There was nothing quite like the exquisite agony of spending autumn alone when there was someone you would very much rather be spending the time with. She consumed his thoughts when his eyes were closed, and shaped his waking moments, as if by denying himself the possibility of encountering only made her more magnetic to him.
don't compare her
And he was very, very careful to avoid her. He had to. Wulfric might be delusional (was almost certainly delusional) in thinking that there was anything between them, or rather, that she felt that there was anything between them, but he couldn't risk tainting her. Couldn't risk her well-being for the sake of his selfishness. He would not touch her, would not mar her, even if his every waking thought had been filled with doing just that. With walking up to her and pressing himself against her side as he'd longed to do, letting his lips explore her perfect, unscarred body. Promising her everything he could give her, if only she would give him a moment of her time.
to sunshine
He managed, but it was a near and agonizing thing.
and roses
New hollows had appeared above his eyes, and he felt warier now. More animal than man, barely above his own base desires. The season had only confirmed what he knew to be true: he was a monster, a creature of the jungle.
when she's
This was not such a bad thing, but their conversations had a way of giving him hope in a different reality. One in which he was normal, not bound to the shadows and the darkness and the gloom. A world in which he might live as others did, in a herd, with friends and family of his own. It was dangerous, and he knew better than to partake, but she was so exquisite he had no ability to resist. Nor any defenses against her charms, however unintentional.
clearly orchids
"You've changed," he murmured to no one in particular, letting his words drift across the busy jungle floor. The trail had shifted a few feet to the side, dodging around the left side of a wide trunk instead of the right. Curious, he watched for a moment to see why, and noticed the soft drone and multiple busy bodies flying to and from a hollow in the trunk. As he peered closer, careful to move slow and steady, he noticed the seething mass of a busy beehive inside and smiled. One worker hovered menacingly in front of his face for a moment before landing on the bridge of his scarred nose, tapping her abdomen against him in a warning.
"I know," he whispered.
"I won't harm you."
and moonlight
She lifted to fly away, and as his gaze rose from her bobbing figure to the dark shadows beyond, he caught the unmistakable shape of another horse but said nothing, only watched quietly to see who it was.