#adoxi

this took forever to paint, apx. 20h sobs. done in procreate. i really tried my best to keep their skin colors in mind with all the glows and bright lighting. red’s textured hair was tricky to do though but hopefully i did okay? overall though im super impressed with myself considering…how i dont, like, paint at all lol im very lazy for an artist but here we are.

hope you all liked this piece <3

—Saliva thickened in his maws, his eyes thinned at the sight of you. Your scent, so enticing, made him hunger. All thoughts blanked from his mind—but you.

You grumbled. You complained. You whined. Your partner rolled their eyes at you, “deal with it,” your name sounded rather strained from their lips, “you’re the one who wanted to hike out here.”

“Yeah, because I’m fucking sick of being cooped up!” You defended, though you hadn’t meant to be so sharp with your spouse.

Things had been rough in the past few months given the recent world events. You and your spouse’s relationship took a bit of nosedive as the result, but the love was still there between two of you. You both had been best friends for over few decades and to you and them, it was simply another hinderance to get over. When you suggested (or complained, really) hiking, just to get out of the house, your partner was all for it and brought a nice tent and other essentials without a second thought.

—A long sharp hiss left his serpentine lips. Whoever that thing were, they were far, far too close to you. Fingers entangled with yours and you smiled—oh, such a pretty smile you have!, at them in turn.

—They did not deserve your smile. An inky coil of his long stretch of a tail tightened around a tree. It splintered under his immense strength.

“Did you hear that?” You ripped your attention to another direction, gazing through a thick foliage of green. It was almost thunderous, enough so that a flock of squawking colorful birds streaked into the blue horizon from the treetops.

Your partner followed your action, before they shook their head, “Probably just a rotten tree. You know we have a lot of those here.” Their statement was bland and resumed their pace, shouldering their hefty backpack filled with necessary goods.

Their reasoning sound, you gave them a slow nod (and slapped a bug off from your skin), “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Still, despite your agreeing words, you couldn’t fight a strange sense of unease settling deep inside the pit of your stomach.

Behind you, trees continued to creak.

Darkness consumed the sky and downed the sun. Stars shined in your eyes and curved your lips into a delighted smile. It was beautiful.

“Gorgeous…” you murmured, admiring the spiraling swath of haze in the sky. Smaller flecks of silver among the galaxy twinkled brighter, you couldn’t take your eyes off of them.

It was a rare treat and made the long trip away from your hometown with high light pollution worth it.

Click!

Your partner warmed, though their eyes weren’t on the sky, “that it is.” The black brick in their hands cracked another sound, snapping one more picture of your awestruck expression. One more to their collection of happy memories.

“It sure made camping out worth all the troubles,” you laughed.

Tucking their expensive camera away safely, they didn’t hesitate. In a blink, you found yourself draped under a body and you squealed, “—!” Giggling, you nosed against your spouse’s nuzzling face, “Baby, you scared me,” twisting your body, you roped your arms around their torso and sighed under their warmth.

“Sorry,” they said cheekily, “you looked cold.” They emphasized by tightening their jacket over your form.

You snorted, “Or so that’s your excuse.”

They grinned, “Come on, it’s about 3am—think we should sleep.” Tilting their head over to the awaiting tent, your partner rubbed their hands over your skin and left a trail of goosebumps.

Moving to protest, a yawn broke and you grumbled. You lost before you could start, “Okay, okay, let’s head in.”

In triumph, they wrapped their fingers on your wrists and pulled you inside. The long snarling sound of zipper rippled across the quiet air. Inside the tent, the dim light shut off.

—An noisome smell of the smothered flame from their firepit breached his nostrils. It took so much for him not to launch out and gobble that creature up whole, for ever touching you. Sinking his talons deep into the rotting wood, he considered a quiet thought.

—In a beat, he slithered into the clearing. Slowly, he prowled to the odd looking contraption. He can hear your heartbeats, steady yet strong.

—Your scent…your scent had him shuddering.

—Throbbing his adam’s apple, he rose a claw and slid it down the taut fabric—over where you are. A near-desperate urge had him hitching his breaths and marred the other palm with his talons, warring to rip apart this flimsy shelter.

—To take you away for himself—!

You jumped up and pooled the quilt down your waist, “Did you hear something?” Briefly, you caught a glimpse of a massive shadow before it disappeared, “Babe—!”

“I’m going, I’m going,” your partner jumped to their feet and grappled a hand on a heavy flashlight doubled as a weapon. Switching it on, they unzipped the entrance and turned the light around. Searching for any intruder in the borrowed land.

You fisted a small mace to your chest, the nervous heart underneath danced and rapped against your tight knuckles, “Anything?” Wetting your dry mouth, you trailed behind your spouse and twisted your fist on the back of their shirt.

Your partner was smart enough not to step outside the tent so carelessly, “Probably some raccoons, love.” They reassured.

But, you weren’t.

Even when they took care to seal off the entrance and tucked you in themselves, you were far from feeling safe and comforted by their presence. There was a sense of something vastly wrong.

If only you knew.

The morning woke up with a shrill scream. You gagged and choked at the sight lying in middle of the clearing, “What the—!?”

Your partner darted out after you, “—, babe, what’s wr—oh, what the fuck!?” They reeled backward and nearly released the contents from their stomach at the rotting carcass. Several flies buzzed and circled above the slacked body of a deer.

Its head was bent in a very unnatural direction, but it was the red gap in the animal’s stomach that alarmed you. It was empty, gutted, and scarlet color smeared everywhere. Your knees weak, you choked a sob, “Baby, I—”

In the sandy dirt, there were no sign of struggle. Whatever killed this poor creature, it moved the corpse to your campground and deliberately pulled it over the pit. The deer was spread wide for your viewing pleasure (eugh) and was then abandoned for the flies to feast and to lay their eggs within its cooling flesh.

Why?

You nearly jumped out of your skin when a fist clasped your small shoulder, “We’re leaving.” Your partner said through gritted teeth, their nose more sensitive than yours. Saying no word, you agreed.

To think, you woke up first, your sleep poor, and wanted to get a nice breath of fresh air. Whatever this beast was, how did it bring the poor deer and feast upon it without a single sound? You barely had a wink, tossing and turning (luckily, your partner was a bit of heavy sleeper and had their own cot).

Not wanting to spare the corpse another thought—it was starting to stench and turning your stomach more than it had prior, you joined your partner and started packing up. Both of you made a quick work of cleaning up and folding everything inside their packages. In the back of your mind, a question whispered.

When did the beast leave behind the carcass?

—No, no, no! A snarl split his lips apart, displeased. That walking sack of useless organs—how dare they!? To pull you away from his amazing display of power? Wood split underneath his talons and the branches groaned under his great weight, but yet they did not fall.

—He’s a worthy mate! He showed his strength to you...! You’re well deserving to be his. So why…?

—A dribble of red color streaked from a corner of his mouth.

—No. All he needed to do is to get rid of his competition. He will have you and there is nothing you could do about it.

It was a shame that your camping trip had to end so quickly, when it was meant to be 3-day getaway with your partner. Sighing, you pinned your eyes ahead on the well worn path and refused yourself to look back and see that poor thing again, “Ugh,” a whine slipped from your throat.

“I’m sorry, honey,” your spouse murmured and palmed the small of your back, comforting you, “I’ll make it up to you.” They promised.

Your cheeks pinked with a shy smile, “Yeah, I know. I’m not mad.” You bumped your face against theirs and nuzzled in a peck, “it’s just…kinda?”

“Creepy?” They added, completing your statement. You nodded and gnawed on your lips, “It is weird,” your partner agreed, grasping your elbow and kept you close, “you sure you didn’t hear anything since the raccoons?”

You shook your head mutely.

“Well, it’s probably a bold ass tiger. This place do have those,” they reminded themselves.

“It is a jungle. It’s a miracle we didn’t run across a snake or,” you shuddered, “a centipede. Ugly 100-legged motherfucker. You know they’re poisonous, right?”

They chuckled and shrugged a strap of their backpack over on their shoulder, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from anything and everything.” Their hand was warm in yours.

“I know,” you couldn’t help grinning and bumped your shoulder against them, “I love,”

Their presence—their hand, disappeared, yanked into the sky, “you!?” You shrieked your beloved partner’s name. Clasping your face, you stared at the empty spot they left behind and croaking on your breaths.

Distinct crunches pulsated into your ears and turned your stomach black, with quivering eyes, you dared to turn your attention upward. At first, there were nothing but thick greenery, darkened with shadows under the rare cheery sun.

Then, it started to storm—with heavy familiar objects being dropped and thrown all around you. A boot fell.

Articles of clothes floated.

You were deaf to your own gasping whimpers, your eyes wet with incoming tears, “N-no…no, —…!” Your partner’s name flew from your lips, grazing on your coarse tongue like sandpaper.

Next thing you saw was a white grin, “Hello,” a raspy voice crept into your ears and the creature unveiled himself from the treetop. Hair like silver spiderweb spilled over his broad shoulders, so long you felt it brushing against your damp cheeks, when he slowly descended upon you, “at lastssss we…meet, my darling.”

The best word you could use to describe him was massive. He engulfed your puny size and left you feeling as if you could fit in the palm of his claw. Quietly, even in your frightful haze, you could admit that he was rather…handsome, in a pretty boy kind of way, with black scales dotted beneath his golden gazes.

His scaly body oddly curved, it slowly registered in your mind at what was behind him—gleaming and glittering like a black rainbow under the sunlight. He slithered toward you, like a predator.

You screamed.

In a blink, you were already in his grasp—his coil. The beast’s grin stretched further and inhaled your smell deeply, “Mine.”

You couldn’t struggle, sobbing at the endless trail of his kisses down your bare neck. Your heart tightened, strangled with fear, you couldn’t find your voice. You, like a mouse, were stiffened taut, immobile under the great predator.

“I’m sssso hungry for you, my little bird.” Under his wandering hands, your blouse split and caved. Long fangs nicked your thin skin. He rasped at the taste of your blood, “Yessss,” it felt as if he could’ve cave your ribcage in by a slight tighten in his tail—thicker than your entire torso. Damp air slicked the top of your breasts.

He stripped you bare to the world.

“Let me sssssate my hunger, pretty bird,” he whispered on the shell of your flushed ear and ignored the sounds of your breathy sobs, “and I just might let you fly free.” There were no might—’maybe’, in his tone, but your mind was on something far more frightening.

Somehow, you knew that he was referencing to a different kind of appetite.