"No," he rasps. "Open for me."
My breath catches in my throat and I force myself to do as he commands, to part my thighs and give him access to my most secret parts. His big hand cups my pussy, scorchingly hot. I moan, unable to remain quiet. It's the most intimate thing I've ever felt, and it makes me feel excited and squirmy both at once.
"Your cunt is so wet."
His blunt words make me gasp, and when he rubs a finger along the seam of my folds, I moan again. "Is that bad?" He sounds surprised, and I wonder if it's something that's not done, getting all slick and hot when you're turned on. I've never given it much thought; it's something that's always happened when I got aroused.
"No. It's very, very good," Ruari whispers. "I like it."
"I like your touch," I tell him, and then moan again when one of his big, blunt fingers strokes over my clit. "Just like that!"
"Tell me how you want it," he commands. I feel a big hand land on my belly, his other between my thighs. It's like he's holding me down so he can touch me, and it's the most arousing thing ever. I can't stop moaning or moving underneath his grip. I want to raise my hips up, to put more friction against the gentle strokes he's giving my pussy but he's holding me in place.
I pant, my hands going to my breasts so I can pluck at my nipples while he toys with my folds. "Rub me again," I demand of him. "Go in little circles around my clit. Soft touches."
"Like this?" He drags the pad of one finger over my clit and I nearly come off the bed. I cry out, my body jolting with a surge of intense pleasure, and the hand on my belly reaches up and grabs a fistful of my hair, anchoring me down. "I've got you, pretty Willow," he murmurs close to my ear, the beast-like growl in his throat making his words that much more erotic. "Are you going to come all over my fingers? Soak my hand with your juices?" He continues to tell me all sorts of filthy things as he rubs me just as I've demanded, until I'm sobbing my need and I splinter apart in his arms.
As I come, I feel him lean down and his forehead presses against mine, against the blindfold.
Panting with my release, I reach up and touch his hair. It's soft and thick, tangled and long enough to brush his shoulders. "Are you all right?" I murmur.
"I...just need a moment," he tells me. He lifts his head and steps away. Ruari inhales deeply and then groans. There's a faint sound of licking. "Your taste is incredible."
I squirm with pleasure and embarrassment both as I hear that. He's tasting me? "What does it taste like?"
"The sweetest thing ever."
I bite my lip, wishing I could see it. Damn, I hate this stupid blindfold. I want to see everything and all I get are sounds. It's so unfair. "Did you come?" I ask, curious. Maybe he did and I didn't realize it because I didn't feel it hit my arm this time.
He's silent, and I take that as a no.
"Can...can I touch you?" I ask, all breathless at the thought.
"You want to touch me?"
"Of course." My answer sounds a little too pat, even for my own ears, so I add, "I'd love to. If you don't mind, that is."
He laughs, that same broken, raspy laugh that sounds like it's coming from too many teeth. "As if I would turn away the touch of a lovely woman?"
"Well, you might," I say meekly. "But I'd be disappointed if you did."
"You can touch me, but I cannot guarantee you will like it." He hesitates for a long moment and grabs my hand when I reach out. "I am...a beast in all ways."
I shake my head. "You're just a man to me," I tell him. And I slowly reach forward and put a hand on his chest. I'm not entirely surprised to find it bare - maybe beasts don't wear a lot of clothing - nor am I surprised to find that his chest is hard and smooth and muscular, with just a hint of chest hair. It doesn't feel beastly at all.
I can feel just how tense he is under my touch, though. He truly expects me to reject him, and my heart breaks for Ruari. I move to the edge of the bed, putting both of my hands on his chest. "I see nothing wrong with the way you feel," I say softly. "You feel warm and strong to me." I trail a hand down one muscular arm. Maybe this is part of his curse - maybe he looks beastly on the outside but feels human. Maybe he doesn't even realize this himself.
Or maybe it's the blindfold that allows me to see what's truly here instead of the curse? Who can say.
All I know is that it's incredibly pleasurable to touch him, and I want to explore all of his body. "Ruari," I whisper. "I'm glad I'm here with you." It seems like we're in this together, and I feel incredibly bonded to him right now. We're drawn together in this curse, and in our mutual pleasure. It's fascinating and it makes me hungry for more and more.
Three days won't be enough to explore all of this.
But since it's what I've got, that's why I'm moving so fast. Maybe the Willow that has lived, sheltered and lonely on her parents' farm at the edge of Windybrook wouldn't be hungry for a stranger's body. Maybe that Willow would be too shy to blatantly grab at his arms and squeeze the hard muscles, or to run her fingers down his abdomen, learning his body by touch. That Willow might never cup his sac to feel its gentle weight, or skim her fingers along the long, veined length of his cock. The Willow of the curse, however, will take everything she can grab with both her hands, and more. She's going to get all of her living in if three days is all she has.
Ruari's breath hitches when I touch his cock. He doesn't move as I learn his length with my hands, or when I discover the drops of wetness at the tip and bring them to my mouth to taste them. It's a strong flavor, but not an unpleasant one. "Ruari," I whisper again, because I like to hear his name on my lips...and I love the shuddering response it brings.
"I want to see your face, Willow. All of it. I want you to see me."
And to my horror, I feel him reach for the blindfold.
I shriek, flinging myself backward. The blindfold fabric has worked its way into my hair and snarls on several strands of my hair, hanging barely over my eyes. I squeeze them tightly shut and curl myself into a protective ball, shielding my face. "Don't! You can't do that!"
The beast snarls. "Why? Tell me why!"
I can't. "I won't!"
"Do you mock me, Willow? Is that what this is? Some game of yours?" His rage is terrible to hear. "Shall I rip it off your face and end this charade for myself?"
"Do that, and you lose me forever," I whisper. You lose everything.
"I only have you for one more day anyhow," he says, and his voice is so, so bitter. "What does it matter?"
"It matters to me." And because I can't trust him, I pull the covers back over my entire body, ducking my head underneath like a child, until none of me is visible to him. "Leave me, please. Don't come back. I can't trust you."
Ruari gives another beastlike snarl of rage, and then I hear him storm out of my room, claws clicking on the stone floor.
5
WILLOW
The next day passes much like the last, but I'm conscious now, more than ever, that time is slipping away. The autumn weather - brisk and crisp with the high wind - has turned bitterly cold. I open my window and wrap myself in a blanket to stay near it, but it's not comfortable. The day passes endlessly slow, and I can't help but think about every hour that slips away. Every minute.
Ruari does not come by.
It isn't until I climb into my bed again and adjust my double-blindfolds that I wonder if he's coming to see me at all. Has he given up on me?
Did he think that when I asked him to leave, I meant forever?
Did he think I'd given up entirely?
He'd ruined the moment, but I've not given up on him. I still want to break this curse. I still want him.
I rack my brain, trying to think of any hidden messages in Leta's instructions. Is there something I missed? But her instructions were simple, and if I follow them, at the end of the three days, the curse will be broken.
Don't look upon anything that's part of his curse.
Don't tell him why.
Don't let him spill his seed inside me.
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The last part still makes me blush, of course. Not that we'll ever get to him making love to me. This isn't going as I'd hoped, especially not if he continues to leave me alone over and over again. He's offended by my blindfold, but I can't remove it. And because I'm blindfolded, I can't go after him.
What to do?
"Ruari?" I call out. There's no answer, not even when I touch myself and call his name a few more times. He's not here. Frustrated, I slip on my night-dress and fumble for a pair of shoes.
If he's abandons me, I worry it'll affect the curse. I worry we need to spend this night together. Somehow I don't think Leta pictured us spending so much time apart when she advised me, but what can I do? I'm only one person and dozens - maybe hundreds - have failed before me. Maybe this is doomed after all.