A soft breeze wafted through the open air of Galdin Quay. It was the only place she could think to get away from everything and have some time to herself.

At least the sun was out, and it was beautiful and warm. It gleamed across blue waters, giving them an ethereal shine. Seagulls called from the air, giving life to the coast that it hadn't seen in a long while. As a child, her mother would bring her here to play in the sand and eat the most delicious of seafood. Even the palace's cooks couldn't beat what the restaurant here had to offer.

She had booked one of the rooms ahead of time. There was no point in driving all the way out here just for a couple of hours, as far as she was concerned. If she really wanted rest and relaxation, she would need a whole day to just unwind.

Once she checked in, the gentleman that provided her with the left room offered to send a masseuse for an additional fee. She thought about it for a moment before she would accept the offer.

"Great!" he said energetically. "I'll send Fiona to you shortly."

"Okay, thanks." Nyxia went into the room. It was vast, lined with glass windows that overlooked the water and the boat dock. In the middle of it was a large, round bed with white sheets that were already made and smoothed. Setting down her bag of belongings (she had kept the load light - after all, she only planned on being here for one day and one night), she sat down on the edge of the round mattress.

After about ten minutes, a thin, blonde woman by the name of Fiona came knocking on the door to introduce herself. Behind her was a massage table on wheels that she rolled into the room. She seemed quite cheerful, and her personality had Nyxia warm up to her fairly quickly. She never had a massage from a stranger before, so this was certainly a new experience for her. She had expressed that to the woman, who assured her that she would take it slow.

Nyxia was given instructions to undress and put a white towel around her bottom half, then get comfortable on the table, face down. Meanwhile, Fiona would leave the room to collect a couple more things for the session. The former queen did as she was told, though she felt a bit strange doing so. Once she was done, she rested her face on the cushion, left with nothing to look at except for the polished floorboards beneath her. Her arms resting by her sides, she would close her eyes as she would wait. At least Fiona had left on some ambient music to help relax her.

Minutes passed - more than Nyxia had anticipated. She had started dozing off when a pair of hands began to work at her back. She jumped a little. "Oh, you scared me," she murmured, opening her eyes again. The masseuse had firm hands for a female, she had to admit, but it helped to loosen the muscles in her exposed back. More and more, Nyxia relaxed, her eyes drifting to a close once again as she relaxed.

"That feels good," Nyxia said comfortably, almost sighing.

"That's because I know all the right spots."

Nyxia's blood ran cold. That was not a woman's voice, let alone Fiona's. In fact, she knew exactly who it belonged to. But...it couldn't be possible...

He was supposed to be dead, wasn't he? He had put his life on the line to draw out the darkness from her - the most selfless thing he had done in a long, long time... So, why was he here, haunting her still?

She sat up with a start, though as she looked around the room, Ardyn was nowhere to be seen. In fact, she still seemed to be alone in the room. Heavy breaths escaping her lips, she got up from the bed, her body shaking. Was she losing her mind? Had she been fooled? Nyxia pulled the towel around herself, covering more of her body as she would go to the windows. Maybe she did drift to sleep, and she was just dreaming.

She stared out at the water, which seemed oddly still. Even further out was the island of Angelgard, merely a silhouette against a setting sun.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Nyxia spun around, her heart ready to tear itself from its cage as she saw him standing on the other side of the room. He looked no different than the day she last saw him - over a month ago, when he forced the dagger into his own chest, supposedly to save her. Had that all been a trick, too?

She couldn't exactly show distaste, but nor was she exactly excited to see him, either. After all, he had made her believe he was dead and gone, and he was the cause of a lot of terrible things that she had done. How could she be happy to see him?

Yet, that amber stare he gave her...it made her melt like an ice cube on the street of Lestallum.

"Couldn't stay away, could you?" she said, keeping her cool.

Her heart still raced as he approached her, his fingertips tracing the front of her neck, like a ghost. "I could never."

Then, she felt fingers press against the back of her neck. At first, it alarmed her, but as he pulled her towards him to claim her lips with his, Nyxia's resolve weakened.

Hesitantly, she pulled back from him, though her face remained quite close to his still. A part of her wanted to feel bliss again - forget everything else, even Gladiolus, but that wasn't to say she didn't feel somewhat guilty. After all, knowing what he truly was had injured all the trust she had in him...

And yet, she could never really stay away. Nyxia had left everything behind after she dropped her name as queen. She left everything behind - her Shield, her friends, her apartment... she would have even left Eos, if she could find a way. Yet, there was that tiny apprehension in the back of her mind that told her if she went too far from home, he might never find her.

There was an aggressive grip at the back of her neck now, but instead of expressing fear, Nyxia simply gasped in surprise. There may have been a small hint of desire underneath, and though she tried to cover it up, Ardyn easily could detect it. She could taste the lingering kiss on the tip of her tongue, but she was left short to the point that she wanted more.

Reminding herself that this was all merely in her head, she gave in to her primal desire, resuming the kiss with an increased fervor.

She hadn't noticed right away that the skies were darkening now. At first, she thought that night had fallen, but the skies still held a tint to them - now of crimson, instead of a dark violet.

Nyxia might have made a connection, had her mind been any clearer, but her thoughts were clouded as she felt his hand slip beneath the towel, playing its way between her thighs. She moaned, the sound released clearly as he would pull away to revel in it. She felt his thumb trace her bottom lip, and unable to help but sink deeper into the pool of desire, she suggestively sucked at his finger, lapping from it the juice he had collected from between her legs.

Ardyn emitted a low growl, his other hand tearing away the only fabric draped around her body. He all but threw her onto the circular bed, his gloved hands exploring her lithe frame as he hungrily kissed her neck and shoulder.

Torn between the right thing to do and what her body felt it needed, Nyxia stared up at the ceiling, sounding small gasps and whines as he smothered her body in attention. He removed his fingerless gloves before he would return his hand to her center. Again, Nyxia couldn't deny him, and she squeezed his red scarf, her body flinching as she would make quick work of removing his outer layers. Her body overpowered his just enough to pull herself on top of him, though he likely had allowed her to get that far. Nyxia knew she could stop herself now before it was too late...but in the grand scheme of things, her first love would always be her greatest weakness.

As if to lure her in just a little more, Ardyn filled her with a pair of fingers, watching as her body would writhe and stretch above him. She moaned louder this time, and she could hear him chuckle beneath her. "There... I knew my queen was in there, somewhere..."

Her better self's thoughts fragmented more and more as he toyed with her, yet the rapture was worth every bit of half-hearted shame. Her fingernails dragged into the skin of his torso, her form practically riding his working hand. Her breath got heavier and shorter, lips parted. She might have even uttered his name in the shroud of her pleasure, and perhaps she did, as he pulled her down against him to be rid of the space between their bodies.

"Don't be so diffident," he urged her. "We're alone here." His hands guided her hips as he positioned her specifically above him. "I love hearing your cries of fruition."

Her heart felt ready to leap out of her chest as his member broke into her. As if he had made his point, he had forced a louder moan from her. She had no hopes of holding it back, even if she tried. Nyxia's body sank on top of him, her fingers clutching at his unbuttoned tunic as she shifted her hips. He felt too good inside of her to just stop, and so she rose and fell on top of him, her knees digging craters into the mattress. Even his sultry breathing stirred her on, urging her to add fervor to her movements.

Suddenly, he would roll her over onto her back, his body anchoring her into the bed. Beneath them, the sheets scrunched up like waves in the sea. Yet, when she thought he would pummel himself relentlessly into her, Ardyn did quite the opposite. He filled her still, his hands holding her waist as he would push deeper. She gasped sharply as he held the position in stationary, her parted lips soon sealed by a hot kiss. She grasped his shoulders, her pleasure consuming her completely as her body screamed for more, yet, at the same time, the suspense only added to her wanton excitement.

This man knew what he was doing.

She felt his hand press against the small of her back, lifting her lower body slightly from the mattress. The change of position only added to the sensation, leaving her in pure bliss as he would send gradual thrusts into her, casting aside his usual, animalistic technique. It was as if he had taken to making love to her rather than just carnally fucking her - and it was a nice change.

Their libidinous exchange seemed to progress for hours, yet it never went stale. As he always did best, Ardyn kept her on the edge of peaked bliss, though she must have climaxed three times by now. The sheets beneath them were drenched with sex and sweat, but it didn't stop him from turning her onto her front and taking her again. Before Nyxia could find a secure place for her hands to support her, he was already grabbing her wrists, pulling them back towards him to partially immobilize her as he would batter her from behind. While by now, the tenderness had conformed into a more vigorous exploit, she was beyond asking him to stop.

Then, like riding a flash of lightning, they had left the bed. Her back was pressed hard into one of the glass windows that overlooked the seas. As long as there were no boats riding on the water, no one would see, but something about the wide-open windows exposing her nudity made her incredibly nervous.

"Not here..." she gasped, but Ardyn was already pushing into her again, his hands squeezing her backside and holding her up against the panel.

"I told you," he growled huskily against her shoulder, giving it a nip with his teeth. "We are alone."

Melting like butter in his hands, she squeezed his broad shoulders as he fucked her into insanity, pummeled into her core like a battering ram. With all that sap from before out of the way, the daemon was unleashed. She knew when it was present, but she was too far gone to care anymore.

Back to the swirling darkness, she supposed... Perhaps, that was just what fate had in mind for her.