my stretched skin that was as unforgiving as the leather gloves on my hands.
I watched as Harlow took in the vision before her. It wasn’t the fact that she didn’t run that surprised me. Itwas that she seemed morbidly fascinated, shock warring inside with her curiosity.
If this threw her mind for a loop, wait until she saw my cock in this form. Oh, and she most definitely would if I had anything to say about it.
When I addressed her current state of awe, my voice came out deeper, with more of a scratchy coarseness to it. “Speechless, kitten?”
Pushing to see just how good she was at hiding her nerves, I stepped toward her. Each movement of my body shook loose a blade of straw from my body like a calling card. I never knew where they came from, but when you were damned to become a supernatural scarecrow for eternity, it didn’t have to make sense.
