Desires of the Dark Forest

The only sound in the hut was the clink of metal against metal, the hushed sliding of blades against leather, as I meticulously armed myself with one knife after another. Six at my waist. One in each boot. One strapped high on my thigh. One at the small of my back. And one last, tiny dagger slipped into my hair, where most other women would have used a hair comb. Of course, hair combs were far less useful, and my pointy little accessory worked just fine for holding my long, dark hair up off my neck.

After sliding the small dagger into my hair, I turned and examined myself in the mirror, running my hands over the tight-fitting leather on my skin. I’d always suspected that the uniform was part of the reason women had never been permitted to join the Hunters before. It’s hardly ladylike to wear trousers at all—much less ones so tight that they hugged every curve. And corsets were meant to only be worn under blouses—not over them, where they very clearly accentuated my femininity. Still, that hardly seemed fair. Those tight trousers were just as distracting on the men, after all; you only needed to notice at where the women in the village directed their gazes as the Hunters passed to know that.

But the rest of the village could keep their whispered opinions and scathing looks to themselves. The Dark Forest was a dangerous place, and I didn’t need long skirts and modest blouses snagging on tree branches. Or monsters’ claws for that matter.

I supposed that was the other part of the reason women were never Hunters. After all, we were far too delicate to face down monsters. I gave my reflection a wry smile as I brushed my fingers over the handles of each blade at my waist. The other Hunters had tried hard to keep me out of their ranks. But I was the only child of a master Hunter, and he’d taught me everything he would have taught a son, had he been given one. I knew I was ready.

I turned away from the mirror and towards the door, striding out into the village. The light of the setting sun turned the homes on the other side of the narrow street into dark, squatting shadows, their windows glowing eyes in the growing darkness. I turned down the street and strode towards the edge of the village, where a far deeper darkness awaited.

As the encroaching buildings fell behind me, the Dark Forest came into view, its tall, thin trees reaching ominously towards the deepening colors of the twilit sky. I felt a prickle rush over my skin as I looked up at the uppermost branches. But it was not a prickle of fear. No, it was a thrill of excitement—the same excitement that had leapt in my blood for as far back as I could remember, every time I looked at the Dark Forest.

As a child, I would sit up in my bed at night, staring out the window at the distant treetops, listening to the wind rustling their branches. And where other children had heard whispered threats and reasons to fear, I heard… a call, like a song being whispered in the night, just for me. I knew that, somehow, I belonged out here.

“You actually showed up.”

My eyes darted sideways at the voice, catching sight of the other leather-clad figure that had approached the edge of the forest. He drew up beside me, both of us facing the trees.

“You didn’t think I would?” I asked innocently.

“Oh, I knew you would,” he answered. “A smarter girl would’ve stayed home, but you’ve always been a damned fool, Morgana.”

“I could say the same of you, Callum,” I countered. Then, after a pause, added, “And many worse things as well.”

He snorted in an amused, disinterested sort of way. Before he could say more, however, the sound of approaching footsteps caused us both to turn our heads away from the trees. But not our backs. You never turned your back on the Dark Forest.

The other Hunters strode forward, and I found myself lifting my chin a little higher, setting my shoulders a little straighter. Let them look at me. Let them sneer at me. I refused to look ashamed. I belong here far more than you do, something in my blood whispered.

I met their hard gazes with a steely look of my own, and they all looked away, turning their attention to the lead hunter, Bram. The old man spoke without ever looking my way; apparently, he’d decided to stick with his usual method of dealing with me—ignoring the fact that I’d bested every last one of his Hunters in the trials in order to earn my admission into their ranks. Better to just pretend the girl wasn’t there.

“I won’t talk long,” he said. “Night’s coming fast, and the village needs us out there, stopping those creatures before they come near our borders. Be on the lookout. Remember your training. Do not hesitate to kill, not even for an instant. If you do, these monsters will gut you without a second thought. Be smart, and you just might come out of there alive in the morning. Understood?”

We all nodded. He returned the gesture, the full moon reflecting off his white hair in bright silver light. “Very good, men.” My eyes rolled briefly upwards. There was no way that was an accident. “Head out.”

Weapons slid from belts and backs—swords, bows, axes—and the Hunters all turned towards the Dark Forest. I turned as well, sliding a blade into each hand, and started forward. A shoulder bumped roughly into me from behind, and I shot a glare at the sandy-haired man who passed me. Callum, of course.

“Try not to faint at the first sign of a lycan,” he said, his grin a white crescent in the darkening landscape.

“Try not to piss yourself at the first fae you see,” I retorted sharply. He was as inexperienced as I was. We’d both passed the trials just last month. But he was not the one everyone was doubting.

He laughed off my remark and began trotting forward, looking briefly back over his shoulder at me to call, “You can always scream my name if you get into trouble, Morgana. I wouldn’t mind hearing you screaming my name, you know.”

I felt my face burn and my lip curl into a snarl. But Callum didn’t see it. He had already vanished between the trees. I knew I shouldn’t have let it bother me. I should be used to it. Most of the Hunters treated me this way—waffling between insults and indecent suggestions with all the regularity of a swinging pendulum. Callum was the worst of them. But I would show him. I would show all of them. When I walked out of the forest tonight with proof I’d killed a monster, nobody would question my abilities as a Hunter again.

Gripping my daggers tighter, I increased my pace, slipping into the darkness between the towering trees of the Dark Forest.

The light of the full moon vanished with surprising speed, swallowed up by the shadows under the trees. My gaze darted from one dark space to the next, searching for any sign of movement in the impenetrable night of the Dark Forest. As I walked briskly deeper into the wood, I felt certain that the air around me was growing colder. I brushed it off, not allowing my step to falter as I took stock of the other weapons strapped to my person.

While every Hunter had a preferred weapon, we also all carried a small arsenal of other essentials for fighting the beasts in the Dark Forests. Stakes for vampires nestled against my forearms, beneath the loose sleeves of my blouse. Iron shavings for disorienting fae were contained in small vials at my belt. And of course, some of my own daggers were tipped in silver for slaying lycans.

I was mentally tallying each weapon at my disposal when I heard something. I froze, my feet shifting slightly on the soft soil as I looked around me. Though I’d grown somewhat used to the darkness, a silvery mist had crept into the woods, further obscuring my vision. My heart pounded in my ears, and I begged it to be silent, straining to listen for that noise again.

I heard only silence.

And then, a soft, almost gentle shushing sound. Not a hiss, but a sound like silken fabric sliding across skin. I spun, daggers quickly rising. I registered only a pale face and dark eyes before letting both of the blades fly from my fingertips. But where the pale-faced figure had stood a moment before, there was now only shadow and mist, swirling gently from recent movement.

I stared breathlessly at the spot where my knives had lodged themselves into the dark bark of the tree, my heart slamming against my ribcage.

“Now, is that any way to say hello?” a voice breathed in my ear.

I jumped and spun once again, drawing two more daggers from my belt, even as I danced backwards on the damp leaves that covered the forest floor. The figure before me didn’t move this time. He stood inhumanly still, his dark eyes watching me with amusement from his pale face. I stared back, my eyes darting over his form. He looked almost normal. Black, somewhat untidy hair that curled over his ears. A long coat, much finer than anything the men in the village owned, with his hands shoved deep into the pockets. Tall riding boots that hugged his calves. A loose white shirt, tucked into black riding leathers. He looked like a lord’s son, lost on his way home from a hunt. Except his face.

His pale skin seemed to accentuate the rigidity of his cheek bones, the strong cut of his jaw, the full redness of his lips. And of course, his dark, almost black eyes. No, I realized. Not almost black. Black. Truly black.

Because, as those full red lips quirked into a small smile, I saw the flash of a single pointed tooth, and I knew beyond a doubt what this creature was. A vampire.

I hastily dropped my daggers and released my stakes from their hidden sheaths against my wrists. I gripped their silver handles firmly, raising the ash wood points in the monster’s direction. He only tilted his head at me.

“What are you?” he asked.

The question startled me, and I blinked. “I- I’m a Hunter,” I answered as firmly as I could.

His half-smile broadened, and I now saw clearly the points of both the vampire’s fangs. “Ah,” he said. “One of the village’s slayers are you? I’ve never seen them send a female into the forest before.”

I ground my teeth together and gripped the stakes tighter. Even the gods-damned monsters think I’m a joke…

The vampire closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. My body shifted forward, prepared to take advantage of his brief vulnerability. But his dark eyes sprang open again. “You smell…” He let out a ragged breath before inhaling through his nose again, scenting me. “Incredible,” he whispered.

He stepped slowly towards me, his booted feet making no sound against the leaves. I felt my knees start to tremble. He was toying with me, I knew. A vampire could have sunk its teeth into my throat before I even knew it was there. He could rush on me even now, snap my neck, and bleed me dry as I lay there, unable to move.

And yet, all he did was take another slow step forward. I held my ground. Whatever this creature’s game was, I would use it against him. Let him come within striking distance.

But as he took another step towards me, his dark eyes never leaving mine, I felt my conviction begin to waver. Because, watching him move through the trailing mists, I heard it again—that call, that song the Dark Forest had always sung for me. I felt my blood warm, felt that prickle across my skin. And I felt the desire to kill him begin to ebb away.

The vampire inhaled again, releasing the breath with a low growl that made me shiver slightly in my leathers. “Something stirs in you,” he said slowly, measuring me with his dark gaze.

He continued stepping toward me, and I found myself starting to back away, stopping only when my back struck the trunk of the tree behind me, my daggers still lodged in its bark. The vampire held my gaze, and I felt my arms slowly drifting down to my sides, still gripping the stakes loosely. I remained rigid, allowing him to stand mere inches from me.

A chill seemed to emanate from his skin, causing my flesh to rise. He removed one hand from his pocket, trailing long, pale fingers across my cheek, down the side of my throat. Then, gently, almost lovingly, he gripped my throat, pressing me slightly to the tree. He leaned forward, his breath a cold breeze on my neck as he whispered in my ear, “Tell me, Huntress. What stirs in you?”

I drew a ragged breath and swallowed hard, feeling the muscles of my throat move against his palm. He didn’t draw back. Instead, he leaned closer, his nose brushing against the skin over my pulse, his breath caressing the little hillocks rising all along my flesh. “Tell me,” he whispered, “what I scent on your skin. It is…” He inhaled deeply again. “…intoxicating.”

The brush of his cold lips against my neck jolted me from my stunned stillness. With some effort, I yanked my arm upward, aiming the stake it held at the vampire’s back, at the place I knew his dead heart lay. But he was faster—far faster. His hand flew up so quickly I didn’t register the motion. I only knew that my wrist was suddenly gripped in his pale hand, and he was smirking at me. Angry now, I drove the other stake towards his heart.

The vampire twisted me around, slamming my chest into the tree trunk. I let out a startled gasp, the stake falling from my hand as he twisted my arm painfully behind my back. His hard body pressed against the length of my back as he quietly chided, “Ah-ah-ah… That’s not very nice. We were just having a pleasant little chat, after all.”

His free hand slid down my one unpinned arm, which I held stiffly and uselessly at my side. His strong fingers closed around that wrist as well, but not with force. Instead, the pads of his fingers gently massaged the soft, sensitive skin at the inside of my wrist, just over my pulse, in a persuasive manner.

“Do you really want to kill me, little Huntress?” he asked.

I closed my eyes, feeling the gentle ministrations of his fingers on my wrist, the hard press of him along my spine, the press of something harder against my buttocks, and felt warmth beginning to pool at my core. Slowly, with a hint of shame itching at the back of my mind, I shook my head.

“No,” I rasped softly. “I don’t.”

My fingers released the stake into the vampire’s grasp. He chuckled, the rumble of it vibrating against my back. “Good girl,” he whispered. Then, he released me, and stepped away. Despite the chill of his body, the absence of his form pressed against me somehow left me feeling even colder.

Slowly, I turned, half expecting him to already be gone. But he wasn’t. He stood there, barely more than a foot away, watching me with preternatural stillness. I pressed my back to the tree again, meeting his dark gaze.

“What will you do with me?” I asked.

The smile that crept over his face made me shiver and he stepped ever so slightly closer. He raised my stake, pressing the tip to my belly, over my leather corset. “Oh, don’t worry, Huntress,” he purred. He dragged the stake upwards, allowing the point to skate along my laces until it rested just under the tight little bow between my breasts. “I have… ideas.”

He gave the stake a little jerk and I felt a pop as the bow snapped. I gasped in surprise, but otherwise didn’t move.

The vampire tilted his head. “You’re not afraid of me.”

I held his dark gaze and shook my head minutely. “I’m not.”

“Why?”

I was silent for a moment, listening to that call, that song that only I seemed to hear. Finally, I answered, “I don’t know. I suppose it’s simply because I know that if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so already.”

“True,” he laughed. “Your scent intrigued me too much for me to kill you right away. And now…” He considered me for several heartbeats before finishing with a wicked smile, “I can think of many other things I’d rather do to you.”

He moved forward with sudden and inhuman speed, his body crushing mine to the tree once more, his mouth on my throat. I drew in a sharp breath, prepared to scream, to hope that another Hunter would find me before the monster drained me dry. But his fangs didn’t pierce my skin. His teeth scraped ever so lightly over my flesh as his lips caressed me from the base of my ear to the neckline of my blouse. I gasped in surprise, then moaned in pleasure as his tongue darted out briefly among his kisses, licking my skin. One hand snaked between my body and the tree, gripping my ass firmly, pulling my hips to his so that I could feel that rock-hard bulge I’d noticed earlier, now pressing enticingly against my pelvic bone.

My own hands dug into the bark of the tree, something in me still screaming that this was wrong, that this flare of desire I was feeling deep in my core was only the vampire’s manipulation working on me. But the call I’d always heard was chanting in my ears now, telling me again and again that I belonged here—here in this forest, here with this creature, with his mouth and his fingers exploring my body.

The hand that had gripped my backside slid away, coming between us, forcing me back just enough to begin undoing the laces at the front of my corset. His swift, deft fingers moved quickly, parting the leather and dropping the piece of clothing to the ground, leaving me in my white blouse. Even in the misty darkness of the forest, the hardness of my nipples stood out clearly beneath the thin fabric. I heard the vampire let out a greedy growl before he abruptly seized the front of my blouse and yanked. The fabric hardly resisted, ripping easily under his strength.

My breasts, now exposed, heaved with my breaths, their peaks still yearning for his touch. He did not make them wait long. Hand snaking behind my back once more, he dipped his head and closed his full, red lips over one breast. I moaned in pleasure, tipping my head back against the tree behind me and closing my eyes, feeling the flick of his tongue over my nipple, the sucking of his mouth on my skin. Still, he did not bite me, only sucked and ministered to my breast as any man would.

I could feel the moisture pooling between my legs, the yearning for more of him making my center ache with desire. His mouth moved to my other breast, tending to its previously neglected peak as I gasped and panted and, finally, released my inhibitions. My fingers moved away from their grip on the tree bark and buried themselves in his dark curls, pressing his mouth more firmly to my chest. I arched my back, grinding my womanhood against the hardness of him, begging for more.

The vampire chuckled, pulling away with one last, teasing flick of his tongue over my hard nipple. He looked down at me, his forehead nearly touching mine, and I stared back, stunned and mildly infuriated that he’d stopped.

“Tell me, Huntress,” he rumbled softly, “what is your name?”

I blinked in surprise, but answered, “Morgana.”

“Morgana…” he repeated, rolling my name around his tongue, just as he’d done to my breasts. He reached up with one hand, pinching my nipple and teasing it gently between his fingers. “A pleasure to meet you, Morgana. My name is Alistair.” The formalness of his tone contrasted so drastically with the intimacy of his touch that it nearly made my head spin. He continued, “Now, tell me something else, Huntress Morgana…” He raised one of my stakes, which he still held in one hand, and pressed its handle to my bare stomach. “A moment ago, you wanted to put this stake in me. Would you prefer now… that I put it in you instead?”

For a brief moment, his question sent a jolt of fear through me. But then, he slid the rounded metal grip down my belly, over the waist of my trousers, and over my aching center, bringing it to rest between my legs. My womanhood gave a throb of desire and I choked out, “Yes...”

Alistair let out a growling laugh and made even quicker work of my trouser laces than he had of my corset. Then, he knelt, yanking my boots from my feet before pulling my trousers down and tossing them aside. I distantly registered that, as he undressed me, he was also disarming me, discarding my daggers, my vials, every weapon I’d so carefully strapped on barely an hour ago.

I stood now in only my tattered white blouse, every inch of my flesh peaked with the cold and desire for the creature that knelt before me. I looked down at him, my fingers gripping the bark of the tree again, but he did not look back up at me. His eyes were on my pussy as he slid his tongue over his pointed teeth.

“I am going to taste you in every way possible, Morgana,” he promised.

His words sent another ache through my body. I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed him to touch me again. “Please…” I whispered, the sound nearly a whine.

His eyes darted up to mine for a moment, and he chuckled, “I like that… Say it again. Beg me to touch you, Huntress.”

I swallowed and let out a shaking breath, barely resisting the urge to grip him by his dark hair and draw him to me. “Please, Alistair,” I begged. “Please.”

Alistair laughed again, his long-fingered hand gripping my bare thigh. Then, he brought his mouth to my center. I cried out as his tongue flicked out, immediately finding the bundle of nerves between my lower lips. I buried my fingers in his hair, holding him there as he licked and sucked at that place only I had ever dared to touch.

“Oh gods, yes,” I moaned. “More, Alistair. Please, more.”

I felt the slide of cold metal along my thigh, then the press of it at my slick entrance. With surprising slowness and gentleness, Alistair slid the silver handle of my stake inside of me. I cried out, shocked at the momentary discomfort. And then, he resumed his licking, beginning to move the ridges of the metal grip in and out of my entrance.

I was reduced to wordless gasps and strangled cries as Alistair’s tongue continued to draw incomprehensible runes over my clit, moving the handle of the stake up and down in a steady rhythm. I felt the tension in my body building, centering low in my belly, drawing ever tighter. My peaked breasts heaved as I panted, the bark of the tree pressing into my back as my body arched. As Alistair closed his red lips around my aching center and sucked, the tension inside of me snapped.

I threw my head back, crying out in pleasure as my release rushed through my body in one wave after another. I was still moaning when Alistair withdrew the stake, dropping it to the forest floor, and gripped my thighs with both hands. He shoved my legs wider apart and brought his mouth lower on my pussy. His tongue thrust its way inside of me, eliciting a fresh cry from me.

I heard him growl greedily in his throat as his tongue lapped at the moisture that had begun to trickle down the inside of my thigh. He continued to fuck me with his tongue until the final shivers of my orgasm had ebbed to a warm glow. Then, he slid his tongue upwards, gliding it up over my sensitive clit and along my belly, pausing to lap at my breasts again, before he reached my mouth.

For the first time, he kissed my lips, his tongue shoving its way inside of my mouth as forcefully as it had shoved its way into my pussy. I welcomed it in, reveling in the taste of me on his tongue. His hands kneaded at my breasts as I began to tug at his clothes, suddenly aware of how unfair it was that he was fully dressed still, while I was all but naked. He let me, cooperating silently as I slid off his coat, yanked his shirt over his head and unlaced his trousers.

The warm glow of my orgasm had faded slightly, though my pussy still ached from his ministrations. But still, I wanted more. Our tongues still twining, I shoved my hand down the front of his open trousers. As I closed my hand around his rock-hard erection, Alistair stiffened slightly, letting out a hissing noise between his pointed teeth. But when he looked down at me, it was with that wicked smile of his, and pure lust burning in his eyes.

“What sort of temptress are you?” he snarled.

To my own surprise, I found myself smirking at him as I answered, “I am a Huntress. And you, Alistair, are my prey.”

He chuckled deeply, closing his fingers over my wrist again, coaxing my hand into a stroking motion on his cock. “I’m not accustomed to being the prey…” he growled. “I think… I may like it.”

In response, I stroked him more quickly, my other hand pulling down his trousers. He kicked off his boots, removing his trousers entirely as I continued to slide my fist up and down his hard length.

Alistair groaned, pulling my body against his, running his tongue over my throat.

“Feed on me.”

The words escaped my lips without my knowledge, and it was only after I’d heard them that I realized how badly I wanted to feel his fangs in my skin, to feel the seductive pull of his venom that I’d heard of in stories. Women whispered that a vampire’s bite alone could be enough to make you cum.

Alistair laughed again. “If your blood tastes as good as the rest of you,” he purred, sliding two fingers briefly inside me as a reminder of what he meant, “then I don’t know that I’ll be able to stop myself from draining you.”

“Just do it,” I moaned, gripping his cock harder. “Feed on me, Alistair. Feed on me… then fuck me.”

These final words seemed to persuade him. With an animal snarl, he pulled away from me and spun me around again, pressing my front to the tree as he had before. Now, however, he forced me to bend, exposing my bare ass and dripping pussy to him.

“I can do both at once,” he growled.

His fingernails dug into my hips as he grabbed me. I felt his erection slide against my slick center once, then, he found my entrance and thrust his way into me. I cried out, not in surprise or pain, but absolute ecstasy. The stake had prepared me for his hard, cool length, and my pussy welcomed him in without protest.

His hips slammed against my ass several times, pushing me harder against the tree. Then, he gripped my hair and yanked me upright, dislodging my last, tiny weapon as he did so. My hair tumbled down as he pulled my head back against his shoulder, exposing my throat as he continued to fuck me hard, mercilessly.

Alistair pressed his nose to my skin, inhaling deeply once. Then, with a hiss, his lips parted, his mouth opened wide, and his fangs sank into my skin. I whimpered at the brief sting, then surrendered entirely. Incredible warmth and desire pulsed through me, spreading from the point of the bite. He slowed the pace of his thrusts as he drank, allowing me to rest my head back against him. I closed my eyes and gripped the back of his head, holding his mouth to my throat, letting him drink as his venom seeped through me, working its way to my center, where his hard erection still slid in and out of me.

Suddenly, his fangs left my skin, and I moaned in disappointment. I gripped his hair tighter. “No,” I demanded. “More.”

“I will kill you,” he whispered seductively, still fucking me slowly.

A flare of anger rushed through me at his denial of my demands. I pulled away from him and turned around, surprise flashing over his face as I gripped his shoulders and shoved him down onto the forest floor. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to move him if he hadn’t allowed me to, but the immense satisfaction I felt at him yielding to me was not diminished by it.

I straddled his erect penis, positioning my eager pussy directly over it. My voice was a low growl as I gripped the back of his head and met his dark gaze. I could feel my warm blood trickling from the bite wounds at my neck. But instead, I directed his mouth at my breast. “I said… more.”

This time, he did not argue with me. He took my breast into his mouth again and, this time, sank his fangs into the soft flesh. I let out a cry and drove myself down onto his cock. I rose and fell on it, again and again, harder and faster as Alistair continued to drink from me. The seductive sting of his fangs was emphasized by the circling of his tongue over my nipple, licking unceasingly as he drew my blood from my body.

I could feel his skin growing warmer as he drank, his dick inside me growing hot as he fed. “Yes,” I moaned, riding him harder. “Yes, Alistair. Don’t stop. Don’t stop!”

He held me tighter to him, his mouth clamped greedily on my breast, his hips moving in rhythm with mine as we fucked on the forest floor. I could feel the walls of my pussy beginning to tighten around his hard, hot length, and I heard his breaths growing shorter, turning to little snarls as I continued to feed him.

I closed my eyes, throwing my head back as I drove myself down onto him again. Again. And… My orgasm exploded over me, and I screamed up at the treetops. As my pussy clamped around him with my pleasure, Alistair released my breast, letting out a roar of his own. His fingers pressed into my hips as he thrust hard into me one more time, cumming inside of me, filling me with warmth as surely as his venom had.

We both fell silent, panting and sweating amid the mists. Alistair pressed his face between my breasts, his long fingers splayed over my back as he inhaled my scent again. With a satisfied groan, he ran his tongue over the two little bite marks on my breast.

“Delicious,” he whispered.

Then, clearly spent, he lay back on the forest floor, his cock still inside of me. I remained where I was, mounting him, as he folded his arms behind his head and smiled up at me in an easy manner. I noticed his pale skin now had a slight flush to it, but whether from my blood or our mutual exertion, I wasn’t sure.

“I should feel strong and energized after feeding,” he remarked, “but you…” He reached up one hand, trailing his long fingers up my waist, reaching up to grip one breast, circling his thumb over my nipple. “You seem to have taken more from me than you’ve given.”

I laughed, a low, seductive sound that I didn’t recognize from myself. An electric tingle seemed to be simmering beneath my skin, energizing me, while Alistair seemed so thoroughly spent by our joining. In a distant, detached sort of way, I realized that, even if being so thoroughly pleasured hadn’t exhausted me, surely the blood I had given should. And yet, I had never felt stronger.

I gazed down at the creature who’d pleasured me, fed from me, and fucked me, and I smiled as I realized something. I was not through with him. I leaned forward, planting my hands in the leaves on either side of his head, bringing my face over his.

I closed my mouth over his, kissing him slowly, our tongues exploring each other’s mouths more thoroughly. He began to reach for my wrists, but I stopped him, redirecting his hands to my breasts, encouraging him to knead at them as I moved slowly on top of him, his dick still inside of me.

Alistair let out a noise that was half moan, half chuckle. “You surely are a temptress,” he muttered against my lips.

“Perhaps,” I answered, my hand closing around cold metal, where it had been discarded among the leaves. “But I am, first and foremost… a Hunter.”

In one swift movement, I pulled away from his kiss and shoved the sharpened ash wood into his chest. Alistair’s dark eyes widened in shock, and he let out a choked, gasping sound. His skin, so briefly flushed, paled again, this time turning gray.

With a sigh, I stood, dusting the dirt from my knees as I turned away from his naked body. I pulled on my trousers and boots. I laced my corset over my tattered shirt. I twisted my hair up again, sliding my little dagger into it. I carefully strapped on each of my daggers and other weapons, one by one, pulling the first two I’d thrown out of the tree trunk and sheathing them.

Then, I turned back to where the vampire’s body lay. I knelt beside him and brushed the curling black hair back from his gray face. “You really were a beautiful creature,” I whispered. “But you see… I need proof that I killed a monster. And, seeing as you are the only monster here tonight, it had to be you.” I smiled a little at his blank eyes and unmoving face. “Nothing personal,” I added.

Carefully, I reached inside his mouth, still slightly open in surprise and, with a grunt, yanked out each of his fangs. I held them in my hands, examining the slightly red tinge at their tips from my blood.

“These will do,” I said, sliding them into the pouch at my belt. Then, I gripped the silver handle of my stake—the one Alistair had put inside of me—and pulled it from his chest. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, his body crumbled to ash, which quickly began to be scattered amid the mists.

I stood, took stock of my appearance as best I could, then began to stride out of the Dark Forest. Through the leaves of the trees, I could see the sun beginning to rise. I knew I should have been weary but, somehow, I felt stronger than I had when I’d entered these woods. Certainly, I looked a bit ragged from my encounter with my first monster, but that was to be expected.

What mattered now was that I had my proof. Nobody could doubt me again. I was a Hunter. And I belonged in the Dark Forest.

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Author's Note: Enjoying Desires of the Dark Forest? You can read it in full exclusively on Galatea!

I'm so honored and excited to have this book chosen for publication. When I wrote it, I knew I wanted to see how it would do on its own, with no promotion from me. And you, the readers, still chose it! So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for loving this little dark fantasy. Desires of the Dark Forest is available NOW on the Galatea app!

Stay weird, monster lovers!

Anne Onymous