Alana quickly loses her nerves after her bold usurpation of Kierra’s advances. We spend so long simply staring at one another that I can’t help bursting into laughter. She slaps my stomach but laughs with me. I pull her down and turn us so we’re lying on our sides, facing each other. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Her face is slightly flushed and she still smells like soap. She lets out a shuddering breath as I push a leg between hers and wrap and arm around her lower back. “Um…”

“Where did all that confidence go?”

“I can’t believe I said that.”

“I can. Cause my sweet girl knows she can have whatever she wants if she asks for it.” I swallow her next words in a kiss. As always, she melts at my touch, so different from my wife that would have taken it as an invitation to tussle. I naturally climb on top of her, our bodies molding together as the kiss deepens. Saints, does it feel good to push aside the possible world-ending problems for a moment and indulge in a warm body. She’s so soft. And she tastes good. Not the artificial enticing sweetness of my prime form but a natural, very subtle sweetness. One I could even be imagining. Doesn’t matter, I’m enjoying it.

“W-wait.” I pull back from the kiss, pressing a finger against her lips to keep her from chasing mine. I turn to Kierra and Talia, the elf watching us while lounging on two pillows stacked atop one another while the flower slowly caresses her with fingers and lips. They make a pretty picture that I would be happy to admire for hours any other time. But I made a promise about this moment. No treacherous succubus whispers. No nosy elves getting involved. No beautiful mistress. Just me and Alana.

“Come, lily.” With a chuckle, Kierra rolls off the bed and scoops up Talia, who expertly languishes in her arms. I would have never thought there were different ways to be carried. Talia proves me wrong. She really is dedicated to her role. “We are being dismissed.”

They sweep from the room and I turn my attention back to Alana. Without any witnesses, her stern mask collapses even faster. She smiles up at me shyly and I answer it with a wide grin. There is a quiet understanding between us as we undress. Mm. She’s always been fit but her time with Kierra has added a new degree of definition to her frame, especially her legs. Her stomach remains flat, with only the faintest signs of abs, far from the chiseled lines of Kierra’s stomach. Fitting. She smothers a giggle as I kiss her there, before moving lower.

Her fingers slide into my hair as I run my tongue along her thigh, enticed by the wetness I find there. My mouth follows it to its source and Alana’s fingers tighten as I tease her lower lips. She shudders as I flick her clit and moans as I slip my tongue inside her, hips gyrating as she humps my face. Despite her moans and steadily tightening grip, I keep my pace slow. The goal isn’t to get her off, but to get her ready. As she said, we have unfinished business.

“Lou…” she moans after several minutes under my assault. Her legs cross over my shoulders. “I want…faster…”

“Mm-mhm.” I forcefully break free from her insistent thighs and climb over her. Fighting against my irrational worries, I take one of her hands in mine, kiss her fingers, and guide it between my own legs. Unlike my careful pace, Alana’s ministrations are quick and forceful. In no time, she’s coaxed out my gift and is stroking along its length.

“Ready?” I whisper against her lips.

“Mm.”

Alana holds my gaze as my gift presses against her entrance. Her hands move to my shoulders, her nails ineffectually trying to dig into my skin as I slowly, carefully, push inside. “Oh, fuck.”

“You okay?” I ask, stopping.

Her answer is an annoyed hiss. One of her hands grabs my chin. “I’m not a flower and I’m not made of winter cursed glass! Fucking fuck me already!”

Well.

“Is that how my sweet girl asks me for something?”

“It is when you—" Her words are cut off by a startled gasp as I sheathe myself inside her. I put my arms on either side of her and press my nose against her neck, breathing her in while I give her a moment to adjust. And maybe I need a moment myself. I can’t believe I’m inside Alana right now. For most of my life, I thought I’d never find love. I certainly never thought I’d experience it like this. Lying against Alana, our naked bodies pressing against one another, my gift tightly squeezed by her warmth, I’m overcome with…feeling. Couldn’t describe it if I wanted to.

“Lou…please…”

“That’s it. I love it when you call my name like that.” That soft voice with a hint of a tremble. Demanding but questioning. Full of desire but tempered by love.

She gasps as I begin to move, slowly and deliberately, arms desperately wrapping around my neck and squeezing. There isn’t enough room to slip a sheet of parchment between us, but I want to be closer. I want to know what she’s feeling. If she’s feeling the same way I am.

“Talk to me,” I whisper. I’m suddenly overcome by an urge and don’t bother fighting it, replacing the lips kissing her throat with my teeth. Not the vicious mauling my wife is fond of but a gentle scrape against her sensitive skin that makes her arc into me.

“It’s…so…ahh!” Her legs cross over my waist, trying to hold me against her.

“Are you feeling shy? That can’t be right. Not from my sweetie that was practically begging for me earlier.”

“I, hah, didn’t…” She groans as I hilt myself with a particularly strong thrust.

“Oh, Alana. You think I’m easy to read but I can read you just as well. Especially when I’m inside you.” I can see how rapidly her heart is beating in her throat. Her eyes are squeezed shut and her mouth is wide open as she pants for breath. Her body quakes and shudders as I pound into her. “You fucking love it, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Are you close, honey?” I am. My gift is sensitive but this is almost too fast. I’m holding on through sheer will, as I want this to be special. “Open your eyes,” I hiss.

She does, her eyelids fluttering.

“Tell me.”

“Feels…so good. So, hahhh.”

“Look at me.”

She struggles but manages to meet my gaze, her blue eyes wet and distant. My hands cradle her head, urging her to hold my stare. It doesn’t take long before my control slips. I groan as I bury myself inside her, hips moving sporadically as I climax. To my delight, I feel Alana clamp down on me as her own pleasure overwhelms her. The whole time, we never break our stare, her gazey eyes focusing on mine. It’s…tender. Gentle.

It’s never been like this before. I was so afraid that I would accidentally be too rough with her because sex with Kierra is always rough. There is as much struggle as there is love when we’re together. It’s no different with Cloud, who mates like the animals she practically worships. Alana is the exact opposite. My body that was engineered to keep up with beastly appetites…is perfectly content to simply rest on top and inside her. Oh, my gift is still hard and ready for the next round but this is just as good. Huh.

Alana sighs as her body relaxes. “Ancestors.”

I kiss her. It’s a sloppy mess with more tongue than lips and I love it. “You okay?” I ask between swapping spit.

“Great. That was…”

“Good as you thought it would be?”

“Mm. I understand why you two scream like you’re being murdered now.”

That’s cute. “Not yet you don’t.”

“And you?” One of her hands lightly plays with the ends of my hair. “Still worried?”

“No.” I break away from our kiss to smile down on her. “You may not be a flower but my sweet girl does make me soft.” It’s laughable that I thought I would lose control and hurt her.

“Good.” I feel what she wants to do but allow it, following her motions as she flips us over, laying me on my back. Alana straddles my waist, hands brazenly groping my chest as she stares down at me with blatant hunger. “Because we’re not done.”

“Anything you want.”