[this chapter is sexually explicit. If you're not comfortable with that you can skip it.]

Sheptilah wouldn't look Eggman in the eye for several days. Whenever he tried to see her at her hut she would duck out, having Amy cover for her. Nothing is more amusing than watching a grown adult shape-shift into a shoe to avoid someone.

She wouldn't say a single thing to anyone about why she was acting so strange.

When Shadow stopped by to interrogate her on why she was missing for half a week he found her in her bed under the covers, refusing to come out.

"You were gone for three days." Shadow chided her. "You didn't call or text. What were you doing for three days in the lair?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Her muffled voice was higher pitched than usual.

"What happened?" He was growing frustrated.

"The lunar eclipse. I was exposed to it and it turned me into a monster. For three days." She peeked out from the comforter.

"So Eggman had you in the lair for three days? What, like, in a cage?"

"Kinda." She blinked.

"But then why didn't we hear from him?" Then the realization dawned on him and his face turned up in a sneer. "You didn't."

She bit her lip and stared at him nervously. "Remember how I said it made you more animalistic and the whole thing about desires?"

"Explain," he narrowed his eyes at her, "And don't lie to me."

She made a sound like a high-pitched squeal and gripped the edge of the comforter so hard her knuckles turned white.

"What. Did. You. Do?" He demanded.

Still no answer from her.

"Sheptilah!"

"You said not to lie to you so I'm not talking." She retreated back under the blanket.

"Why are you acting like a child?"

"Because I feel like I'm being treated as such," she sat up abruptly, "Fine. You want to know what happened? We fucked. For three days," she held up three fingers, "And neither of us remembers most of it but at some point my rib cage flew open, okay? It was horrifying and I don't want to talk about it."

Shadow inhaled sharply and his mouth was open as if he was going to say something but instead just looked at her, dumbstruck.

"His room looks like a demon tore through it. There's claw marks in the steel walls. Deep ones." She trembled with shame.

Shadow's ears were pinned back with horror.

"And now he wants to go on a date!"

The hedgehog sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at his knees.

"Your rib cage flew open?" He turned to look at her with a sour expression. "And he wants to go out on a date?"

Sheptilah threw up her hands. "I don't know!"

Shadow shuddered. "That man's got issues."

"I wish it never happened." She sulked. "I'm so embarrassed I could die."

"I'm gonna level with you," he flexed his fingers, "That's disgusting that you two did that together but you're an adult and he seems okay so I am not going to report this to anyone. However, if I never hear any more details about it it would be too soon."

She hung her head with shame.

The hedgehog scoffed. "This is just what we need. Please. Please tell me you couldn't possibly get pregnant."

"Shadow, I don't have a uterus until I shape shift one." She furrowed her brow. "And I don't have one right now. That and we used what he called protection. Some weird, stretchy thing."

"A condom?"

"Yes, that."

"Small miracles." He sighed with disgust.

She gasped. "Surveillance footage!" She suddenly jumped up. "I have to make him delete it!"

"There's footage?" Shadow dragged his hand down his face. "Of course there is." He resigned to his chaotic life.

Sheptilah hopped out of the bed and hurriedly put on her shoes. "I'm gonna kill him."

"I'm gonna kill you." The hedgehog spat.

"You can do that later." She ran her hands down her dress to smooth out the wrinkles and ran out the door. She came back a second later to hug Shadow and kiss him on top of the head. "Please don't tell anyone. I'll be right back!"

She was gone before he could respond to her, but was now wondering where that mouth had been and shuddered again.

"Ivo!" She tapped her foot impatiently. "Let me in!" She was outside the lair ringing the bell repeatedly.

The door slid open. Eggman was standing there with a smug look on his face. "Are you back for more?"

She raised her finger accusingly. "You need to delete the footage." She was out of breath from running over there as fast as her Overlander legs would carry her.

"I already did," he cocked his head, "Days ago."

"Wha..." She panted. "Oh."

"Are you okay?" He looked at her with a worried expression.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and bowed her head.

"Come inside," he gestured, "I have some hot chocolate and cookies. We can talk about it."

The lair was quiet and dim. Eggman was watching some telenovelas on his flatscreen in the living room with Orbot and Cubot sitting beside him, completely entranced with the show. She found comfort in the warmth of the mug of hot chocolate and sipped it slowly, drumming her fingers along the cup.

Eggman popped a fudge cookie in his mouth and chased it down with a swig of his own drink.

"Carmelita, you fool," Orbot sighed softly, "Sebastián doesn't care about you at all. He is just after your money."

"How do we know this isn't all a dream sequence?" Cubot shook his head. "They pulled that back when fans were mad at Cristóbal's death."

"Shh!" Eggman scowled at them. "I haven't caught up with the series!" He shooed off his robots and scooted closer to the woman.

"So what's bothering you?"

Sheptilah kept her eyes on the half-finished drink that had gone cold. "I'm horrified, embarrassed, mortified, ashamed." She listed off many adjectives.

"Why?" He sounded hurt.

"Shadow knows and he's upset." She put down her cup and covered her face with her hands. "I'm also disgusted with how it went down. This isn't how I imagined it would be. I was a monster."

"I've known you can shape shift into weird shit for a long time," he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I still like you. A lot."

She looked at his hands then up at his face; he was sincere.

"Shadow says you've got issues for wanting to go out with me." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Maybe I do." He leaned in close. "So what?" He drew her into a kiss, caressing her upper arm as he did so.

She turned away from him, embarrassed.

Eggman frowned. "You don't want to make love again?"

"We made nightmares, not love."

"You are entirely too dramatic. It's run its course though, hasn't it? Everything will be vanilla from now on, yes?" He knit his brows together with concern.

"Vanilla?"

"I mean there won't be any outrageous magical surprises."

"The magic has run its course but..."

"But what?" He grinned impishly. "It's not a deterrent." He moved closer to her.

Her face flushed and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"With your permission I'd like to pick up where we left off." He ran his fingertips over her thigh. "I like the closeness of lovemaking."

She swallowed hard, a nervous smile growing across her face. "Okay."

"We are right here!" Orbot protested.

Sheptilah covered her face with her hands. "I always forget that they can hear us... I'm so used to them never understanding me..."

"Alright, alright." Ivo got off of the sofa and scooped her up into his arms. "I'm going to take you to our bedroom. I expect to be left alone." He shot his robots a look.

Orbot and Cubot cowered, holding each other and nodding.

Ivo whispered hotly into Sheptilah's ear. "I am going to be in charge this time. You did tell me to take what's mine, and I intend to."

He felt her tense up.

"If that's okay with you?" He raised his eyebrows.

For a moment she forgot how to breathe. She nodded sheepishly, completely at his mercy. "Yes, I'm yours."

He carried her bridal-style to his room, closing the door behind him with his foot. He gently laid her on the bed, careful to not hurt her in the process. He pulled off his clothes and gauntlet, setting it all on the floor. He slipped under the covers with her and ran his fingers over her warm body. "Mmm..."

She kept her thighs together and her arms close to her chest as she kissed him, feeling extremely modest.

"Don't be so reserved." He kissed her neck. He trailed his hand up her thigh and lifted the hem of her dress. He made his way to her lips and kissed her deeply, pressing his bare erection against her thigh. "You're safe here with me, I promise."

"I keep thinking about the weird stuff that happened," she ran her fingers through his chest hair, "At one point we were on the ceiling, I think." She briefly looked up at it but didn't see any marks.

"That explains why Orbot was complaining about having to get the long-handled squeegee out of storage."

He hooked a finger into her panties and slowly, agonizingly pulled them down. Every nerve ending of hers was on fire with anticipation. He peppered her jaw and neck with kisses, finding it difficult to pull away from her warm, supple skin. "You smell so good," he said breathlessly, "You always do but right now you smell really good."

"Ivo..." She moaned quietly when he rubbed his thumb against her upper thigh. His fingers explored the silvery curls for that special little spot. When he found it she arched her back and huffed.

He grinned smugly and continued to play with it, becoming more emboldened by her growing wetness. "You're so timid now." He pulled away from her for a moment to slip her dress off over her head. She frowned when he stopped for that moment but pressed her forehead to his chest when his hand found its way back. "Why are you so shy? Are you uncomfortable, my pet?"

"I've always been timid in this kind of situation." Her breath was quickening as the jolts of pleasure ran up from her groin to the warm spot forming in her stomach and tingling in her chest. She covered her face with her hands. "Even with the succubus."

"We don't have to do this, Tilly."

"I want to do this I just... I'm a little shy."

"So I have to convince you to open up; like a flower." He looked at her with those devious, mutant eyes that glowed ever so slightly. "Mmm, you're so warm."

"I'm feeling more like a cactus, at the moment." She suddenly gasped when he slipped a finger inside her.

She's so slick and hot, he thought as he slipped another finger in, careful to not cut her with a fingernail. He kept his thumb over her clit, pressing just light enough to tease her.

"Not a cactus." He kissed her collarbone and made his way down to her navel. "You're more like a delicious fruit and I'm going to take a bite." He disappeared under the blanket and gently pried her legs apart.

"Wait, a bite? I'm not into biting-"

He spread her vulva with his fingers and pressed his tongue to her clit, slowly applying pressure to test her sensitivity and boundaries. He waited for any indication to stop, even if it was a slight nervous twitch.

Her breath hitched at the sensation and she tried to stifle a moan. "Oh, that's what you meant." She relaxed, exhaling quietly.

"Did you really think I was going to take a chunk out of your leg?" His voice was muffled from under the covers.

"Sometimes the stone's translation is literal."

He chuckled and went back to rolling his tongue over the little nub. She gripped the bed sheets, moaning as he worked her over. His large hands firmly holding her hips to keep them still. He loved hearing the sounds of her pleasure, especially when she attempted to keep her voice down with a squeak. The slightly bitter flavor of her most sensitive area wasn't unappetizing but it was also not as sweet as he hoped.

He teased her by rolling his tongue just out of reach of the most sensitive parts and would occasionally punctuate with playful nibbles.

"Yes," she groaned, "Ah..." She spread her legs further apart, literally and metaphorically opening up for her lover.

He could tell when she was close to orgasming and would stop sucking to kiss her thigh. He loved the warmth of her body and the velvet softness of her skin and his lips would linger there for a moment before pressing another kiss into her flesh. He did all he could to extend the time shared between them.

"You're teasing me," she moaned breathlessly, "It's starting to hurt a little."

"It's called edging; it means I'm in control of whether you come or not; but if it's starting to hurt I can finish up."

"Please do." She curled her toes.

He obliged and let her orgasm, finishing up his work with the flick of his tongue. The waves of pleasure spread up her body at once, releasing every bit of pent-up energy from her muscles.

He got up and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and crawled over her. "Feel better?"

She panted softly. "Yes." Her face was dewy with sweat and flushed. A small smile spread across her face.

"Good." He was proud of his work. He kissed her on the cheek and then retrieved a condom from his nightstand.

"I was thinking about those. You must really have a lot of self-control to not have your logo stamped all over them." She snorted.

"Nobody would trust them!" He laughed. "No way." He put it on and crawled over to her, spreading her legs with his knees and looked at her with determination. He held his cock at her entrance, teasing her with a poke. "Ready?"

"Yes." She leaned up and kissed him. She could taste herself on his mouth but it didn't bother her.

He pushed in slowly, enjoying the warmth of her body. For the time being it was as if they were the only two people on Mobius and there was no looming threat over their heads. No GUN, no Eggman Industries, no Sonic and no Egg Bosses; just them.

Though it's said it's not the size that counts- it really does. The thickness of his cock made her feel full and hurt a little. With each pump of his hips she felt her body light up with pleasure and discomfort. It ran up her body like fire, the sound of his soft gasps heightening her arousal.

"I'm so out of practice." She sighed.

"That's okay," he smiled, "We can fix that. But why not just... shape shift yourself a little bigger?"

"Because I'm a little too distracted to do that right now. It's hard enough keeping my uterus gone at all times."

Ivo thrusted slowly while kissing her deeply, his tongue teasing hers. He felt himself falling down an emotional well that he knew he could never crawl out of. Damned brain chemicals ruining my life, he thought. There goes the oxytocin.

As he moved back and forth above her he studied the lines in her face, the angle of her chin, the color and shape of her eyes and the dusting of freckles across her skin. The dreamy way she looked up at him with absolute trust and comfort nearly made him break down with guilt. He still felt bad for what he had done and was planning on doing to her before he got caught up in his feelings for this woman.

The smell of his musk mingling with hers created a hot atmosphere that drove them wild, appealing to their primitive sides.

"You're so soft and warm." He laid on top of her and wrapped his arms around her so that they were very close. "And so submissive…"

She gripped his shoulders. "Yes, I'm yours to do with as you please, but just in this moment."

His pumping became harder and faster, the sound of their moans building in volume together. She wrapped her legs around his torso, crossed at the ankles. She slid her palm across his cheek, removing his glasses. They gazed lovingly at each other, marveling at how beautiful the other was in all their flawed ways.

"You've got faint freckles." She said in a quiet voice, tilting her head slightly and stroking his cheek with her fingertips. "I never noticed... I love... I love them..."

"I've always noticed your freckles. They're so prominent; I want to kiss them all." He buried his face in her neck, slowing the pace of his pumps. "You're so warm... I want to stay like this forever."

Her heart fluttered. "Me, too." She pulled him to her and kissed him deeply, their tongues rolling over the other's. "Don't stop..."

"I won't..." He said between deep breaths. "I don't want to. I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

"I'm so close," she whispered in his ear, "May I come? I don't think I can hold back any longer."

"Of course, my pet." He picked up the pace, thrusting hard enough to make the bed frame rattle.

She arched her back as she came, making a sound like she was choking and gasping for air.

He could feel her convulse around him and came soon after with a shudder, each twitch of his cock he felt the energy leave him and his limbs felt heavy.

He laid down next to her and nuzzled his face into her neck, mustache tickling her.

"Ivo." She reached for his hand.

"Yes?" He was just as out of breath as she was.

She pressed his fingertips to her Oracle Stone. He flinched expecting a shock but none came. The gem felt cold and smooth like a pearl.

"I thought you said it would hurt to touch it." He held her closer.

"Well," she rolled over so that she was facing him, "Touching the stone won't hurt you if I really trust you."

"You still trust me even after everything." He sighed.

"Yes," she grinned, "Because you're my sun."

"And you are my moon." He smiled warmly.

"It seems you are being the submissive one after all." She teased.

Their breathing slowed as they rested in the afterglow of tender lovemaking. She inhaled the scent of him on his pillow, senses heightened from the rush of endorphins. "Your bed always smells so good. I love your scent."

"Speaking of the moon… we should probably go there and see what those wiccaphages did to the core of it."

"You would take me to the moon?"

"Well, yeah. I have lots of space ships. We could even leave right now if you wanted."

She groaned, "Nah, I don't wanna go anywhere that dangerous without Shadow." She paused and then, "Shadow! I left him back at my house! He's waiting for me." She jumped out of the bed and pulled her clothes on.

"What are you going to tell him?" Eggman propped himself up by the elbow.

She hastily tried to smooth out the wrinkles in her dress. "I don't know." She slipped on her shoes and ran out the bedroom door only to come back in a second later and kiss him on the cheek.

"Be good." She winked.

"No promises." He stuck out his tongue playfully.

"Bye!" She said as she jogged out the door.

Sheptilah made it back to her hut in record time. Shadow stood at the door with his arms crossed, tapping his foot. He resembled the angry parent of a child who stayed out past curfew.

"It happened again, didn't it?" He sneered.

She hung her head and sighed. "Yeah."

"Gross."