“No, no, it’s just—you feel—” Madeleine’s fingers trembled in Hæra’s hair. “You feel like everything.” Her body trembled too. “You changed everything.”

Hæra looked at Madeleine’s mouth, full and parted, and licked her lips.

“Do it again,” Madeleine whispered. “Change me.”

Hæra didn’t need asking twice. She bent and took Madeleine’s mouth again, deep and hungry.

Kissing was even better than eating. How could she ever have known that? Madeleine’s mouth was a meal all on its own, soft and warm as she kissed Hæra back. It was easy, it was natural, that she should feast on her woman’s mouth until little noises came out of the back of Madeleine’s throat.

It was better than Hæra’s nighttime fantasies when she touched herself. Better to have Madeleine with her, responding to her, making Hæra’s body do what it had only done alone until now. She ached painfully, sweetly, between her legs. She was swelling, softening, growing wet.

Was Madeleine as well? Hæra moaned at the thought. She pushed her hips forward, seeking pressure from the body beneath hers. The seam of her jeans rubbed between her lips, pulling a little cry from her. So much—not enough⁠—

Madeleine made a tiny, helpless sound. And then she spread her legs.

An intimate invitation.

Hæra was swept into the sea with blood in the water, hunting down her prey by scent and taste. Madeleine’s scent, just here, as Hæra rubbed her nose into that thick, dark hair. Madeleine’s taste, as Hæra licked her throat.

“Hæra,” Madeleine whimpered. She began to move. Her hips rocked up and down like waves. She was hunting something too. “What’s happening? What are you doing to me?”

“You’re doing it to me too.” The words came from Hæra in a snarl. “You want me.” She rolled her hips down again, rubbing against Madeleine and calling a cry from her. “I can smell it, taste it on you.”

Madeleine’s head fell back. She panted, “I don’t know what to do.”

Humans thought so much about things. How could Madeleine think now, when Hæra’s mind was narrowing into a blade of pure instinct?

“You know what to do,” she growled. “Do what you want. Take what you need.”

Madeleine looked into Hæra’s eyes. She opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but instead she grabbed Hæra’s hand. Her own hand was shaking.

And when she placed Hæra’s hand on her breast, a low cry came from her.

There were too many layers. Madeleine had on a sweater, and then a shirt, and presumably a bra underneath that too. How much could she feel? Maybe her breasts really were that sensitive. Maybe, even with the slightest pressure, they thrilled to Hæra’s touch.

Not enough.