“My turn”

The tent flap rustled a second time.

I opened my eyes just as Shadowheart stepped inside. She let the canvas fall shut behind her and stood in the low lantern light, taking in the scene: Karlach still curled against my side, the faint scent of last night and of Lae’zel still hanging in the air. Her expression was calm, but the set of her shoulders left no room for argument.

She walked to the edge of the bed and rested a light hand on Karlach’s bare shoulder.

“Up,” she said, voice quiet and firm. “It’s my turn.”

Karlach made a low, sleepy sound and cracked one golden eye open.

“Five more minutes…”

Shadowheart’s reply was bone-dry. “You’ve already had the entire night.” She paused, then added a soft “Please.”

Karlach stretched, engine giving a soft pulse, and sat up. She leaned over and pressed a quick, warm kiss to the corner of my mouth.

“Play nice,” she murmured, just loud enough for both of us to hear. Then she quickly gathered her clothes and slipped toward the flap.

I only just managed to catch a view of her new form as she moved. Her ass looked rounder, the curve of it distinctly more pronounced than the night before. I blinked and she was gone before I could take another look.

[Shadowheart: Approval -3]

“Eyes up here.”

Shadowheart had caught the direction of my gaze. She held a stern expression for a moment longer, then the sharpness in her posture eased without fully disappearing.

“You spend the entire night together, yet your eyes are still on her?” she said simply. “Now it’s my turn. And when it’s my turn—”

“—I only think of you,” I finished, giving her back the words she had once said to me with a small smile.

[Shadowheart: Approval +1]

She was taken aback for a split second, then retorted, “Yes. So do a better job in the future.”

“The future? I’m looking at it right now, and it's never looked more beautiful.”

The corner of her lips twitched. “Nice try.”

“Did it work?”

“Maybe… What else do you see?” She said posing slightly.

“A gorgeous woman, as beautiful as she is dangerous.”

“Can’t you do any better?”

“Elegant. Refined—like a Night Orchid. Impossible beauty surrounded by darkness.”

[Shadowheart: Approval +3]

She stepped closer, already slinking out of her gown. “That will do.”

I reached out and helped the dark fabric the rest of the way down. She climbed onto the bed and lay back against the pillows, dark hair spreading across the linen, eyes fixed on mine.

I moved over her. She parted her legs without hesitation. I took her right thigh in my hand and lifted it, opening her further, then settled between her thighs. The head of my cock rested against her entrance. She was already wet.

“Now show me you mean it,” she whispered.

I pushed in slowly.

Shadowheart’s breath left her in a soft, needy sound. Her hands came up to my shoulders and held on. I stayed deep for a moment, letting the heat of her settle around me, then began to move—steady, deliberate strokes that kept our bodies close. My right hand stayed firm on her thigh, holding her open.

Pink psychic energy gathered under my palm where it pressed into her soft flesh. I released a controlled Alluring Blast. Pleasure rolled straight into her. Shadowheart arched, a sharp gasp escaping her throat, walls tightening around me.

“Again,” she breathed.

I gave her another. Then another. Each pulse made her shudder and clench, her eyes never leaving mine. The bedframe creaked softly beneath us. I shifted the angle slightly, driving deeper, and felt her nails bite into my shoulders as the new rhythm drew a longer, quieter moan from her lips. The magic and the friction together kept her right on the edge, every thrust feeding the next small wave of pleasure.

Her breathing turned shallow. Her fingers dug deeper. I watched the exact moment she started to tip over—eyes glazed, lips parted, the faintest tremor running through the thigh I held.

I thrust deeper and released one final, stronger blast into her.

Shadowheart came with a quiet, shattered cry, eyes locked on mine, walls pulsing hard around me. The rhythmic clench dragged me after her a few heartbeats later. I buried myself and spilled inside her while she held on, both of us trembling through the last waves.

[Shadowheart: Corruption +3]

I slipped free and eased her leg down. Shadowheart stayed close, one arm draped across my chest, fingers tracing idle patterns on my skin. The silence was comfortable, but I could feel the questions gathering behind it.

After a while she spoke, voice light, almost casual.

“So. How was it?”

“Wonderful,” I said. “You really are something special.”

“I know.” A small pause. “But I meant with Karlach. Was it everything you wished it to be?”

I felt a faint edge of wariness. “It was nice.”

Shadowheart’s mouth curved. “I bet it was. So what did you do? Did she taste you? Did you try her breasts? Her ass?”

I turned my head to look at her properly. “Why do you want to know?”

She met my gaze without flinching. “Maybe I just want to make sure you’re not overwhelming her. She hasn’t felt an intimate touch for you-know-how long. You letting loose with that pleasure magic of yours could do more harm than good.”

“We took it slow,” I said.

Shadowheart studied my face for a moment. Whatever she saw there made the sharp edge in her expression soften. She exhaled slowly and settled more fully against my side.

“Good,” she murmured.

I let a few heartbeats pass, then turned the question back on her.

“And you? Did you enjoy your night with Kagha?”

Shadowheart’s fingers paused on my chest.

“I did.”

“Oh yeah?” I kept my tone light. “What did you two do?”

“Just talk.”

“About anything interesting?”

She looked at me then, expression unreadable.

“You’ll know soon enough.”

“Should I be worried?”

A small, knowing smirk touched her lips.

“I don’t know… should you?”

I reached up and brushed a strand of dark hair away from her cheek.

She closed her eyes, that same satisfied little smile still playing at the corner of her mouth, and for a while the only sound in the tent was the steady rhythm of two people breathing.