I flicked my tongue against her ear again, dragging my hand up and down her arm. My fingers trailed up to her neck, then down her back, pulling her away from the chair as I teased her. The serum forced me to answer.

“If I absolutely had to, yes, but I prefer not to eat sentients. Though I might eat you out, if you’re a good kitten and beg nicely.” My hand brushed against her tail, and I felt the oddest, tiny tug - and I paused as I realized that my scales had caught against her fur. It was an odd sensation, and a fascinating one, and I stroked her tail letting my hand run along it, tugging against her fur more with my scales.

“As for why you - well. You’re an attractive woman. Smart, and useful. I am sure you’d be helpful to either of my goals, making a new House, or getting back home. An experienced poisoner, or potion maker, is always a valuable ally for an assassin, after all. And I like that fiery spirit of yours… and I want to break it, make you submit.”

She tried to glare at me, but she was in a dizzied suggestive state. She had been dosed by a paralytic unable to shift away from my hypnotism. She had been dosed heavily by my venom and she had the remnants of truth serum coursing through her veins. I had to applaud her for lasting this long against me. But enough was enough. I gripped her, and lifted her up from the chair, her body dangling helpless in the air.

“Do you care if your underwear is torn?” My voice was rough. She shook her head and I felt her soft lips dance across my skin.”Good.” I used my tail to hike her skirt up - then sat down in the chair. When she dropped into my lap moments later, the only thing between us was her underwear, and it didn’t last long.

She rode me, and in her suggestive state she told me all sorts of things as I poked and prodded on what sort of woman she was. What sort of deviant things would please her. And my, was I surprised. I’d have to experiment more later. Instead, I had her - I had her ride me as I ground up against her. We spent some time like that, at one point we fell from the chair to the floor with her beneath me - another point my hand was on her throat and she was anabashidly moaning. Damn.

I wasn’t sure how long we had gone, but we could have continued. Fuck. She wanted to. I understood what she meant now when she said she scared others away. It just made it worse that we were both dosed on aphrodisiacs, because I am fairly certain we continued past the point where our bodies would have normally given out.
--------------

I laid Ayaka down in the bed as she curled up. I didn’t know when she had managed to grab my tail, but now she had a death grip on it, unrelenting as she had been earlier. I chuckled and sat at the edge of her unusual bed. I had managed to get us in here when we were finally spent, and now she was staring at me with those wide eyes, reflecting in the soft light from outside, filtered through the ash. The serums and venom had run their course, and I had let my mild hypnosis of her run out. She had not quite been able to keep up with asking questions - at some point, she had only become demanding of more interesting positions, only somewhat hampered at first by the paralytic in her system.

I twitched the end of my tail in her hands, and watched her eyes flick down to it for a moment before returning to me. “Can I have that back at some point? I’m not a gecko, it won’t regrow if I cut it off.”

“Good to know I can pull it off if you piss me off.”

“That would be rather painful.” I snorted.

“I-don’t remember what was said when I was under all that. I underestimated you. Or overestimated- no… no It was definitely you I underestimated.” I snorted and leaned back, shivering my tail in her hands. She still hadn’t let go.

“I have a venom that drives people into a wild lust, and I just have to bite them to administer it. Of course you underestimated me. I have to keep up with that all the time.” It seemed she may not remember me promising to break her. I did though - and I remembered the look of sheer excitement that she had quickly tried to hide. “After we, ah, sat down, there wasn’t much time for questions, kitten.” I covered up, smirking.

“No..I suppose there wasn’t.” It didn’t take her a lot of convincing. “You won’t be able to do it again that easily. It was only because it’d been three fucking years.”

“Next time, kitten, we’ll both be going for it from the start. I doubt you’ll want to wait another time like that. No, not when you know I’m willing and able.” I smirked at her. An interesting relationship - business and sex, hmm? I could work with that. “And not when you know I have an aphrodisiac that can make it even better than without, and is very easy to administer. By the way - I should probably avoid injecting you with it again for at least a few days. We’re lucky you aren’t already addicted.”

“I’m not your fuckin’ kitten” She spat as she tugged hard on my tail. Ah...I would enjoy moulding that fire. I smirked.

“I didn’t say you were mine. Just kitten. You’re the one thinking of being mine.”

“Like hell I am!” She tried sitting up but winced as she fell back down to the bed. “Ugh. My head.” She lifted her hand to her head. Finally letting go of my tail. It immediately slipped away, coiling around my waist. “I doubt you can get me like that again. ‘Sides. What we did? That was vanilla shit, that doesn’t exactly tickle my fancy.” She shook her head.

“It was indeed. I didn’t even have to get my daggers involved, I didn’t really suffocate you, you don’t have any permanent marks, there was no fire, no ropes.. No, that was just to take your edge off. Next time, well. Next time will be very, very different.” I leaned closer to her. “Next time, I’ll make you bleed.”

Ah. So she was a woman after all. Her cheeks flushed a soft hue of pink. She widened her eyes and her lips parted slightly, before she regained her composure. “Enough about that.” She dismissed the comment. “What are you planning?” She wanted to move on, it seemed, though from the way she kept glancing downwards she was also dancing on the edge of wanting another round.

I shrugged, realizing she had forgotten already asking that. “Well. Fucking you until you scream and collapse, that happened.” I gave her a sideways grin, licking one of my fangs for a moment. “Second was to find out if I could eat food from this world without dying from some bizarre chemical that is toxic to me but common here.” I raised an eyebrow. “We can’t exactly leave though, that ash cloud is too heavy.” I sat back, staring out the window. The world seemed rather bleak.

“Is it always like this?”

“No. Somethings changing. I think a great catastrophe is about to hit this land.” She sounded pensive. Serious. “I brush it off as a storm from a nearby volcano, and that may be the case but - no. There’s something more.” She glanced over at me. “You quite literally magically finding your way here, may just be a part of that. Welcome to hell.”

I snorted. “These aren’t the Shadowlands, kitten. You have life, even if they’re cloaked by this ash. The Shadowlands are.. Nothingness, just existing in a bleak empty space.” I shook my head and pressed on. “After that, either build a new House, or see if I can get home -”

“Ayaka.” She corrected. “Pfft, and you can fuckin’ bite me if you expect me to help you with that without being paid.” I lashed out, my teeth sinking into her shoulder, not as deep as normal, but still I knew she could feel my fangs. She immediately writhed beneath me, the sound she made was a mixture of erotic and pained. I pulled back slowly, licking her blood from my fangs, and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry kitten, what was the rest of that? I heard ‘you can bite me’ and the rest is a blur.”

“Fucker.” She spat as she massaged her wound. Oh yes. She said I wouldn’t break her but she was already slowly crumbling.I smirked, and made a show of finishing licking up her blood from my teeth before folding my fangs back. I closed my mouth with a click.

“You enjoyed it.” I teased her, before unfolding myself from the bed, standing up. Where the Shadows had my pants gotten to? Them coming off was rather blurry - I had been distracted thoroughly at that point.

“I ain’t helping.” She said again. “Without payment. You find a way to fill my coffers with coin, or give me your toxins - and I’ll consider it. And again, its Fucking Ayaka.”

“Yes, I did.” She really did just keep setting them up. “And don’t worry, kitten. I don’t know the lay of the land yet, but you do. I’m a great fuck, but I’m a better assassin. Once I know who has got coin, well. Your coffers will be full.” I slowly stalked over to her, where she was still laying down, and loomed over her. “And I told you, kitten. The only way you’re getting my venom is if I am injecting it into you. Do you want that? To be addicted to me, to crave me at random times?” I studied her, watching as her eyes widened and flicked down my body as I stood over her.

“The other toxin - perhaps, in time. For now, it is a useful edge in assassination. Don’t want to lose that.” I grinned.

She normally had a lot to say, but her barbed tongue was silent as she stared at me. “Doesn’t your body normally shimmer?” I blinked at the sudden segueway, and looked down.

“Not enough light in here for that. I also have to relax in a certain manner to have that happen in low lights like these.”I gestured to the ash-covered window. “If we have a candle, I could show you.”

“Lie down.” she said as she patted the bed. I blinked once, then twice. That was… odd. I shrugged and sat down wondering what was going through her head as she stood up and headed to the closet, grabbed some candles and matches then came back to join me. Placing the two candles between us. “I hate magic. If I studied It I’d be able to whizz bang light but this will do.”

“I can’t use it much myself, this world has an oppressive blanket around it. And it will, yes.”

She lit the candles. Her yellowed eyes watched the dancing flame. “I can see your soul. It is the only magic I hold.”

“That… cannot be a pleasant view.” I was not a good man. I didn’t particularly care, but I was aware of it. You didn’t get to be the scion of a Shadow House of the Ssulitani with nobility. Customs and decorum, sure, but nobility? Not a chance. I relaxed the tiny muscles inside my skin, and my scales prickled upwards, beginning to catch and reflect the light.

She looked up at me with a smirk. “It is most definitely unpleasant.It’s a waving mixture of black and red - you are unquestionably ...antagonistic. There is a strange orange at your epicentre I can’t pick, but when your skin shimmers and dances… its like, your soul does too….” She trailed off and I tilted my head. My soul danced when I was hypnotizing people? I wonder if that was related to the innate mental effects of my race. Hmm. I would have to have her examine me when I grew stronger in this world, and my innate magic could resist the atmospheric one better.

“You won’t find anyone in this town who will be stupid enough to help you, barring me. Further North is the main city, there are no soul seers there….” Her words trailed off as she pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin in them.

“Mmm. Sorta like that.” She mused as she watched me. Just what was she seeing? She seemed almost.. Content with this, and I wasn’t even trying to hypnotize her right now, just letting my scales reflect light. Granted, I did feel… more myself when I was cutting loose like this, because normally Ssulitani didn’t do this - it was impolite, and improper, so frowned upon in civilized society. It was only in the depths of the shadows, or in privacy, that we could just be like this, relaxing and letting this part of our nature out.

“I am a predator, bred from a predator species, raised as an assassin from a street rat. I am not a good man. I am practical, and, much like yourself, rather driven by coin.” I shrugged, watching the reflected greens and blues bounce off of her face.

“Don’t give a fuck, don’t need your life story. Just don’t eat me or whatever.” She mused quietly. Was that… a joke? She was quiet, and her voice didn’t hold the barb I was used to hearing. I rolled my shoulder, the lights dancing again.

“I’d eat you out, not eat you, kitten.” Her reply was a passive ‘mmhmm’. My, she was rather distracted, wasn’t she? I leaned closer to the flame, the light brightening against my scales. I rolled my torso slowly back and forth, letting the reflections glint and glow. I was curious. I wasn’t trying to hypnotize her here, hadn’t started employing deep vibrations. It was just - movement. Slow, steady movement. And the light. Was that enough to distract her? Her eyes followed my movement, fixated on the colors. Her tail thumped to and fro every so often in a steady beat.

“Enjoying the show?” I spoke softly, amused as I tensed my muscles back up, my scales flattening back against my skin. The light still shone against them, but now it was muted, reduced. She was… unexpectedly cute like that. Not at all like I believed. It would be… fun, to bring out that side of her and make it show more, make her submit to me. In time.

“Hmm, what?” She lifted her head to look up at me as she blinked the haze from her eyes. “You say somethin?” I chuckled and shook my head. Oh, too easy.

“You asked me to eat you out, kitten. Begged rather nicely for it. Who would have thought that just some glinting scales could do that to you?” I licked my lips, as if anticipating it.

“Pfft.” She snorted. “I dunno if you had it in you is all.” She mused with that same firey tone.Hah. She actually thought she did ask me. I shifted forward slowly, almost slithering around the fire to invade her space as I loomed over her. I let my tongue slide out of my mouth and flutter in the air between us, tasting the air. Oh? She was still excited, was she? I smirked.

“Kitten, didn’t I already prove that I ‘had it in me’?” I purred, my tongue flickering and vibrating softly.