Lustborn

The air in the temple felt heavier now.

It wasn't just the incense or the whispers echoing through the stone halls. Something had shifted — in her, around her. The demon had left a mark, not just on her skin, but deep within the places no one else could see.

She tried to wash it away. She had bathed longer than necessary, scrubbing herself until her skin flushed pink. But it wasn't dirt. It wasn't touch. It was memory — thick and electric, pulsing through her with every breath.

She walked the hallways slowly, wrapped in a loose gray robe the temple had provided, though it did little to guard her from the gaze of others. They looked at her differently now. Not with reverence. With caution. As if something inside her glowed too bright. As if they feared being burned.

"Selene," a voice called softly behind her.

She turned.

It was Marek — the quiet one. He had always lingered in corners, always avoided the common rituals. But now, his eyes held something else. Something starved.

He stepped closer. "I felt it too. Last night."

She blinked. "Felt… what?"

His voice dropped. "That heat. That presence. It touched me."

Selene froze.

"I dreamed of you," Marek whispered. "But it wasn't a dream. I woke drenched in sweat. It wasn't just mine. Your voice was in my ear. And when I reached out…"

He trailed off, biting back a shudder.

She should've run. Should've turned away. But something in his voice hooked into her — a resonance. The demon hadn't just touched her. It had left ripples. It had reached him too.

"Did it do this to you?" he asked. "Make you feel like your own body isn't yours anymore?"

Selene swallowed. "Yes."

Marek took another step. The distance between them collapsed. She could feel the energy on his skin — like static. Their breaths synced without trying.

He reached up — hesitantly — and brushed a stray strand of her damp hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered. "You smell like fire."

She didn't mean to close her eyes. But she did. Just for a moment. That moment was all it needed.

Her body leaned forward before she even thought to stop it. Her lips found his without warning — soft, then hungrier. The kiss was full of something unspoken, something dangerously unfinished. And when he pressed her back against the cold stone wall, her body responded without her permission.

It wasn't love.

It was release.

Desire stripped of tenderness. Need uncoiled.

His hands roamed as if trying to map something sacred and cursed at once. She clung to him like he was the only anchor in a storm she didn't understand. Their robes slipped, unnoticed, forgotten. Their skin touched — and the jolt that passed between them was not human.

His eyes widened mid-breath. She gasped.

Something darker surged between them — not him, not her.

The demon.

But instead of retreating, Marek pulled her closer.

He was no longer just a vessel.

He welcomed it.

The stone wall burned cold against her back as heat radiated from his chest. Their bodies twisted like they'd done this before — in another life, another world. The demon didn't just watch. It guided. Possessing the space between them.

She should've screamed. Should've torn away.

Instead, her hips moved with his. Her breath quickened. Her moan wasn't just hers anymore.

The demon had merged them — not just flesh, but will.

And in that moment, Selene stopped resisting.

She let the heat consume her.

She let the ache take form.

When it was over — when the silence settled — Marek fell to his knees, shivering. The light had left his eyes. His mouth trembled.

"I didn't mean to," he whispered.

She stood over him, robe clutched around her shaking frame. Her thighs still throbbed. Her mind still spun. Her soul… felt emptier than before.

The demon hadn't just used them.

It had fed.

She backed away. "Don't follow me."

Marek didn't move. Didn't speak.

Selene walked, each step heavier than the last. Her robe clung to her body, soaked in sweat and shame. She didn't know who she was anymore. Not fully. Not clearly.

But she knew one thing now with terrifying certainty.

The demon wasn't just inside her.

It was spreading.