The air smells of damp moss and night-blooming sumac, thick with the earthy hush that follows rain. Cicadas drone lazily in the background, the forest caught between breath and bloom. The wind carries the faint sound of a flute somewhere far down the path, but here, in his private quarters, the world shrinks to one held breath.

Tighnari's ears twitch at the soft rustle of fabric hitting the floor.

Lumine stands barefoot on the woven rug of his den, golden hair loose around her shoulders, the tips brushing her ribs. Her arms rise slightly, palms facing behind her in unspoken invitation. She’s illuminated by moonlight filtering through the wooden lattice, painting stripes of silver and shadow across her skin.

“Stay still,” he murmurs, voice low, clinical—until it isn’t. It catches on the edge of reverence, deepening into something that glows green and gold behind his eyes.

He circles her once, slow and silent, tail brushing the backs of her thighs like a question posed without words. On his second pass, he moves even slower, head dipping, gaze catching on the rise of her breasts, the flex of her legs. Then he kneels.

The first restraint is gentle: a length of soft dendro-vine, conjured between his fingers with a flick of emerald light. It uncoils like a ribbon and winds around her wrists, looping twice before blooming into tiny leaves that pin her arms behind her back. Not tight—just enough to arch her spine, to tilt her chest forward in offering.

“Perfect,” he breathes—and means it.

He begins with her ankles.

Kneeling at her feet, he lifts one heel into his palm. His thumb strokes the delicate bones. His lips brush the arch, the pads of her toes, then the faint scar across her instep—kissed with lingering softness.

“Every mark is a story,” he whispers into her skin. “And you’ve survived so many.”

His mouth travels upward. Slowly. With purpose.

The curve of her calf. The tension in her shin. The hollow behind her knee, where he lingers, tongue flicking gently until she gasps, thighs trembling and parting on instinct. The vine tightens a fraction—a silent correction: I decide the pace.

He rises, nuzzling along her thigh until he reaches her hips.

His hands settle on the flare of bone. Thumbs trace the dimples above her ass. He leans in, pressing open-mouthed kisses to her belly, each one heavier than the last.

“You carry the weight of worlds here,” he murmurs. “Let me take it from you tonight.”

Lumine’s breath hitches when he mouths lower, over the subtle slope of her abdomen, where faint white lines stretch across her skin—marks of growth, of battle, of change. He tongues each one like scripture, the altar of her body sacred beneath him.

The vine shifts.

A second tendril sprouts from the knot at her wrists and slides upward, winding over her shoulders and looping around her upper arms. Her shoulders are pulled back; her breasts lift, nipples pebbling in the cool air. His gaze darkens, pupils wide behind his lenses.

He doesn’t touch them. Not yet.

He kneels again, and worships the space between: her sternum, the tender hollow above her heart, the pulse fluttering beneath skin so thin he can see it. He drags his tongue slowly, deliberately, up the center of her chest, stopping just shy of a swollen peak. A tease. A promise.

“Please—” Her voice is ragged, barely audible.

“Shh.” He nips her collarbone, voice gentler. “I’m not finished adoring you.”

He finally takes her nipple into his mouth.

Hot, wet suction. Her back arches with a cry, but the vines hold her steady. He switches sides, lavishing the other, sucking and teasing until both are reddened and glistening.

Lower again.

He sinks to the floor and presses her thighs apart, hands reverent, eyes reverent. The raw need in his gaze pins her harder than any restraint.

“Look at you,” he breathes, voice thick. “Soaked for me. Gods, Lumine.”

The scent of her is a bloom of sweetness and heat, like crushed petals in high summer, thick on his tongue before he even touches her. His ears twitch, tail swaying behind him as he leans in and licks—slow, deliberate—from the base of her entrance to her clit. She shudders. He groans.

His tongue moves with unhurried precision—parting her folds, circling her clit, flicking with skill earned from worship. Her knees tremble, but the vines flex, holding her steady. His fingers slide inside, curling, spreading her open, stroking those hidden places that break her apart.

She’s close. So close. And he stops.

“Not yet.” He licks his lips, glistening with her. “Not like this. I want to feel you clench around me.”

The vines loosen. Before she collapses, new strands descend from the rafters, binding her wrists above her head. Her arms stretch. Her back arches. She’s suspended—barely balanced on her toes, trembling.

Tighnari strips.

His clothes vanish with green sparks. His cock stands flushed, thick, leaking. He steps between her legs, positioning her hips, one arm cradling beneath her thigh. The head of him nudges her entrance.

He pauses, forehead pressed to hers.

“Tell me you want me.”

“I want you,” she breathes. “Please, Tighnari.”

He sinks into her slowly. Inch by inch. The stretch is exquisite. Her body clings to him. The vines keep her from sinking, allowing him to set the pace.

When he bottoms out, they both go still. Then he begins to move.

Long, deep strokes. Smooth and angled, dragging over every sensitive spot. One hand cups her breast, pinching the nipple. The other finds her clit and circles in perfect rhythm.

His mouth claims hers.

A kiss of devotion. Of hunger. Tongues meet. Lips bruise. He moans into her, hips thrusting harder. The vines shimmer—soft green pulses that warm her wrists, resonate through her limbs, humming with magic.

His tail wraps around her leg, fur brushing her thigh and curling behind her knee. A tender anchor amid the force of his rhythm.

“Come for me,” he growls against her lips. “Give it to me.”

She sobs, pleasure cresting. Her muscles tighten, seizing around him. He groans, thrusts growing erratic, and then he spills deep inside her, body shuddering with the force of it.

The vines dissolve into petals—glowing, scentless, soft as breath—as they flutter to the rug.

Tighnari catches her as she sags. They sink together. He strokes her spine. Kisses her brow, her wrists, her cheek.

“You’re divine,” he whispers. “Every inch of you.”

Lumine burrows into his chest, fingers toying with his hair. She tugs gently on his ear. He laughs, quiet and warm.

“Next time,” she murmurs, “I worship you.”

“Deal,” he says, voice rough. “But first—bath. You’re glowing with pollen.”

She grins into his skin. “Only if you carry me.”