Work Text:
The relentless summer heat had laid siege to the city long before the sun even crested the horizon, creeping silently through the thin glass of the apartment windows and settling into the plaster walls like a heavy, suffocating blanket. By mid-morning, the iron framing of the fire escape outside was radiating intense heat, and the air trapped inside the third-floor apartment had turned entirely stagnant, thick with the rising, sticky humidity characteristic of late January.
Shadowheart sat on the edge of the unmade mattress in the bedroom, her legs dangling over the side as she watched Lae’zel carefully peel away the clear protective film from her upper right arm. The sharp, medical scent of antiseptic ointment and fresh ink cut clean through the heavy room air, instantly displacing the lingering smell of stale summer heat.
Lae’zel had returned to the apartment only an hour prior from the studio downtown. She had walked through the front door without a single word of complaint or sign of fatigue, her skin flushed deep red around the edges of the fresh bandage, her spine as unyielding as ever despite having spent five consecutive hours beneath a tattoo needle. Now, as the clear plastic came away with a faint peeling sound, the fresh ink was revealed in full detail against her skin.
Surrounding the sharp, geometric bands of blackwork that covered her forearm and shoulder, the newly applied portrait of Shadowheart sat prominently on her bicep. The tattoo artist had captured her features with staggering accuracy: the soft, quiet curve of her mouth, the subtle, guarded weight behind her eyes, and the lightness of her hair. The lines were remarkably soft-edged, creating a stark, deliberate contrast against the harsh, aggressive angles of the existing ink surrounding it.
"You're completely out of your mind," Shadowheart said softly, breaking the silence of the room. She leaned forward, reaching out with a single hand, her index finger hovering barely a millimeter above the inflamed, freshly worked skin. "You let a total stranger carve my face into your arm. Permanently."
Lae’zel did not flinch or pull away as she picked up a tube of soothing salve from the nightstand. She squeezed a small dollop onto her fingertips and began applying a thin, even layer over the tender artwork, her touch surprisingly light for someone of her strength. Her golden eyes turned toward Shadowheart, burning with a quiet, unyielding focus that made Shadowheart's breath catch in her throat.
"It is where you belong," Lae’zel replied, her voice flat, clipped, and devoid of any doubt. "My body is a living record of what I hold, what I have earned, and what I protect. You are not temporary, Shadowheart. You will not be treated as such."
The absolute weight of that statement hung in the room, making the air feel even denser than the humidity already dictated. Shadowheart looked up from the tattoo to meet Lae’zel’s gaze, searching her face for any trace of her usual stoic defense or deflective pride, but found none. Lae’zel meant every word without reservation.
"People change, Lae'zel," Shadowheart murmured, her tone losing its usual sharp edge, softened by the raw gravity of the gesture. "Tattoos last long after everything else falls apart."
"Let it last," Lae’zel countered, smoothing the clear ointment over the highlighted curves of the inked portrait. "If the world falls apart around us, my skin will still bear the truth of what was built here. I do not fear permanence when it concerns you."
Shadowheart swallowed hard, her heart giving a slow, heavy thud against her ribs. She reached up, gently pressing her hand flat against Lae’zel’s bare chest, right over her sternum, feeling the rapid, powerful pulse beating beneath her warm skin. "You make it very difficult to keep my distance, you know that?"
"Good," Lae’zel growled softly, placing her own hand over Shadowheart’s, squeezing her fingers firmly. "Distance between us is an error. One I intend to eliminate continuously."
For the next several hours, that unspoken, electric baseline lingered between them, turning every minor interaction into an exercise in restraint. As the sun climbed to its peak, turning the apartment into an unbearable furnace, the physical reality of the heat forced them both to strip down to the bare minimum.
Shadowheart discarded her heavy jeans in favor of a pair of thin lace shorts that sat low on her waist, leaving her plush, gently rounded belly fully exposed. A lush trail of dark pubic hair spilled out from beneath the elastic, running upward to her belly button, completely unhidden. She wore only a sheer cotton tank top above, the light fabric sticking faintly to the damp skin over her chest and back.
Lae’zel had replaced her top at some point, wearing a sleeveless dark shirt that clung tightly to her muscular torso, leaving her fully decorated arms completely bare. The fresh ink on her bicep remained glossy with salve, catching the light whenever she moved through the apartment.
They moved around the small space like kinetic energy waiting for a collision. Shadowheart spent time in the living room, trying and failing to find a breeze near the open windows, while Lae’zel paced the kitchen, her deliberate, heavy steps echoing off the wood floorboards. Every time their paths crossed in the narrow hallway or near the doorway, their eyes met, tracking each other with an intense, raw focus that had nothing to do with the summer weather outside.
By late afternoon, the heat had settled thick and motionless inside the small apartment, turning the cramped rooms into a sweltering pressure cooker long before the sun even began its slow drop toward the horizon. Outside the third-floor windows, the continuous hum of city traffic buzzed through the glass, but inside the flat, the only audible sound was the steady, low electric drone of a box fan sitting in the corner of the living room, uselessly pushing warm air across the wood floorboards.
Shadowheart stood leaning back against the kitchen bench, the cool ceramic tiles biting faintly through the thin fabric of her shorts, though the surface offered very little relief from the prickle of sweat along her neck. Her light hair was pinned up loosely, stray strands sticking to her damp temples in the humidity. She held a glass of ice water in one hand, watching the condensation bead up, run down the glass, and drip onto her knuckles.
Across the open layout of the room, Lae’zel leaned against the wooden doorframe that led into the bedroom. Shadowheart couldn't help but stare at the multitude of tattoos across her arms. The lines were sharp, intimidating, and uncompromising in a way that reminded Shadowheart of their conflicted early days together. On her right bicep, nestled among those sharp angles, the fresh portrait of Shadowheart, brought things to the present. Two people who'd found unlikely closeness.
"The air conditioning in this building is a joke," Shadowheart said, her voice dry, carrying a casual bite as she took a slow sip from her glass. "If you keep staring like that, you are going to pass out from heatstroke before the sun goes down."
Lae’zel did not shift her weight or break her posture. Her gold-tinted eyes remained locked on Shadowheart, tracking every small movement, from the shift of her hips to the subtle rise and fall of her chest, along with the way the damp fabric of her shirt clung to the soft curve of her abdomen.
"The temperature is irrelevant," Lae’zel replied, her tone clipped, low, and perfectly even. "You waste breath complaining about the atmosphere when the solution is simply to endure it. Or alter it."
"Right. Very stoic of you," Shadowheart murmured sarcastically, setting her glass down on the bench with a quiet clink. She smoothed one hand down her front, her fingers briefly resting over her stomach. The plush softness that had come with leaving adventuring behind was apparent from the gentle curve of her belly. The lush trail of dark pubic hair that began just below her navel and disappeared straight down into her shorts only made it more obvious. "And I suppose sitting there burning a hole through me with your eyes counts as enduring?"
"I am observing," Lae’zel said, finally pushing off from the doorframe. Her steps were deliberate, quiet, and heavy on the floorboards as she crossed the small kitchen space. "You move too slowly in this weather. It invites attention."
"Maybe I like keeping you waiting," Shadowheart countered, her chin lifting slightly as Lae’zel closed the distance between them.
When Lae’zel stopped moving, she was barely an inch away, her physical presence crowding Shadowheart back against the lip of the kitchen counter. The heat radiating off Lae’zel’s skin was intense, carrying the clean scent of cedar and sweat.
Lae’zel reached out, her long fingers coming down heavily onto the wood right beside Shadowheart’s hip, effectively trapping her in place. "You do not control the pace of this evening," Lae’zel growled softly, leaning down until her breath brushed against Shadowheart’s cheek. "You never have."
Shadowheart felt a sharp spark of heat ignite low in her gut, entirely distinct from the ambient room temperature. Her heart gave a hard thud against her ribs. Her eyes tracked down the heavy muscle of Lae’zel’s right arm, her gaze lingering on the dark ink wrapping around her bicep, where the aggressive sleeves broke suddenly for the soft rendering of her own face.
"You like to pretend you are in total control," Shadowheart whispered, her breathing starting to shallow as she reached up, her fingernails lightly scraping across the tattooed skin of Lae’zel’s flexed arm. "But you carried that picture to a shop, sat in a chair for hours, and had them carve my face onto your body forever. Who is really pulling the strings here?"
Lae’zel’s jaw tightened, a sharp muscle flexing near her ear. Her hand moved from the counter, her fingers wrapping firmly around Shadowheart’s chin to force her face upward, demanding direct eye contact.
"It is not a leash," Lae’zel said, her voice dropping into a low, guttural register that sent a shiver straight down Shadowheart’s spine. "It is a declaration."
Without breaking eye contact, Lae’zel shifted her grip, taking Shadowheart by the wrist and pulling her away from the kitchen counter. Shadowheart did not resist. Her knees felt slightly weak, her pulse fluttering violently at her throat and between her thighs as a heavy ache began to build behind her pelvis, making her skin feel hyper-sensitive to every touch.
Lae’zel backed her out of the kitchen and into the dim hallway leading toward the back of the apartment. The air in the narrow passage was even heavier, static with anticipation. Every time Shadowheart attempted to slow down or say something sharp, Lae’zel kept her moving, her grip firm and her eyes fixed forward with total focus.
They crossed the threshold into the bedroom, which was bathed in a harsh, amber glow from the streetlights outside filtering through the blinds, casting long slashes of light across the bed and the drywall.
Shadowheart turned to face her, her back touching the wall near the head of the mattress. She opened her mouth to speak, a playful taunt ready on her tongue, but Lae’zel stepped straight into her personal space, crowding her flush against the wall and cutting off her line of sight.
Lae’zel reached down, grabbed the hem of Shadowheart’s tank top, and yanked it upward in one continuous motion, tossing it blindly across the room. As the fabric cleared, Shadowheart was left completely bare from the waist up in the amber light. Her body was soft where Lae’zel was hard, her belly showing that plush curve dipping slightly at her waist. From her belly button, the untamed trail of dark pubic hair spilled downward, dense and natural, disappearing straight into the elastic waistband of her lace shorts.
Lae’zel’s gaze darkened as her pupils dilated. She dropped to her knees, her tattooed arms framing Shadowheart’s hips against the wall. Without hesitation, she pressed her face directly into that soft stomach, taking in the scent of her skin. Her tongue flicked out, trailing wet, hot lines down through the hair of the trail toward her waist.
"Lae..." Shadowheart arched her back against the drywall, her fingers digging into Lae’zel’s shoulders, feeling the defined shape of the muscles beneath her hands.
Lae’zel reached for the lace shorts, gripping the fabric and ripping them down her legs with a single sharp tug, leaving both of them fully exposed. Their bodies were already responding heavily to the heat and proximity. Their cocks were hard and leaking clear pre-cum that glistened against their thighs in the dim light. Lae’zel’s shaft was thick and heavily veined, while Shadowheart’s stood rigid, twitching with every ragged breath she took.
Lae’zel stood back up, her eyes locked on Shadowheart’s face. She reached down, grabbed Shadowheart under her thighs, and hoisted her up, slamming her back firmly against the wall. The impact made Shadowheart gasp as her legs automatically wrapped around Lae’zel’s waist to support herself.
"I am going to ruin you," Lae’zel hissed against her cheek.
Skipping any preparation, Lae’zel used the slickness of their combined pre-cum, guiding the tip of her hard cock directly against the tight opening of Shadowheart’s ass. With one powerful, uncompromising thrust, Lae’zel drove her full length deep inside her.
Shadowheart let out an open scream, her head snapping back hard against the drywall. The sheer fullness was intense, a stretching, deep pressure that filled her ass completely, making her toes curl around Lae’zel’s lower back.
Lae’zel gave her no time to adapt to the size. She began to drive her hips forward in a rhythmic, relentless pattern, her strikes pounding into Shadowheart’s body. The sound of their wet flesh colliding echoed loudly through the quiet room. Lae’zel’s right bicep flexed with every stroke, making the inked portrait of Shadowheart shift and move in time with the motion of her body.
Shadowheart was overwhelmed by the sensation. Her plush belly flattened and rubbed against Lae’zel’s firm abdomen, while the friction of their dark pubic hair generated continuous heat between their waists. She felt every inch of Lae’zel moving inside her, the thick head of her cock striking her inner walls with heavy force.
"Fuck, yes, right there," Shadowheart wailed, her voice cracking in the quiet bedroom. "Harder, give it to me harder!"
Lae’zel obeyed the demand, her pace turning feral. She dug her fingers into Shadowheart’s soft hips, gripping her so tightly that her knuckles turned pale, leaving immediate pressure marks on her skin. She slammed into her as if trying to force their bodies into a single entity, her breathing coming in jagged, heavy grunts.
"You are mine," Lae’zel groaned, the deep vibrations of her voice reverberating directly through Shadowheart’s chest.
Shadowheart’s cries broke into breathless whimpers as her body began to shake uncontrollably. She felt a tight, intense coil wrapping around her lower stomach, reaching a threshold that was about to break.
Lae’zel felt the sudden contraction of Shadowheart’s internal muscles clamping down hard around her shaft. The intense friction, combined with the sight of Shadowheart’s face open in raw pleasure, pushed her past her limit. Lae’zel let out a loud roar, her entire body locking up as she delivered one final, incredibly deep thrust that buried her right up against Shadowheart’s skin.
"OH FUCK!" Lae’zel shouted, her cock pulsing inside Shadowheart’s ass as she came, shooting heavy streams of hot cum deep into her body.
Shadowheart let out a high, strained keen as her own climax hit simultaneously. Her hard cock twitched and sprayed thick white ropes of cum across her own plush stomach and up onto Lae’zel’s chest, the warm fluid mixing with their sweat and running down over the tattoos on Lae’zel’s skin.
They remained pinned together against the wall for several long seconds, chests heaving, hearts hammering in unison. Lae’zel leaned her head forward, sinking her teeth gently into the side of Shadowheart’s neck.
Slowly, Lae’zel began to pull back, the wet, suctioning sound of her thick cock sliding out of Shadowheart’s stretched entrance filling the quiet room. Shadowheart’s legs lost their grip on Lae’zel’s waist, sliding down her hips as she dropped back onto the mattress behind her. She landed with a heavy huff, sinking into the bed, her arms and legs splayed out in complete exhaustion.
As her body relaxed on the sheets, the cream was no longer held inside. A thick stream of Lae’zel’s cum began to leak steadily from her open, puckered hole, the white fluid glistening against her skin and pooling beneath her, soaking deep into the dark sheets. It dripped down her buttocks, leaving a wet reminder of how completely she had just been filled.
Shadowheart lay there, her chest rising and falling in ragged breaths. Her plush stomach was covered in sticky streaks of her own cum, while the trail of dark pubic hair was matted down with a mixture of sweat and fluid, contrasting sharply against her pale skin.
Lae’zel did not step away. She climbed onto the bed and crawled over Shadowheart, bracing her weight on her forearms on either side of Shadowheart’s head. The tattoo on her right bicep was situated directly beside Shadowheart’s face, the inked portrait staring down at the flushed woman beneath her. Lae’zel’s cock was still semi-hard, twitching against Shadowheart’s inner thigh and leaving a wet streak of fluid across her skin.
Shadowheart looked up, her eyes heavy and glazed over with satisfaction. She reached up with trembling hands, gripping the back of Lae’zel’s neck, and pulled her down into a kiss.
This time, the kiss was slow, deep, and thick with the taste of salt. Lae’zel groaned into Shadowheart’s mouth, her tongue pushing past her lips to claim her again in a deliberate, unhurried rhythm.
Shadowheart moaned softly into the kiss, arching her lower back slightly as the cooler room air hit the warm semen leaking out of her backside onto the mattress. She pulled Lae’zel’s weight down directly onto her, wanting to feel the heavy, muscular pressure of her body flattening her own softer one.
Lae’zel broke the kiss by a fraction of an inch, her breath hot and heavy against Shadowheart’s wet lips.
"You taste of victory, Shadowheart," Lae’zel whispered.
Lae’zel rested her forehead against Shadowheart’s, creating a small, warm pocket of air between their faces. Her heavy breathing slowly began to regulate, each exhale brushing against Shadowheart’s lips. Beneath them, the mattress held their combined weight while the fluid leaking from Shadowheart’s open hole continued to spread across the dark fitted sheet.
Shadowheart slid her hand down from Lae’zel’s neck to her shoulder, her thumb stroking the firm curve of her tattooed muscle. The ink of her own face on Lae’zel’s arm gleamed under the streetlamp light, wet with sweat.
"Victory?" Shadowheart rasped, her voice rough and completely devoid of her usual bite. A small, genuine smile remained on her face as she looked up into Lae’zel’s golden eyes. "Is that what we are calling this? You look just as wrecked as I feel."
Lae’zel let out a short, rough sound from her throat, a soft chk that held no anger, only grounded warmth. She shifted slightly, lowering her left forearm onto the pillow beside Shadowheart’s head to frame her face, while her semi-hard cock remained resting heavily against Shadowheart’s upper thigh, leaving another wet streak across her skin.
"It is not a defeat to be undone by what is yours," Lae’zel said, her voice carrying a calm, absolute certainty. She reached down with her free hand, spreading her long fingers wide across Shadowheart’s belly. Her thumb sank into the soft flesh right beside the dark line of hair, feeling the heavy, steady thud of Shadowheart’s pulse beneath her palm. "In the creche, they teach us to discard softness. They claim it weakens the blade. They are fools."
Shadowheart covered Lae’zel’s hand with her own, lacing their fingers together across her stomach and pressing Lae’zel’s palm down firmly against her soft skin. The friction against the matted pubic hair beneath Lae’zel’s hand sent a lingering shiver straight through Shadowheart’s hips.
"And what do you call it, then?" Shadowheart asked softly, searching Lae’zel’s sharp features and noticing the subtle softening around her eyes. "If it is not a weakness?"
Lae’zel lowered her head, pressing her lips firmly to the pulse point at the side of Shadowheart’s neck, lingering there as if anchoring herself to the steady rhythm of her heart. She spoke directly against her skin, the low vibrations of her voice traveling through Shadowheart’s chest.
"You are my k'sharr," Lae’zel murmured, using the deep cadence of her native tongue. "My heart-bound. My source. There is no battle I would fight that does not bring me back to this room, to this skin."
The absoluteness of the words lingered in the humid room. Shadowheart felt a deep warmth expand through her chest, washing away the last defenses she usually kept raised. She tilted her head back, exposing her throat completely to Lae’zel, her fingers tightening around Lae’zel’s wrist.
"Say it again," Shadowheart whispered.
Lae’zel lifted her head just enough to look directly into Shadowheart’s eyes, her gaze intense, stripped of all aggression.
"You are mine, Shadowheart. Not as a conquest, and not as a trophy carved onto my arm." Lae’zel pressed her hand firmer against Shadowheart’s stomach, her thumb tracing the line of dark hair down toward her waist. "You are the ground I stand upon. I love you. In this realm, or any other."
A long sigh escaped Shadowheart’s lips, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. She reached up with both hands, cupping Lae’zel’s cheeks, and pulled her down into another kiss, this one soft, unhurried, and lingering against her lips.
When they finally separated, Lae’zel did not move away. She shifted her weight and collapsed down alongside Shadowheart, pulling her soft body flush against her side. Shadowheart rested her head on Lae’zel’s shoulder, her hand settling over the muscle of Lae’zel’s bicep, her fingers tracing the outline of her own portrait inked into the skin.
"I love you, Lae'zel," she whispered into Lae'zel's neck.
They lay together on the damp mattress in the cooling room, covered in sweat and fluid, listening to the distant hum of the city outside, completely anchored to one another.
By two in the morning, a sudden thunderstorm broke over the city, shattering the dense heat dome that had held the apartment hostage all day. Torrential rain lashed against the bedroom window, dropping the temperature rapidly and sending a cool, damp breeze through the open screen.
Shadowheart stirred as the shift in temperature hit her bare skin. She was still lying pinned against Lae’zel’s side, her head resting heavily on the warrior's shoulder. The fluid that had covered them earlier had dried into stiff, sticky streaks across her stomach and inner thighs, while the dark fitted sheet beneath them remained damp and heavily stained where Lae’zel’s seed had soaked into the fabric.
Lae’zel was already awake, sitting up slightly against the headboard. In the dim, blue light of the storm outside, she was holding a damp washcloth she had fetched from the bathroom while Shadowheart slept. Without saying a word, Lae’zel began to clean Shadowheart’s skin with careful, heavy strokes, wiping away the dried cum from her soft abdomen and gently clearing the matted hair of her trail down to her waist.
Shadowheart let out a soft, contented hum, leaning into the pressure of the wet cloth. "You don't have to do that," she murmured, her voice thick and raspy with sleep.
"I do," Lae’zel replied quietly, rinsing the cloth in a small basin of cool water she had set beside the bed before bringing it back down to wipe between Shadowheart’s thighs, clearing away the residual slickness leaking from her open backside. "Care of one’s partner after such intensity is essential. You gave everything tonight. It is my duty to restore you."
"I am not a broken weapon to be maintained, Lae’zel," Shadowheart said, a faint, fond smile touching her lips despite the correction. She reached out, resting her hand over Lae’zel’s right arm, her palm covering the fresh tattoo.
"No," Lae'zel conceded, her golden eyes softening as she set the cloth down on the nightstand. "You are not. A weapon is replaced when worn. You are anchored to my soul."
Shadowheart looked up at her, taking in the faint exhaustion present in Lae’zel’s posture. She noticed the streaks of her own dried white release splattered across Lae’zel’s firm chest and abdomen, running down toward her hips where their sweat had mixed hours before. The warrior had spent all her effort tending to Shadowheart while neglecting her own body.
Sitting up slowly, Shadowheart reached over Lae’zel to grab the basin and washcloth. She wrung out the cotton fabric, the water sloshing softly in the quiet room, before turning her full attention to the woman beside her.
"My turn," Shadowheart whispered, her tone gentle but carrying an uncompromising quiet authority that matched Lae’zel’s own.
Lae’zel opened her mouth as if to protest, her instinct to remain self-reliant flaring briefly, but Shadowheart placed a warm hand flat against her sternum, pressing her back against the pillows. Lae’zel let out a soft, yielding exhale and relaxed her frame, allowing herself to be taken care of.
Shadowheart started at Lae’zel’s chest, pressing the damp cloth against the dried white ropes of her own climax that coated the muscles above Lae’zel’s ribs. She moved in slow, deliberate circles, carefully rehydrating and wiping away the fluid. She was thorough, tracing the defined lines of Lae’zel’s abs down to her hips, taking her time to clean the dark, coarse hair around her groin and the heavy shaft of her cock, which still sat thick and flaccid against her thigh, smeared with the remnants of their union.
As Shadowheart worked, her fingers brushed gently over the fresh blackwork ink on Lae’zel’s right arm. She was conscious of the tenderness remaining in the skin, applying just enough pressure to clean away the sweat without causing pain. The detailed portrait of her own face seemed to stare back at her from Lae’zel’s bicep, a permanent mark of devotion carved into muscle.
"You spent five hours getting this done today," Shadowheart said softly, her thumb tracing the soft border where her portrait met the geometric patterns of Lae’zel’s sleeve. "And then you came home and used every ounce of strength you had left to drive me into the wall."
"It was the only acceptable thing to do," Lae’zel murmured, her eyes tracking Shadowheart’s face with absolute focus. She reached up, her long, calloused fingers sliding into Shadowheart’s light hair, holding her gently at the nape of her neck. "To hold this ink upon my skin while leaving you untouched would have been an absurdity."
Shadowheart finished wiping away the last of the dried fluid from Lae’zel’s thighs and set the basin back down on the floor. She leaned forward, pressing her body against Lae’zel’s clean, cool skin, resting her forearms on either side of Lae’zel’s head.
"You are relentless," Shadowheart whispered, dropping her head to press a soft, lingering kiss to the side of Lae’zel’s jawline, right over the pulse point that was beating steady and slow. "And entirely mine."
"Always," Lae’zel agreed, her voice dropping into that low, resonant register that vibrated directly into Shadowheart’s chest. Her arms wrapped around Shadowheart’s waist, pulling her soft hips flush against her hard pelvis. "There is no part of me that does not belong to you."
Shadowheart pulled back just enough to look into Lae’zel’s gold-tinted eyes. The sharp, aggressive edge that Lae’zel presented to the rest of the world was completely absent, replaced by an open, profound affection reserved solely for the room they occupied.
"I love you, Lae'zel," Shadowheart said, stating the truth clearly, without a trace of her usual deflective humor or playful taunts.
Lae’zel’s hand moved from her hair to cup her cheek, her thumb smoothing over Shadowheart’s lower lip. "And I love you, Shadowheart. Beyond any duty."
Shadowheart shifted down, pulling the light top sheet over both of their bare, clean bodies. The thunderstorm continued to rumble outside, the heavy rain beating a steady rhythm against the glass, but the air inside the room was now cool, fresh, and quiet. Shadowheart rested her head squarely on Lae’zel’s chest, listening to the slow, heavy thud of her heart, while her fingers remained resting lightly over the inked portrait on Lae’zel’s arm.
Wrapped in each other’s arms, skin to skin, they finally let exhaustion take them, falling into a deep, uninterrupted sleep that lasted until dawn.