The Bronze Bull of Gremory - 10

Disclaimer: I do not have any rights of ownership for the characters used except the OC's. All the credit goes to the authors. Only the plot belongs to me.

Chapter 10

The moonlight filtering through the windows of the master suite within the Gremory mountain retreat was ghostly, casting long, angular shadows across the opulent bedroom. Outside, the wind howled through the remote parts of the foliage surrounding them, the sound of trees rustling filled the area with an eerie and spectral feeling. But inside the room, the air was heavy and thick with the scent of musk, lavender, and the undeniable, lingering touch of powerful magic and spent passion.

The grand four-poster bed, veiled in silks the colour of deep amethyst, was a landscape of tangled sheets and pillows thrown astray.

Lying amidst the haphazardly arranged bed was Taurus. The massive Rook stared up at the wooden beams of the ceiling, his breathing slowly returning to a rhythmic, heavy cadence. His bronze skin, usually impenetrable and marred only by the scars of his battles or Surtr’s brutal training, now glistened with a sheen of sweat.

Beside him, propped up on one elbow, lay Venelana Gremory.

The matriarch of the Gremory clan looked like a woman who had just engaged in a carnal marathon that would have broken lesser beings. She looked ethereal. Her flaxen hair cascaded down her bare back like a waterfall of luscious locks. Her violet eyes, the colour resembling the sheets that lay over her ravaged form, yet infinitely deeper and more dangerous, traced the lines of Taurus’s jaw, his neck, and the broad expanse of his chest.

She ran a manicured fingernail down his sternum, the sensation sending a shiver through his massive frame despite his exhaustion.

"You are improving," Venelana murmured, her voice a rich contralto that vibrated in the quiet room. "Your stamina, your control... you are beginning to understand that power is not just about the brute force behind an attack. It is about the endurement, the agility."

Taurus turned his head, his golden eyes meeting hers. "You got me a good teacher."

Venelana chuckled, a low, throaty sound. She leaned down, pressing a lingering kiss to his shoulder, tasting the salt on his skin. "Flattery will get you everywhere with me, my little Bull."

She sighed, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling, her expression shifting from lover to strategist. The shift was instant, a testament to her centuries of navigating the cutthroat politics of the Underworld.

"Rias," she said, the name hanging in the air like a weight.

"Is she surviving?" Taurus asked, his voice rumbling in his chest.

"Barely," Venelana admitted, her eyes narrowing. "But 'barely' is enough. I promised I would deliver her hell, and I am a woman of my word. The Power of Destruction... it is not a toy. It is not a simple magical blast. It is a fundamental force that needs the caster to understand and be familiar with the very essence of it. To wield it is to invite the void into your own veins."

She held up her hand, and for a split second, a tiny sphere of black-and-crimson energy manifested above her palm. It seemed to eat the light around it, a microscopic black hole of annihilation.

"Rias has always treated it like a blunt instrument," Venelana explained, extinguishing the orb. "She pushes it out. But to truly master it, she must accept it. She must let it corrode her, just a little, so she understands what she is inflicting upon the world. The sessions we have had over the last five days... I have broken her from within and then tried my best to rebuild her, Taurus. I have exhausted her reserves until she was coughing up blood, training each day till her body shuts down from the sheer strain that is placed upon her magic pool. I have forced her to face the reality that being gifted the Power of Destruction comes with."

Taurus frowned, a protective instinct flaring in his gut. "Is that... necessary?"

"Against Riser Phenex? Absolutely," Venelana turned to him, her face hard. "Riser is a mediocre fighter with an ability enabling him to stand a tier above his peers. Immortality. Regeneration. Hellfire. He is sloppy because he has never needed to be careful. He can afford to make mistakes. Rias cannot. If she hits him with a standard blast, he heals before the smoke clears. She needs to hit him with something that negates healing. Something that destroys the very concept of his regeneration. She needs potency, not just brute force. Or, she needs to outlast him."

"She will win," Taurus stated with conviction.

"If she faced anyone else? Definitely. Perhaps, even Sairaorg in a raw contest? Yes, she would stand a chance for a while," Venelana conceded. "Her output has improved by leaps and bounds. She is stronger today than she was when we walked in here 5 days ago. Almost doubly so. But Riser is a direct counter to her fighting style. To win, she must outlast him. She must inflict damage faster than he can recover, or she must erase him entirely. And to do that... she needs her peerage to clear the board."

Venelana sat up, the sheet falling to her waist, exposing the creamy perfection of her back. She ran a hand through her hair, looking troubled.

"That brings me to my concern, Taurus. The pieces."

"We are training," Taurus said. "Kiba is fast. Koneko is strong."

"Kiba is fast, but he is brittle," Venelana countered. "His hatred for the Holy Swords motivates him, but it also limits him. He has not unlocked his Balance Breaker. Sword Birth is a sacred gear that has the potential to let him stand at the pinnacle of swordsmanship and make him one of the strongest Knights in the Underworld. But he has a long way to go. And Koneko..."

Venelana sighed, shaking her head. "The little kitten holds back. She fears her own nature. Senjutsu is the bane of most races, including devils. It disrupts the flow of demonic energy. Against the Phenex, it would be lethal. A punch infused with Senjutsu could disrupt Riser’s healing factor significantly. But she refuses to use it. She hates her sister who abandoned her, she hates her heritage, and so she fights with one hand tied behind her back."

"We cannot force her," Taurus said quietly. "Trauma is not a wall you can punch down."

"No," Venelana agreed, looking over her shoulder at him. "But we can guide them over it. However, there is one piece who worries me more than the others. One piece who has the potential to be the strongest Queen in the Underworld, yet cripples herself out of spite."

Taurus knew who she meant. "Akeno."

Venelana nodded slowly. "Akeno Himejima. The Priestess of Thunder. The daughter of Baraquiel."

The name of the Fallen Angel Cadre seemed to lower the temperature in the room.

"Her power is immense," Venelana said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Holy Lightning. The fact she is able to use it even after her conversion to the devil race, it speaks volumes about its potency. It is the ultimate weapon against our kind. If she embraced it, she could incinerate Riser’s peerage alone. She could likely challenge Riser himself and force him to his knees."

"But she doesn't," Taurus grunted.

"She won't," Venelana corrected. "Because she hates it. She hates him. She hates the blood that runs in her veins. She views her Fallen side as the reason her mother died. She believes that using that power is an insult to her mother's memory, and an admission that she is his daughter."

Venelana turned fully to face Taurus, her expression imploring.

"She is blinding herself, Taurus. She thinks she is punishing her father by rejecting his power, but she is only punishing Rias. If she wishes to help her King, her best-friend, win this game, she must put that hatred aside. She must use the very weapon she despises."

Venelana moved closer, crawling over the sheets until she was looming over him again. She placed her hands on his chest, feeling the slow, powerful thud of his heart.

"I can speak to her," Venelana said softly. "I can give her the logic of it. I can tell her as a mother figure that it is okay. But... logic does not heal a heart that has only known rancour and resentment."

She leaned down, her lips brushing against Taurus’s ear.

"You know what that feels like, don't you, my Bull?"

Taurus closed his eyes. Memories he had buried deep made their way to the forefront of his mind. Cold alleyways, stones thrown by village children, the feeling of his own growing horns, the terrifying strength he couldn't control.

The feeling of being a mistake.

"Yes," he rasped. "I know."

"You are a hybrid," Venelana whispered. "Descendant of the Minotaur of Crete and a Devil. You were shunned. You were feared. You looked in the mirror and saw a beast. Do you remember who helped you see the warrior instead?"

"You did," Taurus answered instantly. "And Rias."

"I helped you realize your potential," Venelana said, her hand drifting down to cup his cheek. "I showed you that your 'curse' was a gift. That your strength was not something to be ashamed of, but something to be honed. I made you proud of your horns, Taurus."

"You did," he repeated.

"Then you must do the same for her," Venelana commanded, her voice firm. "Akeno looks at you, and she sees strength. She sees a kindred spirit, though she hides it behind that mask of her 'ara-ara', seductive lady persona. She needs someone who understands the duality of her existence to tell her that she is not broken."

Venelana kissed him then, a slow, sealing kiss that made him forget the memories that had threatened to rush to the surface.

"Talk to her," Venelana breathed against his lips. "Push her. Be the rock she breaks her waves against. I will handle Rias's training. You must handle Akeno's heart. Make her flourish, Taurus. Make her realize that Holy Lightning is not her father's legacy... it is hers."

~ The Bronze Bull of Gremory ~

The following day was a blur of brutal training and extreme exertion.

The training ground, a flattened plateau of granite halfway up the mountain, had been turned into a wasteland. Surtr the Second did not know the meaning of the word 'restraint.' The second coming of the Fire Giant fought with a joyous, maniacal intensity that turned every sparring session into a fight for survival.

By the time the sun began to dip below the jagged peaks, painting the sky in hues of a velvety purple and bleeding orange, Taurus felt as though every muscle fibre in his body had been shredded and reknit a dozen times.

He had spent hours being battered by a club made of condensed magma, the blunt force enough to make his bones vibrate as the sheer heat from the magma melted his skin. He had been thrown through age-old rock formations. He had been forced to hold up and exercise with boulders that would crush a herd of elephants while Surtr sat on top of them, drinking sake and critiquing his posture.

But as he walked through the silent corridors of the lodge that evening, freshly showered and dressed in loose loungewear, Taurus felt a strange, vibrating energy beneath the exhaustion. He was getting stronger. He could feel it. The Minotaur blood in him sang with the thrill of the challenge.

He entered his assigned room. It was a far cry from his room at their place in Kuoh, but it did the job well. A heavy wooden bed with reinforced metal attachments, a wardrobe, and an opulent, spacious bath. The window looked out over the dark forest, the trees swaying in the night wind.

Taurus sat on the edge of the bed, the mattress groaning under his weight. He rolled his neck, hearing a satisfying pop. He was ready to sleep for ten hours straight.

Knock. Knock.

The sound was hesitant. Feeble. 

Taurus frowned. He stood up, his massive frame filling the room, and walked to the door. He wasn't expecting visitors. Rias was likely unconscious in the infirmary wing under Venelana’s care. The Fallen Trio were likely grooming each other or sleeping.

He opened the door.

Standing in the hallway, looking smaller than he had ever seen her, was Akeno Himejima.

She was dressed in her Kuoh Academy uniform, but it was in tatters. The sleeves were scorched, the skirt torn at the hem. Her signature ponytail was loose, strands of raven hair framing a face that was devoid of her usual flirtatious smile.

She looked... hollow.

"Akeno?" Taurus rumbled, stepping back to allow her entry.

She walked in without a word, her movements stiff. She didn't look at him. She stared at the floorboards, her hands clasping and unclasping in front of her.

Taurus closed the door, shutting out the drafty hallway. He watched her, sensing the turmoil radiating off her like heat waves.

"Lady Venelana said you had a rough day," Taurus said, keeping his voice low and gentle, a stark contrast to his appearance.

Akeno let out a shaky breath. "Rough... yes. That is one word for it."

She turned to face him. Her violet eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. The playful, seductive mask she wore like armour was gone, leaving behind a terrified young woman who had lost her entire family and sense of being at a young age.

"I can't do it, Taurus," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Buchou... Rias needs me. She needs her Queen to be strong. But I... I am weak."

"You are not weak," Taurus stated firmly. "You are going to be one of the strongest devils this world could witness."

"No!" Akeno snapped, the sudden outburst startling in the quiet room. "I am not a devil! Not really! I am... I am a mistake."

She squeezed her eyes shut, her body shaking.

"I tried," she choked out. "Today, during meditation... I tried to reach for it. The power Rias needs. The power that would guarantee her victory. But every time I touch it... I see him. I see his black wings. I see him leaving us. I see my mother lying in a pool of blood because she loved a monster like him."

Taurus took a step forward, but Akeno held up a hand, stopping him.

"Do you know what I am, Taurus?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Do you truly know?"

"I know," he said.

"No," she shook her head frantically. "You've heard the rumours. You've heard Rias explain it. But you haven't seen it."

She reached for the buttons of her torn blazer. Her fingers fumbled, shaking, but she undid them. She shrugged the jacket off, letting it fall to the floor. Then she began to unbutton her shirt.

Taurus watched, silent and stoic. This wasn't seduction. This was a confession.

Akeno turned around, her back to him. She dropped her shirt, revealing her pale, trembling back.

"Look," she commanded, her voice barely a whisper.

Energy surged. It was a discordant, screeching sound, like metal grinding on bone.

From her shoulder blades, two wings erupted. Wings similar to the ones of the Fallen trio. 

The left wing was that of a devil—leathery, bat-like, dark and webbed. It was familiar. It was the mark of the Gremory peerage.

But the right wing...

It was feathered. Black as midnight. It radiated a corrupted holy aura that tasted of grace that had been dragged through the mud. It was the wing of a Fallen Angel.

The difference however, between the wings of the Fallen trio and Akeno was the fact that they wore their wings with pride. Akeno, on the other hand... 

"Hideous, isn't it?" Akeno whispered, her head hanging low. "Half-breed. Impure. I carry the blood of the thing that got my mother killed. Every time I use my lightning... I feel him. I feel Baraquiel. And I hate it. I hate myself for having it."

She hugged herself, her nails digging into her arms.

"How can I fight for Rias when I am fighting myself?" she lamented. "I want to cut it off. I want to tear this wing from my body."

Taurus stared at the wings. He saw the rejection. He saw the self-loathing that had festered for years, poisoning her, suppressing her true potential.

He moved.

He didn't hesitate. He crossed the distance between them in two long strides.

"Don't," he said.

He reached out. His large, calloused hands, hands that could crush boulders, moved with surprising tenderness.

He placed his left hand on the leathery devil wing. He placed his right hand on the black feathered wing.

Akeno flinched violently, a gasp tearing from her throat. She expected revulsion. She expected him to pull away from the holy energy that burned devils.

But Taurus didn't pull away. He traced the feathers of the Fallen wing. The holy energy crackled against his skin, stinging, but he ignored it.

"Taurus?" she breathed, freezing.

"You ask if I think it is hideous," Taurus said, his voice deep and resonating through her back. "I look at this... and I see dormant power. Power that would fit the Priestess of Thunder like a charm. I see Akeno."

He gently massaged the muscle at the base of the feathered wing. Akeno’s knees buckled slightly at the sensation—a mix of relief and electric sensitivity.

"Turn around," he ordered gently.

Akeno slowly turned, her wings retracting slightly but still visible, framing her naked torso. She covered her breasts with her arms, looking up at him with wide, watery eyes.

"You... you don't find it disgusting?" she asked, hope and fear warring in her gaze.

"Akeno," Taurus sighed, stepping closer. He towered over her, a mountain of safety. "Look at me."

He pointed to his own head. To the thick, curved horns that protruded from his skull.

"I am a Minotaur," he said. "My ancestors were monsters who ate human flesh in a labyrinth. I was born in the gutter. When I was a child, other devils threw stones at me. They called me a beast. A monster. A mistake."

He took her hands, gently pulling them away from her chest, leaving her exposed to him. 

"I hated what I was," Taurus admitted. "I wanted to saw my horns off. I wanted to tear my own skin off because it was too tough, too bronze. I thought I was only made for violence."

Akeno stared at him, seeing the vulnerability in the giant's eyes for the first time.

"But then Rias found me," Taurus continued. "And Lady Venelana took me in. They didn't see a monster. They saw a warrior. They saw a family member. They taught me that my nature—my 'monstrous' side—was what allowed me to protect them."

He squeezed Akeno’s hands.

"It doesn't matter if you are a Devil, a Fallen Angel, or both," Taurus said with absolute conviction. "To Rias... to the peerage... and to me... you are just Akeno. The lightning you wield? It isn't Baraquiel's. It's yours. It's the power you use to protect the people you love."

"But my mother..." tears spilled down her cheeks again.

"Your mother loved you," Taurus said firmly. "She loved you for everything you were. Do you think she would want you to clip your own wings? To live in fear? Or would she want you to fly?"

The question hung in the air.

Akeno looked at him. She looked at the unwavering acceptance in his golden eyes. For years, she had built walls of flirtation and sadism to keep people from seeing the scared little girl inside. Taurus had just stepped over those walls and healed the child with a few words.

Something inside her broke. The dam of self-hatred she had built up for a decade crumbled under the weight of his acceptance.

"Taurus..." she wailed.

She threw herself at him.

It wasn't a graceful embrace. It was a collision. She wrapped her arms around his thick neck, burying her face in his chest, and sobbed. She cried for her mother, for her father, for the years of hating her own reflection.

Taurus held her. He wrapped his massive arms around her, engulfing her, creating a sanctuary where nothing could hurt her. He stroked her hair, letting her weep, standing as the unmovable pillar she needed.

Minutes passed. The sobs slowly turned to hiccups, then to ragged breathing.

Akeno didn't pull away. She stayed pressed against him, feeling the heat of his skin, the strength of his muscles. The emotional release had left her feeling drained, but also... light. Lighter than she had felt in years.

She pulled back slightly, looking up at him. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face flushed.

But there was a new fire in her gaze now. The vulnerability was shifting into something else. Something desperate and intense.

She realized she was naked from the waist up, pressed against him. She realized that for the first time in her life, she had shown someone her deepest shame, and he hadn't flinched. He had held her.

Gratitude swelled in her chest, hot and overwhelming. And with it, desire.

She rose on her tiptoes.

"Thank you," she whispered, her lips inches from his. "Thank you for seeing me."

She kissed him.

It wasn't a chaste kiss of gratitude. It was an explosion of pent-up emotion. She mashed her lips against his, her tongue seeking entrance immediately. It was wet, salty from her tears, and incredibly passionate.

Taurus was surprised for a heartbeat, but he responded. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss, his hands sliding down her bare back to rest on her waist.

Akeno moaned into his mouth, her fingers tangling in his short hair, pulling him closer. The contact of her skin against his was electric. The Holy Lightning in her veins hummed, reacting to her heightened emotional state, sending tiny static shocks against his chest that only heightened the sensation.

She broke the kiss, gasping for air, her chest heaving. She looked into his eyes, searching for any sign of rejection. She found none. Only the same golden heat she had seen during their countless nights together, but different. This was protective. Possessive.

"Taurus," she breathed, her voice dropping an octave, regaining a hint of her usual sultriness but laced with raw need. "I don't want to wait anymore. I don't want to be the Priestess tonight. I just want to be... yours."

She reached for the waistband of her skirt. Her hands were steady now.

"Please," she whispered, her eyes dark and dilated. "Take me. Make me forget everything but you."

Taurus looked at her. He saw the fragility beneath the request. She wished for them to cross that final hurdle that stood between her being marked as his and his alone. 

He nodded slowly.

"As you wish, Akeno."

He swept her up into his arms. She weighed nothing to him. Akeno squeaked in surprise, then wrapped her legs around his waist, burying her face in his neck, inhaling his scent.

He carried her to the bed and laid her down gently on the quilt.

The moonlight washed over her. She was beautiful, like a tragic, broken angel finding her wings again.

Taurus shed his clothes quickly. When he stood before her, fully nude, Akeno’s breath hitched. The sheer size of him never failed to be intimidating, a true testament to his Minotaur heritage.

She shivered, a thrill of fear and anticipation running through her.

He climbed onto the bed, looming over her. But instead of the rough, animalistic power she expected, Taurus was incredibly gentle.

He kissed her forehead. Then her eyelids. Then the tip of her nose.

"You are beautiful," he murmured against her skin. "Every part of you. Even the wings."

Akeno let out a ragged breath. "Show me," she whispered. "Show me I'm not a monster."

Taurus moved between her legs. He didn't rush. He prepared her with agonizingly slow touches, his large fingers exploring her, slicking her with her own desire. He treated her like glass, like something precious that might break if handled carelessly.

When he finally entered her, he did so by inches.

"Ah!" Akeno gasped, her back arching off the mattress. Her hands gripped the sheets, her knuckles turning white. The pain was sharp, tearing, a definitive line crossed.

Taurus stopped. He held perfectly still, supporting his weight on his forearms, framing her head. He looked down at her, his expression filled with concern.

"I'm okay," Akeno panted, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes—not from sadness, but from the feeling of completion. She lifted her hips, urging him on. "Please... fill me."

Taurus exhaled and pushed forward. He sank into her, stretching her, filling her completely.

It was a slow, reverent coupling. He moved with an easy rhythm. He kissed her deeply, swallowing her whimpers. He wanted her to feel safe. He wanted her first time to be an act of worship, an affirmation of her existence as one of his women.

Akeno clung to him, feeling the fullness of him inside her. It grounded her. The chaotic storm of her Fallen energy and her Devil energy seemed to quiet down, focused entirely on the point where their bodies connected.

"Taurus..." she moaned, her nails raking lightly down his back. "It feels... warm."

"You are warm," he grunted, kissing her neck.

He made love to her with a tenderness that contradicted his monstrous form, proving his words true. He was not a beast. He was a protector.

As the climax approached, Akeno felt a swell of energy within her. But instead of rejecting it, she let it flow, allowing it to circulate beyond ever barrier she had subconsciously erected across her body, letting herself bathe in her inherent energy. 

She finished when a particular thrust hit her just right, a slow, shuddering release that left Akeno crying softly in his arms, feeling a sense of peace she hadn't known was possible.

Taurus held her as she came down, stroking her back.

But as the minutes ticked by, and their breathing slowed, the atmosphere shifted.

Akeno lay there, her head on his chest. The peace was nice. But Akeno Himejima was a complicated woman. The tenderness had healed her heart, but it had also awakened something else. Her nature was one of sadism, yes, but deep down, there was a craving for the opposite. A desire to be overwhelmed. A thirst that Taurus quenched regularly. 

She looked up at Taurus. His eyes were closed.

She bit his cheek. Hard.

Taurus’s eyes snapped open. He looked down, surprised.

Akeno was smirking. It wasn't the fake smirk she used in school. This was genuine, darker, hungry.

"You were very gentle, Taurus-kun," she purred, her voice dripping with honey and venom. "It was sweet. Just what a maiden needed."

She moved her hand down, gripping his still hard length. She felt him twitch and throb almost instantly.

"But..." Akeno leaned up, whispering directly into his ear. "I'm not just a maiden, am I? I'm a devil. I'm a Fallen Angel."

She licked the shell of his ear.

"The ladies who are contracted to you," she whispered. "The fallen trio. I have seen you take them. Fantasized about the mythical strength of the Minotaur, finally claiming me, ruining me for anyone else. Don't you want to use it?"

Taurus stared at her. He saw the shift. The vulnerability was gone, replaced by a challenge. She wanted to be claimed. She wanted to feel the power he held back.

A low growl started in his throat. It was a primal sound, deep and vibrating.

"You want the Minotaur?" he asked, his voice rougher, darker.

"I want you to break me," Akeno pleaded, her eyes flashing with lust. "I want you to fuck me like the beast you are. Show me your power, master."

Taurus didn't need to be told twice.

He moved with a speed that belied his size. He flipped her over, pinning her face-down into the mattress.

"Ah!" Akeno gasped, thrilled by the sudden aggression.

He grabbed her hips, his large hands encompassing them completely. He pulled her up onto her knees, forcing her ass into the air.

"No more gentleness," Taurus growled.

He didn't prepare her this time. He didn't wait. He lined himself up and thrust forward with the force of a battering ram.

Akeno screamed, a sound of pure shock and ecstasy, as he buried himself to the hilt in one stroke.

"Yes!" she shrieked, her head thrown back, her hair flying wild. "Yes! Like that!"

Taurus began to pound into her. The bed frame groaned and skidded across the floor with every thrust. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoed like gunshots in the room.

He dominated her completely. He used her body like he owned it. His hand came up to grip her hair, pulling her head back, exposing her throat. He bit down on her neck, marking her, drawing a moan from her lips that was filled with equal parts of pain and pleasure.

"More!" Akeno cried out, drool escaping her lips. "Harder! Don't stop! Destroy me!"

She loved it. She loved the surrender. She loved that he was strong enough to handle her power, her baggage, and her body without breaking.

Taurus was a machine of stamina. He drove into her relentlessly, hitting her deepest spot over and over again. He felt the static of her holy lightning trying to burn him, and he pushed through it, conquering it.

"You are mine, Akeno!" he bellowed. "Mine!"

"Yours! I'm yours!" she screamed back.

The climax hit them like a cannon. Akeno convulsed, her inner walls clamping down on him with crushing force, her Holy Lightning exploding outward, shattering the glass of the window and blowing the curtains off the rail.

Taurus roared, his muscles locking as he emptied himself into her, flooding her with seed, claiming the Queen of the Gremory peerage as his mate.

They collapsed into the tangled sheets, the room smelling of ozone, sex, and destruction.

Akeno lay face down, her body twitching every few seconds due to the intensity of her partner. She was convulsing, her mind completely blank, her body thoroughly ravished, leaking an amount of fertile cum that would be enough to breed a dozen human women.

Taurus rolled onto his back, pulling her with him so she lay on his chest.

Silence returned to the room, save for the wind blowing through the broken window.

A long time passed before Akeno moved. She lifted her head weakly. Her hair was a mess, her lips swollen, her neck already bruising.

She looked at the broken window. Then she looked at Taurus.

A slow, genuine smile spread across her face. It was the smile of a woman who had found her balance.

"Ara ara," she whispered, her voice husky and wrecked. "That was... shocking."

Taurus chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest. He kissed the top of her head.

"We have training in the morning," he reminded her.

Akeno rested her chin on his chest, her eyes glowing with newfound resolve.

"Let Riser come," she said softly, tracing a circle on his pectoral muscle. "I'll fry him alive."

And for the first time in her life, she meant it. She wasn't afraid of the lightning anymore. Not when she had a mountain to ground her.

Author’s Notes

Yes, we are doing a few things early. Let me know your thoughts down below.

See you soon.