Emberwood [m] I am just a fool, 'cause I could be in love if I really tried

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Mentions of past SA

She'd opened her eyes to the burn of hormones and desire beneath her skin — and an onslaught of unwanted memory. In the short time she'd spent in the company of @Athens, she felt she still hadn't learned whether to call him trustworthy or not. So the first chance she saw, the woman ran from him.

The woman, who still sometimes struggled to think of herself as Marina, was well on her way to healing. That was what she told herself each day, though the time between healing and healed seemed to stretch endlessly before her. She descended from the mountains with only a little difficulty. Her season, her time of power and new life, followed her all the way.

She'd known the touch of men before, kind and cruel alike. She'd brought children into the world. These things she remembered, but the faces all blurred when she tried to call them to mind. The woman felt powerless, and thus far more strongly reminded of a wretched night under the stars, of a man's breath on her ear and the terrible strength of his grip on her.

But she wouldn't think of that. Not now. Marina found an abandoned fox den and began to dig it out idly, pushing all thought from her mind, at least for a time.