Not hands, paws, with long prehensile toes and razor claws. Every step ripped through the ground, shearing rocks and tree roots. He blinked and there was only the field. He crossed it and entered another thicket of saplings that thickened into full-sized trees deeper into the woods.
His breath fogged. His blood boiled.
Are you fast enough? Are you strong enough?
In response, a wave of rage pummeled Luca’s thoughts. Luca seized the anger, dragging it closer, claiming it as his own, using it to propel himself faster until the world blurred around him.
I don’t think you are.Luca laughed and it morphed into a growl.
Black flashed in his periphery, and Luca dove, rolling through the dead leaves. Branches shattered overhead, obliterated by the impact from the Anubis’s massive body.
Luca made it to his feet.
The Anubis blocked his path. Neck arched, head down, its green eyes glowed brighter than the patches of light, and the darkness of its fur drank the shadows into washed-out shades of grey.
Luca bent his knees and flexed his fingers in a mirrored action of the Anubis.
Which made perfect sense because it was a part of him.
Now.
Forever.
The connection between him and the Anubis flared to life. Particles burst in the air between them. Color bled away to grey. Luca stared at himself through the eyes of the monster, letting the visible waves of its strength flow through him.
“Give it to me.” Luca wasn’t even sure what he asked for until the resonance rippling the world around the Anubis warped, converged, and surrounded Luca, threatening to crush his bones and tear his flesh.
He bared his teeth, and the Anubis stepped back.
Luca bolted, riding on the surge of energy he’d stolen. Behind him, the Anubis roared, and its drive to chase became Luca’s high.
He broke through briars, knowing the thorns cut, but unable to feel anything but the power of flexing muscle and the pump of the heart that wasn’t his. The blurry image of himself pushed through like an old memory, growing brighter until the blistering contrast between the forest and the trail of stars he left behind blinded him.
Luca was snatched off his feet, and his hold on the Anubis’s senses evaporated. Strong arms shielded him from the rocks and sticks, but the impact still knocked out his breath.
He yelled some mix of laughter and frustration while kicking in Nox’s hold. Thunder grew in Nox’s chest, vibrating against Luca’s back. He twisted in Nox’s embrace until the weight of Nox’s body pinned him down.
The length of Nox’s cock rode down Luca’s ass crack, smearing a thick trail of precum.
Luca widened his legs, and Nox undulated against his back. The growl rolling from Nox lowered to a deep thrum. What began as rage swirling through Luca’s mind blossomed into want. Not just because of the pleasure Luca could give it, but because of the calm he brought to the chaos.
Luca shuddered under the barrage of images, a collage of every time he and Nox had been together, from the first touch to the moment the Anubis took over.
“Please…” Luca tried to pull his knees under him so he could lift his ass, but Nox was a mountain of muscle holding him down.
Burning silk slid along Luca’s shoulder, sharp points left hair-thin cuts in his skin, adding another layer to the need to be filled with cock, to be fucked, to be soaked in cum, until the scent of the Anubis bled from his pores.
Nox pushed Luca’s chest to the ground with a hand between his shoulder blades. Leaves scratched his nose, dirt ground into his chin, but he couldn’t care. Luca didn’t want to care.
What began as pressure against Luca’s hole turned into a burning ache. He keened but not from discomfort, from the rightness of it. To be fucked like this, ridden into the ground.
But there was still something missing, something to complete them, join them…
Tie them.
Luca tipped his head to the side. An exhale scalded his shoulder.
The fluid movements of Nox’s body turned rigid, his breath shortened, and shivers racked his frame.