Chapter 74

Kyla held her breath as she waited for the werewolf's response. It had been a long time since she'd stepped out of her tree for anything except the occasional grove ritual. She really couldn't even remember the last time she'd been with a male of any species.
Cooper stretched, and then before her eyes could take in the transformation, he stood there in his human form - his gloriously masculine human form. She blinked, but when she opened her eyes again, he was still gorgeous. His hair was dark, almost black, and just covered his ears and grazed his nape in back, showing a hint of a wave. His deep brown eyes were set in a strong, rough-hewn face with high cheekbones and dark stubble around his chin. Broad shoulders narrowed into a sculpted chest, lightly covered with a soft mat of hair and tapering down to an abdomen ridged with muscle. Her eyes dropped a little lower and she felt her cheeks flush. Oh my! He was a fine specimen indeed.
Damn, he's a hot one. Nice piece of timber he's sporting. I could come out and make it a three-way. Xera cackled.
Kyla tossed her head as Cooper smiled and took her hand. Get your own male, she thought back over her shoulder. Keep your twigs off mine.
Works for me, gorgeous. A warm male chuckle laced itself through the thought.
Kyla felt herself flush. She'd forgotten that Cooper wasn't human and could hear her too.
"It's okay." His fingers twined with hers. "You said you know a place that's a little more private?" No offense, Xera, but I'm a one-at-a-time kind of guy. Besides, you sound kind of like my mother, which is not a turn-on.
Xera laughed. Just be good to my girl or you'll be finding needles in places you didn't know you had, Fido.
"Are you the only two dryads in this grove?" Cooper asked with a chuckle as Kyla led him toward the ritual glade. The sound of his husky laugh sent shivers down her spine. Body parts she could barely remember having were coming awake, demanding attention. "I can't imagine having no one to talk to but Xera for years on end."
"No, there are a dozen or so of us left, I believe. But most of them choose not to talk, especially not to strangers. Most nights though, Xera and I chat with a few of the others."
"What do you mean left? Is your kind endangered?" He paused and used the hand not holding hers to cup her chin and tip her gaze up to him. Goddess, but he was tall. "Once you said what you were, I'd sort of assumed that every tree has a dryad. Or at least ones of a given size."
"No. Only those in sacred groves. And once the grove or the tree is defiled by man, then the dryads can no longer stay." She couldn't stop staring into his eyes, the rich brown of the most nourishing soil.
"Defiled? Am I causing you problems by visiting?" His deep voice was husky with concern.
"No. Your kind is not truly human, and you brought with you none of the trappings of technology. It's the touch of metal, of plastics, of man-made chemicals that destroys us. Once a tree has been touched by those, it can never house a dryad."
"So, if a branch is cut - the dryad dies?"
She shrugged. Forcing herself to look away from him, she tugged on his hand to resume their walk. "Not always. If there is another tree of the right species - a sapling, perhaps - sometimes she can switch. Assuming it has not been touched as well. And we can only leave our trees at night. A dryad caught by sunlight can never go back to her tree. We become simple nymphs, with no attachment to a home. Most wither and die without them, though a few have made new lives for themselves, at least according to the legends."
"Then I'll be very careful to have you home before sunrise." He moved beside her with easy grace, as at home in the forest as she was. Unlike most humans she'd met - which wasn't many, she had to admit - he also didn't seem to care that he was naked. That was a situation she didn't mind a bit. He was certainly pleasant to look at. She sniffed experimentally, using a sense she rarely was able to access from inside her tree. He even smelled wonderful - woodsy and a little sweaty, and very, very male. Her step stuttered as she squeezed her thighs together involuntarily, feeling the moisture that slicked the tops of them.
"All right?" He let go of her hand to steady her with a strong arm wrapped around her waist.
"Yes." Though now it was even more difficult for her to catch her breath. Her whole body was quivering with anticipation as she led him into the ritual glade.
If the grove where Coop had met Kyla felt like hallowed ground, this place was positively divine. The natural bowl-shaped depression in the ground was lush and green, carpeted with thick moss. A crystal pool of water filled the center, and the whole area was screened by a curtain of mistletoe, ivy and other epiphytes. The sun had set completely, but the three-quarter moon shone brightly enough into the glade that he could see almost as if it were daylight.
"This is where we hold our rituals," Kyla said, leading him down into the center of the bowl. "Nothing will bother us here - the magic of the gods keeps most of the animals at bay, or at least renders them harmless as they pass through."
In one graceful move, she sank to her knees and patted the moss beside her. "Join me."