I buried myself to the hilt, the sensation of her tight heat around me nearly overwhelming. This wasn’t like our dream-sharings, where sensation was filtered through consciousness. This was raw, immediate, devastating in its intensity. I held still for a moment, allowing her body to adjust to my size, allowing myself to savor the perfect joining of our bodies.
Then I began to move.
Slow at first, deliberate strokes designed to build her pleasure gradually. I balanced above her, supporting my weight on my forearms to avoid crushing her smaller frame. My tail wrapped around her thigh, holding her open for me, adding another point of connection between us.
“You feel...” I groaned, struggling to find words adequate to describe the sensation. “Perfect. Made for me.”
“For you,” she echoed, her hands sliding down my back to grip my hips, urging me deeper. “Only for you.”
The possessive declaration pushed me further toward the edge of control. My strokes became harder, faster, driven by a primal need to claim her completely. The textured ridges along the underside of my cock dragged against her inner walls with each thrust, stimulating her in ways a human male never could. I felt her body responding, tightening around me, her pleasure building toward another peak.
“That’s it,” I encouraged, shifting the angle to hit the spot inside her that made her gasp. “Let me feel you come around me. Let me feel what I do to you.”
Her release, when it came, was powerful enough that I felt it ripple through her entire body. Her inner walls clamped down on me in rhythmic pulses, her back arching off the moss, her nails digging into my shoulders hard enough to draw blood. The sight of her—flushed and beautiful in her abandon—combined with the exquisite pressure around my cock, pushed me over the edge.
I came with a roar that shook the leaves overhead, emptying myself deep inside her in hot pulses that seemed endless. The base of my cock swelled slightly, not the full knot that would come with a true mating claim, but enough to lock us together for these precious moments.
As the waves of pleasure receded, I gathered her close, rolling to my side so she lay cradled against my chest. Her breath came in quick pants against my skin, her body still trembling with aftershocks. Around us, the jungle hummed with quiet approval, the vines swaying in gentle patterns that matched our gradually slowing heartbeats.
“The jungle is happy,” she murmured, her voice lazy with satisfaction.
“The jungle approves of our bond,” I confirmed, nuzzling the top of her head. “It recognizes what we are to each other.”
“And what are we?” she asked, tilting her face up to mine, vulnerability flickering behind the post-coital haze in her eyes.
“Kassari,” I said simply. “Fate-bound. Two halves of a single whole.”
She smiled, tracing patterns on my chest with her fingertip. “I like the sound of that.”
I held her closer, inhaling her scent—now mixed with mine, a combination that satisfied something primal in my nature. “The extraction team will be here soon.”
“I know.” She sighed, but there was no real regret in the sound. “We should probably get dressed. I’d rather not meet your Legion buddies naked.”
“A wise decision,” I agreed, though my body was reluctant to separate from hers.
When we finally disentangled ourselves, the jungle assisted, offering vines to help us retrieve scattered clothing, extending tendrils with fresh water to clean ourselves. Phil appeared as we dressed, coiling affectionately around Miri’s ankle before extending a tendril toward me in farewell.
“He’s going to miss you,” Miri observed, patting the vine gently.
“And I him,” I admitted, surprising myself with the truth of it. “But the jungle will endure. It always does.”
Fully dressed once more, we stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the sky for signs of the approaching extraction vessel. Miri leaned against me, her small hand finding mine, fingers intertwining with my larger ones.
“Are you ready?” I asked softly.
“For what? Going back to Earth? Meeting your Legion superiors? Trying to explain to my podcast listeners where I’vebeen for the past week?” She smiled up at me. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
I squeezed her hand gently. “Whatever comes next, we face it together.”
Her smile deepened, reaching her eyes, making them shine in the dappled jungle light. “Together,” she agreed.
The jungle cradled us. She was my peace. And as the distant hum of the extraction vessel began to penetrate the canopy, I knew with absolute certainty that whatever worlds we traversed, whatever challenges we faced, this truth would remain unchanging: Miri was mine, as I was hers, bound by something greater than either of us could fully comprehend.
The universe had given me a gift beyond measure. And I would spend the rest of my days ensuring she never regretted accepting it.
15 /MIRI
I stoodbeside Lor as the recon unit descended from the skies—sleek Legion tech slicing through the canopy like silver fish in water. My heart should have hammered against my ribs at the sight of more aliens, more warriors with weapons I couldn’t name and abilities I couldn’t fathom. Instead, I felt strangely calm, anchored by Lor’s solid presence at my side and Phil’s gentle grip around my wrist.
