---
The first pale light of dawn crept across the mat, gentle as a hand lifting a curtain. Kai stirred, his body still heavy but his spirit light in a way he had never known. She shifted beside him, sighing in her sleep, and tucked herself closer as if the daylight might try to take him away.
He smiled and kissed her cheeks. For now, he did not rise immediately to train, to hunt, to fight. He lay still, content to let the sun come to him. He was admiring the naked beauty beside him.
When she finally woke up, her eyes were hazy, her lower lips swollen a bit from Kai's anaconda drilling into them, her body was sore but her face was glowing with satisfaction. She looked at him with wonder, then with laughter, then with something deeper than either.
"You didn't leave," she said softly. "You look so handsome, naked. And your anaconda it's so big. Can I kiss it? I really want to kiss it. It gave me the best time of my life."
