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I can manage myself for one more day.

I slip into the bed and tuck my arm under her pillow. She moans and moves closer, still fast asleep. It seems so stupid, now that I’m here, how I had been keeping myself distant from her. I should have spent every second of time with her while I could.

But that would mean I trust myself. Phantom pain shoots up my arm from the small cluster of white dots that continues to spread. The last thing I would want to do is hurt her, my Sunrise.

Every day that passes, this fucking virus changes a part of me, affecting me slower than anyone else, it seems. Many would have died by now, and yet, the suspense of my impending doom picks away at me. Piece by piece, atom by atom. My emotions are sharper. Quicker to anger and causing unplanned rockslides that I’ve had to reshape back.

Collapsing tunnels, Jord attacks, quarantined Underlings.

My people are hurting. I have to be there for them.

And yet, all I want is to be here for her. Near her.

Akemi yawns and stretches an arm over my chest. “You’re here.” She blinks up at me, golden eyes still registering my presence.

I gently take a piece of hair near her brow and twirl it in my fingers. “I am.”

“Where have you been?”

“Truthfully?” I sigh, letting her see my guard down. “Everywhere. Terraguard is not doing well at the moment. And as their leader…”

Akemi nods. “I know. Your people need you.”

“And what about my needs?” I slip my hand under the blanket to her bare stomach, my black t-shirt sliding up her body. She arcs into my touch, and I capture her lips with mine.

All of the sounds from around the castle go blissfully quiet. No more thoughts of wandering staff. No more voices to ignore because when I am kissing her, it’s effortless. Like the world is supposed to sound this way. I am so wholly consumed by her that my own powers bow.

This incredibly strong, tempting, and very dangerous weakness of mine will be the end of me. I would do anything for her.

“I would be happy to fulfill your needs,” she says, voice raspy with desire as she adjusts herself so she’s straddling me. My thumbs circle her creamy, smooth thighs. She grinds her hips on my cock, already hard and ready. She rolls her hips, and I’m sent into another dimension.

My head pushes back into the pillow, neck straining with the effort not to envelop all of Terraguard in a storm of shadows. The sconces clank on the wall from the slight earthquake, the flickering flame casting shadows of their own, dancing across Akemi’s skin.

Jealousy over a fucking inanimate object courses through me. Only my shadows should be caressing my Sunrise.

My hands squeeze around her waist, each finger finding its home in between the grooves of her ribs. She sucks in a breath, and my grip immediately slackens. On a normal day, I would find my strength easy to manage, effortless even. But now, with the fucking virus infecting me, my hold on my powers is more erratic. “Forgive me, my Sunrise.”

“It’s okay.” Akemi just smirks down at me, grinding herself along my length, and pulls the shirt over her head. Her hair splays across her shoulders, mouth parted. “You would never hurt me.”

My shadows explode from my body, forming a swirling circle around us. My teeth grind from the pressure as I flex my jaw. You would never hurt me.

“I would rather die than hurt you.”

Golden eyes widen for only a moment with an emotion I cannot quite place before she presses her lips into mine. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in.

The shadows around us sharpen into points.

I growl at them. They can fuck off.

Before Akemi can pull away, I flip us over so I’m on top.

She giggles.

My vision tunnels at the sound. I want to ring each note of sweet music from her body. Annoyed by my clothes, I snap a finger, shadows dissolving the fabric.

She moans the instant our skin touches.

I lean forward and breathe in at the base of Akemi’s neck. I press my hips forward, sliding the head of my cock along her core. “Is this what you want?”