Roxy was plunged into an absolute, impenetrable darkness.

The shouts of Torian and Zarek echoing from the hallway were instantly, completely muffled, leaving behind a thick, heavy, and suffocatingly intimate silence.

Before Roxy could even attempt to catch her breath or process the ambush, she was forcefully, seamlessly pulled directly against a wall of hard, heavily muscled perfection.

"Syris—" Roxy gasped, her hands instinctively flying up to coil around his neck.

He was burning. Unlike the freezing, cold-blooded temperature he possessed when he first went into hibernation, the Snake King’s body was currently radiating a humid, and intoxicating swamp heat.

His heart was racing against her back, and his breathing was incredibly, agonizingly ragged.

A massive, incredibly thick coil of dark emerald scales slithered smoothly up the back of her thighs. With a terrifying, fluid strength, his tail wrapped securely around her hips, lifting her entirely off the floorboards and forcefully parting her legs to straddle his massive serpentine lower half.

The darkness heightened every single one of her senses. The air was thick with the overwhelming, intoxicating pheromones of an apex predator completely consumed by the imperative to mate.

Roxy’s breath violently hitched as she was pulled flush against his seams.

Through the sheer, dark silk of her dress, Roxy could feel the proof of his feral arousal. From the hidden seams of his serpentine lower half, his dual anatomy had fully extruded. Both of his thick, heavy lengths were pressing hungrily, desperately against her bottom, pulsing with heat. The hibernation’s growth spurt hadn’t just affected Tanith; Syris felt significantly larger, heavier, and completely overwhelming compared to before.

"Roxann..." Syris breathed, his voice a rich, dark, and utterly desperate whimper that vibrated directly into the shell of her ear.

Oh fuck it felt different.

He sounded like a man dying of thirst. The elegant, mocking King of the Swamps was completely gone, replaced by a primal beast teetering on the absolute edge of his sanity. His feral instinct was screaming at him to simply take her, to consume his mate after months of starvation, but his soul was fighting a brutal war for control.

"I am burning alive," Syris whimpered, burying his face into the crook of her neck. His sharp fangs lightly scraped against her pulse point, sending an electric shockwave of pure lust straight down to her core. "My mind is completely fractured, my Queen. The hunger is... it is killing me. But I won’t. I will not take you until you want me."

The sheer, agonizing devotion in his voice made Roxy’s heart beat so fast she felt lightheaded.

Who would want to reject him when he was being this needy and done for?

It had been months since she had felt the Snake King. She didn’t have to worry about a single thing outside this room. Torian and Kaelen had the sterilized bottles of her expressed milk safely stored. The twin boys had brought plenty of cured meats and fresh potatoes for the older children.

Her pack was entirely secure, her baby was fed, and her soul was completely, freely surrendered to the beast holding her in the dark.

"I want you, Syris," Roxy whispered, her hands sliding up to tangle into his long, dark hair. "I want you so badly."

A deep, guttural hiss of euphoria ripped from Syris’s throat.

His coils cleanly stripped away her heavy winter clothes and her silk dress, leaving Roxy completely bare against his blazing skin.

Syris’s long, elegant hands mapped her body with the desperate, frantic worship of a starving man. He traced the curve of her spine. He cupped her heavy breasts, his thumbs finding her sensitive nipples and teasing them into hard, aching peaks.

Roxy let out a breathless moan, her head falling back against his arm as his mouth replaced his fingers. Syris suckled her breasts with a rough, hungry suction, a beautiful, feral desperation that drove her completely out of her mind.

His hand slid lower, trailing down her stomach and slipping between her parted thighs.

He found her clit, swollen and weeping with her own heavy desire. Syris let out a ragged groan at how wet she already was for him. He began to stroke her, using his thumb with a maddening, slippery precision that immediately sent Roxy’s hips bucking blindly against his massive serpent coils.

"You feel so good, Roxann," Syris whimpered sweetly, repeatedly chanting her name like a sacred prayer in the dark. "You are so perfect. Please... please let me inside."

He didn’t wait for a verbal answer. Syris curled her neck back, capturing her lips in a devastating, all-consuming kiss. He poured every single ounce of his starvation, his feral madness, and his overwhelming, desperate desire directly into her mouth. It was a kiss that tasted of greenery.

Roxy tasted the absolute magnitude of his need. She wrapped her legs tighter around his thick, scaled tail, entirely ready to let him completely go.

"Do whatever you want to my body, Syris," Roxy commanded breathlessly against his lips. "Be rough when you need to. Be slow when you want to. Just put your whole length inside me. Now." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Syris let out a hiss, his tongue slithering out to lick her parted lips. He shifted his massive coils, effortlessly aligning her hips with his dual anatomy. With a single, powerful, and completely unhesitating thrust, the Snake King buried himself to the absolute hilt inside her.

Roxy screamed, a glorious, shattered sound that completely filled the dark chamber. The stretch was incredible, the fullness so absolute and overwhelming that it completely blinded her senses. She arched her back, her entire body trembling violently as she tried to fit him comfortably inside her.

Syris held perfectly still for three agonizing heartbeats, letting out a ragged, tearing sob of pure relief as he finally felt the tight, hot walls of Roxy sheathing his feral arousal.

And then, he let go.

He established a punishing, relentless rhythm. He took her up on her absolute surrender, pinning her back against the cool stone wall of his chamber as his massive coils supported her entirely. He was rough when his feral instincts spiked, pounding into her with a brutal force that left her breathless and weeping with pleasure.

But just as quickly, he would slow down, drawing out the friction with an agonizing, sensual grind that forced massive, full-body shivers to rip through her soul.

He was hard. He was a force of nature that Roxy met with fiery enthusiasm.

The pitch-black room echoed with the wet, heavy sounds of their union, the slapping of flesh, and the desperate, breathless whimpers of a Warlord finally claiming his prize after a long, dark winter.

It was so naughty to hear the sounds echoing more than they used to before, but Roxy couldn’t even think about anything with how mangled her brain felt.

Roxy’s climax hit her and she screamed his name, her entire body violently clenching around him, milking every drop of pleasure from his length. The sheer force of her release triggered his own. Syris groaned as he poured his essence into her, knotting her to him.

As the violent echoes of their climax slowly faded into heavy, synchronized panting, the massive emerald serpent slowly lowered her back onto the plush, velvet-covered bed in the center of the dark room.

Syris lay heavily on top of her, his massive coils completely wrapping around her limbs, burying her in a cocoon. He buried his face in her dark curls, his breathing finally beginning to steady.

He still wanted more but for now, he wanted to consume her fully. Syris pressed a soft, lingering kiss to the side of her neck.

"I miss you, Roxann."