My hips pressed forward unconsciously, and I felt the barest friction against her inner thigh. A bolt of white-hot need jolted through me.
Lust bloodline?Some part of me tried to think past the storm. When the hell did I awaken a lust bloodline? Why now? Why her?
But the logic couldn't hold. Not with Nulka moaning softly into my mouth, her legs wrapping around my waist with animal urgency. Not with the raw, primal heat coiling in my gut, urging me to take, to complete the ritual in a way no sacred text had ever dared describe.
Her lips broke from mine only to trail down my jaw, then lower, grazing my neck. Every graze sent sparks along my spine. She wasn't just receiving energy, she was feeding off my arousal, her own desire a mirror of mine.
Her voice was a tremble against my ear. "Mmmh… somethin's burnin' inside me. It won't stop. Don't stop…"
Fuck.
She didn't know what this was, but she wanted it, needed it, even if she didn't have the words. Her body moved with mine, grinding lightly, teasing with each shift of her hips as if guided by instinct, not thought.
"Stop," I growled, even as I gripped her tighter, one hand sliding down to her waist, fingers brushing bare, hot skin. "This is... supposed to be healing."
"It is," she breathed, voice thick with need. "Feels like... life. Like I'm comin' back from the grave… 'cause of you…"
A low, needy sound escaped her throat as she pressed against me, hips rolling, back arching. The pleasure between us had turned into a dangerous feedback loop, her lust feeding mine, mine amplifying hers, round and round like an inferno with no end.
She was melting, and I was burning with her.
I should have stopped. I needed to stop.
But gods help me... I didn't want to.
My hand slid down, cupping her thigh, gripping it. My lips found hers again, hungrier this time, no longer pretending to be anything else. Her moan vibrated into my mouth. The kiss deepened. Wet. Hot. Desperate.
I could feel her, wet, ready, the heat of her core calling to mine like a magnet. One small shift of our bodies, and it would be over, no turning back.
Control. Control, Ren.
With a guttural snarl, I wrenched myself back, breaking the kiss like tearing flesh from bone. My body screamed in protest. My cock throbbed with aching need, painfully hard against the inside of my robes.
Nulka whimpered, hands reaching out as if to pull me back. Her eyes opened, clearer now, brighter, the gold in them glowing. But what stared back wasn't just relief.
It was hunger. Disappointment. And want.
"That was…" she started, breathless, flushed, her voice trembling.
"Healing ritual," I said roughly, trying to sound composed, failing miserably. My throat was dry. My voice cracked. "Nothing more."
She stared at me like I'd just denied the sky was blue.
[ESSENCE EXCHANGE COMPLETE]
[CRUCIBLE ACCESS: PARTIALLY RESTORED]
[INVENTORY ITEMS ACCESSIBLE: FOOD SUPPLIES, WATER RESERVES]
[HEALING TRANSFER: SUCCESSFUL - TARGET CONDITION STABILIZED]
At least something went according to plan, I thought, trying to ignore the way Nulka was looking at me with obvious hunger for more of whatever we'd just shared.
I reached into the space where my inventory should be, and felt genuine surprise when my hand closed around a familiar cup of instant ramen. The system's promise had been accurate, I now had access to enough food and water to keep both of us alive for months.
"Here," I said, pressing the cup into her hands along with a bottle of water. "You need nourishment to complete the healing process."
She examined the strange packaging with obvious curiosity and suspicion. "What kind of food is this? I've never seen anything like it." Her fingers traced the smooth plastic of the cup, clearly fascinated by the unfamiliar material. "This is strange and weird. We don't make things like this."
"Emergency rations," I said, which was technically true. "From my homeland. They're... an acquired taste, but they'll restore your strength."
I helped her prepare the noodles, adding the hot water I conjured with careful Pyraflux manipulation. The familiar scent of processed sodium and artificial flavoring filled the air, a smell that had once been the soundtrack to my streaming marathons, now serving as alien cuisine in a fantasy world.
Nulka eyed the steaming cup warily. "It smells strange. Not bad, but I don't know it." She lifted the bottle of water first, examining its crystal clarity with growing amazement. "This water is so clear. No dirt, no taste of stone or metal."
She took a tentative sip, and her golden eyes went wide with surprise. "By the ancestors," she breathed. "It doesn't taste bad at all. Like drinking clean air, but it makes me feel good. How can you do this?"
"Clean water is... a specialty of my people," I said, which was sort of true if you considered Earth's water purification technology. "Try the food. You need the nutrients."
Still suspicious but clearly desperate, Nulka lifted a small portion of noodles to her lips. Her expression was cautious, prepared for disappointment or worse.
The moment the ramen touched her tongue, her entire demeanor changed.
"Oh," she said softly, then took another, larger bite. "Oh, this..." She chewed slowly, her eyes closing in what looked suspiciously like bliss. "So many tastes... salty and... and good things I not know."
She devoured the rest with desperate hunger, but also with obvious appreciation for the taste. Between bites, she kept murmuring things like "amazing" and "how this be?" and "your people blessed by food spirits."
"The water," she said, draining the bottle completely. "Like nothing I taste. Most water taste like where it come from, mud, stone, rain that touch leaves. But this... pure. Perfect." She looked at me with something approaching reverence. "All food in your lands like this?"
Well, I thought with dark amusement, instant ramen and bottled water are apparently gourmet cuisine to someone who's been living on foraged roots and stream water.
"We have... certain advantages in food preparation," I said diplomatically. "I'm glad it meets with your approval." I found myself studying her with new appreciation. The healing had worked perfectly, her skin had regained its healthy green luster, her wounds had closed completely, and the exhaustion that had been dragging her down was fading rapidly.
But it was the way she kept glancing at me between bites that made me realize the essence exchange had created complications I hadn't anticipated. There was want in those golden eyes, a craving for more of whatever connection we'd just shared.
Great, I thought. I've accidentally created magical craving in my first potential ally. That's not going to complicate things at all.
"Tell me about your companions," I said, trying to redirect the conversation toward practical matters. "The ones who didn't make it out of the encounter with the Guardian."
The change in Nulka's expression was immediate and heartbreaking. The satisfied hunger faded, replaced by grief so raw it was painful to witness.