Realms of the Raven - Erotic Romance Author Maura Anderson

Well, late but not as late as last week. I’ll take a small improvement!

(Archives are on the website, if you want to read the offerings of past weeks)

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Grove of the Ancients
(c) 2008 by Maura Anderson

The chill wind stole what little warmth Tayla’s cotton pajamas provided. Great heaving shudders wracked her body but she still struggled against the tightly knotted ropes that bound her. Warm wetness made her wrists slick, but the coarse rope that bound her to the spikes driven into the ground only tightened with each struggle, each attempt to free herself. Exhausted, she stopped struggling to catch her breath again.

What the hell was going on around here? Her quiet weekend getaway at a cabin had turned into a kidnapping before dawn and being staked out like a pagan sacrifice in the woods. Maybe she’d been drugged—she’d gone to bed really early the night before, unable to keep her eyes open, and fell asleep immediately. Then she’d woken up here with a headache and mouth so dry she wanted to drink a river dry.

Squinting her eyes, she looked at the clearing again. She seemed to be in a clearing but not one that seemed to be groomed or maintained. The trees around her were enormous and shrubs and ferns filled in the spaces between them. The rich scent of decaying leaves and loam made the clearing seem almost otherworldly, especially compared to the big city smells she was used to.

She closed her eyes, trying to think. What to do? Would whoever delivered her here come back for her? Why the hell was she here?

A distant roar made her snap her eyes open again. Bear? Was that a bear? Holy shit, what if wild animals decided she looked like a nice buffet? Adrenaline raced through her veins and she yanked as hard as she could on the ropes that tied her hands to stakes. She couldn’t catch her breath, couldn’t make herself stop and think. All she could do was try to escape.

A sudden pop and explosion of pain from her shoulder made the darkness descend across her vision.

Tayla slowly opened her eyes again and shifter her body but the rush of exquisite pain that radiated from her right shoulder made her dizzy and momentarily nauseous. She’d done something to herself, maybe dislocated it? Fuck. Now she was even more helpless.

On the other hand, nothing had eaten her while she’d been unconscious. That was a definite plus.

She carefully turned her head to look around the clearing, trying not to move her shoulder. The ancient trees seemed more sinister, more mysterious in the little light that remained. It was almost fully dark but she could already see the very edge of the Blood Moon’s arc rising over the edge of the clearing. When a flash of movement caught her eye, she focused on the closest tree, a huge hemlock that seemed to shimmer and waver.

Maybe her vision was going. She blinked to force what little moisture her eyes had to clear them. No – the tree actually seemed more unsteady, moving in and out of focus. All at once, a deep fog enveloped the tree then just as quickly disappeared, leaving a tall, muscular naked man in its place.

No. No way. She had to be hallucinating. Trees do not turn into men.

In desperation, she clenched her eyes closed and counted to ten. It didn’t work. Reopening her eyes showed now there were several naked men where the ancient trees had stood. They seemed to share the same long, flowing hair and muscular bodies.
And they were coming toward her.