“… My name isn’t Naiad. My real name is Maia.”

Naiad’s words had an immediate effect on Leon. Firstly, he’d never heard her voice before, and in fact, didn’t think she could even speak like humans could, since she never did so without using her mental communication technique.

Secondly, it caused the power she’d left within him when they had made their contract resonate in a way that it had never done before. It expanded into a lake of power, filling him with the gentle flowing power of water magic, but as quickly as it came, it then compressed into something that felt more akin to a river than a lake.

It was a euphoric feeling. It was one of absolute trust, love, and partnership. It felt not dissimilar to the contract that Leon had made with Xaphan, though far more intimate and romantic in nature.

This power that now flowed through Leon didn’t make him stronger. It gave him quite the rush, so it was difficult for him to tell, at first. But after a few seconds of him practically stunned at the changes happening within him, he managed to take stock. And no, he wasn’t more powerful. The power that Naiad had left within him had fundamentally transformed, leaving him to feel like there was a river of power flowing into him, bringing with it everything that Naiad wanted to share with him. That power would stay for a short time before leaving again, taking back his feelings about Naiad.

Glancing to the side, he could see Naiad in a similar state of stunned euphoria as he. Her power had linked them, like an aquatic ring connecting neighboring lakes of power.

What was more, Leon could now sense where Naiad was without concentrating. To say that they were connected now was to put it mildly.

“Ooooh,” Naiad sighed and shuddered in pleasure as she managed to relax, almost collapsing into Leon’s arms with the release. “That was… incredible… and from what you’ve done to me in the past, that’s saying a lot…”

Leon flushed with embarrassment before the reality of the situation sank in—Naiad was speaking out loud, and whatever she did had caused a tremendous change in both of them. It was one that Leon enjoyed—one that he welcomed, even—but he also wanted some answers.

“What just happened?” he asked breathlessly, pressing his forehead down into her silky brown hair.

Naiad looked up at him, trapping him in her lake-blue eyes. “I told you my true name, I shared with you my power and my voice. I am now yours, as you are mine. But no need to worry about that last part, I know that Elise has staked her claim to you, too, and I can share with her.”

Leon shook his head a bit at what she was saying before settling on what she said first. “Your ‘true name’?”

“Yes,” Naiad said with a radiant smile. “My true name is Maia, not Naiad. Naiad is a title among my people, not a name. So, allow me to introduce myself to you, Leon Raime. I am Maia, a Naiad of the river nymphs.”

“Maia…” Leon whispered, letting the name sink in. When he said it, though, his river nymph lover shuddered again.

“Say it again…” she moaned.

“Maia,” he repeated, with a similar reaction.

“Ooh,” she groaned. “My mother told me about this, but I didn’t think it would be so intense! To have my name on the lips of my love!”

Leon pulled her in tighter, his arms swathed around her waist. Her waist was normally tight and waspy, without a hint of body fat, but in Leon’s arms, Maia had become so relaxed that she almost melted into him. In fact, the tips of her toes had literally melted, turning into water as Maia lost control of her body with all the new and delightful sensations that now filled her.

Leon smiled and his hands began to stray from her waist.

“Maia,” he whispered lovingly into her ear, eliciting another moan from the river nymph.

He took a hand off of her and began pulling at his clothes. He knew Elise would understand. She’d be disappointed that she missed out, but she’d also be even more upset if he were to leave Maia in such a state without satisfying her.

Still, he went slow enough that if Maia wanted to, she could end things whenever she wanted.

Of course, she didn’t do such a thing, and as her eyes refocused and she found Leon pulling his shirt off with one hand while his other arm was wrapped so far around her back that his fingers were gently stroking the side of one of her breasts, she practically squealed in delight. She didn’t bother taking her clothes off the conventional way and simply recalled them into her soul realm.

Leon clicked his tongue in mild displeasure. “I wanted to do that,” he complained, but as his eyes wandered over her nude form, any further complaints he had died in his throat. Without delay, he pulled his other arm off Maia so that he could finally get rid of his shirt. He heard Maia’s breath catch in her throat as he slowly began revealing more of his body, bringing a smile to his face.

After his shirt, Leon didn’t immediately move onto his pants. Instead, he pushed Maia down against the boulder and began attacking her lips with his while his hands gripped her waist. After a few seconds of tongue-wrestling, his left hand went high while his right hand went low, until the former started massaging her sizeable breasts and the latter reached her lower lips, which were already cascading with Maia’s arousal.

“No,” Maia suddenly breathily moaned, causing Leon’s heart to nearly stop as he instinctively pulled his hands back. “I need more,” she continued. “More than your fingers. I need you… I need you in me…”

Leon’s heart calmed as she stared at him, her eyes hazy and her skin flushed with lust. Despite his earlier playful admonishment, Leon didn’t bother taking the slow method. With barely a thought, his lower garments vanished into his soul realm, letting his manhood spring free.

Maia’s glassy eyes followed his erection like a beast eyeing food, but before she could move again, Leon took a hold of both of her calves, spread her legs open, then slid in between. He let her legs then come down to rest on his hips while he aligned himself with her veritable overflowing fountain.

Leon then leaned in and grabbed her hips, locked eyes with Maia, and then thrust in with one smooth motion as far as he could go.

Instantly, Maia let out an ear-piercing wail of pleasure and her legs around Leon’s hips squeezed so tightly that he couldn’t pull back to thrust again. Not that he needed to, though, for Maia’s tunnel clenched down on him so firmly that it was impossible not to know that she’d just climaxed.

It took almost an entire minute for Maia to come back down, during which Leon patiently waited, simply admiring her with a loving smile on his face. A few seconds after her body began to relax, some awareness returned to Maia’s eyes and her breathing steadied.

“Wh… was…” she mumbled, still unable to form a coherent sentence.

“I hope you’re not completely satisfied,” Leon softly said as he leaned down to press his forehead against hers. “I’ve only just begun…”

---

“So, where does this leave us?” Leon asked as he and Maia basked in the afterglow on the boulder, neither with a stitch of clothing to cover themselves with. They’d gone at each other for at least an hour, but Leon honestly hadn’t any idea how much time had actually passed, and the tree cover here was too thick for him to see the sun to gauge the passage of time.

Maia took a few seconds to catch her breath and compose herself—Leon’s attentions had worn her out.

“… We are connected… our soul realms have connected, and our power feeds each other. We can sense each other’s location, we can sense each other’s emotions. We can communicate from great distances. We have been joined. I think by human standards, it would probably be fair to say that we’ve even married each other, for our bond is permanent.”

“Permanent?” Leon asked, a sharp edge creeping into his voice.

“… Yes?” Maia hesitantly replied.

“… I think I would’ve preferred a little discussion about that, first,” Leon whispered. “Something permanent ought to be agreed on by both parties.”

“But… you’re not angry…” Maia said as she sat up and twisted her body to look down at him, a look of concern on her heart-shaped face.

“Not really,” Leon said, his voice softening as he pulled Maia back down into his arms. “I would’ve agreed anyway. Just promise me that from now on, you’ll talk to me before making a permanent change like this again.”

“Deal,” Maia heartily replied, snuggling in closer.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Leon said, “let’s not claim that we’re married, at least not until we reunite with Elise. I don’t want to lie to her, but let’s just find a different way to describe this.”

“Wouldn’t want her to feel left out?”

Leon silently nodded. He missed his fire-haired lover, and while he knew she’d want him to reconnect with Maia and bring her home, he wasn’t so sure how happy she’d be if Maia beat her to that milestone. All three of them would have to talk about it before anything like marriage could happen, officially speaking.

“Another thing,” Maia said, “before, I wasn’t entirely aware, but my mother told me that no matter how much time we spent reproducing, it never would’ve worked.”

“What do you mean?” Leon asked, cocking his eyebrow in curiosity.

“I never could’ve given birth, not without first telling you my true name and speaking to you in my true voice,” she answered. “Without the bond that formed between us, we never could’ve made a child.”

“And now? Is that something we should be worried about? You getting pregnant at an inopportune time? As someone with two Inherited Bloodlines, I don’t think it would be that easy, anyway.”

“I would hesitate to label any time as ‘inopportune’,” Maia replied, flashing him a cheeky smile, “but I suppose there are better times to focus on that. And you’re right. It’s going to take some serious work for us to fulfill our original contract. At the very least, I won’t turn into a gorgon anymore, no matter how long we go without mating with each other.”

“I’m certainly willing to spend the time to do a thorough job…”

The two chuckled and went silent for a few seconds, simply enjoying cuddling together like this. They hadn’t done so in so long, and now they seemed practically stuck together.

“What should we do now?” Maia asked.

“There’s still a war going, and I would think it would go a lot faster with you on our side,” Leon said. “Shouldn’t be too much longer, though. Or, well… we’ve almost beaten them in the south, at least.”

“Wherever you’re going, I’ll follow,” she replied, propping her chin upon his chest so that she could give him a smile so bright that it shamed the sun itself.

“I’d have it no other way…” Leon replied. He then filled Maia in on everything that had happened since she left, though he didn’t go into too much detail. He skimmed over some other especially important details, too, such as his new relationship with Valeria. That, in particular, was a bigger discussion, not one to be had in the afterglow of spectacular sex.

“So,” the river nymph said once he was finished, “we have to hunt down this ‘Duke Durnoium’ and then take his head? That’s our current goal?”

“It’s ‘Duronius’, and yes, that’s what we need to do right now,” Leon answered. “We should get to it, I suppose. We’ve…”

Leon trailed off as he realized a mistake he’d made. He’d sent Valeria off to prepare Alix and Anzu to depart, and then he’d ran off and spent who knows how long fucking Maia in the woods.

He bolted upright, surprising Maia, and said in a mild panic, “We need to go now. I’ve left some people waiting…”

Spurred on by Leon’s attitude, Maia followed his lead in quickly dressing and taking off for the recovery camp. She was more surprised by the fact that she actually had to struggle to keep up with him, despite their differences in power. But then she had to stop thinking about it, because thinking about Leon’s power only made her want to get back to mating, and they had other things on their plate. Things like linking up with Leon’s retinue, then Prince August and the rest, and then killing Duronius.

Maia was looking forward to it; she’d never really fought at Leon’s side before. She’d interrupted his fights a few times, but never had they fought as equals side-by-side. She couldn’t wait, the simple prospect excited her in ways she never would’ve thought possible before.

Staring at Leon’s back as he bolted through the forest, she smiled and knew that they were ready for whatever would come next.

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