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For a few peaceful moments, all he sensed was her.

Her lips were soft against his scales, as was her body. Her breaths were wet but warm, gently puffing over him and causing his fur and scales to lift and ripple from the pleasantness. Her scent was embracing, stealing the world to drown him in her.

Her heart is so... little.

He’d always been able to hear it, but this was the first time it’d fluttered against him. It felt delicate, and its rhythm was so utterly soothing that it was impossible to not be mollified by it.

She is so soft.

He didn’t think he’d ever held something this soft, and squishy, and breakable in his arms before. She was so tiny against his much larger body, not just in height, but also in width. He’d already thought her fragile, but this only deepened it.

And yet, Ingram couldn’t stop himself from tightening his arms around her. He wanted her to turn into liquid and seep beneath his flesh, so she could comfort him from the inside permanently.

Some of her hair pushed over his beak from the light wind, and he sightlessly buried his skull into those magnificent strands until they shielded him. He also brought his tail tip forward so he could wind it around her calves, trying anything to make their contact more intimate.

Even when she sagged against him, like she couldn’t hold her own weight any longer, Ingram made sure to support her with his arms and tail.

He refused to let go, and Emerie never tried to pull away.

It was like she was letting him take his time with it, waiting for him to stop thishugwhen he was done with it. He didn’t know if he’d ever be.

Although Aleron had held him similarly many times, as they often slept like this, he’d never had another outside of his kindred embrace him. But with Emerie... it was different.

There was no reason for her to do this, no bond like he’d shared with Aleron. Yet, she’d instigated this, and had gifted him the first moment of peace he’d felt in weeks by doing so.

There was also another emotion taking shape within him. It was small, barely a flowering blossom, yet it reminded him of the affection he felt for his kindred.

After a long passage of time, something rumbled between them. It wasn’t the first time her stomach had informed them she was hungry, but it was definitely the loudest.

“Quiet, Emerie’s stomach,”he grumbled, demanding it leave them be.

Her burst of laughter was so strong it shook his arms. It was the most enchanting sound he’d ever heard, even more so since he’d been able to experience it by touch as well.

“Sorry, I can’t help it,” she answered with a dying giggle. “Are you feeling better yet?”

Ingram gave her an unrelenting squeeze, and it forced a small choke from her.“No. I wish to stay like this.”

Perhaps until the end of time, he would have liked to hug Emerie’s yielding and lush form.

“Not so hard,” she said with a wince. He loosened his hold a little. “I’m really sorry, but I need to eat... among other things.”

Then she repeatedly petted the back of his hard skull and a shiver tore through him. He almost crushed her again in reaction.

The fact she was being kind and gentle to a place on his body he knew to be fatal if destroyed... caused a tender ache to swirl behind his exposed sternum. Demons and humans alike had tried to destroy him, and here was this little female petting him.

“A little longer?”he pleaded, unwilling to part from her just yet.

“Fine,” came her muffled whisper. “Just a little longer.”

Emerie was aware she’d sleep-drooled on the Duskwalker’s back when she woke up. It was hard not to when she was face down with her cheek squished against his scales. Her arms and legs dangled down on each side of him, and her empty satchel and thin sleeping bag were doing a poor job of truly making this comfortable.

Her breasts and stomach were soft enough protection against his spikes. It was mainly her bones she needed to shield.

Sleeping on the back of Ingram was horrible, but he was adamant he didn’t want to stop moving throughout the night. Honestly, it was her exhaustion and the rhythmic sway of their bodies that eventually pulled her under for a few short hours here and there.

Rubbing her face against him with a groggy moan, she peeked open her eyes. It was still night, but the sky was grey as though the sun was beginning its creep over the horizon.

Emerie pushed up to sit on him, and lazily blinked.