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I settle beside him, leaning my torso against his, letting my bare arms press against the warm stone of his chest. Electricity crackles through the tether.

The brand flares with a low, agonizing burn.

I sense Kaelith’s breathing hitch. Our bodies align, skin to skin, a flush of heat blossoming where we touch.

The tension in the cave thickens with a dangerous promise.

We’re about to open ourselves to each other’s magic, intimately.

My pulse races, memories flicking of how we once unleashed this synergy in that desperate night. This time, the stakes are even higher. I close my eyes, willing the swirl of magic in my blood to flow outward. “Focus on your stone sleep,” I whisper. “I’ll channel what I can. Let me in.”

He exhales, trying to slip into the half-stone trance.

I feel the telltale ripple under my palms as portions of his skin harden slightly, runes glowing.

But he’s too weak to complete the transformation without a push.

Gritting my teeth, I murmur a purna incantation that draws from the brand, funneling arcs of silver-blue energy into his chest, letting them seep into those flickering runes.

The sensation is raw, overwhelming. My brand sears, as if a spigot of power has opened.

Kaelith’s body stiffens, wings twitching violently.

A ragged groan escapes him, half-pain, half-relief.

Stone creeps across his limbs, but the progress halts around the gashes, as though the injuries resist solidifying.

I grit my teeth, tears spilling. “Stay with me,” I gasp.

My heart hammers so loud it drowns out the hiss of wind outside.

Heat roars in my veins, reminiscent of a fever.

The tether surges, and I know from our previous synergy how quickly this can tip from healing to something far more charged. But he’s still bleeding. He needs more.

“Sariah,” he groans, voice thick with desperation. “Gods… I feel your magic. It’s… intense.”

I swallow a sob. “It’s the only way.” My trembling hands slide over the jagged edges of his wounds, channeling a healing current.

His runes glow, pulsing in time with my brand, forging a closed circuit of power.

The searing sensation rips a cry from my throat—my entire body feels like it’s on fire, an excruciating ecstasy that threatens to consume me.

Adrenaline floods my system. Our hearts pound in unison, the tether bridging every boundary.

Kaelith tilts his head, forcing himself to meet my eyes.

The anguish there mingles with a fierce desire, the same desperate longing that flared between us once before.

My magic swirls around him, seeking a deeper connection, and I realize with a dizzying jolt that we can’t half-do this.

To heal him, I must embrace him fully—body, magic, soul.

My clothes hamper the contact, so I yank them aside, ignoring the protests of my battered limbs.

Kaelith’s arms slip around my waist, pulling me against his chest with surprising strength, given his injuries.

The moment our torsos align, my brand flares like molten silver, sending a shockwave of sensation through every nerve ending.

We’re forging that synergy, the same that nearly overwhelmed us last time.

He gasps, runes blazing so bright they illuminate the cave.

“Sariah,” he rasps, voice choked with pain and need.

I feel a new wave of power swirl from him—his gargoyle essence merging with my purna magic.

The synergy doubles, feeding on our closeness.

We’re bridging life and stone, forging a healing conduit.

My breath comes in frenzied gasps, tears and sweat mingling.

“I—hold on,” I manage. Then we crash into each other, lips meeting in a desperate kiss fueled by adrenaline and terror.

It’s rough, searing, the taste of blood and tears on our tongues.

I moan against him, part of me craving the solace of intimacy while the rest of me tries to remain calm enough to channel healing.

We tumble onto the cold cavern floor, limbs tangling.

His wounded thigh presses against mine, prompting a hiss of pain from him.

But the next moment, I pour more healing magic into that wound, letting it seep into the stone edges creeping across his skin.

The tether flares, a flood of energy that makes me arch my back, a cry slipping from my lips. It’s so strong.

He groans, half delirious, lips trailing over my neck, across my collarbone.

My brand ignites with a near-blinding glow that reflects in his runes, and I sense the life force we share swirling dangerously.

Blood still trickles from his side, but I feel the wound’s edges knitting under the combined assault of stone sleep and purna magic. My heart leaps with hope. It’s working.

Still, the raw synergy sets my nerves aflame.

We’re pressed together, flesh to flesh, brimming with power.

His claws graze my skin, leaving faint red welts, but I don’t care.

We’re lost in a heady cocktail of fear, relief, and undeniable attraction.

My desire for him surges, colliding with the knowledge that we might die if we fail.

“Sariah,” he gasps, voice raw with longing and agony. “I—” The words choke off in a groan as I shift my hips, trying to find a better angle to cradle his wounded side. But that movement drags us deeper into a frenzied urgency. Our bodies align, the tether throbbing with unstoppable momentum.

I realize in that moment—I love him, despite the danger, despite the heartbreak and risk.

The truth slams into me like a lightning bolt.

I don’t want to lose him, can’t bear the thought of a world without his fierce presence.

Tears blur my vision as I bury my face against his neck, letting the synergy roll over us.

The desperation crescendos into a frenzied joining—no longer just bodies, but a collision of need, magic, and shared survival.

His cock presses against me, thick and demanding, and I arch up to meet him, my pussy already slick with want.

The first thrust steals my breath, a searing stretch that melts into unbearable pleasure as he sheathes himself fully inside me.

Sex, yes, but laced with swirling magic.

Every pulse of our bodies resonates with power, each snap of his hips driving the synergy deeper, as if we’re forging the bond with flesh as much as spirit.

“Kaelith… yes, take from me. Take me. Brand me, make my yours,” I beg, gasping for more, pushing my magic to the max. I direct every sliver of it to his wounds.

“Sariah… you undone me,” he groans, burying his face on my neck as his hips pistons faster as much as his injured body can allow him. Our magic entertwines more and more, swirling together, the tendrils dancing in union to each other.

“Kaelith…” I pant against his ear, nails biting into his shoulders as he moves, the rhythm rough and relentless.

Tears slip down my cheeks—from overwhelm, from the way his runes blaze hotter with every thrust, the stone creeping up his torso in partial sleep mode, knitting flesh even as he fucks me into the cavern floor.

“Gods!” he groans as I let out a moan of ecstasy. Our moans echo off the walls, raw and unchecked, mingling with the wet slap of skin, the hiss of sleet outside. The air thrums with energy, charged like the moment before a lightning strike.

At some point, the pain from our injuries dulls, replaced by a frenzied euphoria.

My brand crackles, arcs of silver lightning leaping from my fingertips to the stone now creeping across Kaelith’s arms. We cling to each other as if drowning, his cock filling me so completely I can’t tell where he ends and I begin.

His tail lashes around my thigh, possessive, dragging me harder against him.

Each second is a precipice—lust, healing, chaos.

“Sariah,” he murmurs, lips brushing mine in a fleeting, tender kiss, a contrast to the brutal pace of his hips. “Don’t let go.”

“I won’t,” I vow, voice breaking as I press my palm to his wounded side.

The bleeding has slowed, flesh sealing beneath the stone’s embrace, but I barely register it—not when he angles deeper, when the head of his cock grinds against that spot inside me that unravels all thought.

Another wave of magic surges, my brand flaring blindingly bright, and a scream tears from my throat as pleasure-pain arcs through every nerve. It’s too much.

Yet I can’t stop. I don’t want to. Kaelith gasps, wings shuddering, his thrusts turning erratic.

His eyes glow molten gold, pupils blown with need, and when he surges against me, I meet him with equal hunger, my hips rolling to take him deeper.

The synergy magnifies, my mind fracturing under the intensity—every drag of his cock, every pulse of magic, every ragged breath between us tightening the tether until I’m certain we’ll fuse into one being.

Tears streak my face as we crest the wave, his rhythm stuttering, my pussy clenching around him. Then—the shattering peak.

“I’m coming!” His roar is half-gargoyle, half-man, as he spills inside me, his release a scalding flood that triggers my own. My vision whites out, magic detonating between us in a shockwave that rattles the cavern walls, dust raining from the ceiling.

“Gods!” I let out a keen scream of pure, unadulterated pleasure that burns every fiber of my being.