He shifted slowly, careful not to jostle their connection. His hands slid along her thighs, guiding her movement as he lowered himself to the ground. Their bodies adjusted with soft, wheezy sounds—half groan, half reluctant pleasure—until he sat cross-legged, her back settling into him.
She tilted her head back, resting against him, and calming her lungs as their hips finally stilled.
“I used to think I could live with you buried inside me, Fenn, but this…” Rynna coughed. “This is a little much.”
“It’s called knotting,” Kaelith said. He’d moved closer, sitting in front of them now, his grin stretched wide as his fingers wove in idle patterns along her calf. “Apparently, the wolf bloodline comes with a few surprises beyond pretty eyes and claws.”
“We should probably avoid this kind of thing in the future.” Fenn let his forehead rest against the back of her head.
I’m sorry.His voice was rough in her mind.I didn’t know that would happen. I’d understand if you don’t—
“If you don’t stop that line of thinking right now,” she cut in, swallowing hard, “I’m going to kick your ass. Once I get off your cock, that is. Then I’m going to kick your ass.”
His shoulders shook as he exhaled, half laugh, half disbelief. “Tiny woman like you?”
What if I’m more animal now,he added, hesitation threading through the words.Or monster.
Then I’ll still love you.She reached back until she found his hand, lacing their fingers together and tugging them to rest on her stomach, holding him there. And I’ll definitely still want to ride this magic peen every chance I get.
Fenn exhaled behind her, startled, then growled low. “Rynna.”
“So much for ‘out loud,’” Kaelith drawled, drawing her gaze forward again. His grin had faded into something quieter, more open. His eyes lingered on them both—on the way her body fit against Fenn’s, on their linked hands—like he was memorizing it. The yearning there wasn’t loud, but it was unmistakable. It moved through the bond like a breeze through silk, subtle, but certain.
Can I join you?His voice didn’t break the air. It pressed gently into her thoughts, careful. Vulnerable.
Rynna sighed.
Kae… Her lips parted around the name, even though she didn’t speak it aloud.Of course.
He smiled, and the air almost seemed to change at her acceptance. A hush swept the space, as though even the sky had paused to listen. Then, light broke through his skin. It started as a faint shimmer along the man’s collarbones, before brightening and spreading in thin, pulsing lines that traced the shape of his muscles. The glow swelled from within, pushing against the surface like something alive beneath it.
“What…?” Rynna’s mouth fell open.
The light reached its peak, then, just like that, it snuffed out. His outline blurred, and with a soft rush of air, Kaelith disappeared as his clothes collapsed into aheap where he’d been standing. And in his place, an eight-foot black serpent slid free from the pile, scales gleaming like wet ink in the fading light.
“Kae?” Rynna stared, transfixed, as the serpent raised its head and fixed its gaze on her.
It slithered toward her with smooth, deliberate movements, the sound of its scales against stone soft and rhythmic. When it reached her, the serpent’s body ghosted over her calves, then wound upward—first over her thighs, then around her hips and her waist, Fenn’s too. The slide of its body was textured and hot against her flushed skin, every inch sending a trail of tingling sparks in its wake.
Finally, it looped over her shoulder to settle its head between her breasts. She felt its weight, the solid pressure of its body encircling her, and something inside her unclenched for the first time in a long while.
So much better,Kaelith hummed in her mind, the sound both amused and content.
“Since when can you do that outside of a dream?” Her voice had softened without her meaning to. She leaned back into Fenn behind her, her body melting into the dual embrace.
Since today, I suppose.Kaelith’s coils tightened around her for a heartbeat, then relaxed again.
“So now we wait for the moon to rise?” Fenn said behind her.
“And for you to de-swell,” Rynna added dryly, lifting his hand to her mouth and pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles.
He chuckled, the sound rumbling through her back. “Yes. And that too.”
And the three of them fell into soundlessness that wasn’t empty. The air still hummed from what they’d shared, but the urgency had burned off, leaving something warmer. Gentle.
Kaelith adjusted his head against her, his mind teasing hers with a private whisper.
Do you think he’d swell like that…if we…rearranged the order?The question landed low and dangerous, threaded with promise.
