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twelve

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“Song—”

I stole the rest of Reaper’s word with my lips, letting them lead my unpracticed movements with their own.

They nipped at my bottom lip, then captured my mouth, tongue delving to reach mine.

They tangled together, and inhaled their fresh forest smell, the slightly sweet taste of their kiss.

“Bath. Now.” Reaper demanded against my lips.

They scooped me up and cradled me in their arms before setting me gently in the steaming tub.

The warmth enveloped my aching muscles, but my breaths were shallow, panting as I caught them while also never wanting the kiss to end.

They knelt by the side of the tub.

“Join me.” My voice was still tired and frail, but the command was no less confident.

I lifted my chin for emphasis.

Reaper made no move to remove their clothes.

Instead, they slipped one bare foot and then the other on either side of my hips before sliding down.

I shifted forward, making room for them.

The fabric clung to their skin, powerful legs next to mine.

“Would you like for me to wash your hair?”

I nodded, speechless.

Reaper grabbed some shampoo and poured it into their hand.

“Tilt your head back,” they instructed, and I gripped their legs, holding the damp fabric while their fingers dove into my locks, massaging my scalp until suds trickled down my cheeks.

A smile crept across my lips and I groaned when their deft ministrations released pressure at either side of my head, shoulders releasing into the relaxation of it all.

Rinsing off the lather, they worked conditioner in, pressing a kiss to the nape of my neck, so soft and reverent that I couldn’t help myself.

I turned my neck toward them and captured their lips, deepening the kiss.

No one had ever done this for me before.

Growing up in the forest, I usually dipped into the stream, using herbs and flowers as I washed.

Even at the palace, I never had the servants help me, opting to bathe myself.

For as long as I could remember, I’d been on my own.

Yes, the nymphs had been there, but as soon as I was able, I cared for myself, not wanting to be their burden.

Now I had someone who wanted to support me, who held me up, brought me the shelter of my fig tree and sustenance.

Someone who’d done all they could to ensure I was cared for.

I stopped the kiss to let them rinse out the conditioner and then leaned back, nuzzling into the nook between their neck and chest, savoring the rapping that beat alongside my own pulse.

A metronome I hadn’t understood but that had been steady through it all.

Calloused hands brushed over my arm, washing them in gentle circles before moving across my collarbones and doing the other one.

Beneath my back, hardened tips pressed into me and I bit my lip, each drag of them across my skin zinging deep into my core, to the space hidden beneath the feathers at my hips.

My breathing slowed, my heart ramping its pace with each stroke of their fingers, each graze of their nipples, the warmth of their body pressed to mine.

And then Reaper did something I never could have expected.

They sang.

At first the words were hushed, like a whispered lullaby, but with each touch its volume grew, the notes wrapping around me, absorbing into my skin, sinking deep in my soul.

My throat was raw, but I joined them, a soft harmony to their strong chords.

My nose dragged up their throat, savoring the vibrations of their voice blending with mine.

It was a song of searching, of being lost then found.

A song of longing and love.

Deeper than a song, it was a vow.

One between splendor and scythe.

Between compara .

I savored every breathy note, every sultry sound, every rattled inhale and exhale once we’d finished, only the sloshing water in the tub and the beats of our hearts between us.

“You have a beautiful voice,” I said, “I did not expect that from a scythe.”

I ran my thumb along Reaper’s bottom lip.

They were so stunning.

How come scythes faces were always hidden from view?

“We cover what we wish to share only with our compara. To cherish you with my lips, my tongue,”—between my legs grew slick, legs parting involuntarily—“my song.”

“Does that mean there have been no others before me?” I wrapped my tail around myself, covering where the feathers around my hips had fanned out.

My body was flush with embarrassment, with a want I’d never gotten to understand.

The shame of the Emperor’s words echoed in my mind.

You’re not some common whore…

You’re a symbol.

“Scythes are not celibate,” Reaper said, gaze trained on my face.

The corner of their lip quirked up, tone becoming playful, steadying my rampant heartbeat.

“There are other pleasures we partake in, but this is what we choose to worship only our compara with.”

I wanted to know what it was to be worshipped by my compara.

By someone who loved me.

I clamped my lips shut, fear of shame, of rejection, swirling in my mind.

We barely knew each other but this desire was as certain as the constant rap, rap, rap between my ribs.

I wanted to feel the depths of what that duet had dragged to the surface, I wanted it deeper, a harmony that could only be reached with those lips exploring every inch of me.

“How would you like me to worship you?” Two galaxies stared back at me, drawing me in.

“Say it, Songbird.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never…” I swallowed down the rest of it, not that it mattered.

I had no experience, no idea what to do, how to find my own pleasure, how to return it even if I desperately wanted to.

I didn’t even have to say it—Reaper could hear it all.

I stared down at the patch of emerald grass next to the tub.

Calloused fingers brushed down my neck, trailing the skin between my breasts.

“Part your thighs and unfurl your tail.” Reaper’s voice was a sultry command.

The feathers not submerged rippled in anticipation.

I unwrapped my tail that covered myself, bearing me to the stars shimmering above.

“Have you ever felt desire before, Songbird?” Reaper asked, the question both genuine and coaxing.

Their other hand wrapped around mine that clutched the edge of the tub, guiding it off the porcelain before they interlaced them with their fingers.

“Yes,” I rasped, gaze trailing our joined hands as they dragged down my stomach.

“When?”

“At the palace,” I began, following Reaper’s gentle guidance and parting my thighs.

They slid their free hand across my feathered waist, down my hip, and then lifted my leg until I rested my foot on one side of the tub.

“This one night when the Emperor brought back two courtiers for me to serenade from my tree.”

I could sense Reaper’s gaze on me, drinking in their fill of where my lips beneath the water’s surface were open and throbbing with wanton heat.

“And what did these courtiers do?”

I was so exposed, our joined hands still resting on my stomach, Reaper drawing slow circles there that I wished would move lower.

What had they asked me?

…

Oh, the night at the palace.

“Tell me,” Reaper encouraged.

“You can stay silent but that faint blush to your cheeks, and the way your body clenches before me tells me everything I need to know. What did you want to do when you saw them? Join them, perhaps?”

“I don’t know. Maybe… I just wanted...”

The thought died on my tongue, the spiral of our hands moving lower drawing all my attention.

“Use your voice, Songbird.” Reaper peppered kisses up the side of my throat, and I began to lift my foot off the edge of the tub.

“Did I say to close your legs?” They warned, and I quickly dropped my heel onto the porcelain.

“Keep them apart.”

“I just wanted to know what it felt like to be wanted. Touched.”

“Is that so?” Reaper’s smooth lilt curled in my ear, our hands lowering into the water.

“I think you can spread those legs even wider.” I slid my foot against the tub’s bottom, dragging it closer to me until the water sloshed into my sensitive pearl, making me jolt.

Reaper moaned appreciatively, eyes downcast over my shoulder as they directed my fingers to draw my lips further apart until that dusky nub was visible to them.

“Every part of you is perfect.”

I craned my neck, Reaper adjusting their body to support me before grazing their lips up my jaw.

“Do you wish to be touched, Songbird?”

“Y-yes.” I whimpered as our fingers moved lower.

“Then heed my command and touch yourself.” They released my hand from their grasp, splaying it across my lower belly and tracing over the submerged feathers.

The water weighed them down, but they zinged in preening appreciation with each devoted brush from Reaper.

I lowered my fingers to the sensitive spot that ached, making the lightest flick of my finger.

I gasped and my hips jerked.

Moving my fingers like I had in the greenhouse, unpracticed and without grace, I tested different motions until my body began to wrap itself up, tension building like the last inhale before releasing a high note.

My diaphragm and core tightened with each movement, the pleasure only heightened by Reaper’s breathing over my shoulder, their dark gaze watching everything, giving sounds of encouragement when my body reacted under my touch.

They never moved their hand away from my abdomen, as if wanting to experience the building crescendo alongside me.

“It would be impossible not to be drenched with you writhing in my lap,” Reaper said.

I whimpered against them.

And I wanted them to feel it, wanted them to feel every pleasure alongside me as each strum of my fingers brought me closer and closer to the precipice—like standing on the ledge of the world before leaping off into the velvet-swathed sky.

I wanted to leap into it with my compara.

“I promise I will have you on your knees before me soon enough.” Just that idea had my back arching, their nipples grazing my sore shoulder blades.

The pleasure was so much.

Too much .

My fingers worked vigorously but I still wanted more.

“Do you want to see how they feel deep inside of you?”

I nodded my head wildly and Reaper gently slid their hand past my stomach and encircled my wrist, lowering it beyond the nub to where I pulsed, clenching around nothing but desperate to be filled.

“Everyone’s body reacts differently. While this is not my preference, I think it just might be yours.” They drew two of my fingers together and aimed them at the opening and slowly pushed them in.

Before they could reach all the way, they drew them out, then pushed in again, going deeper.

In and out, in and out.

I followed their rhythm and worked my hips to meet my fingers, each time the heel of their palm met my sensitive pearl driving me feral with need.

“ Reaper… ” I slurred, head resting on their shoulder.

“It’s so much.”

“Songbird. You are in Death’s realm—my realm—and you are mine .” They gripped my chin and pulled me into a brutal kiss, tongue curling in a way that had my fingers mimicking the motion, taking me to new heights.

They pulled back, dragging their nose up my throat.

“You will take your pleasure without shame or you won’t take it at all. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes!”

“Then fucking show me.”

Their words spurred on my final ascent, and I leapt off the edge into oblivion, crying out a chord I could not even begin to describe.

It was pain, ecstasy, release rolled into one sound.

The world was more vibrant than it ever had been and every part of me ignited.

“You wish to come again, Songbird?” The way Reaper could hear my thoughts and desires was both terrifying and a relief.

“I love hearing your thoughts too, but I want you to use your voice. It has power, as do you.”

I inhaled deeply, mustering up the courage as I still caught my breath.

“I brought myself pleasure as you commanded. Now bring me to my knees as you promised.” I rolled over, resting my chin between the swells of their breasts.

“I wish to learn how to unravel you.”

“Very well.” Reaper kissed me and then helped us both out of the tub.

Water sloshed onto the ground and my feathers shook, droplets spraying everywhere.

When the plumes had shaken themselves dry, only beads of water slipping down my bare skin, I looked over to find Reaper standing by my fig tree.

Their stare swirled with a ravenous hunger I was desperate to sate.

Crooking a black-nailed finger, they pointed to the emerald patch of grass before them.

“Crawl to me.”

I dropped one knee, then the other, pulling back onto my haunches.

It felt good to do this, my instincts rising to the surface.

Staying on my palms and the balls of my feet, I inched forward slowly, keeping my eyes on my compara, unsure whether I felt more like prey or predator.

With Reaper, I wanted to be both.

When I reached them, they hooked their finger under my chin and lifted me until I was up on my knees, my eyes level with the slip of skin that shown beneath their soaked top.

Their nipples pressed through the fabric and I craved to run my finger over them, my tongue, to see what those pointed tips tasted and felt like.

Reaper reached across their side and unhooked the three straps holding their hooded top together, then they tugged it over their head, letting it fall to the ground with a wet splat.

Not that I looked at where it was, I was too engrossed in looking at them, taking in all the panes of their silky skin, the light brown nipples that would perfectly fit in my mouth, more delicious looking than any fig that hovered above.

“May I?” I asked, tentatively lifting a hand toward one of their breasts, waiting for confirmation.

Reaper took my hand, and then the other one, bringing them to their breasts, my palms pricked by the sharpened tips of their nipples, arousal pooling between my legs.

Now that there was no bath, the damp slickness growing there was more apparent, but I refused to be embarrassed by it.

They wanted me, all of me, but they did not want my shame.

I imagined it like a tiny bird, flying away on the wind, leaving me alone with my compara.

I cupped Reaper’s breasts, thumbing over their nipples, then taking each one into my mouth and swirling my tongue, I memorized each breathy sound they made, trying to coax more of them forth.

As I did, they groaned and reached between us to tug down their trousers.

Soaked through, they stuck to their strong thighs, so I pulled back a moment, helping to drag them down the rest of the way, savoring every inch of skin and the flock of curls beckoning me.

Now I knew of pleasure and I wanted to give them that in return.

Staring down at me, Reaper cradled my cheek with one hand, their other waved over themselves, releasing shadows from their palms.

They hung over their hips and extended out into a long obsidian shaft.

Wisps of shadow curled up from the base, twirling up its thick length.

“Eyes on me, Songbird,” Reaper said, with a snap of their fingers.

They nodded down at the shadows.

“Now lick.”

Without hesitation, I stuck out my tongue and flattened it against the shaft, my curiosity making me eager.

The shadows were packed so tightly together it was solid, but where it swirled around, the texture was soft and forgiving, making me want to play with it.

I trailed it with the tip of my tongue all the way to the base.

“ Fuck , you’re so sexy on your knees.” Reaper’s tone was powerful and sultry, encouraging me to drag my tongue in long languid strokes up and down their shadow-made shaft.

Then I opened my mouth and encircled the tip, moving down until my nose bumped into the sensual curls nestled against their flesh.

Pulling back a bit, I mimicked the motions they’d shown me earlier with my fingers, moving out and in with shallow motions, deepening them in between.

“I wonder how loud you’ll croon when I bury this deep inside of you,” Reaper said, curling their hips until the tip of their shadowy shaft hit the back of my throat.

I relaxed into the sensation and swallowed around it.

They groaned, threading their fingers into my hair and wrapping it around their fist, the other hand stroking up and down the column of my throat while I sucked greedily.

Tears shimmered in my eyes, preening under Reaper’s heady praise and the intensity of their starlit stare.

“You want that?”

Yes.

With one final thrust deep, I sputtered around Reaper’s shadows before they withdrew from me.

Reaper scooped me up under my shoulders to help me up, then they spun me to face the tree.

“Bend forward and steady yourself on the bark, Songbird.”

Scraping my nails into the tree trunk, I scooted my legs behind me until my back was arched, the air kissing my drenched center.

Reaper hovered over me, palm slipping up my thigh until their fingers swiped through my desire, making me shiver.

“Gods, your body is so slick, so desperate to take me beneath the stars.”

“Please, Reaper,” I begged.

I wanted nothing more than to feel that power, the one that had been thrust into me on my knees, somewhere even deeper inside of me.

I wanted them everywhere, to be consumed by lust and joy and Reaper’s sensual shadows.

The tip of their length circled my opening before pressing in slowly, so slowly my body arched further, trying to take them in faster, desperate for friction.

They eased in and out of me, making me whimper, swallowing my moans with their lips and teeth and tongue.

“Ready for more?” Reaper asked, reaching around me.

I nodded, not sure what more they could give me tonight but wanting it nonetheless.

Shadows released from Reaper’s palms, soft and sweeping like the swirl that now moved within me on their shaft, only these curled around my nipples and dove for the pearl between my legs, twirling and coaxing more and more pleasure until I was crying out, legs quivering.

Reaper’s arms wrapped around my torso helping steady me as I braced myself on the tree trunk.

“Gods, you are incredible,” Reaper praised.

Feeling bold, I wrapped my tail around them, tugging their body closer, their thrusts hitting deeper, becoming frantic when my feathers reached around and flicked at their sensitive bud.

Guttural moans, whimpers, and gritted words of encouragement filled the air, a rhythmic harmony of ecstasy.

Our bodies moved through the night, instruments building out a tune never known before, one of tenderness and longing, one of wholeness and relief.

It was a song I never wanted to end.

Even as orange peeled up the midnight sky, the day rising before our sweat-slicked bodies, there was nothing else I wanted more than to feel this every day for millennia.

Reaper slid out from me, the emptiness jarring, then they spun me to face them, the corner of their lip curling.

Their attention dropped to the glistening shadow between us.

“Lick it clean and then you’ll be next.”

I sank to my knees, scraping against the roots of my fig tree, taking it deep into my mouth, sucking down the ecstasy like I was parched for it.

I was.

Tongue lapping up every drop, Reaper waved away the shadows and I ran my nose along their seam, inhaling the scent of us together.

I drew my gaze up to Reaper.

“May I?”

“That’s my Songbird,” Reaper said, the rest a rasp as my tongue tasted and devoured every drop of pleasure clinging to their sensitive flesh.

“Using that voice of yours that I love.”

When every drop had been savored and Reaper had stopped shaking against my face, they lifted me up onto the lowest branch of my fig tree, my hands gripping around the scratchy bark, so grateful to have it back as I’d always known it.

As it truly belonged.

“Wrap those legs around my shoulders, Songbird,” Reaper instructed, standing on the ribboned roots below.

We worked together, me gripping the bark and looping one leg then the other until Reaper’s dark irises flared, stars gazing at my throbbing center.

Tongue flat, they licked up my thigh before whispering.

“I’ve waited forever to savor you.”

And savor me, they did.