He looked down. There was a corpsefrog clinging to his robe, watching him with calm, glowing eyes.
“Hello,” said Vale suspiciously. “What do you want?”
The corpsefrog let out a low, broken cry. Then it leapt onto a nearby rib-tree, which bowed under its weight. As Vale was puzzling how a tiny corpsefrog could cause such a thing, a surge of bone-trees and bushes parted to show the way back to his nest, including the tree the frog was sitting on.
Vale sighed. “You would have me go to her?”
There was no reply. Not even the corpsefrog, who was still watching him with those big, glowing eyes, one of which was half-rotted.
“I should return to the mortal realm,” Vale said. “Surely that is more important. You are hurting.”
Still no reply. Not even a gust of wind. But just as Vale was about to instruct the pool to take him to the mortal realm, a faint moan echoed through the branches.
Vale stopped. The sound should not have affected him. The desire came anyway, pulsing through him in a way he had not known in an age. The strange thing was, it did notfeellike the pollen was affecting him. He was not overheated or dazed. But it must have been the pollen, for why else would he find himself so drawn to the mortal’s desperate moans?
Vale stepped out of the pool and started down the path the void had cleared for him. The mortal’s moans became louder with every step, as if she could sense him coming. But when he arrived at his nest, Ivy’s eyes were clenched shut, oblivious to his presence.
Her white dress had been pulled up. Her hand was underneath it, rubbing between her legs. Her expression was pained, as he hoped it would not be. But, apparently, the heatbloom worked in the usual way for mortals, too.
The scent of her desire was so thick that Vale was lightheaded with it. He forced his voice to stay neutral as he asked, “Have you made yourself come?”
Ivy jolted. Her hand stopped, her eyes flashing open, and Vale was once again entranced by the bright, familiar green.
“What?” Ivy managed. A shudder wracked her frame, and Ivy whined weakly. Her hand moved under her dress once more, only to forcefully stop as she stared up at him.
Vale stepped closer, breathing through his mouth so he would not be affected by the overwhelming scent of her desire. “Have you?”
“Yes,” Ivy whispered, her cheeks red with more than lust. He could smell her embarrassment, but her desire was so huge it was difficult to notice.
“Then clearly it is not enough,” Vale decided. “I will assist.”
Four
Huh, Ivy thought feverishly.I guess I’m seducing him after all.
She should be terrified. She had a Skullstalker skulking toward her, a sight that most mortals didn’t survive. But the pollen made her only focus on the parts of him that intrigued her—his height, his toned muscles bulging against his robe, his intense gaze. She even wanted to run her fingers through the moss growing over his cheekbone. To touch the tips of his fangs. To?—
Another wave of heat ran through her, making her shudder against the nest. Whatever this monster was going to do, she needed itnow.
Still, Ivy’s survival instincts weren’tcompletelydormant.
“Can we even—” Ivy asked weakly, pulling her dress back down with shaky hands. “I mean… you’re not evenhuman.”
“I will not mate you properly,” Vale assured her.
Disappointment and relief rushed through Ivy in equal measure. She dug her fingers into the fur that coated the nest. “But you said?—”
“I will assist,” Vale repeated. Then, in a move that made Ivy’s breath catch, he climbed onto his knees.
He was still huge like this. Still loomed over her, that piercing gaze fixed on her in a way that reminded her eerily of a mouse being stalked by a fox.
“You do not need to fear,” Vale said as he leaned closer. “I will take care of you. The pollen will leave your blood. And then we can get back to work.”
“Oh,” Ivy squeaked. “Um. Okay.”
She wanted to say something about how she didn’t expect a Skullstalker to be such a dedicated worker. But he gripped her legs, and his touch forced everything from her mind that wasn’t primal excitement.
His claws pricked through her dress. For some reason, this only made Ivy more excited, her hips bucking without her consent.
