Drawing Xena even closer with an intentional tenderness, their lips laced together in a deep, passionate kiss-as if the universe had ordained it, right here and now. Their tongues intertwined in a gentle waltz of longing and connection, sharing secrets only their hearts could understand.
His hands moved surely and steadily to the knot that secured the towel around Xena's form. He started to untie it slowly, but she grasped it firmly, trying to hold back with her hesitation, like some dam against an irresistible tide.
"You don't have to be afraid; I'll take care of everything," he whispered, his breath fanning across her lips like a spring breeze promising hope. The gentle sweet melody of his words dissolved her fears. He wrapped his hands tenderly around her neck, his touch a whisper of trust. "Relax; everything will be okay. I've got this." Xena exhaled shakily, the weight of her resolve dissipating like morning mist under the sun, and she let go.
The towel slipped from her fingers, gliding down her body in a slow, deliberate surrender to gravity, pooling around her feet like a silken offering. In one smooth movement, Drake pulled her onto his lap. She wrapped her arms instinctively around his neck, and her fingers touched the nape of his neck in a touch lighter than air.
Her fingers snapped again, and a glittering shield appeared, winking softly in the semi-transparency of its glow. Dragons were born with a deep-seated knowledge of the sanctity of intimacy, and it was an old instinct that guided her.
Their lips met again in a storm of fire and urgency. The air seemed to thrum with the rhythm of pounding hearts as they moved to the bed. Drake laid her down with a gentleness that did not match the violence of his longing. His lips explored hers, deepening their kiss, his hands roaming over her form, finding the soft curves of her breasts.
The moans of Xena, melodious discourses in the tongue of passion, filled the room, her body arching in response to his touch.
His mouth found her pink, sensitive peaks and his tongue drew slow, deliberate circles around them, shifting between one and the other, savoring the taste of divinity. Her body answered instinctively, the body shaking from his ministrations as shallow, ragged breaths escaped her lips.
A faint crimson mana circle flickered to life beneath her, spinning languidly like a celestial dance. It radiated an ancient, otherworldly power, as though the cosmos itself was witness to their union. Fluid seeped from her, her body's betrayal against surging waves of pleasure which coursed through her veins. Drake pulled back; his gaze met hers in a search for permission and found only unspoken surrender.
With deliberation, he spread her legs, the resistance in her dissolving under the furious storm of their mutual lust. For the first time, Drake saw the secret pink world she had kept from all others.
He paused but not for doubt, in reverence, it seemed to him that he stood before the gates of a holy temple. Xena's soft moans reassured him and nudged him further. His fingers guided him to her opening, his touch as light as spring rain.
As he moved to claim her, a dragon seal materialized over her entrance, shining with defiance against his advance. The force of their combined desire was unstoppable, though-a meteor crashing into the earth. The seal burst in a blaze of light and energy, yielding to their union.
Xena arched her back, her body folding into his as waves of sensation overwhelmed her. The silent cry of ecstasy escaped her lips as her world was consumed by the euphoria of their joining. Together, they rose to the peak of their intimacy, their bodies so perfectly entwined.
Beneath them, the crimson mana circle began to pulse anew as it drew mana from the surroundings. It took on the shape of an eight-petaled crimson flower with each petal shimmering as if it were molten rubies. Energy weighted in the air, an orchestra of power vibrating through their souls.
In a far room at the academy, three men and two women sat cross-legged inside of a mana absorption chamber; their focus broken as mana flow suddenly took a turn in a different direction. There was blood dripping from their mouths as it violently rejected their link to the energy around them.
Principal Logan, perched on the roof of the academy, had felt the disturbance as it rippled through the air. His sharp gaze turned to its source: Drake's room, where an unnatural vortex of power hummed ominously.
The eight-petaled flower surrounded Drake and Xena, its shining petals casting a soft, crimson glow. The mana it drew from the atmosphere channeled directly into Drake's body, his strength sharpened with every surge, like someone tempering a blade to perfection.
A sudden surge coursed through him, his staff releasing a torrent of mana into Xena, her reverse scale transferring into him in a burst of light and energy. Their exchange electrified the air, the raw power of their union a tangible force. The pressure erupted outward from Drake, a storm breaking free from its constraints, shaking the room's foundations.
Overcome by the intensity, Drake slumped onto Xena, entwining their bodies as their breaths turned shallow and labored. The room was silent, except for the soft hum of residual energy.
Fortunately, this weekend, courtesy of the academy, became an opening to bring them the much-needed reprieve, a little window of time to rejuvenate amidst the monumental exchange of fate that will change their courses forever.