Sunbeam Lair Shiver [m]

He watched her fold like tumbling golden silk, like some pretty piece of lace discarded with the scraps. The sorrow clung to her; it was unbecoming, Ptolemy decided, and detached himself from the shadows. Wordlessly he circled, closer now, a vulture descending only when the rest of the world had fallen away and forgotten what festered in the dark.

In a swift motion he surrounded her; curving around her shoulders, muzzle trailing through her scruff and resting beside her ear. Minuet, He murmured in low velvet tones, pressing against her, incited by the delicate warmth of her. She smelled of sunlight and summer. She felt like redemption.