His shaded eyes linger on her, unaware of her observer hidden in darkness and secrets. In the shadow of the abandoned church, she sings a soft song. She is here later than usual, past the hours of daylight and into the early reaches of evening. The full moon has climbed in the sky, leaving the world pale and quiet. The forest that hides the church is quiet, as abandoned as the structure itself. She has been here many times over the past weeks, coming every day. For so long, he has been so used to solitude that her presence was odd, an annoyance at first. Another adventurer come to plunder his home, to make a mockery of the simple life he once lived there.

But then, maybe not. She returns daily, using gentle hands to build and nourish a garden beside the ruined walls of the cathedral. Her soft words and light laughter have brought life back to his old home. He is not who he once was, but as the full moon rises, he will have a chance to be himself again.

Why does she come here?

He hungers for her. The hunger has grown daily, surprising him at first. Since his curse, he has felt nothing. Solitude, and emptiness. Regret, maybe. But hunger? It is ravenous now, consuming him. He watches as she sings in the moonlight, and he makes his move. She is beautiful, ethereal. He wants to feel her, as he has not felt anything in so, so long. Now is his chance. Maybe his only chance.

She doesn’t see him as he steps out of the darkness. She’s distracted, her hands buried in the earth as she pulls soil over the seeds and plants she has invested in.

He steps on a stick, deliberate, and she looks up, sees him at last.

“Hi there, boy,” she calls, excited.

Heat races through him as she acknowledges him, though it isn’t the first time. They’ve met this way many times. As a woman and a beast only, but not for much longer. Soon the moon will rise.

“I was worried you weren’t going to come today. Are you hungry?” She sees him as his dog form, his curse. A man trapped as the cruel beast he once presented to the world. For weeks they have met like this, her giving the minimal comfort she can to a creature she didn’t understand.

She has given him a new reason to live.

He approaches, and she holds out a hand.

As he steps into the moonlight, the shadows ripple. One minute a beast, the next a man. Nude, he stands under the moonlight before her gaze. His eyes are dark as he looks at her, startled in the moonlight. She doesn’t say a word, doesn’t move. Her green eyes are wide and she’s pale. He thinks that he sees her fingers tremble, unmoving from where she extended them to him.

“Do I frighten you?” he asks, his voice soft, curious. Would she run from him? If she did, would he chase her? “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She doesn’t run. Instead, she comes to him. He is the one surprised, this time, as her fingers trail over his skin. His is dark, as dark as the black fur that he wore in dog shape, and hers is pale, as pale as the moon that watches their meeting. Goosebumps follow her touch. She looks up at him, green eyes wide, but he sees the heat in them, too.

“I knew there was something about you,” she says, softly, and he can hear her, enraptured by his revelation. Her touch is hesitant, as if she expects him to vanish into the shadows. “I came here every day for you.”

For him?

His hand catches hers as it traces a delicate pattern on his skin, fingers wrapping around her wrist. Her startled eyes flick up to his, shadowed and cold, and she smiles at him. It takes him aback, then fills him with fire. A possessive desire to claim her drives his lips to hers, and she is surprisingly eager as her arm loops around his neck.

His hand falls to her hip, gripping it tightly, pulling her towards him. She is shorter than him and fits against his body as if she were formed specifically to do so. Ridiculous, of course. He is cursed—nothing is ever meant for him. He is thieving this moment, stealing it in the night.

It makes it all the sweeter.

He lifts her, and her legs wrap around his waist, holding him, trusting him. His hands are claiming as they roam over her, calloused grip rough with need. The clothes are in the way, and he tears them off. She’s soft, so soft. She moans, and he growls. He’s hard, and he wants to claim her fully, but he waits. Not yet. Soon, but not yet.

He braces her against a tree, the bark biting her porcelain skin. She gasps, but the look in her eye warns him against stopping. His kiss is bruising as he presses it to her, thrusting himself into her warmth as his need overcomes his control. A cry wrenches from her lips as he buries himself to the hilt inside of her. Enveloped, a growl rips from his throat, and he thrusts his tongue into her mouth as he slams himself into her. The whimper that comes from her is soft, desperate, as their bodies move as one.

She needs him as badly as he needs her.

The full moon watches as they couple in the shadow of the abandoned church, the autumn leaf litter crinkling with their passion. After, they lay together, each surprised by their passion. Each dreading the sunrise.

“Will I see you again?”

He is silent. Uncertain.

She understands. Nothing is ever certain. She leans forward, kissing him, clenching her core around him. He stirs. She would make the most of what time they had, then.