The light of the campfire was soothing.

Jubei had forgotten what a moment's peace was like. Naturally, he was built for action, conditioned for battle, prepared for any unexpected ambush that would come his way. His near inhuman-level survival instinct left little room for relaxation. On the rare occasions that it did, however, Jubei was never one to squander it.

The full moon laminated the forest in an abstruse glow, leaving him wary. As an individual who lived as long as he has, Jubei had every reason to become superstitious over the years.

The warrior's mind wandered. What kind of trouble was his student getting into? Jubei wondered how Kokonoe was doing. The girl was as stubborn, that much was certain; almost as much as he was. Jubei chuckled to himself. That probably rubbed off on Ragna too. Still, no matter how much she shunned him, that wouldn't stop the stubborn beastman from worrying about his daughter – his family.

Family…

His thoughts fell onto his wife, still at large and still indignant. Jubei had long since regretted the loss of Nine; the pain he endured, both emotionally and physically had taken its toll on him. Just how long would their conflict last?

Jubei sighed wistfully.

"Nine…"

He forced those painful memories into the back of his mind, letting the soft crackle of the campfire lull his tired body to sleep.

–

Jubei's eye shot open.

Smoke jarred his senses. That was no regular smoke, he sensed. It was magic. Powerful magic that he'd recognize anywhere. His feline tails deftly seized Musashi as he confronted the assailant. The tinder was stoked into a reaching flame. A caped figure stood atop the inferno. Atop its head stood a pointed hat that hid most of its face. A pair of golden eyes soon pierced through the blaze and fell onto its current foe. Jubei's sharp eye deduced the figure's identity in an instant.

"Nine!" Jubei growled.

The witch laughed, her voice warped and sinister. "Dearest~. Is that any way to greet your beloved?"

Every instinct in his brain was screaming for him to attack. Nine wasn't the same woman he knew. The woman he loved. His grip on Musashi tightened.

"Why are you h-gkkt!" Jubei's hiss became a sharp loss of air from his lungs. He nearly doubled over as his body was unexpectedly hit with a wave of numbness. "W-what…? What's happening?" he strained. Musashi fell out of his tails grip. He soon struggled to remain on all fours. "Can't…move!"

A stinging pain shot Jubei's stomach. He fell with his back against a tree and the witch's heel resting on his chest. He willed himself to move, to retaliate, yet his body refused to respond.

Nine's arrogant smile grew twisted. "You always were weak for me." She taunted.

Jubei grit his teeth. He'd gotten sloppy. How did she get the drop on him so easily? He'd seen Nine's magic before but this was…new. Perhaps this was penance for adamantly continuing to fight even in his weakened form. He was better than this.

Nine knelt down, her face now falling stoic. It unsettled him. She was undoubtedly planning something. "What's the meaning of this…Nine?!" He spat in between his struggle. Merely talking was soon becoming a chore. His legs were useless and his arms were starting to lose feeling.

He was met only with a scrutinizing pair of eyes. "Tell me, beloved," she began, her voice low. "You miss those days, don't you?"

"What?!"

"Just the two of us…" her hand fell on the side of his face.

She was toying with him. Surely, she had to be. Jubei tried to fight back; he wasn't about to die without a fight. Still, it felt futile. He squirmed, only to be forced back against the tree with a dominant hand.

"Please, dearest." Nine chastised sadistically. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

He didn't know how but Jubei felt himself suddenly comply. "What is this, Nine? What are you playing at?!" He barked.

The phantom's wicked smile returned. "You'll see…"

She straddled him. Her larger body now hovered over him. Her breath burned as hot as her fire. Her body emanated a sickly aura. Her hands almost tenderly cupped his face.

Jubei's eye widened when Nine's lips descended to his. His body may have been paralyzed but he was still able to feel every sensation – her warm lips, coarse hands running along his fur. He laid powerless against the tree with the woman pinning him down. Part of Jubei's brain cursed him for giving such pitiful resistance to her.

Yet…

She was right.

He had missed this feeling, no matter how much he denied it.

Nine withdrew from his lips, her face red and gazing her husband with a wanting look. "Look at you, Jubei. Too powerless to even stand. I can toy with you all I want and there's nothing you could hope to do."

Jubei said nothing as Nine traced her finger down his chest, stopping just at his underside. Her ample bosom pressed against him. Jubei glared at her in disbelief as she gyrated her hips on his lap. Her sadistic grin filled him with a sense of anxiety.

Nine laughed cruelly. "Something wrong, dearest?" She held Jubei close, burying his head in the canyon of her cleavage. "You've gone speechless."

Jubei chastized himself. He stopped fighting the paralysis and willfully allowed the witch to dangle him around her finger. She had total control over him, each one of her machinations forcing his long-unused libido to bleed out. Jubei had long since drowned his urges in training and fighting; so much so that he never realized how pent up he truly was.

"Hard already?"

Jubei's breath hitched in his throat. He didn't even notice his erection at full mast behind her. Deft fingers wandered to his swollen shaft. A mild groan escaped Jubei's muzzle when she squeezed him. There was no gentleness in her touch. Nine didn't remove her eyes from him. Most likely to see him writhe underneath her. She was controlling him – and there was nothing he could do about it.

The witch giggled. Her hips twisted and teased him, her own arousal. "You see beloved?" she purred. "I've missed this too." Nine pulled up the hem of her purple dress, revealing a black thong, soaked in her sweat and fluids.

Jubei couldn't speak. The ability to do so had escaped him; a side effect of whatever spell paralyzed him perhaps?

Nine's hand squeezed his thick member once more. "You want to touch me, don't you? Ravage me? Make me yours?"

He did. Truly he wanted to, glad that the paralysis had stayed his hand from attempting to. Jubei's only response was pleasured grunts and moans.

Nine grinned deviously when she poised herself directly about the warrior's length. She gave him a full view of her elegant curves. She shifted her underwear to the side with a naughty glimmer in her eye.

Jubei felt his erection, engulfed by the witch's tight inner walls. A deep groan escaped his mouth while Nine's drawn-out moans filled his ears. This feeling wasn't foreign to him yet the long years he'd gone without it had tried to prove otherwise. The sheer heat from her dripping sex muddled his already slipping mind. He was starting to forget that he was trying to escape Nine's twisted clutches in favor for wanting rut her just as senseless as she did him.

Nine bounced happily on his length. She let nothing stop her, impaling herself as deep as she could. Her arms gripped the beastman tightly. Her rhythmic moans sang in Jubei's ears along with the wet slapping of their flesh against each other. The raw sensation intoxicated the two of them.

Jubei had forgotten just how long he remained there, lamely spawled on the dirt with the lust controlled witch dominating him to her heart's content. His shaft twitched with each pump. He could feel himself reaching his breaking point.

"Guuhh…Jubei!" Nine mewled desperately in pure ecstasy. "Go ahead…Nngh! F-finish…inside…haah! Please…Beloved!"

The witch's euphoria fueled wish was granted in full force. With a strained groan, Jubei gave into the climax. Her drenched sex forcing his erection as deep as it could go, Jubei pumped her with his white-hot essence into her. She clenched around him as hard as she possibly could, wringing his member dry. Her body wracked. Nine's head flew back, sustaining a high-pitched moan peppered with pleasured sighs and satisfied groans.

Jubei's head fell back against the tree. It had been far too long since he had been winded like this. Despite the fact that he hadn't lifted a finger throughout the ordeal, he was utterly spent. The paralysis left him but his body was too weak to move. He willed his hand to reach out towards Nine but it was already too late. His vision sluggishly faded to black, the last thing catching his eye was Nine's crooked smile and her sinister laughter echoing in his ears.

"Rest now, beloved…"

–

The morning sun shone directly at Jubei's good eye.

He was uncomfortable and rigid, sprawled across the grass. The warrior chastized himself for falling asleep on the ground. His body had been recovering from countless injuries before. It's in his best interest not to wear himself out as much as he had already.

Jubei scanned his surroundings. He glanced at the pile of sticks that had been a bonfire the night prior. No telltale signs of a charred blaze. His swords had been at his side. His animal senses picked up no…out of place smells. There was no indication that anyone else was present.

Jubei sighed, unable to place whether or not it was relief or disappointment.

"Those dreams are getting more and more vivid…"