Greatwater Lake [m] I lift my head and all is born again.

The drawing of his blood marks the final shift in the desert man.
It is as if she has loosed his true nature by cutting the skin, that his blood leaks and so does the truth of himself; and he is grabbing for her with his own teeth, pulling her close, heaving himself across her back. She feels their hips connect even as she fights him—goading him, even as he succeeds in what he's after.
Zharille's snarls become rumbles of pleasure as Mesen-ka exerts his will, and for a time she forgets her demands and she forgets what is owed and she forgets Kaxwaan.
All she wants is a full belly and Mesen-ka is devoted to the cause.