Leon's boots sank into the frost-stiff grass as the last light bled out behind the ridge.
The air up here tasted sharp, like pine needles and the crackle before lightning.
North of the borderlands, the world felt thin, like paper held too close to flame.
Aria kept half a step behind him, silver hair catching starlight, fingers brushing the worn leather grip of her blade.
She'd sworn to keep him breathing; the oath sat warm against her collarbone, a quiet pulse.
They crested the hill and found the woman.
She was stretched across a flat boulder, nine copper-bright tails fanned out behind her like spilled silk. Nyssa.
Skin sun-warm and honey-gold, eyes tilted and glowing like embers under dark lashes.
A slip of white silk wrapped her torso, cut high on the thighs, riding low enough to threaten every breath.
When she smiled, small sharp canines flashed.
Light shimmered along her collarbones, dipped between her breasts, vanished under fabric that looked ready to give up.
"Lost, wanderer?" Her voice curled like smoke. She unfolded herself in one liquid motion, tails chiming softly as they brushed the air.
"Or did the sun send you to keep me fed?"Leon's pulse stuttered.
The ragged edges of his aura—frayed since crossing the veil—flared violet, sparks snapping at his wrists.
Nyssa's nostrils flared; she breathed him in like storm on skin. Aria shifted, blade half-drawn, but Leon lifted a hand.
Something in the woman's gaze pinned him: hunger, recognition, invitation."I'm not food," he said."No," Nyssa murmured, circling. Each step left a fading print of gold in the grass. "You're a feast."Aria's knuckles whitened. "Touch him and—""Easy, guardian."
Nyssa's tails swept wide, releasing a wave of warmth that rolled over them both. Aria swayed, eyes glazing; the oath-mark dimmed, lulled. "I don't take.
I trade."Leon felt it then—sunlight brushing the torn seams of his aura, sliding inside like heated oil. His knees buckled. Nyssa caught him, palms flat to his chest, nails pricking through cotton. Heat detonated behind his ribs.
Every nerve lit."Breathe," she whispered against his ear.
"Let me in."Her warmth poured into him, liquid and slow, pooling low.
His cock surged, aching against the seam of his jeans. Nyssa's breath caught; she felt the echo—his storm feeding her light, her light soothing his storm.
A perfect, filthy loop.She eased him down into the moss. Silk slipped from her shoulders, baring full breasts, nipples dark rose and tight. Golden lines traced her skin, racing downward, framing the slick heat between her thighs.
Leon's hands found her waist, thumbs sweeping the curve of hipbones.
Her tails curled around his forearms—soft fur, hot skin—stroking up his arms, over his throat, teasing his nipples to stiff points.Nyssa straddled him, knees sinking into moss.
The head of his cock brushed her entrance; she was molten, dripping.
One slow roll of her hips and he slid inside, inch by scalding inch, her walls fluttering like captured flame. Leon groaned.
Each thrust sent gold sparks across his aura, knitting tears shut."More," she gasped, riding him harder. Her breasts bounced, golden lines flaring with every slap of skin.
One tail slipped between them, furred tip circling his base, squeezing in slow pulses that dragged a curse from his throat. Another tail coiled around Aria—still dazed—drawing her down beside them.
Aria's lips parted on a soft sound as the tail's tip brushed her through leather, a promise.
Leon's hands slid to Nyssa's ass, fingers digging into warm flesh.
He surged up, flipping her beneath him without breaking rhythm.
Now he drove into her, deep, punishing strokes that arched her back and sent her tails thrashing, scattering sparks.
Her legs locked around his waist, heels digging into the small of his back."Come with me," she snarled, nails raking his shoulders. "Feed me, storm-boy."
The climax hit like sunrise behind his eyes. His aura exploded—violet lightning braided with gold—pouring into her as her own release flooded him.
Nyssa cried out, a wild, triumphant sound, her cunt clamping down in rhythmic spasms that pulled everything from him.
Light flared from her skin, from his, fusing them in a single blazing halo.When the haze cleared, Leon lay spent atop her, hearts hammering in sync.
The tears in his aura were gone, sealed with liquid gold. Nyssa's tails draped over them like a warm blanket. She nuzzled his jaw, licked a bead of sweat.
"Symbiosis," she murmured, smug. "You keep the storm. I keep the sun. We keep each other."Aria, flushed and trembling, met Leon's eyes.
The oath-mark glowed steady now, strengthened.
She managed a shaky nod.Above them, the moon looked on, unsurprised.
In the borderlands, power always asked a price—and sometimes the price was pleasure sharp enough to remake the world.