Free The Broken Forest by Megan Derr

slowly calmed.
    Adamina's cock was so hard it hurt, and she reared back to rest on her heels and admire the view of a pliant, sated Grete while she stroked herself. Grete made a soft noise, levered herself up and pushed Adamina all the way down to sit properly, replaced Adamina's hand with her own, stroking hard, leaning in to give a wet, hungry kiss. Adamina held her close, fed at her mouth, muffled her shout against those sweet, addictive lips as she finally came.
    It was her turn to lay dazed on the bed, exhaustion returning twice as strong. She grunted as Grete nudged her over, forced herself to move enough to clean up and hang their robes over the foot of the bed, then snuffed the candle and climbed beneath the warm blankets.
    Grete moved closer to her, wrapped loosely around her. Adamina froze, briefly startled, but then it was all too easy to melt into the sleepy embrace. She had forgotten the simple pleasure of sleeping with another, the comfort of it. Listening to the sound of Grete's even breathing, enjoying the smell of them that still filled the room, Adamina slid easily into sleep, smiling faintly.
    She was jerked away by the sound of screaming, throwing herself out of bed and lunging for her sword before her mind entirely processed what was happening.
    People in the room. They had Grete. Sound of movement behind—
    Adamina cried out as something slammed into her head, knocking her to the ground, sending her sword clattering away. She was grabbed, hauled to her feet, hands bound behind her with rough rope. Dazed from pain, she could only stumble along as they hauled her out of the room and out into the streets.
    An enormous bonfire had been erected in the village circle. Something—someone—was laying on the ground before it. As they drew closer and her head started to clear a bit, Adamina saw it was Victoria.
    The people holding her threw her to the ground, heavy hands forcing her to stay on her knees. Next to her, the same was done with Grete. A figure wrapped in shadows stepped in front of them, face further hidden by the flames at their back. Striding up to them, the figure reached out and yanked the necklace from Adamina's neck. Damn.
    She snarled in fury as the bastard threw it in the flames, stabbing, slicing pain tearing through her as the necklace was destroyed. Tears flooded her eyes, streamed down her cheeks. "You'll pay for that, you coward."
    "Not before you pay for destroying the Sacred Forest," the figure replied, voice low, rough, as though ruined by smoke. "The Sacred Forest requires the life of the Huntress and the witch in order to recover its strength."
    Grete stirred and tried to speak, but the shadowed figure backhanded her.
    Enough was enough. "Let us go." She grunted when she was backhanded in her turn. "I can break the spell if that's what you want."
    "Not good enough. You should have killed the creatures and left."
    "You should have brought this to the attention of the crowns long ago," Adamina retorted. "But you didn't because you're not all just poisoned by the rapunzel—you're enthralled. What did you do, sacrifice a person here and there, mostly travelers, to keep those poor, broken, twisted children appeased? Did they finally have enough and start hunting for themselves?"
    The figure backhanded her again. "Shut up."
    Adamina spat on the ground, bared her teeth in a bloody smile, and chanted, "Rosehaven, hear my distress. Send the Beast of Roses to my aid."
    She cried out in pain as she was hauled to her feet, a rough hand wrapped around her neck, nails digging in painfully as she was dragged toward the bonfire. So they were to be burned alive, then, and their ashes scattered to the wood. How archaic.
    A long howl cut through the night, making everyone stop. Pity she had not been able to focus the spell well enough to bring him right into their midst. At least it had worked.
    The howl was followed by the sound of something running—something large and heavy. It snorted, snuffled,