"Say it."
"I hate you."
"That's not what I asked."
A shadow tendril finds her clit, circling but not quite touching. She's so close, trembling on the edge, but I won't let her fall.
"Say it, Yorika."
"Yours," she finally gasps. "I'm yours, you bastard."
"Good girl."
I let the tendril touch her properly as I thrust deep, and she comes with a scream that echoes through the corridor. Her internal muscles clench around me, the ridges ensuring she feels every pulse as I follow her over the edge.
I fill her with my release, not human, but something else. Something that will mark her internally, change her on a molecular level. She'll carry my scent now, a warning to any who might try to claim her.
We stay locked together, both panting. When the ridges finally release, I lower her carefully to her feet. Her legs shake, and there's a mix of our fluids on her thighs.
She looks at me with eyes that promise murder. "This changes nothing."
"It changes everything."
"I still don't trust you."
"I know."
"I still think you're hiding things."
"I am."
"And I'm still going to get into that room."
"Not tonight."
I manifest clothes from shadow, dark fabric flowing over my own form while tendrils of darkness reach for her. She tenses as the shadows begin weaving themselves around her body, forming a dress that fits like a second skin. The process is intimate, shadows caressing every curve as they solidify into cloth.
"That's," she starts, then stops, her breath catching as a tendril adjusts the neckline.
"Convenient?" I suggest.
"Presumptuous." But I can feel her body's response to the shadow-touch, the way her pulse quickens. Anger, yes, but also satisfaction. And underneath, growing stronger, the connection between us.
"Go back to your quarters," I tell her.
"You're dismissing me?"
"I'm protecting you. From truths you're not ready for and from yourself."
She laughs, bitter. "My hero."
"Never that. Just yours, as you're mine."
She leaves without another word. I know she’s thinking of many.
Good. Let her plan. Tomorrow she'll discover what I've done to her, how the marking changes things.
Then we'll see how defiant she remains.
