Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
I approach the Puffballs, pinch one at the stem, then cut through the delicate skin of the cap so instead of popping in my face, the spores inside can be collected. I go on, continuing the process until I have a full three vials, then get back to Hawk, presenting my bounty.
“Now, cover your face too,” I urge him, already making my way toward the Nightbells. “In nature, these two are enemies, competing for resources, and so, I can do this…” My heart beats faster when I approach, because I do worry that I might set off the Nightbells. But as I sprinkle the Puffball spores over the golden caps, only the faintest chiming rings out before stopping altogether.
The golden glow dims when the mushroom I’ve just sprinkled darkens. The others soon follow its example.
The air that’s been trapped in my lungs finally escapes my mouth, and I grab Hawk’s hand with my sweaty fingers. I pull him forward with a triumphant song in my heart. “I put them to sleep,” I say, proud of my ingenuity when his eyes slide over me with awe.
Hawk strokes my hair as we pass the sleeping Nightbells. “Pretty and smart. I really hit the jackpot with you, my prince.” I’m not sure what a “jackpot” is, but this is clearly a compliment, and I’m sure my face is pink when I take off the scarf.
But even the sweetest compliments can’t take my mind off the view revealed in front of us beyond the bend of the corridor, where the passage expands into an elongated underground chamber. The cavern is filled to the brim with endless varieties of fungi, flowers, and moss cascading down the walls. I set aflame the swamplight torch on the wall, and even more colors are revealed to us in a cacophony of underground life.
As we walk hand in hand, my nerves ease, and I sense in Hawk’s fingers how he relaxes when I do.
“And those are Rotting Starlights,” I point to mushrooms resembling oversized starfish, which have nothing to do with their ocean-dwelling doppelgangers. One of the fungi makes a sound reminiscent of a burp and releases bright green spores from a hole in the middle of its body. “They’re harmless, but their flesh smells awful after they’re harvested, unless you pickle them within a few hours. You have lots of the spores on your nose,” I laugh and try to reach the green specks that look very much like fluorescent freckles.
“Mm, spores… You know a lot about those after tonight,” Hawk says, and rubs my ass out of nowhere. The jolt of pleasure traveling deep inside me at the memory of his girth makes me stumble. “I just worry they haven’t really taken root inside you.”
My face heats, and I have to bite my lip to stifle a whimper. “No place to take root I’m afraid. Or thankfully, for that matter.” I give him a nervous smile, so absorbed by the lust in his eyes I stumble over a mushroom the size of a table. Hawk catches me, of course, so I don’t fall.
I don’t know if no one’s been here for a while, or if this part of the tunnel is left to grow wild on purpose, but the sheer size of the fungi here makes the mind boggle. It’s like a giant terrarium, and we’re just passing visitors in this space overflowing with awe-inspiring mushrooms and mosses. Patches of lilac algae illuminate the walls, lighting up in glee every time the Starlights release their spores above us. I’m sure I spotted a large, yet harmless, Gooli spider skitter away into a crevice in the rocks where a single lily of the abyss peeks out at us with its tiny black caplets.
I’m so amazed by this unique flora I almost forget Hawk is trying to bed me again.
Almost. Because the insistent way he pushes me at a large specimen of the Pearly Star makes it impossible to ignore.
I sit on the soft white cap as heat pulses in my face. I lack the words to stop him when he slides his hand down my abdomen and gently cradles my crotch.
Hawk whispers into my ear. “Maybe we should keep trying until we succeed? Aren’t you mine to use now that I gave you my shadow?”
I will only have power over it once we say the vows under the full moon in the Nightmare Realm, but his words are like a spell. One that makes my tongue twist and my body incapable of standing up from the soft mushroom.
There’s something about the idea of being a body available for his pleasure that makes me boil from the inside in the most delicious ways. “I’ve never been desired this way,” I whisper, glancing up his imposing form. “But since I’m an anomaly in terms of size, maybe I will also one day be receptive to your seed.” Ridiculous, but why not indulge the fantasy?