Dryad, Try Again, page 17
“Fuh… fuuhhh…wow…” he rasps.
“You like?” I ask in the deepest tone I can muster.
“Yes…yes, Mr. Tree Monster.”
I titter and reach into the basket—bingo. “You’ll like this more.” I take out the bottle of lube and drench his dick with it. Then, I take the sex toy and tease just the cockhead with it.
“How is this…human?”
“More,” he whimpers. He struggles against my vines, but I have him at my mercy. It’s all so hot. And it’s gotten me impatient for the main event.
I jerk him off with the plastic sleeve. I take it down with ease, then back up. The slick sounds fill our little dome of wood. We’re the only two beings on the planet.
“Oh…oh…oooh…oh yes.” His whining sounds of pleasure are music to my ears.
“You like this, human?”
“Yes,” he mutters, eyes shut.
“You can’t fight my vines, can you, human?”
He struggles against my plants as I jerk him off. “No,” he whimpers.
I grin and, on instinct, stroke his lips with my free hand. Without stopping my rhythm below, I command, “Open up, human.”
He doesn’t hesitate. When his lips part, I run my branch fingers along his mouth. Then his tongue teases them, and I thrum with pleasure. When he sucks one into his mouth, I nearly lose my mind.
The tree dome around us quivers. Tanner is getting me close. No one’s ever sucked me in this form before. He continues to run his tongue along my branch, sending waves of pleasure throughout my roots. All the while, I increase my speed down below. I jerk. He licks. I jerk faster. He suckles me. It’s ecstasy.
“Fuck, Tanner…I mean…human.” I groan and he grins as he kisses my bark.
“Please, Mr. Dryad.” He grins at me coyly while taking my branches in and out of his perfect lips.
“What?”
He licks up and down my branches. He swirls his tongue around, sending shudders down my dark trunk spine. “Please, let me…please…jerk me faster.”
“Yesss…” I hiss. I pick up the pace, and Tanner’s face gets redder. He grits his teeth, his eyes are shut, and I feel the tremors all over. A vein bulges on his neck, and I know he’s right there.
I stroke his nipple with my free hand and say, “You give me much pleasure, human. Now come for me.”
With a strangled cry, it happens. I feel Tanner’s whole body convulse and his hips thrust forward. My boyfriend shoots into the cock sleeve, and the connection I have with him in this moment puts me in ecstasy. I stroke and stroke, thankful that this sex toy has a reservoir-tipped end. He fills the clear plastic toy with semen, and I grin in delight. Seeing him orgasm, feeling his body quake with pleasure, and knowing I pulled it from him has my inner dryad going wild. Then, something incredible happens, and sparks fly through my very soul. I become one with the forest at large. Every leaf and root in a one-mile radius suddenly connects to me with paranormal energy, and I transcend to another level of existence.
My tree dome blooms. In the dead of winter, I’ve brought back to life the forest. Flowers burst, falling down from the sky. It’s like an orgasm, but…different. The ecstasy is there, but it’s a float into euphoria, not a fall off a cliff like usual. But it’s equally satisfying, and I can’t describe it in human terms. I don’t shake or lose control.
I just…exist. In pure bliss.
I eventually let go of Tanner, and when his arms come down, he looks up. “Wow,” he mutters, rubbing his shoulders.
“I know.”
“You didn’t have to do all that,” he says with a smile.
“I didn’t.” I wave my branches around and allow the trees to return to their prior state. The bloom is over, and we’re once again surrounded by mostly barren canopies. Then, I shift down to human form, in my jeans and green hoodie. “You did it. You brought me to orgasm.”
He snickers and tucks himself into his pants. “Hardly. I think you did that to me.”
“No, I’m serious, Tan.” Once he’s dressed, I lean in and hold his elbows. “It was…something else. I didn’t…shoot like I usually do, but it felt so…raw. Free-ing. A dryad orgasm. You did that.”
“You’re the one who had your way with me, Mr. Big-Scary-Tree-Monster.” We chuckle and I catch his lips with mine.
“But feeling you in that moment…brought me closer to the forest.” I lean my forehead onto his. “Making love with you is…so much more than the human or dryad in me can comprehend. So thank you.”
“For what?”
“For letting me explore this. For giving me a second chance. For loving me.”
“We were always meant to be here, Kove. Ever since we were little, up until this moment.”
We seal our love with another kiss and the forest shakes around us. I love this man with my whole heart, and nothing in the future will uproot what we’ve been growing all these years.
Epilogue
TANNER
(TWO YEARS AND TWO WEEKS LATER)
“But what if you get soup stains all over your sweater?” I ask.
Kovi waves me off while focusing on the pot like it’s no big deal. “That’s what aprons are for.” He continues to stir his culinary concoction and I try not to be frustrated. I remind myself that it’s Christmas, and that I love Kovi to bits and pieces. The aroma of his signature chicken noodle soup calms me down.
I’m not usually a nervous wreck, but I’ve never hosted Christmas before. This is our first holiday season post-college, so it’s kind of a big deal. I’m not trying to impress our guests, but I want the party to be a good time.
When Aunt Hannah approaches Kovi and takes over at the stove, warmth spreads across my chest. The two most important people in my life are standing in my childhood kitchen. They’re chatting animatedly about recipes, and I thank the monster god that Aunt Hannah’s been in tip-top health these past two years. I also thank the heavens that I decided to enroll at the infamous Creepin U.
Kovi and I moved back here after we graduated. While most wouldn’t be thrilled to be back in their childhood home, I was more than happy that Aunt Hannah invited us. Truthfully, I wanted to continue to look out for her, but I didn’t want Kovi to be away. I was nervous he’d feel weird about living with his boyfriend’s family, but after I asked him to move in with us on graduation day, his chest sagged in relief.
He actually wanted to move in with me. And now here we are, seven months later. I love this monster with every fiber of my being, and this is my family.
“Please?” Aunt Hannah asks.
Kovi grins at her with fondness. “For you, anything.” She takes over stirring duties and he ties his apron around her waist. It’s so domestic that I want to snapshot it forever. “Come on,” Kovi says, turning to me. “We’ve got a job to do.”
“What job?” I ask with a smile.
“Well, I have a job.” We get to the front door and pull on our coats “Your aunt just asked me.”
“To do what?” I hold open the door for my boyfriend.
“The trees are uneven.” He points to our front yard. While we don’t have a white Christmas, Kovi took the initiative to get six massive evergreens and plant them here for the season—with their permission, of course. They’re all decked out in red-and-gold garlands with various multicolored ornaments, but each tree is a different size. I guess they didn’t grow equally in the weeks since he’s planted them. “It’s no problem for super dryad,” he says in a radio announcer voice.
He walks backward and flexes his arms, and it’s too damn corny and attractive. I giggle at him and he winks at me, knowing how turned-on I am. When he turns around, he shifts in the blink of an eye. The therapy appointments have long since quelled my fears of tree monsters and forests. It’s a relief to say there haven’t been any more panic attacks. Now, when I see Kovi, my Kovi, I only see the guy I love. Tree monster or human, he’s all I could ever want.
When he waves his branch arm, all the trees quiver. It’s a spectacle to behold, and I’m in awe of his supernatural powers. He truly is my own personal superhero. After a beat, the evergreens morph and end up in identical sizes.
I hold my hands together as I gaze in wonder at the flora in my front yard. When Kovi shifts down, he crowds my space. “Your aunt wanted everything to be perfect,” he murmurs. “You like?”
“I love.” I peck his lips. He’s just as perfect on my mouth in his human form as in his dryad form. I chuckle against his face. “Did Aunt Hannah really want this? Or was this for me?”
He coyly looks up in thought. “She may have mentioned you’d like it…”
“Cocky monster,” I mutter.
He holds my hips and we laugh. “I know you want everything pristine because we’re hosting our first Christmas after college.”
“I’ve never done this before…” I bury my face in his chest. “I finally have friends, a degree, a kickass boyfriend. Childhood sucked, but I don’t want to mess up adulthood.”
“You won’t.” He rubs my back and I melt as I embrace him. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“You mean that?” I ask, looking up.
“Yeah. Besides, the only people we’re inviting are—”
“What’s up, party monsters?!” We turn to see a familiar face hop out of the car. Seth strides up to us with multicolored party bags in hand. “Who’s ready to celebrate Christmas, sponsored by the face of Mummy Mocha?”
“More like the ego!” Kovi laughs and runs up to his best friend. He shifts when he grabs him and spins him around several feet in the air.
“What, no love for me? I brought the lasagnas!” Blake walks out from behind the car armed with aluminum trays.
“Blake!” Kovi rushes up to him while I go to greet Seth.
“My mummy!” I exclaim.
“My human!” He laughs and hugs me, and all feels right in the world. Our friends still live in the greater Creelin area, but despite the closeness, every get-together with this trio is an event.
“Tell me all about work!” Blake says. “You just got back from the Philippines?”
“Yup,” Kovi replies. His job at the OME as a liaison for other dryads requires a significant amount of travel. But my monster is helping ecosystems around the world, and if he’s happy, I’m happy. “It was blazing hot.”
“Say, you think you could get my billboards in there?” Seth asks as I open the front door. His Mummy Mocha franchise is expanding every day, and it’s sure to be a worldwide coffee empire by next year.
“I’m a dryad, not a celebrity,” Kovi remarks, and we all laugh.
Minutes later, Shonda, Rachel, and Owen, each with their significant-other monsters, arrive with food and gifts. We gorge on the feast of turkey, ham, monster mashed potatoes, collared screams, and a tuna spellcaster-ole. We take dozens of group selfies. My friends are a delight, and I don’t stop smiling all day. I can tell Aunt Hannah is overjoyed to spend the holiday with so many people.
After the meal, we’re sitting around the living room, each taking turns grabbing gifts from underneath the tree—plastic tree, of course. Everyone has started to dig into their presents, and wrapping paper is strewn about the carpet. Owen is playing Christmas jingles on his phone, adding to the happy ambiance of my home. It’s a frenzy of activity, and I couldn’t be happier—for the first time in years, we have a true, family-filled Christmas day.
I get Aunt Hannah a fancy teapot with matching cups. Owen’s boyfriend gets him a textbook about monster anatomy. Seth gets Blake a blazer, then teases him, saying he should use it to impress his latest crush, and everyone howls in laughter.
While Rachel opens up her present from her girlfriend and Shonda bickers with Owen about reindeer names, Kovi studies me. He’s sitting on the couch, and no one seems to be paying attention when he hands me a small, wrapped giftbox.
His eyebrows bounce, letting me know it’s from him.
I grin then start to rip off the gift wrap. “Is this another cock sleeve?” I whisper. “Because I don’t mind, but I don’t want to show Aunt Hannah what we—”
“No, you blockhead,” he says through a giggle. “Open it.”
Without wrapping paper, the box is nondescript. Opening, I spy a metal…picture frame?
“What’s this?” I mutter.
“It’s a…flower…” Kovi says with nervous eyes.
Scrutinizing the gift, it is indeed a flower perfectly preserved in the glass. Behind the flower is a map.
“Is that…?”
“It’s a map of Independence Park. I picked that flower from one of the trees there.”
My breath hitches. “Kovi, this—”
“It’s like a reminder of where you and I started. I know I fucked up and hurt you as kids. But I’d like to think it wasn’t all bad. The day we met, it…” He scratches his eyebrow and turns away. “It led me to you.”
I gently pull his chin so he’s facing me. “I love it. And I love you.”
I kiss him slowly. For a moment, we’re both little kids again, discovering the joys of attraction between two beings that were always meant to forge a connection.
“Oh my monster god, it’s snowing!” Seth shouts. We turn around to see a white-out outside the window. Seth and Blake rush out the door as if they’ve never seen such wonder, and the others calmly file out behind them.
When Aunt Hannah and I make it outside, Kovi walks behind me and holds my shoulders.
“These are…flower petals,” Aunt Hannah murmurs, grabbing one from the sky.
She’s right—it seems the evergreens somehow bloomed into flowers despite the fact that they shouldn’t have buds at all. I turn back to my boyfriend who gives me a sheepish yet aroused grin. We both chuckle, knowing our love has, as usual, altered the flora through supernatural powers.
But our friends don’t seem to care. Seth and Blake shift into their monster forms and proceed to make snow angels, er, flower petal angels on the lawn. The others laugh and toss petals in the air. It’s the perfect Christmas scene, even without real snow. Aunt Hannah walks up to Rachel, and I turn to hold Kovi’s hips.
“I love you, Kovi Sampath. Thank you…for making life worth it, again.”
“Thank you, Tanner McGregor. For letting this dryad try again to be the monster for you.” We kiss and kiss, and I relish the taste of his mouth in front of the whole world to see.
When we break apart for air, I give a coy grin. “Since I’m building my life with a dryad, I’m going to have to get used to unexpected forest magic, aren’t I?”
He laughs and rests his forehead on mine. “I’m afraid so.”
THE END
Check out all of the Creepin U: MM Monster romance series!
1. When the water polo jock meets an emo nature spirit who wants to take his soul, his life will never be the same. Check out Book 1 "The Nøkk and the Jock”.
2. When the tree spirit reunites with his childhood friend, seeds of attract that were never uprooted begin to blossom. Check out Book 2 "Dryad, Try Again”.
3. When the gorgon has to tutor the star of the baseball team, the two of them discover that humans and monsters have plenty in common. Check out Book 3 "Vexing the Viper”.
4. When the human volunteers to be the feeder of the hunky incubus, platonic research goes out the window. Check out Book 4 "Penn and Incubus”.
5. When the basilisk shifter is paired with a human pianist for a concert, he isn’t sure if the man will be his downfall or his destiny. Check out Book 5, “Surviving His Gaze”.
Letter to Readers
Dear Reader,
What a wild ride of a book this was! I hope you enjoyed the monster-lovin’, tree-fuckin’, forest-rompin’ goodness! This was my first foray into non-human romance, and I am sorry to report, but I’m kind of hooked.
My goal in this book was to force you all to see trees in your everyday life and think, “…huh…” (Please do not go around flirting with trees or touching them inappropriately).
If you enjoyed this book, please review it on Amazon and other retailers to increase my visibility. The more reviews, the greater my success, the most likely I am to put out better and more consistent books!
What’s next? More monsters in this same universe. This is far from the end of the Halloween Wave. My next book takes us all the way to the opposite coast where another shifter longs to be part of our world…
Never stop loving life and never stop reading,
CD Rachels
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my fans especially John, Sarah, Liza, and the rest for giving me a reason to not quit. Thanks to Leslie, Ashley, Essie and Jacy for giving it their all these past several months; together, we did it! We made Creepin U! To Angela and Whimsical Reverie: as always, you made my book an actual, tangible thing! To all my Chill Discoursians: every like and share, every supportive email, every private message, every post on the group, and every review is etched into my soul. Most days I want to quit, so you―yes, YOU―are the reason I don’t.
About the Author
CD Rachels has been coming up with stories since he was little.
First it was fanfiction, then YA queer novels, and now he's moved up to the big leagues of adult MM romance. In 2020 during quarantine, he burned through more male/male romance books than he ever had in the previous 29 years combined.
He believes there aren't enough BIPOC MC's in MM romance, and he's on a mission to change that.
He lives in New York City with the love of his life and is a nurse by trade. If you're reading this, he's honored that you took the time to help support him as a self-published author.
Be the first to hear about all his updates and new releases! Sign up for his newsletter “The Chill Discourse Report”
He has a website! Visit cdrachelsauthor.com
Get all the graphic teasers and wacky reels on Instagram and Tiktok: @cdrachels
