Epilogue Senka

IN WHICH BOOKS GIVE THE MOST DEVIOUS OF IDEAS

Tendrils giving the well-worn pages one last caress, Senka quickly shoved the book on the shelf behind as they heard Abi's soft footsteps approach. Since moving in with Abi, it was rare to have a morning on their own. Not that they minded. Senka could easily spend a lifetime basking in their precious human's presence, learning everything that made her laugh in delight and discovering how many ways they could make her cry out in pleasure.

The latter of which was on Senka's mind, having spent the morning revisiting one of their favorite human romance novels. A secret indulgence which they had yet to reveal to Abi, unsure of how she'd react to how diligently they'd studied the steamy scenes. Senka had always been fascinated by humans, so it seemed only natural to learn about their romantic tendencies. But what started as a desire to understand morphed into something hot and yearning inside them as their friendship with Abi blossomed. All those hours reading had certainly aided them when they found she returned their attraction. Though nothing on the page could compare to feeling her come undone by their touch.

Thinking about the scene they'd left off on sent a pulse of need through Senka, shadowy wisps stretching out to greet Abi as she entered their living room. Their form suffused with warmth seeing the rosy glow on her cheeks from her trek back to their flat and her bright smile directed their way. Lady, she was lovely. That they were lucky enough to be with this wonderful woman was a blessing Senka would never take for granted.

"You're back early!" Senka croaked, flustered by Abi's unexpected return and the desire still humming inside them.

Abi raised a bemused brow at them. "Yes, Mum had a rush order come in. It"s the Broderson twins" birthday and Ursule has decided she no longer likes carrot cake. Why? Did you need more time alone?"

"No!" Senka shook their head and closed the distance to pull Abi into a gentle embrace. "I'm glad you're back," they murmured against her hair, unable to keep their tendrils from roaming across every inch of her they could reach. Even as Senka stepped back from the hug, their stubborn wisps refused to stop caressing her.

"I was only gone for an hour," Abi laughed, looking down at the way Senka's shadows clung to her. Her breath hitching slightly as a stray tendril ghosted across the side of her breast. Embarrassment washed over Senka at their unruly shadows, but Abi didn't seem to mind. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she gave Senka an assessing look. "What were you up to while I was gone?"

"Oh. Um…" Senka squirmed at the thought of telling Abi about their guilty pleasure, but they wouldn't lie to her. "I was reading."

"Reading?" Abi asked, no doubt confused why that would have them so worked up.

Senka gestured to the shelf where they'd haphazardly set the book, then internally chastised themself for pointing it out to her. "Yes. It's…" They watched Abi cross the room and pick up the novel in a mixture with dread.

She picked the book up and scanned the title. "The Pirate King's Plunder?"

"It's a romance," Senka feebly explained. Their shadow wisps finally pulled back from Abi at their surge of nerves.

Opening the book, Abi scanned a few lines, then looked up at Senka with a grin. "Oh! This one gets right into the action, doesn't it?" Before they could reply, she flipped forward further into the book, and after a minute of reading, her amused smile dropped. "Oh," she whispered, looking back up at them, her pupils blown wide and a deep flush washing over her cheeks. "Do you like this sort of thing?"

Unsure if her blush was from discomfort or excitement, Senka gave her a sheepish smile. They knew what scene she'd found, having practically worn the ink off the pages from how many times they'd read it. "Yes. In theory, at least. I've never done it because it doesn't work well with a shade partner." They cleared their throat, then added with a weak chuckle, "Too easy to get free when you're not fully corporeal."

Abi laughed, but the color was still high on her cheeks. "Would you want to try it?"

"Only if you'd enjoy it, sweet girl," they replied, their arousal amplified by the potential interest in her voice.

She nodded, and Senka's wisps eagerly extended toward her, making her gasp as they brushed against her peaked nipples. "You want me to tie you up and have my way with you, darling? I could use my tentacles to—"

"Yes," Abi gasped.

Senka chuckled at her eagerness. Her breathy assent had them caging her in against the shelf. "Do you want that now, darling?" They knew the precious heat of Abi's desire wasn't something to be ignored when it flared to life, and were more than happy to give her whatever she wanted.

"Yes. I want that. Please," Abi replied.

Senka pressed closer, enjoying the warmth radiating off of Abi's plush form wherever their bodies touched. "No need for begging yet, sweet girl." They dipped their head down to kiss the exposed column of her neck, and Abi's whimper was the sweetest music to their ears. "Save that for when I have you at my mercy," they added, nipping gently at the sensitive skin.

They took Abi's hand and led her to their bed. Wisps of their shadow tugged at the laces of her dress as they walked, undoing it enough that they could slip it off over her head once they reached their destination..

When she was bare to them, Senka guided Abi down onto the bed, their body spreading over hers and their mouths meeting in a heated kiss. Her tongue snaked out to meet theirs, pulling a deep groan from inside them. Lady, they loved kissing her, and not just because it reminded them of how it felt for her to take other parts of them inside her mouth.

Retreating reluctantly from the kiss, Senka didn't waste time giving them both what they wanted. Shadowy tentacles formed from their body, snaking out to wrap around Abi's wrists and ankles. Arms pinned above her head and legs splayed wide, Senka sat back on their heels to drink in the sight of her beneath them.

In all their many readings of the scene where the pirate tied up the heroine, indulging in her desire to be bound and claimed, Senka couldn't have imagined how erotic it would be in real life. Abi's lovely teardrop breasts rose and fell with her rapid breaths, calling for Senka to take one into their mouth. The thatch of white curls between her plush thighs, already glistening with her arousal, begged for them to press a tentacle deep inside her.

"Is this all right, darling?" Senka asked. As arousing as it was for them, they didn't want to push Abi too far.

"It's f-fine."

Senka was less than convinced by her answer, and their tentacles binding her loosened. Sometimes things sounded better in theory, and they hadn't fully discussed the parameters of this kind of play. "Are you sure?" they asked, searching her expression for any distress.

"Yes." Her fingers wrapped around the tentacle looped around her wrist like she was trying to tighten it again. Senka chuckled at the slight downturn of her lips, and happily obliged her silent request. Her breath hitched in response and her hips rocked slightly against the air.

"You'll tell me if you want me to stop? In the books they used a special word, but you can just tell me ‘no'... unless you want me to keep going even if you protest?" Senka wasn't sure if Abi would want to pretend to fight against them, and was even less sure if they liked the idea of that kind of game. They'd much rather hear how much she enjoyed their touch. They craved knowing how much pleasure they brought her.

Abi wet her lips and squirmed slightly in their grasp. "I don't need a word. I'll tell you to stop if I don't like something. Now, please…touch me, Senka."

"I am touching you, sweet girl," they replied, mouth twisting into a grin. Her needy groan sent a spike of heat through them. Oh yes. They liked the way Abi tried to press her hips up toward them, seeking their touch. Their tendrils spread out to tease across her body, sinking slightly beneath Abi's soft skin, and they felt the rapid fluttering of her pulse, a mirror of their own excitement. Some day they'd like to submerge themself into her fully, to know every minute detail of how her body responded to them.

"Mmm, your heart is racing. Is this what you wanted?" Abi's back bowed as she tried to meet their tendrils as they traced around her taught nipples. "Or do you need something else from me?"

"More. I need more," Abi whimpered.

"What do you need more of, darling?" they asked, letting their wisps coalesce into solid fingers that kneaded into her breasts and hips.

Even after exploring Abi's body many times, Senka still couldn't get over how delicate their human lover was. They'd assumed humans" solid, comparably immutable forms meant she wouldn't be very pliable. But oh, she was. When Senka pressed into her plush form without melding inside her, her soft flesh gave beneath them in the most enticing way.

They had to be careful with her. With a shade partner, there was no risk of harming them from too much force. Once, they'd grabbed her hips too hard in their eagerness and there were marks on her pale skin the next day. Abi didn't mind, but they didn't like seeing any part of her marred by their clumsy attentions. Though Senka had to admit, the depictions of how humans played with the border between pleasure and pain in some of the more sordid romances intrigued them.

"Touch my clit. Fill me. Anything, just please, give me more," Abi pleaded, her voice threaded with desperation as their tendrils grazed her inner thighs.

"Such a good girl, telling me what you need," Senka purred, eager to give her what she requested. Two appendages emerged from their lower body, a tongue and a thick tentacle with a large slit at the tip, already weeping liquid. Abi cried out as the shadow tongue lapped at her clit, and Senka groaned at her tangy, potent taste, their tentacle prodding at her entrance. She was already so slick that it slipped inside with little resistance, but Senka didn't rush. They soaked in every inch of their tentacle stretching her as they sank it inside her, sparks of pleasure lighting their senses at the warm, wet heat of her pussy and the way her hips attempted to rise to meet them despite being bound.

When they reached that extra sensitive spot inside her, they held there, pulsing and pressing insistently against it. Senka couldn't help but meld with her as they did, wisps of themself spreading out to stroke her clit internally while they licked the swollen nub from the outside in tandem. Abi was shaking beneath them, moaning and gasping as they attempted to overload their pretty human with pleasure.

"Senka! Oh Lady, that feels…"

"Incredible," Senka finished. She suffused the shade's senses—the heat of her channel, the taste of her arousal, the thrumming of her blood as she grew closer to her peak. It was perfect. She was perfect. "Such a good girl. Taking everything I have to give you. Are you going to come for me like this?

Abi moaned and writhed as her orgasm approached, straining against where they had her bound. When their tentacles around her wrists and ankles pinned her with more force, she gasped and shattered around them. Senka's mouth covered Abi's as they swallowed her cry, their own pleasure overtaking them, sharp and bright, just like the magnificent woman beneath them. Their cum flooded inside her, mingling with her own wetness, and they groaned when they retracted their tentacle and tasted the mixture on their tongue.

Unraveling their tentacles from around Abi's limbs, Senka coalesced back into their more humanoid form. Wisps searched across her wrists and ankles, checking for any sign of discomfort. Suddenly nervous that they'd gotten carried away, Senka cupped Abi's check gingerly. "Was that all right?"

Their tension eased as Abi grinned up at them, stretching languidly. "What do you think?"

Senka laughed. "I think it was amazing. Watching you come like that was beautiful, darling. Makes me want to try it again, but tease you longer to see if I can make you come even harder."

Abi's eyes widened, but Senka didn't miss how her breath hitched. "I think those books have made you a menace."

"I'll stop reading them if it's too much for you." Now that they'd experienced the joy of being with Abi, they didn't need to rely on their ‘research material.'"

"I didn't say that!" Abi huffed indignantly, and they both burst into laughter. Senka moved to lay beside Abi and sighed in contentment as she nestled in against their chest. They'd be happy to explore anything from their books that she wanted, but for now, they were beyond content holding her, their heart swelling with love and appreciation for the blessing of finding such a perfect partner in Abi.