Daniella rolled over and kicked at her blankets. She pulled her sheet back up and over her head. She flipped onto her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut.
Feldspar's moans were still filtering up through the floor of her bedroom in their shared treehouse. Every so often she heard a loud smack followed by a keening cry of pain and pleasure, or a reprimand from Gneiss.
She had no idea what time it was. Faeries seemed to live by natural light, and her phone had died hours ago. All she knew was that she had fallen asleep almost instantly when her faery escort had brought her to her room, and had been awoken some time later by the exuberant noises below.
Daniella flipped back onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She was exhausted, and from the sound of things Feldspar and Gneiss were nowhere near finished.
She heard Gneiss utter a short, sharp command. Moments later Gneiss' moans interspersed with muffled praises weaseled their way up through the cracks in the floor.
Images from earlier in the night at the party flitted through Daniella's mind: Gneiss, shoving Feldspar down to his knees to lick her. Feldspar crying out and moaning for release as Gneiss mounted him and took her own pleasure. Feldspar desperately stroking himself to completion while his mistress and her friend watched.
Daniella slid her hand down tentatively over her breast. Feldspar, Gneiss, and Nephrite had teased her to within an inch of her sanity yesterday. Then she had endured hours of watching the faeries in the Meeting Tree indulging in their wicked delights.
Her body ached for long-delayed release.
Daniella's hand slid down her body, leaving a trail of goosebumps. She experimentally touched her center. She was surprised how wet she was. Daniella pulled her hand away, feeling guilty.
Down below she heard Feldspar start whimpering and begging Gneiss. His babbled and confused words cut off abruptly with a resounding smack, followed but a long, low moan from him.
Need bloomed through Daniella. She slid one hand back down and dipped into her wetness. The other hand roamed over her breasts and stomach, sending electric shocks down to her core.
She could imagine what was happening in the room below hers. Feldspar would be completely nude except for his choker of vines, his smooth, golden skin glinting in the moonlight. Gneiss would have him lying down so she could ride his face.
Daniella imagined his desperate pleas for release while Gneiss took him in her mouth and teased the head of his cock until he was ready to come. His hips would pump up of their own accord, just has they had the night before when Gneiss was riding him. And just like she had before, she would respond with a reprimand and a punishment.
Daniella felt an unexpected thrill as she imagined the sting of Gneiss' palm against Feldspar's flesh. He clearly enjoyed it, based on his loud moans. She began stroking herself steadily.
Daniella pumped her fingers slowly into herself and grazed her clit with her other hand. Gneiss was urging Feldspar on. Their moans and cries of pleasure were picking up speed now. Unconsciously Daniella's hands followed as they hurtled toward their pinnacle.
Suddenly an image of the Lord of the Wood in his throne popped into her head. His chiseled cheekbones, his full lips. She pictured what he must look like under his severe tunic. His broad chest, muscular and tanned from days spent in the sun.
She imagined him watching her. He had enjoyed watching her watch the revelries last night. If he could see her now, where would those jade green eyes settle? She could almost feel them sliding over her body. Would he urge her on? Would he promise her punishment for getting herself off without permission?
With a final flush, she shattered apart, just as Feldspar and Gneiss screamed their release through the floorboards.
Daniella awoke in the early morning. She felt surprisingly refreshed given how little sleep she'd gotten the night before. Her mind clear, it was suddenly clear what she needed to do.
She rifled through the wardrobe for the most decent set of clothes she could find, eventually settling on a crop top and pants that were fairly opaque.
She crept down the ladder, past Feldspar and Gneiss' room, then past Nephrite's room and the bathing room, until she arrived in the common room. She opened cabinets and drawers as quietly as she could, taking a knife, a few apples, a hunk of cheese, and some bread. She refilled her water bottle, hoping it would be enough to get her back to the stream.
With trembling hands she navigated her way down the tree to the ground. With the rising sun as a guide, she made her way away from the faery settlement.
After a steady twenty minutes of walking through the redwoods she made her way back to the immense aspen grove. The forest scents shifted into a strange mix of the heady, thick smell of a coastal redwood grove and the thin, dry mountain air of a high altitude aspen grove.
Daniella forged ahead, passing a few recognizable landmarks. Maybe she really would find a way to get back to civilization. An hour into her walk in the aspen grove she found herself somehow back at the entrance to the redwood settlement.
For a fraction of a second she contemplated sitting down right there and succumbing to despair. Instead she turned her back on the redwoods. She pictured the stream in the aspen grove. Maybe if she only wanted to visit a different part of the woods, she wouldn't trigger whatever strange magic kept her tied to this place.
Twenty minutes later she inexplicably arrived at the bank of the stream. Encouraged, she began walking along the bank. Eventually it would lead back to the parking lot. Then she could go home, finish her dissertation, and get back on track with her life.
Almost as soon as she thought of her old life she found herself approaching the redwood grove.
Daniella let out a muted scream of frustration. She turned her back on the redwood grove and pictured the stream. This time she arrived in only a few minutes.
She peeled off her shoes and socks and sat down on the bank of the stream. The water was frigid snowmelt and the sun was still too low in the sky to offer any real heat. She kept her feet in anyway, allowing them to go numb.
A few minutes after her feet started to burn from the cold she scooted back and laid down on the bank. She stared up at the sky, trying to come to terms with her situation. She was trapped — for life, if the Lord of the Wood was telling the truth.
She wondered what kind of life she could have among the faeries. Did human captives have jobs? Was she going to become some kind of sex slave for them? Was she just a joke to them?
She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. She had worked so hard for her career. She loved her life. She had been excited to finish her dissertation and go on the job market. At the last conference she had attended she had even had a few leads, and her poster had won an award. Now all of that was for nothing.
She laid there until the sun had risen high in the sky. Nephrite appeared in her field of vision.
"I want to be alone," Daniella said without any fight in her voice.
Nephrite settled herself next to Daniella. She idly dipped her bare feet in the water and leaned back on her elbows.
Daniella ignored her. She didn't want to see any of the faeries. She wanted to go home. The sun rose higher. It was nearly midday.
Daniella opened her bag and took out the bread and cheese. She didn't feel hungry, but she should be if it was lunchtime. As long as time still moved in one direction in the faery lands, she thought, and snorted.
Finally Daniella gave in. "Are you here to take me back?" she asked the faery.
Nephrite looked at her from the corner of her eyes and smirked.
"I had not planned on it," she replied. "I thought perhaps you would like a friend."
Daniella turned that thought over in her head for a few minutes. "I have friends, back home."
"Indeed."
Daniella sighed and looked back out across the stream. "I'm never leaving here, am I?"
"It is highly unlikely, unless your lord has need of you traveling on behalf of the wood."
Grief welled up in Daniella for everything she had lost. All the friends. All the opportunities. Her parents. Her dreams. It was all ash on the wind now. She curled up on her side and cried. Her whole body ached with a loss so big that her tears didn't bring any sense of release.
When her sobs had tapered off into shuddering, silent breaths, Nephrite spoke.
"I am a bit like you, I believe," her eyes slid to Daniella's unmoving form, aware of how ridiculous the statement sounded. "I am not human, true. But I am not of these woods," she continued. "Perhaps I can help you to understand their ways, as they were strange to me once as well."
Daniella rolled back onto her back and turned toward Nephrite.
"Surely you have questions about your new home?"
"What am I supposed to do?" Daniella could see that her question was a bit too broad for Nephrite to handle. "I mean — what am I supposed to do with my life here?"
Nephrite contemplated that. "You are a part of the forest now. Your purpose will emerge in due time."
Daniella rolled her eyes. "Fine. Give me that mystic nonsense." What else could she expect from a faery she added internally.
She stared up at the sky. It was funny how some things in the wood looked so normal, and others were utterly strange. The sky was the same exact shade of blue it was back home. The clouds trundled across the sky, unremarkable in every way. But here she was, in faery territory.
"I just don't know if I can live like that," she said after a long silence. Nephrite sighed. The sound came from deep within her bones.
"I have lived here a great many years. You will find a purpose eventually."
Daniella went back to studying the sky. She wondered what had brought Nephrite to the wood. Had she also been trapped by someone else's debt? Did she choose to move there?
