Chapter 7

The forest swallowed us slowly, the way it had the first time. The bright open dunes gave way to scattered trees, then to a proper canopy, the light breaking into shifting green coins on the wagon floor. I knew this place. I’d walked out of it once, naked and bewildered, following a river unsure what I’d find. Now the river ran the other way beside us, leading back in.

Ella had gone very still on the bench beside me. Her blue eyes tracked the trees as though counting them, and I realized she was recognizing landmarks the same way I was.

“It was near here,” she said quietly. The first thing she’d offered unprompted in hours. “Where I brought you after leaving the castle.”

“I remember.” I glanced over at her. “First thing you did was have me drink from the river. I remember being confused how the powers I had given you had disappeared. I didn’t take long to figure it all out.” I chuckled softly. “I had no idea what I was doing at all.”

“You looked like you thought that, too.” Her wings shifted behind her. “I’m not sure I knew what I was doing either. You’d just been a power source to my sisters for so long. And then suddenly you were a person, sitting in the grass, terrified, and I wanted ... I don’t know. To give you something back. To make one moment of all this gentle, before I left you to it.”

“Oh yeah ... You gave me some erectis leaf and you ... we...”

“I kissed you.” She met my gaze, then looked down quickly. “Then I...” She sighed. “Why am I being so childish? I know exactly what I did next.” She looked up at me. “I sucked on your cock as a reward for putting up with everything my family put you through. I sucked until you exploded in my mouth and I swallowed it down while I told you how much I love cum. Then I left you there to return to my sisters as the war was still going.”

“That’s ... Yeah, that’s exactly what happened.” I nodded, trying not to focus on how her tongue darted across her lips as she spoke.

“And now look at us.” She whispered, her blue eyes glinting. “Coming back to that place together. Looking for my family. You’re...” She took a breath. “You aren’t the same man who I left in that clearing. You’ve not the same person you were when we met.”

I laughed softly.

“Yeah, I am. Though it has been a wild journey, Ella.” I shook my head. “I still can’t believe how much has happened.”

“You’re not scared.” Her voice was quiet. “After everything you’ve done, everything you’ve learned ... you aren’t afraid of what’s coming next.”

“War?” I looked at her. “I’m scared of that, sure. But of us? This?” I reached out and rested my hand on her thigh again, just above the hem of her skirt. “No. Not anymore. I used to wonder if I was doing the right thing, if this power was a curse, if I was making everything worse by existing. But I don’t think I am making it worse ... We’re fighting for something worth fighting for, and we’re doing it together.” I gave her thigh a gentle squeeze. “That’s what matters.”

She looked away quickly, her cheeks turning pink, but she didn’t move my hand.

From the reins next to us, Seraphine had been listening with a kitsune’s patience, but of course she couldn’t let it lie.

“So let me understand this.” She glanced at Ella, tails swishing lazily behind her. “Our shy little succubus, who blushes if someone so much as says ‘nipple’ in her general direction, dragged our human into the woods in the middle of a battle and gave him a proper welcome to the realm.” Her grin widened. “Ella. I am shocked. And here I thought I was the forward one.”

“It wasn’t like that...” Ella’s cheeks went pink, exactly as predicted.

“It was a little like that,” I said.

“It was a lot like that, by the sound of it.” Seraphine flicked the reins, delighted. “I knew it. The quiet ones always have the most interesting histories. You hide it all behind those sad eyes and those folded-up wings, and underneath you’re a wicked girl, aren’t you?”

“I am not.” Ella folded her arms, which of course made her breasts shift beneath her dress, drawing Seraphine’s pink gaze.

“Sure, sure.” The kitsune laughed. “Oh, you are. You went down on him right there in the forest, with your sisters battling somewhere in the distance, and loved it. You let him spill down your throat while you told him you wanted more, didn’t you?”

“I was just...” Ella’s wings twitched, then flared slightly, stretching a moment before folding again. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“You don’t,” Seraphine agreed. “But as much as you try to suppress it, you are a succubus, and succubus lore is my favorite bedtime story. Please, indulge me.” She batted her eyes dramatically.

There was a long pause, filled by the creak of the wagon and the calling of birds overhead.

“ ... I did like it.” Ella finally admitted, her voice barely above the rustle of leaves. “Very much. And I thought about it for weeks afterward.”

“Knew it, you’re as much trouble as the rest of us.” Seraphine looked far too pleased. “I respect it enormously, for what it’s worth.”

“You’re impossible.” Despite herself, Ella was almost smiling now, ducking her head so her white hair fell across her face. “I can’t help it. I’m a daughter of Valerie. Sex is ... in our nature.”

“It’s in all our natures, Ella.” Seraphine softened, her tails still swaying. “Some of us just admit it louder than others. You’re allowed to be who you are. Even that version who steals kisses by a river during a war.”

I squeezed Ella’s thigh again, and this time she didn’t blush at all. She just sighed, a quiet, almost peaceful sound.

“I suppose you’re right,” she said, and looked up at me through her hair, her blue eyes steady. “Though I’m not sure I’m ready to shout it from treetops.”

Seraphine chuckled.

“Understandable. We’ve got time.” She flicked the reins again, the wagon making its way down a small slope. “But if you two want to relive that moment, I won’t listen or watch ... because I’m driving.”

“You absolutely would.” I smiled at her.

“Well,” she grinned back, “it depends on how loud Ella gets, doesn’t it?”

Ella hid her face in her hands but laughed, the sound small and delighted, like she hadn’t expected to.

“Come with me, Human.” Ella said, taking my hand and guiding me into the back of the wagon, ignoring Seraphine’s quiet snickering. “I want to ... remember.”

“Remember?” I grinned as I followed her.

Her cheeks flushed again, but her wings spread slightly behind her, making her look suddenly larger, more powerful, and entirely unlike the frail girl I’d found in that cell. We moved through the hanging fabric of the wagon’s canopy, and she tugged me toward the back corner where blankets and sacks of food had been piled. With a graceful move that reminded me again how unnaturally strong she was, she pulled me down onto the blankets and lowered herself over me, straddling my hips with the ease of someone who was finally letting herself enjoy what she’d wanted for a long time.

“I remember this part,” she whispered, her white hair falling around my face as she leaned down, her lips brushing mine. “How you felt beneath me, how you tasted.” Her hands were on my chest, sliding under my tunic, warm against my skin. “How your heart was beating so fast, even though you tried not to show it.”

“I was trying to play it cool,” I admitted against her lips.

“You failed,” she said with a soft laugh, and kissed me properly this time.

It started gentle, her mouth moving against mine in small, slow motions, her tongue teasing my lips. But as soon as I responded, she deepened it, her hands gripping my shirt as she opened her mouth wider, tasting me with deliberate strokes that had me hard in seconds. There was no hesitation in her now, none of the shyness I’d seen in the prison. She kissed like she was claiming something that had always belonged to her.

She reached down like she did before, tugging at the ties of my trousers, her breath coming faster as she freed my hard cock. Her small hand wrapped around me, stroking with the same eager pace she’d used by the river that day. I groaned against her lips and she pulled back just enough to speak.

“You’re bigger than I remember.” Her blue eyes were wide. “Or perhaps my memory was small.” She smiled faintly, then leaned down, kissing her way down my neck, my chest, her hands following her lips. “May I?” She paused above my cock, her white hair brushing my thighs.

“Please.” My voice was rough. “Just like before.”

She nodded, her wings shifting above us, and lowered her mouth to my tip. Her tongue swirled around the head first, just like that long-ago day, tasting me, savoring it with a soft hum of pleasure. Then she parted her lips and took me deep into her mouth in one slow motion. The wet heat of her mouth surrounded me, her tongue pressing along the underside as she hollowed her cheeks, sucking firmly.

I groaned, my hands tangling in her hair. She glanced up at me, her blue eyes shining with satisfaction, and began to bob her head, taking more of me with each pass, her wings quivering slightly as she worked. I was surprised how quiet she was compared to some of the other girls, no slurping sounds or dirty talk, just the soft rhythm of her mouth and the occasional hum as she savored me. There was something incredibly intimate about it, like she was pouring all her desire into the act without needing to perform it.

Her hands moved to my thighs, gripping them as she picked up speed, her white hair brushing my stomach with each movement. The sensation was incredible, her mouth hot and tight, her technique perfect. I could feel my orgasm building rapidly, the pressure coiling at the base of my spine as she bobbed faster, taking me deeper until I felt the back of her throat.

“Ella...” I warned, my hips twitching up involuntarily.

She didn’t pull back. Instead, she moaned around me, the vibration pushing me right to the edge. I came hard, flooding her mouth with pulse after pulse of my seed. She swallowed it down greedily, her throat working as she took everything I gave her, her blue eyes never leaving mine as she milked me dry with gentle sucking motions.

When I finished, she slowly released me, her lips sliding off my cock with a soft pop, but her hand stayed wrapped around the base, stroking gently to keep me hard. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, a small, satisfied smile on her lips as she looked up at me.