The anxiety in his scent blended so sweetly with the filaree in bloom that she almost missed it.  The darkness had been more destructive than usual this pre-dawn morning and his aroma revealed actual damage to his limbs.  This knowledge caused her to briefly falter, losing a precious step forward as she quickly searched his scent for more evidence of his condition. 

Immortal... forever they would only have a handful of seconds immediately before dawn.  The Albino had seen to that. 

She satisfied herself that he was weakened, but whole.  Then, broad nostrils still flared, she quickly moved across the river bank to him.  The countless layers of his scent acting like a homing beacon,  almost better than if she still had eyes to see.  Almost. 

She heard him manage only one stumbling step forward before she touched him.  The cruel apparatus affixed to his head reminded her again that his cool lips were forever denied to her as well.  An unbidden image of the Albino flashed through her mind.  The sorceress once loved him as well, and her jealousy had demanded a gift of dark vengeance.

Now she felt the expected shock of his cold fingers as he lightly grasped her waist. His  thigh, still trembled as it brushed against the soft fur that covered her legs.  The raw edge of his sweat told her that, to him, without the warming rays of the sun this warm night air felt more like soaking in ice water.  Still he had come early, before sunrise, for their beloved rendezvous.

Anticipation had brought fragrant dew drops that betrayed her desire, but these too would soon go dry, unused once again this morning.  She alone could smell her arousal. 

Her arms went up and around his shoulders as her fingertips grazed the edges of his hair.  She smiled as, this time, her thumb briefly found contact with the edge of his ear.  For an instant, she felt his muscles lose their tension and relax, while bandaged hands and arms moved quickly in search of more ways to show her love.  She heard him make a soft, gutteral sound.  Her mouth opened, sucking in his air as she tasted still more of his fragrance on the tip of her tongue.   

Too soon, she felt the sun’s first morning light begin scalding her shoulders and back.  Immediately her soft skin began to blister as she suppressed whimpers of discomfort and frustration.   She had learned to briefly endure the discomfort each morning.  The frustration was unrelenting.  

She could only imagine the expression on his face as she heard him groan his reluctance to release her yet again.  Only the pale, exposed skin not covered by fur would burn from the immediate touch of the suns rays, but it was enough to cause her to withdraw as she would always be forced to do.  Her fingers lingered on his and reached out to make the touch last as long as possible, until at last she turned and fled.

By now, her reformed body was fully accustomed to the twists and turns of her tree burrow as she plunged down into the cool safety of darkness.  Her sensitive nose, alert for signs of his departure, but the air currents brought nothing.   She envisioned him unmoving, bathing in the growing warmth of the morning with relief, perhaps a tear staining his face.  

She did not know how many seasons had passed since the Albino had cursed them.   She had stopped trying to say anything to him during their morning interludes.  There was never enough time, and he did not seem to be able to respond anyway.   She would spend the rest of her day remembering and analyzing his scent,  recalling the loving touch of his icy fingers.  Occasionally, her own fingers would alternate between her extraordinarily sensitive new head extensions and the weeping fur between her legs.

There would be more precious seconds with him tomorrow.  

Artist: Marie Lauridsen

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