Shadowborn

Chapter Sixty-Five: Harem Care

As always, when Rhallani wants to “test” something, she is extremely thorough. According to her, the “focused state” she enters is a form of altered perception where the world around her, her body included, slows down but her mind doesn’t. She enters a near trance-like state where her eyes glaze a bit before darting around so fast I could hardly keep track.

And that was without the boost.

I pulled a foldable camp table for her to rest her arms on while she sat on a short stool with her ass hanging off, giving me easy access. We started with just a finger—mine, naturally—and it sent her beautiful brain into overdrive. A minute for us felt like five to her. Then we swapped to Tiana’s toys. Naturally, Rhallani was adamant one of us to be the one to handle them. Not that Tiana or I had any complaints. That was when we found the second nifty quirk of her new skill. With her ass adequately filled, she gained the ability to write with both hands. At the same time.

At some point one of them had relieved me of pants, which inevitably ended up with me watching Rhallani while Tiana gave me a slow, sensuous blowjob. It was yet another in a long line of moments that made me really stop and appreciate the weirdness my life had become.

By the time we’d run out of Tiana’s collection of plugs, Rhallani had pages of theories on the nuances of her skill. She wrote down every second of her experience in one journal while writing out theory after theory in another. She tested each plug numerous times, claiming it was to expand her sample pool, but I was pretty sure she just liked having me taking them out and replacing them a little too much. She was having such a great time that I didn’t call her out on it.

The whole time Tiana dragged me closer and closer to the edge without ever letting me fall over the edge and into bliss. I knew it was payback from when I’d done the same to her thanks to her skill, but it was only knowing what Rhallani was building up to that kept me from taking matters into my own hands.

Rhallani was a quivering mess by the time we reached the finale, but she was as excited as I was to see what kind of effects my “magic cock” might have on her skill. Tiana made out with her while she lubed me up thoroughly, which had both me and Rhallani more than ready to go. In no time, I was lined up with Rhallani’s thoroughly prepared backdoor.

I saw the slight glaze in her eyes as she activated her skill, then I started to push. The second my head popped past the rim, she sucked in her breath and her eyes went wide. She whipped her head around to look at her journals and her hands started flying. I slid in, inch after inch, until I my pelvis was pressed against her ass. She let out a soft, pleased sound when I fully hilted myself and I gave her a chance to get used to my size inside her.

Then I started moving. Every time our hips met she let out a soft gasp, but her expression didn’t so much as twitch. Her eyes seemed to glow even brighter than ever before though, and her hands wrote about as fast as she was able. The more I picked up speed, the more illegible her writing became. It soon reached a point where I couldn’t make out anything other than scribbles, but she didn’t tell me to stop so I didn’t.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rhallani so unreactive,” Tiana commented, trailing her fingernails down Rhallani’s jaw and towards her cleavage. “I almost want to see if I can break her expression.”

“Maybe for round two,” I panted, not slowing my pace in the slightest. “She said her ass felt much more sensitive since taking the skill, so let’s wait for her feedback before we start throwing in any extra variables.”

Tiana pouted, but her expression melted almost immediately into a sultry smile. She slipped around us until she was at my back once more, reaching over my shoulder to drag her nails down my chest while her other hand trailed down my stomach until her fingers were split by the base of my shaft. “Guess I should get us to round two, then.”

Before I could even think to protest, her mouth was on my neck. She hunted down and attacked every erogenous spot she could find while her hands did the same on my body. Rhallani started clenching around me, driving me closer and closer to oblivion with each thrust. When Tiana slipped my earlobe past her teeth and bit down, the small spike of pain was enough to send me over the edge I’d been chasing for over an hour now.

With a barely restrained groan, I erupted in Rhallani’s ass. I could feel Tiana’s smile pressed into my neck while she held me through my orgasm, but I was still surprised that Rhallani hadn’t orgasmed once. Then I grunted in surprise as Rhallani clamped down like a vice around me. It was then that we learned the next quirk of Rhallani’s skill.

While focused, Rhallani couldn’t cum.

I knew the second she released the skill, because her body locked up tight. I felt a sharp tug on the bond between us and somehow had the wherewithal to clamp a hand over her mouth just before she started screaming. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body was racked by spasms. She flopped to the side while her limbs flailed and I only barely managed to catch her in time. I slipped out of her in the process and she let out a guttural sound.

I pulled her to my chest and her arms wrapped around me, fingernails dragging against my skin with enough force to leave crimson lines behind. I grinned and held her through one of the most intense climaxes I’d ever seen. When her first orgasm rolled right into a second, I arched a brow at Tiana. When her fourth became a fifth, I started to get worried.

Around the time we hit seven she had so little strength left in her limbs that it was hard to tell one climax from the next. Just when I was getting ready to send Tiana to find Serena, afraid I’d finally broken my pervy little scholar, when she started sucking in heavy breaths.

“Rhallani?” I asked, brushing sweat-soaked hair from her face with worry. She made a sound that might have been an acknowledgeable. “Are you alright?”

Her eyes looked at me uncomprehendingly for far too long before a blissful smile spread across her face. “Second…best…day…ever…” she panted.

I let out a relieved breath. “What’s the first?”

She tried to say something but it came out unintelligible. Eventually she just reached up and brushed two fingers along her collar, then her arm flopped back down like even that took too much effort. A lump of emotion welled in my throat and I pressed a kiss to her forehead, content to just hold her until she’d recovered. “Water?” she finally croaked.

Tiana was quick with a skin and I held it to Rhallani’s mouth. She drank greedily while Tiana looked skeptically over the notes she’d been writing. “Rhallani, sweetie, I’m not so sure that method of study is…sustainable. I’m not sure how much of this is actual words.”

Rhallani took another long drink, then spoke in short, choppy sentences like it was all her brain could handle right now. “Not words. Time stretched too much. Needed shorthand.”

I looked down at her, impressed. “You know a shorthand?”

She grinned. “Nope. Had to invent one. Well, had to finish inventing the one I started making years ago for fun. Felt like you were fucking my ass for hours. The pleasure just kept building and building until I felt like I should cum any second, but I couldn’t quite get that last push. Not until I let the skill go.” She licked her lips. “Each stroke lasted for minutes. I could feel every second of you stretching me. Scraping my insides. Every inch of your fucking divine cock fucking my ass raw over and over again. I love you so fucking much right now.”

I chuckled. “So, it was a good test? You learned a lot?”

She fixed her eyes on me with some difficulty. “A lot? Zaren, I just went so deep into the zone I created my own shorthand language, then spent what felt like the next week locked in an orgasm so fucking strong I’m still not sure if I’ve died and gone to the afterlife or not. Yeah, it was a good test. A really good test. If my brain wasn’t leaking out of my ears I’d be cracking the secrets of your sword right now.”

I kissed the top of her head again. “Let’s not push it. You can start on the sword tomorrow night, after you’ve gotten some sleep and recovered a little.”

She stuck her bottom lip out. “Fine, but only if you promise to let Tiana loose on me next time. Pretty sure I vaguely recall her saying she wanted to join in at one point.”

Tiana leaned over me to capture her lips. “It’s a deal.”

Rhallani just grinned while I carried her to the bedroll and tucked her in. It was only mid-afternoon, but her eyelids were already growing heavy. “What a fucking great day. I learned I had a thing for big strong women, got crushed by a giant, hot, Half-dragon, then got ass fucked into oblivion. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.”

“Hot Half-dragon?” Tiana queried with a smile, leaning into my side.

I ran my hand through Rhallani’s hair and wrapped an arm around Tiana. “Seems our Arelim has developed a bit of a crush.”

Rhallani made a half-pleased-half-asleep noise. “I can’t wait to see my sister’s expression when I bring home a girl bigger than she is.” By the end of her sentence, her words were already beginning to slur with sleep. She nuzzled into my hand and her breathing began to slow.

Tiana pressed into me, resting her head on my shoulder. We sat like that until Rhallani was good and out before Tiana finally said, “thank you, Zaren.”

I smiled at her. “For what?”

She closed her eyes, lacing her fingers through mine. “Everything. Saving me. Choosing me. Letting me be a part of…this,” she gestured between Rhallani and I. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so…loved. I always thought being a part of a harem meant I’d only ever get a part of the man I cared about, but it doesn’t feel like that with you. Some days, I almost feel as close to the others as I do you.”

I rubbed small circles on her back with my free hand. “That makes me very happy to hear. And I promise, I’m just as glad you chose to be with me—with us—as you are.” I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Now, I can’t help but notice you’ve done a lot of helping today and haven’t received all that much in return.”

Her smile widened, but she shook her head. “I’m good, believe it or not. For now, at least.” She leaned up to press her lips to mine. It was the kind of slow, sensual kiss that I was learning she loved a lot. “I’ll stay with Rhallani and make sure her cute little butt remains empty until she’s rested, and you can make it up to me tonight. Pretty sure Serena has plans for you today.”

I arched a brow, but she mimicked zipping her lips shut before giving me another kiss, then she laid down next to Rhallani. Even asleep, our little Arelim turned towards Tiana’s warmth and was wrapped in the mage’s long limbs. I pressed a kiss to the tops of their heads and she shooed me off with a soft laugh. I took one last look at half my harem, naked and cuddling, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that those words actually made sense in that order, then left.

The sun was starting to get low in the sky when I pushed out of the tent. I didn’t know what plans Serena might have for me, but I figured finding her was probably a good way to find out. I hadn’t made it far though when I was interrupted by a timid voice.

“Um, Mr. Ren, sir?” I paused to find Kili wringing her hands.

“Just Ren is fine, Kili. How are you?” I asked.

“Oh! I’m doing good. Really good. Thank you again for everything you’ve done for me and my sister,” she said quickly. I was briefly amused by her thanks. It wasn’t so long ago—for me, at least—the the idea of being thanked for anything was completely alien. Now it seemed like I couldn’t go anywhere without running into someone trying to express gratitude. I’d be lying if it didn’t feel more than a little strange.

“What can I help you with?”

“Well, um…” She trailed off, and her gaze fell towards her feet.

“You won’t get in trouble, if that’s what you’re worried about. You can ask me anything.”

“It’s Noelle, sir.”

I straightened. “Is she alright?”

Her wings pulled tight to her body. “Oh, um, yes. Well, I think. I’m not sure, honestly.”

Well. That was about as clear as mud. “Can you elaborate, please?”

She worried her lip. “Well, she’s not hurt or anything, but something’s bothering her. I think. I’ve only known her for a week now, so I’m hardly an expert, but…she’s my friend. I just thought you might be able to help her.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll talk to her, see what’s what. Thanks for telling me. Noelle’s got a pretty good friend, it seems.”

She brightened considerably. “Thank you.”

I sent her on her way and went looking for Noelle. It took a bit, but eventually I figured out I could check the Link between us and get a vague direction to head in, which lead me to where she’d apparently disappeared to. When I found her, she was sitting on a large flat rock just inside the treeline with her knees tucked to her chest, staring into the forest.

I sat next to her wordlessly, and her only reaction to my presence was to lean into me slightly. The only noise she made was a low, almost inaudible hum that I was reasonably certain meant she was feeling frustrated. I let the silence stretch until she let out a soft sigh and relaxed.

“What’s going on, Noelle?” I asked softly.

“I…” she trailed off, and the frustrated hum raised slightly in volume. “I am not entirely sure. I think that is part of the problem.”

I wrapped an arm around her. “Then let’s figure it out together. Pretty sure I promised I would, after all.”

She nodded once, but didn’t answer right away. Finally, she said, “I have friends now.”

I arched a brow at her. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “It’s not that, it’s…” She growled, more at herself than me. “I’m not…I’ve never had friends before. I’ve never had a…a mate, either. I’ve always just been alone. Even when the others were paired or grouped, it was always just me. Me and Vald,” she amended with a grimace. “But now, I’ve got you and Rhallani and Serena and Tiana. I’ve also got Kili and Nariko and the twins and even Alice, and I don’t…”

She pulled her knees tighter to her chest. “I miss spending nights with you, but I don’t want to not spend nights with my friends. I feel like it hurts either way, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“I see.” I rubbed her back, and she shivered whenever my hand got too close to her wings. “Have you talked to them about it? Your friends?”

She shook her head again. “How do I choose who I want to spend time with more? How do I keep them from feeling neglected? They’ve all suffered. Some of them even suffered like I did. Like we did,” she said, leaning her head on my arm. “I want to be for them what you all were for me when I was broken, but I’m still broken and I don’t know how to fix both.”

She wiped angrily at her eyes, then shifted her weight onto her feet so she could throw a leg over my lap and straddle me, burying her head in the crook of my neck and pinning her arms between us. I gladly wrapped my arms around her, rubbing continuing to rub her back with one hand while the other ran through her hair.

“I have so many good things now,” she continued, “that I never even dreamed I’d ever get to experience. Friends. Family. I should be happy. I am happy. I’m just also frustrated. I feel like I am doing it all wrong, and it makes my stomach twist. I feel…”

“Guilty?” I offered.

She nodded against me. “Guilty. Yes. Inadequate, maybe.”

I tightened my arms and she squeaked softly. “You are not, and have never been, inadequate. All I ask from you is to be who you are. You’ve blown away every expectation I could have had that day we first met. You’ve come so far from the small, malnourished, battered shadow of a girl you once were. It’s completely normal to have struggles like this, but it’s important to me that you never try to struggle alone.”

I rested my chin on the top of her head. “Like you said: we’re family. That means you always have someone to go to if you’re ever having a rough time. Whether it’s me, one of the girls, or even your friends. Take it from someone who’s tried to shoulder just about every burden in his life on his own, lean on us whenever you need to. We’ll never think less of you for it.”

I could feel the tension starting to leave her body. “What should I do?”

“Well, first off, talk to your friends. Kili was worried enough she braved talking to me, which isn’t something many of the demi-humans have managed so far.” Her hands gripped my shirt and she pulled herself into me. “You know I’m always happy to have you in our bed, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t missed you as well, but seeing you smiling with your friends makes it more than worth it.”

“Plus,” I added, “I’m sure Kili won’t turn down the opportunity to spend time with her sister as well. And Nariko will most certainly do Nariko things. She’s the type that likes being alone sometimes, so I can promise you won’t be offending her. The twins won’t mind. Hell, they’d probably come with you if you asked. Alice is…well, I’ll be honest, I’m still trying to figure that one out. The few Vampires I’d met were the loner type, but that could have easily been a product of the times.”

I could feel her smile against my chest. “I’m sure Rhallani would be happy if I just brought all of them.”
I barked out a laugh. “I wouldn’t doubt it, but I’m not so sure all of them would want to come.” She made a sound that was worryingly close to amusement for my tastes, but I figured that was a topic best visited another day. Today had already been rife with revelations, and the thought of the time I’d spent with Rhallani and Tiana gave me an idea. “But I think you’re forgetting something.”

She pulled back to look up at me in confusion, the ghost of a smile still on her lips. “What?”

“From my perspective, one of the reasons our relationship works is how close all of you are with one another, not just how much you care about me or how much I care about each of you.” I tucked some hair behind her ear, feeling a pang of warmth that her hair was finally long enough to do so. “Don’t forget that as you’re making friends with them, they’re probably getting pretty friendly with one another. If you need a night away from them, they’ll understand.”

She leaned into my palm and I stroked her cheek with my thumb. Her eyes slid closed and her hum rose in pitch, but something was still bothering her. “What else?”

It wasn’t until after she’d tucked herself back into my chest that she answered. “I feel like I do not fit sometimes.”

That drew a frown from me. I put a hand below her wings and rubbed my thumb between them. “How so? If it’s about you being a Malachai, I can promise that doesn’t bother me.”

She made a sound of disagreement. “No. It was for a time, but not anymore. I just…” Her hum lowered again. “I do not know how to say it without it sounding…bad.”

“So just say it. I can promise you won’t accidentally offend me. Word it as best you can, and we’ll go from there.”

“I…the others all seem to want sex more than I do…” she said in a quiet voice.

I had to fight the urge to chuckle since she’d almost definitely take it the wrong way. “I don’t think that’s as big a problem as you think. Especially with what you’ve had to survive. Tell me one thing, though. You do like sex when we’re having it, right?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, very much so. And when we Linked was a very good night. I enjoy the sex a lot, and I love the way it feels, I just…” She nestled deeper into my embrace and sighed. “I don’t think about it like Rhallani, nor do I crave sexual touch like Tiana. Even Serena wants to be with you like that all the time, even if she refuses to admit it. I like being intimate with you a lot, but it isn’t the reason I want to be around you. When I’m missing you most, I’m missing…” her arms snaked around me and tightened, “this. Just being held.”

I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed about as hard as I could manage. She practically melted against me and sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind. And I don’t need you to be an incorrigible pervert. Rhallani’s got that on lock if you ask me. I don’t think I could handle four Rhallanis. Or four Tianas. Four Serenas maybe, but I very much like the fact that you’re all different.”

Like I’d said the magic words, she buried her face in my chest and sighed happily. “Thank you.”

“Any time.”

I could practically feel the debate in her head before she finally pulled back enough to rise up towards my face. I met her halfway, cupping her chin and gently pressing my lips to hers. She took her time exploring me, and when I felt her tongue trail along my bottom lip I gave her access happily. She moaned softly, then broke the kiss to lean against my chest again. “Can I come back to your tent tonight?” she asked softly.

I pressed a final kiss to the top of her head. “You never have to ask. My door—er, flap, I guess—is always open to you. And whoever you rope into coming with you,” I added with a chuckle.

She made a noise that sounded dangerously close to a laugh of her own. “Be careful what you wish for,” she warned, the smile evident in her tone. She leaned her forehead against my jaw. “I’d keep you longer, but I think Serena was wanting you for tonight.”

“You’re the second person to say that. What did I miss?”

She smiled wide, baring her incisors. “She has been preparing since the fight, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

I chuckled. “Fair enough. I’ll go pester her, then.” I palmed her cheek once more. “Better now?”

“Mmmm,” she hummed, “much. Now go, Serena was very excited the last time we spoke.”

I gave her one last kiss before she climbed off me, leaving me in a state I figured Serena would appreciate if I was reading the tone of everyone’s warnings correctly. I reached out with my senses and felt for the strongest of my Links so far. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining things, but I thought I felt the briefest echo of an excitement that didn’t belong to me.

# # #

I found Serena in a fraction of the time it took me to find Noelle, though it helped that she was also looking at me. She was even cagier than everyone else about whatever she apparently had planned, and in no time I was following her through the trees. She kept glancing at me, trying to be discreet, but I could read the excitement warring with what I could only assume was nervousness.

But any nerves on my part practically vanished when we arrived at our destination. She’d found a very scenic clearing that overlooked the stream everyone had been using to bathe. There was a large enough gap in the trees that we could see plenty of the sky, which was already starting to shift from a vivid orange to the purple of night.

But what made me grin was the blanket spread out in the center of the clearing and the food spread out on it. “Serena,” I said slowly, “did you set up a picnic?”

She blushed furiously. “D-don’t worry, you can still take me out when we get to the city, I just figured I could do something for you first.”

She let out a squeak when I suddenly pulled her to my chest, kissing her hard enough that her knees buckled and she nearly collapsed before she could throw her arms around my neck. When I finally let her pull back, her lips were swollen and her eyes were a little glazed. “You approve, then?” she panted.

“I do,” I said with another kiss. Then I scooped her up and she squealed with delight while I carried her to the blanket. I set her down and she leaned into me with a wide smile. We talked about everything and nothing at all while we ate, discussing her life, the things we wanted to do when we got to the capital, and how everyone in the caravan was doing. By the time we’d eaten our fill, the sun had dipped below the horizon. It was a cloudless night, and from our vantage point there were stars as far as the eye could see.

Just when I was about to pull her into my lap, she shifted so that my back was pressed against her front. Before I could even think of complaining, we were both leaning back with my head resting on her soft chest. “This is a nice spot,” I observed when she started lazily running her fingers through my hair. Her other hand went over my shoulder, sliding under the collar of my shirt so she could touch my chest directly.

She made a pleased noise. “I may have enlisted Reese to help me find it, but I agree. When I was a girl, I used to love just laying down and watching the stars. My mother would yell at me all the time for staying out too late.” She laughed softly to herself. “Apparently, telling her that it was hardly my fault the stars only came out at night was not a good excuse.”

I laughed too. “Not sure why she was upset, that’s some ironclad logic.”

“I certainly thought so,” she agreed.

“I never cared much when I was a kid,” I admitted. “All my problems were rooted firmly on the ground, so that’s where my focus always was. I spent as much time watching out for my mother as I did dealing with the men she entertained, so I never really had the time to look up. Then Karn happened.”

Her hand faltered, but that was her only reaction. “I remember the first night after he let me out of the catacombs. I’d spent three years dreaming of the sky. I earned more than one beating trying to get just a small glimpse of the stars through the small, sad windows. When I finally escaped him, I remember spending the entire first night staring up at them, refusing to sleep. Eliya always talked about the night sky, so I figured I had to look hard enough for all of us.”

Her fingers stilled. “I’m sorry, I—”

I put my hand over hers under my shirt. “Don’t be. This is nice. I love it, I promise.” She let out a relieved breath and went back to running her fingers through my hair. If she wasn’t careful, I’d nod off at this rate. “It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a minute to just…stop and stargaze.”

Her hand slid over until it was resting just above my heart. “Me too,” she said softly. We laid there for what felt like an eternity, only the sound of our breath and the wind whispering through the trees interrupting the peace of the night. My eyelids were starting to droop when she spoke, and her words banished any tiredness I felt.

“I love you, Zaren,” she said quietly, but firmly. I leaned my head back to look at her, but her eyes were still fixed on the stars. I got the sense she wasn’t done, so I didn’t interrupt. “I have for a while now, I think. I’m honestly not sure when it happened. At some point, I just realized I couldn’t even imagine life without you in it. That your pain had become my pain. Your happiness mine.”

She let out a soft sigh like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “I’ve wanted to say that for days now. Since Anford, easily, but I waited. I wanted to know as much about you as I could before I said the words aloud. Not because I thought anything from your past would ever change my mind, but because I wanted you to have an easier time accepting that I love you. All of you. The good and the bad. The light and the dark. The pain and the happiness. I love you more than I ever thought possible the day we first met and I yelled at you because I was stupid and rash.”

She released a breath and I knew she’d reached the end of her impressive speech. A burning heat had started in my chest and, for a moment, there was too much emotion clogging my throat for me to speak. Then she looked down at me with a small amount of worry, no doubt concerned I hadn’t replied yet.

“I love you, too,” was the first thing I said, and she relaxed instantly. A smile split her expression and she placed a palm to my cheek. “I don’t have a big, heartfelt speech prepared, and I definitely don’t have the words to follow that up, but I love you, Serena.” I rolled until I was holding myself over her and she looked up at me with flushed cheeks from where she lay flat on her back.

She moaned softly into my mouth when I leaned down and kissed her, but I wasn’t done yet. “I never expected to feel this way for you, either. I never expected to feel this way about anyone ever again. The night those Maleks—er, Ashai, I mean—almost killed you, I realized I didn’t want to know what a world without you in it looked like. All my life, I’d failed to save the people most important to me, but when I got to you in time? When you survived long enough for me to reach you? I felt like I’d been reborn in that moment. That was the moment where I’d really felt like this deal I made was truly a second chance.”

Her hand shifted around to the back of my neck and she pulled me down to kiss me. I let some of my weight rest on her so I could sink my hand in her own hair and tilt her head back, giving me access to her long, slender neck. I trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck and she let out a throaty gasp. “I love you,” she said again, holding my head down. “I love you, Zaren.” Her leg hooked around my waist and pulled me down, grinding my already hard length against her groin.

“I love you, Serena,” I said back, sliding my hand up her shirt towards her breast.

She moaned, writhing underneath me, pulling me down even harder. “Rhallani mentioned a trick with a tendril,” she said breathlessly.

I smiled against her neck, giving her a nip before I conjured a tendril and banished our clothes to my storage. “Your wish is my command,” I said, my mouth so close to her ear I knew she could feel my breath.

“I need you,” she moaned.

I dismissed the tendril, wanting this moment to be just between the two of us, and positioned the head of my cock at her wet, ready entrance. Her back arched underneath me and fingernails dug into my back as I slowly slid into her folds. “The feeling is entirely mutual,” I said once I’d seated myself fully inside her.

She pulled my lips back to hers and I started thrusting. Slowly at first, but when her hips started bucking up to meet mine I put a little more force into it. I reached between us and fingered her clit, causing her to clench around my length. I worked the sensitive nub while I fucked her, leaving a trail of love bites along her neck and shoulder. In no time, she was cumming underneath me.

I slowed to a steady pace while she rode out her release, but the next thing I knew she’d flipped us over. She set an even more brutal pace, slamming herself down on my length with as much force as she could muster with her legs hooked under mine. I met her stroke for stroke, each meeting of our hips driving a pleasure filled cry from her lips. Her fingers sank into my hair and she pulled my mouth back to hers. While our tongues wrestled for dominance I slipped a hand around and probed at her ass with a finger. She moaned into my mouth, clenching hard around my cock, but held her orgasm off.

She broke the kiss only to do exactly what I had done moments ago and pull my head to the side, lunging straight for the underside of my jaw. I felt lips then teeth and groaned her name, feeling the end approaching rapidly. I half-mumbled a warning before her lips were back on mine, her pace only increasing. As the pleasure built to the point I worried it might actually kill me, something in my chest shifted.

I was always aware of my Links in the back of my mind, but in that moment the Link between us flared. For a moment, I felt emotions that didn’t belong to me. Like the echoes I felt from the blade, only without the fog of whatever barrier existed between me and it.

I felt Serena. I felt her love. Her happiness. Her pleasure. Her need to reach what was building to be one of the most powerful climaxes she’d ever felt while at the same time never wanting the moment to end. From the startled gasp that slipped past her and the surprise I felt, I knew she felt my emotions as well. I palmed her neck, pressing my forehead to hers, and focused on my feelings for her. How much I loved her. How much I valued everything she was to me. How much I needed her. The lightness I felt anytime she laughed. The gratitude I could never put into words anytime she pushed me right when I needed it most.

However it felt on her end, it was more than enough to push her over that edge. With a strangled cry, she fell apart. Her fingernails dug into my skin as she held on for dear life while release ripped through her, and I felt the world-shattering pleasure through whatever bond we’d created. I grunted her name one last time before my own climax claimed me, spilling myself inside her and pushing her even deeper into bliss.

She went boneless against my chest, her trembling limbs still wrapped around me. Her head rested on my shoulder while she panted, trying to catch her breath, which gave me easy access to pepper her neck with slow, lazy kisses while I rubbed her back, still buried inside her.

I could still feel her, but not nearly as clearly as I had a moment ago. When I closed my eyes and sought out the Link between us, I realized it had doubled in size and strength. I could feel her soul clearer than I ever had before. I figured that could only mean one thing, so I pulled up my list of Links. Sure enough, one had changed.

I let out a laugh and she pushed herself up enough to look at me, wringing a groan from both of us as she shifted my rather sensitive, half-hard length still inside her. “Zaren?”

“Our Link just leveled up, it seems.” Her eyes went wide, and I felt her walls clench down on me, earning another groan. She made no move to dismount, though. “Apparently, we’ve unlocked a ‘Soul Tempered Skill.’ Not sure what that means.”

Her brow furrowed and her eyes unfocused. I checked my own list of skills, ignoring the level ups I still hadn’t dealt with, but I didn’t see anything new. When I looked back at Serena though, she was smiling. “Well? Care to share?”

Her smile widened. “Nope.” She leaned down and kissed me deeply, and I felt the unmistakable tingle of magic passing from her lips to mine. “I’ll tell all of you about it later. Right now, though,” she lifted herself halfway up my cock, which was damn near ready for another round, “I don’t want to worry about skills or classes. I’ve still got a while before I have to get you back, after all.”

I ran a hand over her ass, guiding her hips. She moaned, arching her back and giving me a great view of her perky breasts. I captured a nipple between my teeth and gave it a tug, earning another delicious moan. “I couldn’t agree more.”