“Do it to me,” Madeleine whimpered, unable to stop herself. “Oh God, my God, do it⁠—”

For a terrible moment, Hæra’s hand went still. Her mouth moved against Madeleine’s skin. “I,” she whispered, “am not your God.”

Then her teeth sank into Madeleine’s neck.

It should have hurt, probably. It should have been terrifying, certainly. Instead, the pressure of Hæra’s teeth made spots dance in front of Madeleine’s eyes. Seeing stars while the sun was out. Pain at her neck, pleasure between her legs, two halves that made a thing complete. She couldn’t have one without the other, she needed Hæra’s teeth as much as she needed her hand, she needed all of it, and this was why she’d come to Jorsay. It was here, the answer was right here, she hadn’t known, she’d had no idea⁠—

Oh dear Jesus, she was about to⁠—

“Oi! Keep it to yourselves!”

The words rained down from above like a bucket of cold water. Hæra’s head reared back, and Madeleine pulled her own head away so quickly she bumped it against the wall. Together, they looked up to see a window slamming, the voice’s owner unseen.

The shutting of the window shut something inside Madeleine too. There was no air in her lungs, and that was no longer because of Hæra’s kiss. Her arousal drained away instantly.

You did it. You did it, and someone saw you.

Her body curled in on itself. She tugged her arms from Hæra’s neck to hold them in front of herself, her hands shaking until she clenched them into fists as she looked away from Hæra toward the ground, at the cobblestones’ uneven height. She couldn’t move. She could barely breathe.

“I’ll kill them.”

Hæra’s voice was rock-rough. It dragged Madeleine right back into the moment. She gaped at Hæra, who was looking up at the closed window with her teeth bared.

“What?” Madeleine choked.

“I said, I’ll…” Hæra looked back down at Madeleine, who pressed back farther against the wall at that look. Her amber eyes had turned all to golden fire, like nothing Madeleine had ever seen in her life. Such eyes didn’t belong to an ordinary person—they couldn’t possibly⁠—

Madeleine’s eyes widened as several images collided in her mind, knocking shame into the background. Hæra looming over Madeleine now in the alley, eyes aflame. Hæra towering over her in the movie room at Skara Brae, all in silhouette—a moment that had taken Madeleine out of herself because it was so familiar, because⁠—

Because it had been a woman’s shape looming over her with a shadowed face, with burning eyes, while Madeleine lay helpless and overwhelmed on the beach…