Wild, Tethered, Bound by Stephanie Draven Page A

Dessa said, trying to still the trembling of her voice. “I bound them there, Nick. I bound them to my forest. I bound birds and bees, flowers, trees and the humans, too. So it’s my fault. They might not have struggled much against me, but I bound that family just like I bound you last night, and for the same selfish reason: I cared for them and wanted them near me.”
    “There’s more than enough blame to go around…” Nick stopped, his eyes flicking up at her. “For the same reason? What did you just say?”
    “I wanted to be with you,” she said. “I still do.”
    She was touched when he reached out and cupped her cheek. “I think I want to be with you, too, but…”
    “I won’t tether you,” Dessa promised hurriedly. “I won’t use whatever magic I have left to force you to stay. I’ve learned my lesson.”
    “It’s not that.” He sighed. “I’m turning myself in. I think you’re right—this may be the only way to put myself back together again.”
    Dessa wanted to argue, but couldn’t. And as Nick rolled his shoulders in anticipation of what lay ahead, she realized how brave he really was.
    “I hear soldiers in Afghanistan are working with conservationists now,” he said. “So maybe if they send me back I’ll be planting more trees. If not, I’m going to spend some time in prison. Two years is a long time. I don’t expect you to wait.”
    “Two years isn’t a long time for a dryad,” Dessa whispered.
    “Is that true?” he wondered. “Seriously?”
    “Two years will pass like the blink of a mortal eye,” she said with a small smile, tucking her hands in his pockets.
    He kissed her then, tilting her chin up to meet him. When he finally pulled away, his breath was soft on her cheek. “How did you find me, anyway?”
    “I don’t know,” Dessa said. “But I swear I didn’t bind you.”
    Nick raised one cocksure eyebrow. “Maybe I bound you. ”
    “Maybe you did.” She smiled, deciding that maybe a mortal heart had a healing and binding magic all its own.

Epilogue
    Dessa’s forest was different than Nick remembered it. Some of the old trees had sprouted anew from charred stumps, but most were gone for good. The psychologist had warned Nick that coming here would aggravate his post traumatic stress disorder, but the fighting had moved elsewhere in the country and it gladdened his heart to see that the three walnut seedlings he’d planted had survived.
    Nick and the rest of his conversation crew would have to plant many more, but if he was to find Dessa anywhere, he’d bet it would be here, near this makeshift memorial.
    And he was not wrong.
    He came upon her at the foot of a wild olive tree, nestled on a blanket. Her eyes were closed and her long dryad legs were bare in the afternoon sun. Had it been years since he’d seen her last, or only days?
    In prison, to keep himself sane, he’d imagine himself hiking up this mountain to find her. And since they let him out, how many times had he imagined that he glimpsed her beneath the dusty rim of his helmet?
    Whenever he’d envisioned it, she’d always come running into his arms and he’d always had something witty to say. But now that the moment was here, he could only put down his rifle and creep closer, afraid that any sudden move might make her disappear.
    She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Watching the wisps of her mahogany hair float on the breeze, he had only one overriding memory, so primal it crowded out all the rest. He remembered taking her in every way it was possible to take a woman. And he remembered that she had given herself to him in every part. She’d opened beneath all his hands, and let him touch her as if he had a right to. She’d said he was her mate , and he no longer doubted it.
    If he was her mate, then she was also his. His . And the urgent need to claim her made him tremble when he stretched out his hand. He didn’t know what he was going to do until his fingers closed over her eyes.