Page 1 of Dominating the Dryad

Real or Fake?

Perenneos has followed the human for weeks now. At a distance, of course. Just behind the treeline and ducking behind bushes.

He’s not supposed to. He knows that. But he just can’t stop himself.

The man is just so . . .

Handsome isn’t enough to describe him. Nor does pretty, or beautiful, or hot. He’s just an amalgamation of all of them and a thousand things more. And tall. So tall. Not only that, but his chest is broader than anything Peri’s ever seen before. He wouldn’t even reach his shoulders if they were to stand next to each other. Dryads don’t get that big. Peri couldn’t stop himself from seeing him over and over again.

Just like every day, he’d left his little cottage earlier that morning and trekked through the woods, just so he could see the man today as well. He’s been doing it for almost three weeks now.

It’s different today, though.

His human—Peri can’t find it in himself to call him something different—is dressed very strangely. Normally, he wears blue-colored pants and short-sleeved shirts. Maybe a thin jacket thrown on top.

Today, though, it’s different. And Peri sure isn’t complaining. It’s all black with skin-tight leather pants and a billowy shirt, a scarf tied around his head. A long leather coat whips around his ankles. Mouth-watering.

Suffice it to say, Peri is having a hard time staying hidden behind the bushes.

He creeps through the forest and watches as his human and his friends arrive at a house Peri’s never seen. It’s a normal house. Made of wood and painted a pretty blue color. But it still makes him suspicious. There’s a lot of sounds coming from inside, and it takes him a moment to realize it’s music. Strange pounding music.

His own flute is much more pleasant.

The human and his friends disappear into the house, leaving Peri hesitating by the treeline. He normally goes back to his little cottage when the man goes inside, but this isn’t the human’s home and it piques his interest.

Especially when more and more people enter the same house.

It’s already dark—and getting darker—as Peri leaves his initial spot and walks around to the back of the house. There’s more people lingering on a covered porch and another possible door his human could escape through. Peri will have to go back and forth between the two spots so he won’t miss him.

So, that’s what he does. Peri spends an hour or so walking back and forth through the under-bush to first the front-door and then the backdoor—without seeing any hint of his human. And just as he’s about to give up, the backdoor opens and the human and his friends appear.

They’re all holding drinks and mill around on the covered porch. His human removes his coat, drapes it over a chair, and is now only wearing a black, billowing shirt. It’s open low in the chest, almost down to his belly-button.

His skin glistens in the warm light, and Peri finds himself unknowingly creeping closer. He steps over a rock and peeks out from behind a tree. All he wants is to see all that exposed skin closer up, maybe study his human’s features, and figure out exactly how tall he is.

It’s so entrancing that Peri doesn’t register when all the friends go back inside, leaving his human all alone. Walking towards him.

“Hello,” the human says. And that voice. It sends a shiver down Peri’s spine and draws him in like a moth to flame. “Aren’t you cold out here? Do you want to come inside?”

Peri blinks and takes a couple of steps back towards the treeline. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t talk to humans. The elders will be furious. More than furious.

As a dryad, his full loyalty should lie with nature, and he needs to keep himself pure and devoted. Humans are a risk to all of that, known for their promiscuity and lustful ways.

If any of his people see him, Peri could risk exile. Forever. But he burns with curiosity, and he can’t make himself step away.

The man stops, smiles, and holds up his hands placatingly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Peri stills too, his hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “I’m Tristan, by the way. And we don’t have to go back inside, we could just sit on the porch. They have blankets. If you’re cold.”

A name. His human’s name is Tristan. And he’s even more handsome up close. Even bigger. Peri has to bend his neck backwards to meet his eyes. The knowledge makes nerves dance down his skin. He’s eye-level with Tristan’s chest and wouldn’t be able to look over his shoulder, even standing on the tips of his toes.

“I am not,” Peri says, taking a tentative step towards him. “My name is Perenneos. Or Peri, for short.” And even though he’s in a thin linen shirt and pants, he really isn’t cold. He even put his long black hair in a ponytail to keep it off his neck as he kept watch.

“That’s an unusual name,” Tristan says. “It’s cute, though. And I love your costume.”

“Costume…?” The word is foreign, and Peri isn’t quite sure what it means. “Tristan is a lovely name too.”

Tristan smiles, it makes him even more handsome. “Thank you. Your ears look so real.” He takes another step closer, peeking his head around to look closer at Peri’s ear. The warmth of his body sinks into Peri’s. “What are they made of? Is it like a silicone mold?”

Self-consciously, Peri touches his ear. Maybe there was a twig stuck on it, or some dirt? “They are real?” He doesn’t mean for it to come out like a question. “What’s ‘silicone’?”