Chapter Text
They were stepping amongst bones and the half rotting carcasses of the Rex’s meals when they reached the bottom, moving with exaggerated care in order to not make a sound before they were in position. The plan was simple enough, most of the reptiles were susceptible to sleep spells which she and Sabal would launch at the same time. If they both failed, the fire hurler would corral it until they could try again. There were other, more brutal methods, but they had both agreed on not letting the creature suffer for the sake of a trophy, not if they didn’t have to.
They had developed a few contingency plans, which was why two of the sailors were carrying large bola’s and explosives, and every man had at least one potion on them that would allow them to fly out of reach if things went wrong. Unfortunately, not one of them expected things to go wrong as quickly as they did. The creature was blind, half mad and probably only had half a clue as to where it actually was, but there was nothing wrong with its sense of smell.
As they picked their way through the stinking piles of corpses, both men and beasts, they should have been safe, but when the Rex paused in trying to smash whatever madness had taken it, out of its skull and lifted its huge snout to the air, Ren suddenly remembered, she was bleeding.
The roar was deafening, doubly so in this echo chamber that threw the gargantuan voice back at them a dozen times over. There wasn’t even time to tell them all to run as several tons of maddened and enraged reptile stormed forward, its steps rattling bones across the floor as it charged straight for the tiefling. Ren didn’t hesitate, there wasn’t time to see whether the others had gotten out of the way of those heavy steps, or even to throw a spell, she could only run.
A narrow path cut across the lake, formed of stalactites and stalagmites that had met in the middle, and it was the only way she could go. Her heart was hammering in her chest hard enough that it felt like it might break through, as she ran, squeezed through and practically leapt over the mounds of rock. Meanwhile the Rex seemed to be having no such difficulties, using its body to ram through the meeting strands of rock, scraping new wounds into its infected skin and seeming not to care.
It had zeroed in on her scent, and its approach was almost fanatical as it refused to be slowed until it finally reached a part of the pathway that broke beneath its charging weight. Even then, the water wasn’t high enough to stop it, merely slow it down a little, and as vast as the cavern was, Ren was almost certainly running to a dead end. This proved to be true enough when a forest of jagged rocks rose up before her in the scant light she carried with her.
The Rex was still coming, but the water was slowing it down, as were the streaks of molten fire that hit its flank from the other side of the lake, and she could just make out the figures of the others, desperately trying to clamber over the rubble left behind in the Rex’s wake. Running wasn’t an option anymore, but neither was getting eaten, and Ren gathered herself long enough to remember that she was a damn wizard, and this creature was naught more than an animal, a big one to be sure, but still an animal.
The weave gathered to her as though it had been merely waiting for the opportunity to assist and though she wasn’t exactly calm in this situation, she nonetheless steadied her fear long enough to shape the raw magic at her disposal. She sent out her call, the echo reaching out across the elemental, the answer coming quickly and with enthusiasm as she gave it shape in her mind, a shape that the presence was all too eager to fill.
The Rex got one foot back on the pathway, rivers falling away from its squirming fetid skin as it hauled itself from the water, sniffing at the air and roaring again when it found the scent of sluggish bleeding at the back of her head. It charged her once again, ren hurriedly climbing between the jagged teeth of rock behind her.
Flame erupted from the ground as the connection between the weave and her mind solidified, a roaring streak of fire launching itself at the Rex’s face, its claws sinking into charing flesh as it clung on. The Rex shrieked in agony, there was no other way to describe the sound that had her clapping both hands over her ears. A fiery mane rippled in streaks of orange gold as molten claws ripped at flesh and pierced those blind eyes, its feline roar mingling with the vocal devastation that was the Rex’s pain.
In the midst of this distraction, Ren tried to find a way around the Rex, but every effort was driven back by huge stampeding feet and the heavy swing of its thick tail, forcing her back between the rows of jagged rocks. The flaming beast crawled over the heaving, infected body, its fire leaving behind patches of burning flesh as it rode on the Rex’s spine, tearing at flesh with molten teeth. The huge mass of what was probably once a beautiful and magnificent creature, now thrashed violently, its body smashing into the broken teeth of her hiding place. Chunks of rock flew, and a stalactite broke loose, plummeting and smashing into the rock below.
She tried to cast a spell, aiming to fly up and out of there, but the falling rock and flailing limbs of the beast kept her far too occupied with getting out of its way. She was running out of ground, the lion becoming more desperate as her fear grew the more she had to dive and roll out of the way of feet that would crush her. That ground was getting smaller and smaller, and soon enough she was crawling backwards along the floor, her back finally pressing to the sheer rock wall, wondering how the hell her story could end with her ending up as a smear in a cave so many miles away from home.
Something leapt from the water, a blur that hit the monster’s flank and clung there with its own set of claws. For a moment she couldn’t make out what it was, until she saw the exposed bone and empty eyes, moments before the animated carcass set huge teeth into the Rex’s squirming flesh, worrying at it and ripping it away. With a strange sort of horror that refused to look away, she watched the dead sabretooth force the wound open with claws and teeth, shoving its head into the wound.
More things rose from the water, creatures that were barely recognizable, old bone and sinew forced to move again, hauling themselves out of the water. There were people too, half eaten and long rotted, blindly crawling across the rock, fumbling towards the screaming Rex. Within less than a minute, the Rex was crawling with creatures, biting, hacking, slashing. A hand covered her mouth as she watched the sabre's head disappear into the wide hole it had made, then its shoulders, and she could only imagine what it was doing to the parts it could reach within the dinosaur.
The creature's massive foot came down again, too close for comfort, and her shock was broken, enough for her to launch herself to her feet, aiming herself beneath that struggling, writing bulk. She literally threw herself out of its way, coming to a rolling stop on the other side, eyes darting around hurriedly for the others.
But she only got as far as seeing him. Eyes glowed like brilliant amethysts in a dark face twisted in concentration, white curls hanging damp with sweat that poured down his face as he struggled to maintain control of so many creatures. He’d never told her his specialty, and she had never asked, not that it mattered, despite the less than favourable opinions on the particular school of magic in some circles. It was his power that held her in awe. Even as he struggled to maintain it, the amount of will and concentration it must have taken to animate so many!
Even as she thought this, she heard the clatter of bone as some of that control slipped, sacrificing some of the corpses to maintain the ones tearing their way into that diseased body. Now that she was no longer under threat of being crushed, it was sad again, watching the creature's slow demise as pieces of it fell away, the stagger of its legs finally buckling. It fell hard enough to crack the stone, and more stalactites rained down around it, her own elemental leaping free as she called it.
Sabal’s undead also began to fall apart like the others, falling in chunks of meat and bone as the hectic rise and fall of that scaled flank finally began to slow. She watched the drow fold up, first at his knees, that fierce glow dimming, then falling to the side, his head striking the rock, and finally she got her feet under her again.
The others were there first, two of the largest picking Sabal up between them, while she examined the dark patch of red amongst white, relieved to see the wound was superficial. He’d burnt himself out, his breathing quick and heavy, but it began to slow eventually, and she knew he’d sleep for hours now.
“We must go, the others will collect our injured, but he needs to rest. The crew will recover the carcass, we must not be here when the night comes.”
Ren didn’t need to know specifics, the sooner they were out of here the better, and the idea of trying to get back while the darkness shrouded all that they’d had to avoid before would have been a suicide run. They split into two groups, Ren accompanying the two carrying Sabal, while the remaining sailor backtracked his way to the waiting injured and their sentry.
As they made their way to the entrance, fire gently roared beside her, the feline of flames padding alongside her steps as she stopped and stopped to pick up one of the curved blades that had been dropped. She would have to take point while they were forced to carry him, and though she wanted nothing more than to simply lay in an icy bath and never move again, she strode out ahead of them as they came to the cavernous mouth of the cave at last.
He’d just saved her life, the least she could do was see him home safe.
~o0O0o~
They were on the water again, and after making their way back through the desperate heat of the jungle once more, Ren didn’t think she would appreciate the cool flow of moving air any more than she did the moment the Angaer got underway. She had cut her way through the path the sailors directed her to, grimly and completely tense for something to come rushing at them from the thick foliage, and despite the extra heat, the flaming elemental lion remained at their side until she saw the walls of Mezo.
They’d put him to bed as soon as they reboarded, a large crew heading to the shore in several rowboats, presumably to collect the carcass, though the gods knew how they would manage that. After checking on their wounds, both of which remained superficial but were now cleaned and salved, she had fallen into her own exhausted sleep after peeling her way out of damp clothes she swore she would never wear again and bathing herself twice in the basin.
She woke to cool night air and after finding a soft velvet robe that was far too big for her, she had spent the last hour on the balcony, watching the water pass behind the Angaer’s steady wake. He was still sleeping, which wasn’t surprising, she’d only burnt herself out once or twice, but both times had been during the fight against the absolute and its cult, and she’d needed a lot of recovery time.
Looking over her shoulder, she could see him on the bed, still dead to the world. She’d stripped him to the waist to bathe him as well as she could, and not a soul alive would have dragged it out of her that this wasn’t entirely necessary. She smiled and looked back out at the water, feeling a pang no that they had begun their journey back. The Black Jungle was hardly going to be on her list of favorite places to visit, but she might have weathered a few more days just to avoid acknowledging that there was an end to this brief but sweet respite.
In a surprisingly pragmatic move, she allowed herself to feel that pang for a few moments before she gently but neatly nudged it aside. Her short time of freedom was coming to an end and she’d not waste it thinking on what was to come. A few steps took her to the balcony’s rail, and here she turned her face to the wind of the ship's wake, watching the night stretch over the water as well as the sky.
The hunt had not gone exactly to plan, but she’d spent enough time adventuring to know that things rarely did, and under the circ*mstances, they had gotten lucky. She might have said that nobody needed to know that she had almost gotten herself killed, but she had no idea how closely Raphael might have been watching, and she found herself unconsciously rubbing at the mark on the back of her neck.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when hands slid over the brushed velvet at her hips, coming together to lock fingers over her belly, pulling her into the firm presence of the body behind. For a moment she’d had to look down to confirm the dusk colour of those hands, momentarily thinking that her thoughts might well have summoned the devil.
“You know, there were a number of months in my lifetime where a surprise like that might have resulted in a very embarrassing incident with a shocking grasp.”
His soft laughter warmed the line of her jaw and her head tilted naturally, “I woke to a vision of you standing on a star strewn balcony with your hair unbound and flowing in the wind, it would have been narratively inappropriate for me not to touch you”
Her own laughter was rich and unrestrained, it was a fairly new sound to her, and if nothing else, she supposed this new and overly complicated life of hers had torn down some barriers. Like being able to accept the nature of her own desire, particularly with the drow. His hands, the firmness of his body behind her, even the warmth of the air he breathed along her jawline, all of it felt more natural and freeing than she had ever felt. Raphael could overwhelm her with her own lust, but Sabal merely existed alongside it.
“I assume you are suffering no ill effects then?”
A hand slipped into the neck of her robe, cupping her breast and ghosting the nipple with his thumb, soft lips grazing just below her ear. “I’m quite well, and relieved to find you unharmed.”
He nosed aside her hair, breathing heat along the back of her neck, and after a moment's pause she felt a small moment of breathless shock when his tongue brushed wetly along the brand. There was no reaction, save for her own, as the drow went ahead and committed some sort of blasphemy when he softly pinched her nipple between his fingers and sucked at her flesh, hard enough to leave a mark for certain.
“This is his, isn’t it?”
There was little point in denying it, he was apt to recognize the infernal nature of the mark as well as she had, and if he didn’t, her ration would have given her away before he’d even had to ask. “It’s his way of letting me know he’s always watching.”
“Always?” He was pulling at the robes belt now, revealing her nakedness to the cool air, his mouth now having moved on to the side of her neck, though she could still feel the faint tingle of the mark he’d left behind, perhaps in defiance. She was almost sure that something on the ship had prevented Raphael from finding her, but she couldn’t think about the nuances of that infernal magic while his fingers were drawing exploring lines along her belly and thighs, and so she merely nodded. Besides, she’d never not play it safe when it came to the devil, who knew what he could put his will to?
“Perfect.”
He moved quickly and efficiently, tugging the robe away from her body and spinning her so quickly she didn’t even register he’d taken hold of her wrists until he had them pinned flush against the doorframe above her head. Her breath was already heaving slightly with excitement, and she had stopped marvelling at how easily she accepted this, accepted him. She simply wanted to roll with it, because he had yet to disappoint her, and so she opened her mouth to the firm, almost possessive demand he made of it.
Intentions were made perfectly clear when he pulled a leg about his waist and drove up against her, a shiver causing her lips to tremble against his briefly, her own body falling easily into the slow grind he perpetuated. Excitement built, the adder strike of his tongue in her mouth peeling away the layers of civilization and good manners just as easily as he’d peeled away her robe, making her quickly wanton and uncaring of anything else but his hands on her, and the way his body moved against her.
“Do you want to play again, Firefly?”
He squeezed his hand around her wrists, causing only a slight discomfort, but letting her know that his intentions danced upon the slightly darker edge of his own desire again. He didn’t stop his ceaselessly grinding into her, the seam of his leathers brushing over her cl*t, close enough for her to feel every twitch and throb. She watched the markings on his chest and shoulder shiver to life, the depiction of a kraken breaking apart, the ink parting and flowing over both shoulders, winding the length of his arms to caress the skin of her wrists.
“Yes, I want to play.”
He nipped at her jaw, his hands unclenching, taken over by darker fingers that held her firmly in place as he made his way down her throat again, snatching small bites between soft sweeps of his tongue. He drew a line over one breast, stopping to suck on a peaked nipple indulgently, setting her raised leg over one shoulder as his knees bent to accommodate the path he was mapping down the length of her body.
Looking down at the cunning curve of his smile caused a jolt of lust to spear its way between her thighs and he seemed to chase it as he buried his mouth against her sex, shocking her system again with the careful art of his tongue. He didn’t simply taste her, he feasted on her, licking, sucking and biting at her flesh until the back of her head braced itself against the door as he forced those first few soft cries from her. He had kissed her mouth with that same almost possessive energy before, now he did the same, reaving the slick channel of her sex, his tongue slipping briefly inside her. Fingers quickly replaced the electric sensation, wasting no time in burying them deep enough to sharpen those cries, and he held her in place with the flat of his hand pressed into her belly.
It was the quickest she had ever been brought to that fevered place of lust, sensation forcing her to abandon all barriers while he curled and thrust those fingers into her and bit gently at soaked folds. She wanted to grind and rut already, but he held her firmly in place, making her listen to the obscene liquid jerking of his hand while lips captured that engorged bundle of nerve endings.
They both knew he had her when she began to pant heavily, his imperative clearly to throw her over the edge of that first org*sm, his ceaseless tongue lapping at that centerpoint of flesh, two fingers joined by a third to drive over that deeply hidden spot. It was quick, almost brutal, and might have been uncomfortable if she were not already so aroused. He wanted to drive it out of her and she was helpless to stop it even if she had wanted to.
Three fingers f*cked her with an almost frighteningly deadly precision, each rough stroke burying the pleasure deep, filling her body to capacity while tongue and lips continued to rasp over her cl*t. She broke in less than a few minutes, that growing, full feeling coming apart when he drove those fingers in again, riding over that roughed spot until she shattered against his insistent mouth.
Stretched and clenching, she came with a harsh shout that perfectly encapsulated the force with which the climax took her, like he’d driven a fist into her belly, followed by a series of shaking whimpers as he chased every tight shiver of her sex with his tongue. She was still breathing hard and fast when he rose to his feet again, tongue sweeping his lips as though he were tasting the most luxurious of wines, two slick fingers pushing their way into her accepting mouth with a purr of his satisfaction in her ears, the contours of his face alit with the changing glow of her eyes.
“Usually I would gag you now, but perhaps if I make you scream loud enough, your devil might be able to hear you.”
She sucked greedily at those fingers, tasting the slick fruits of his labour as he rode them over her tongue and tested her gag reflex, seemingly pleased with the result as he put her on her knees, her inked wrists still held firmly, his fingers slipping from her mouth to undo the ties to leathers. His co*ck was clearly aching from some kind of release when he pulled himself free, her eyes transfixed by the drip of clear fluid from the tip, soon spread over flesh by fingers that stroked himself before her eyes.
“You’re going to stay perfectly still for me now Ren. You remember what to do if you need me to stop?”
Something about that question released a thrill down the length of her spine, but she still remembered to lift her tail, wrapping it briefly around his wrist, falling away when he nodded to indicate she had remembered well. There was an impatience to the way her tongue wet her lips now, and she could already practically feel the phantom weight of him pushing against her tongue. Hands took hold of her hair on either side of her head, and he didn’t even have to ask her to open her mouth when he pressed to her lips.
His long sigh of satisfaction nearly ruined her, the thick weight of his co*ck riding over her tongue as promised, not stopping until he reached the threshold of her throat, a light pull on her hair directing her eyes to his before he drove past it. Her throat clenched around him and she had to fight to keep her shoulders from heaving, forcing her body to relax as he held himself there, black lines running over his arms, seeking purchase on her body.
He held her in place when began to move, housing her mouth in languid strokes, dripping onto her tongue, hypnotizing her with the sinuous movement of hips, muscle tightening and relaxing with every short thrust. She felt his ink twist a path down her torso, slipping between her legs, making her throat clench around him again as the subtle flicker of tongues found both holes in delicate licks that had her fighting to stay still.
This seemed to delight him, and he moved with more purpose now, every roll of hips driving him in and out of her mouth, the subtle raised bumps of the implants brushing her upper lip. The confined sound of her moans mingled with a harsher sound every time he hit the back of her throat, the sound as obscene as the inked tongues that squirmed and pressed at her still sensitive cl*t and that tightly puckered entrance that quickly relaxed under the practiced attention.
His breathing became more intense as shoved those sounds back down her throat, now riding into her mouth, thick enough to make her saliva quickly build and overflow, a sight that seemed to excite him further as he abandoned all restraint and began to f*ck her mouth and throat. The ink between her thighs now attacked her with the same intensity as his own mouth had, quickly unraveling her dignity.
Fingers dug into her scalp, his voice working in tandem with the ink, driving her mind into a space where only the sound, taste and feel of him mattered, that and the quickly building need that was almost as merciless as the first time. Her hands balled into fists above her as she continued to struggle to stay still, even as her thighs began to clench and shake. He didn’t relent at either end, claiming her mouth over and over with the stretch of his co*ck, her clenching throat beset with shivering whines cut off every time he breached past it.
He suddenly pulled away, holding her head aloft, the tip of his co*ck drooling onto her tongue as those high pitched whines came together in a jagged groan that kept going when the second climax took her, and what a picture she must have made for him. He watched with open fascination as her hindquarters squirmed, her tail lashing against the floor as she rode it out. Something almost feral swam in his eyes then and she was suddenly pitched forward, her wrists still held in black hands, now pinned to the floor as he pulled her hips up and shoved her thighs apart.
His hands left her, but the ink kept working between her legs, and she moaned into the cave between her outstretched arms as it thickened, pushing its way into her over sensitive c*nt while pressing insistently against the loosening barrier of her ass. Vaguely she heard him removing the last of his clothing and moving across the room, but she was mostly occupied with the overpowering sensation of having her sensitivity ignored, already grinding back at the air and the sensation of a tongue caressing rippling walls.
Just like the last time, the first strike came out of nowhere, surprising a squeal from her. It wasn’t particularly hard, but the sharp sting was still warming her flesh when the second came across both buttocks. Her whimper turned into a tortured groan when her muscles finally relaxed enough for that squirming sensation to finally breach her as, pushing past the tight ring almost eagerly and she pushed against it, just seconds before she felt the bite of the belt at the apex of her thighs.
He struck her again across each cheek, the pain coalescing with the frantic working of dark ink, and she ground her lower body against the floor, nipples brushing over the grain of the floorboards, every part of her sensitive and raw. She was shameless now, her thighs spreading wider for the ceaseless, wet squirming inside her, her body jolting with every strike he painted on her flesh. He drew sounds out of her that she didn’t think she could make, and the next growing build up of pressure promised to be overwhelming.
She was already half sobbing when the next strike caused leather to whisper across her leaking sex, the pain overridden by the force with which the next climax rushed her body like a broken dam. Hot liquid painted her thighs and dripped between them, more forced out by the pulse and push of the ink inside her, a high shattering scream dying in desperate whimpers.
She felt him fall to his knees behind her, fingers dancing along the snake like writhing of her spine, following its path to graze over bruised and reddened flesh as he leaned over her, tongue scorching at the brand on her neck, tapping her trembling shivers with his body. Fingers tilted her chin, lifting her head for the familiar creak of leather he looped about her throat, causing another tight ripple of walls. She was still sobbing quietly, the tongue leisurely polishing her cl*t now too intense and she tried to squirm away, with nowhere to go.
“Not yet firefly, you can stand it a little longer, can’t you?”
She nodded without thinking, too mindless to even consider a no, and the squirming sensation in her rear slipped away as he sat up, a jerk on the belt keeping her head up as he raised her tail, the head of his co*ck quickly replacing that clenching void. A guttural sound hit a staccato beat in her throat when she felt him there, her body over sensitive and yet still desperate to please, needing to feel him lose control inside her all over again. She moaned in response to his own long and drawn out groan as he worked against the loosened ring of muscle, the raised flesh of implants rubbing along inner walls that had her eyes rolling up and her mouth falling open. He worked in every inch at an agonizingly slow pace that had her whimpering all over again, sometimes pulling back only to drive more in. Her claws dug into the floor as she resisted the urge to push back, more tears prickling at her eyes as the intensity grew to be almost unbearable.
“Sabal, please…you’re driving me insane!”
He hissed as another inch breached tight confines, the sound falling into a dark breathy chuckle as he pulled back again, making her growl in frustration.
“If I must compete against a devil Renata, I need to make sure I make a lasting impression.”
Hips snapped forward, burying himself in all the way, compelling a short scream from her throat, a sound that found no end when he began to move with the same intensity that had his mouth devouring her in the beginning. It was as though he knew once he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop, the rapid clap of hips against her rear breaking her under its ferocity. Her calm quiet Sabal, now reduced to a rutting creature that buried his hunger deep, stretching her easily while her body was so compliant.
Power had been flowing from them in a steady stream since the moment he had set his mouth on her, and now it was building, she could feel it humming against her skin as her body jolted with every pistoning thrust that shook it. She was hyperventilating around every shriek and moan that left her lips, feeling the sting of her newly acquired marks every time his body snapped flush to hers. Even in the midst of this erotic delirium, she found herself wishing for a mirror, just enough to see that beautiful body move with carnal abandonment.
She felt him haul on the belt, cutting off her air and dragging her up to become flush with his heaving chest, sweat turning their movements to an easy glide. She’d barely registered that the ink had slipped away, not until his very real fingers cupped her sex, seeking that abused bundle of nerves and making her shriek again.
“I know it hurts, but you’re going to give me another.”
Wet fingers struck the fire of nerve endings, shocking another scream from her before the tips drove her to near madness in firm, rapid circles. It did hurt, in a way she couldn’t describe, a way that had her both fighting to get away and spreading her thighs to their capacity. Not once did she think to wrap her tail around his wrist, not even when he redoubled his efforts at her backside, his co*ck utterly dominating the tightly stretched hole.
Tears streamed from her eyes, her whole body shaking with the intensity he forced upon her body, held up only by his grip on the belt as she finally gave in to whatever he wanted from her, melting against his body and into his hands. The power and the building climax became the same thing, pushing against her skin until she felt as if it should leak from her pores, her tortured whines chased by the snarl and huff of his hot breath at her shoulder. His fingers didn’t relent, taking her past the pain of overstimulation, turning it to a perfect building agony that blinded her to everything else but the feel of him in her and against her.
She howled when that building pressure finally broke, becoming a babbling and sobbing mess as she flooded his hand and the floor between her thighs, squirting fitfully against fingers that drove themselves inside her, working in tandem with his co*ck to drain everything she had to give. The fever of his own climax was building against her skin, and even with her mind half obliterated, she knew he was close when his teeth raked her shoulder.
She hadn’t even registered that her hands were free when one reached up to fist in his hair, pulling him into her shoulder, encouraging the bite that sank into her flesh with a guttural groan. He growled around the flesh caught in his teeth, hips working a frantic beat against her, his body bending over hers, driving her into the floor again as he grew impossibly large inside her. His primal shout preceded one last thrust that buried him deep, scalding her inside in fitful spurts that made him pulse in the deepest parts, his body shaking against hers in huge shudders.
The building power had rushed out of her along with her last climax, leaving her feeling weightless, even as she shuddered over her. Exhaustion was already waiting to capture her and roll her into its embrace, but she clung on, wanting to hear every small sound his own aftershocks and her own body, wrung out of him. When she did fall under its spell, it was in fits and starts. She felt the warmth of the fire where he lay her down, and the soft murmur of his voice bled in and out of the comforting darkness, the words meaning little, but the tone soothing.
At one point she was jerked awake by the feel of something cool being spread over hot, abraded skin, and that was soothing too, as was the pillow of his thigh when she slipped back into that quiet place that still hummed gently with residual power and the sweetest state of exhaustion. The last thing she remembered before she fell completely into that black, satisfied void, was the sound of her name and the soft sensation of fingers stroking over the back of her neck.
~o0O0o~
She awoke with the immediate sensation of not being where she was supposed to be, the warmth and softness of the bed now hard and slick beneath her back. Her eyes flew open, somehow already knowing what she would see, but needing to confirm it while she convinced limbs heavy with exhaustion, to move again.
The rocky ceiling of the cavern greeted her, and she didn’t need to feel the slick rock beneath her to know that she was laying on obsidian. The sound of stone grinding on stone had her sitting up quickly despite her aches and tiredness, her eyes widening as she watched another obsidian statue bow itself jerkily before the altar, followed by a click of something falling into place. Runes lit up the altar beneath her, new runes, a new word.
‘Seduce’
Another lock was open, and from the statues glowing eyes, brilliant purple light seeped in suspended swirls that suddenly rushed her.
~o0O0o~
