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Getting lost in the wild sounded like such a wonderful time, until Charlie realized that he was actually lost.

“That campsite couldn’t be that much further out, could it?”

If he had anyone with him to answer that question, he would have felt a bit more comfortable, but the fact was that he had only his own doubts to speak with, and they were painfully honest about his situation.

The trails in the farther, northern reaches of Canada spanned across a wilderness that some would find a bit too difficult to traverse, with or without the assistance of a fellow hiker, or a more experienced partner to guide them.

Charlie was bold enough to make the declaration that he was going to take some time away to find himself, and thanks to a flight and a long bus ride to the middle of what he’d consider to be ‘nowhere,’ he was being a man of his word, for once.

It was looking like a foolhardy move, and though he had the warmer months of the summer to keep him from worrying about freezing overnight, he would only have so much sunlight left to navigate the trails before he was forced to stop and ride out the darkness.

“Maybe an hour or two left before I’m down to a flashlight and the good will of Mother Nature,” he groaned. “I know they said the trail was a bit less obvious in some spots, but this is kinda ridiculous...”

He knew it wouldn’t be easy, and he didn’t necessarily want it to be, but Charlie would have preferred that his hiking boots strike the barren dirt of a more curated path than the taller grasses that he felt like he was getting lost in.

There didn’t seem to be too many threats in those particular woods, but he was far away from the typical luxuries of society, and that much further from easy food and medical care, if either one became an issue.

It would have been one hell of a thrill—one he surely would have enjoyed—if the reality of the situation wasn’t descending on him as quickly as the sun in the distance.

“Thank goodness there’s some early settlers,” he said, as his eyes caught the familiar glint of a campfire through the trees. “I’m sure that this kind of thing happens all the time; hopefully they’ll understand that I just need directions back to the beaten path.”

It’d be a bit of a hike from where he stood, but that just meant that Charlie would have plenty of time to put on his friendliest smile before he arrived at the would-be campsite.

**

Something wasn’t right about the fire, as Charlie finally reached it.

What looked like it would only be a quarter-mile distance was easily stretching out over the better part of two miles, and what little sunlight he had left to work with was fading fast, courtesy of the valley that he was dipping into.

He’d run out of time to find a place to make camp at that rate, and though he had a bedroll and a small tarp to keep him covered, he didn’t trust either one against the storms that were blowing in with the coming weather system.

“So why does it feel like I’m trying to catch this fire? Like...it’s moving further away from me?”

He was sure he’d gotten closer to it by then, and only when he was about a tenth of a mile from the glow did he realize just how odd the shape of it was.

It was too tall and narrow to be an actual flame from a campfire, but not wide or tall enough to be a bonfire, and the fact that it seemed to be on the move continued to confound him...but he’d been making just enough noise with his stomping through the woods that the source of that light was aware of his presence.

Stopping to look back over their shoulder, Charlie was sure that he saw a pair of eyes at the peak of that soft, soothing glow, and though he couldn’t begin to fathom what he was looking at, the fire theory was good and well out the window.

“Wait, is...is that a person?”

It couldn’t be a human being, wearing such a glow about themselves, but it could have been some strange creature in the woods.

The fact that Charlie couldn’t tell what it was did his worried mind no favors, and the sight of those two orbs looking back at him gave him pause.

“Could be time for a little fight or flight...but you knew that could happen, going into this.”

He fathomed himself ready, but he would have preferred not to have to fend off a wild animal, even if he could just have shooed it away.

This one wasn’t wild, and shooing it wouldn’t have worked, but Charlie was beginning to question the safety of his drinking water when that shape turned fully around and started walking toward him.

“Walking on two legs like a person, but that face...that...t-that almost looks like a fox.”

From that distance, it was still difficult to tell, but they weren’t approaching Charlie with a rapid or concerning pace. They walked no differently than he did, and as they drew closer, he kept his right palm near to his knife, but he was starting to think he wouldn’t need it.

Whether it was the literal warmth that the creature gave off, or the kindly smile that was coming into view as she approached, Charlie didn’t think he’d need a weapon right then, as much as a friendly smile and an apology for getting so far off the beaten path.

“Don’t usually see too many hikers out this way,” she said, as she stopped a small distance away from him—maybe thirty feet—showing that she didn’t fully trust him yet, even with a smile on her face. “If you got lost, the main trail is about 300 meters back south of here.”

“Pretty sure I did get lost, but...the trail I was following was supposed to go north, I thought...”

“The St. Farcas trail, sure. I know it well,” the vixen admitted. “But that one goes north after you finish rounding this big rock that you’re currently standing in the shadow of. Pretty sure you’re the first person to get lost like this in a long while.”

Finally, Charlie had a reason to break out that nervous, goofy smile. “Guess I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize that I was going the wrong direction,” he admitted. “The wilderness out here is just so peaceful...”

“That’s why I took up a job being the ranger of it,” she replied. “The name’s Ember! I’m the FireSmart Fox.”

“Wait...w-wait. The Canadian FireSmart fox? That’s a real thing?”

“Mmhm!”

“Huh. I saw a few cartoons about that a couple years back, but I didn’t realize that they were based on a real person...er... vixen. My bad.”

“Happens all the time, really. Nothing to worry about, but the storm that they’re calling for is something that we’d both need to be concerned with. Only got about an hour before that thing comes raining down on us and wipes out all the side trails...”

Charlie wasn’t sure how far he wanted to backpack into the wilderness, but he’d seen a few, looping trails that would take him a week or two to finish, and that was the ideal situation, as far as he was concerned.

Just getting away from it all for a few days wouldn’t be enough, and he simply couldn’t afford a month or more, but he was getting ready to hit that sweet spot when Mother Nature quite literally rained on his parade.

“Guess I'd better look for higher ground,” Charlie suggested. “Not like I’m gonna find a hotel out here...”

“You didn’t book a spot in one of the cabins up the road?”

“They were all full when I decided to take the trip,” he admitted. A quick gesture to his backpack was met with a pair of wilted ears. “So, this is about all I’ve got...but I figure it should be more than enough to get me from A to B and back.”

“...Yeah... no. You go spending the night in that and I’m gonna be dragging you out of a gorge or an overflow creek tomorrow morning,” Ember corrected him. “You really don’t have anywhere else to stay tonight?”

Being the ranger of the area, the vixen knew that the nearest parking lot would be at least six miles back the other way, and with a full pack, Charlie would be trying to make that walk in the dark, likely without the guidance of a proper trail to get the job done.

She took her role seriously, such that she wasn’t going to let the young man get himself into that sort of trouble.

“This is all I’ve got,” Charlie reiterated. “But it’s summer time, it’s nice and warm, the grass out here is pre-”

“Forget the grass, and forget the storm...you’ve got wolves, bears and all other manner of creatures to worry about coming across you at night, if you’ve got any kind of food in that pack. We need to get you somewhere safer, and...seeing how I’m not walking back to my car right now...it sounds like you’d better follow me, if you don’t want to get washed all the way out to the ocean.”

They weren’t that far north, but they were far enough that a few days of wandering lost would leave Charlie well beyond the range of a rescue; he didn’t realize how lucky he was to have come across Ember, but he could already tell how lucky he should feel, given what a friendly, young woman she was.

She was already delightful company, and once she established that Charlie wasn’t much of a threat, she softened up that much further.

“I didn’t think the storm was going to be that bad,” Charlie replied, but when the reality of Ember’s offer dawned on him, his cheeks warmed such that one would think the fire vixen was already cozied up to him. “And that...t-that’s way too much! I’d r-really hate to impose like that.”

“You’re not imposing. I’m a ranger, you’re a lost hiker, I’ve got a cabin a couple kilometers ahead, and for both of our safeties , it’d be for the best if we high-tailed it over there.”

“You...you’re sure?”

“Unless there’s some reason I shouldn’t want you around,” Ember replied. “But it’s been forever since I’ve had a hiker wander this far out, and...to be honest, I could use the company, unless you’re that opposed to crashing on a cot in the office.”

She was gorgeous—that much, Charlie could tell from a distance—but now that he was actually getting to speak with her at length, he was developing an even greater appreciation for what a kindly spirit she was.

He really did hate to impose, but the more important reality was the fact that he didn’t want to risk sleeping under the stars, especially if they were going to be covered up by tumultuous clouds.

If the rest of the trip went according to plan, he’d have plenty of other chances to sneak out and enjoy a long sleep by a campfire, with the moon to act as a natural night light.

“I guess it still counts as getting away from it all, even if I am in a cabin,” Charlie conceded. “I can’t thank you enough for this, Ember. How can I ever repay you?”

“By emptying your pockets when you come through the door of the ranger’s station,” she teased. “Gotta make sure you don’t have something on your person that the mounties would want to know about.”

She’d already started on ahead, but when her words gave Charlie reason to pause, she looked back over that shoulder with a wink.

“It’s called a joke, stranger. Just relax and follow me.”

**

The long day was starting to take a sincere toll on Charlie, who’d ignored physical exhaustion in favor of the emotional relief that came from getting away from the world.

When he finally had a chance to plant his backside in a chair again, it didn’t matter that there fluff of the cushion was mostly worn out, or that the wooden frame beneath that was so unforgiving.

Just getting to pull the laces from his boots, kick his legs up, and curl on his side under a tourist’s gift blanket was more relief than he ever thought he’d find in a log cabin, and that night, he slept better on a cot than he thought he ever had in his own bed.

It was the sort of sleep that almost didn’t happen, courtesy of his racing thoughts—he really might have died if he hadn’t come across Ember—but the fact was that she plucked him out of the wilderness and gave him a place to sleep.

When he stirred awake, he was going to thank her for that, clean up after himself and be on his way, but he’d slept right through the absolutely brutal storms that had passed through overnight, and when he finally sat up from the cot, the door to the ranger’s station was left open, as was the small bedroom that Ember slept in the night before.

She’d been up much earlier, and right as Charlie was pulling his sleep shirt off, the door swung open, revealing a surprisingly chipper vixen, covered in dirt and underbrush.

“So...where is it you were going, again?” she asked, and only after she got a good look at his exposed torso did she lift a paw in front of her eyes. “Sorry; didn’t realize that you hadn’t gotten changed, yet.”

“Oh, it, uh...it’s fine,” Charlie replied, no matter how bashful he was to be seen that way. “And I guess I was just kinda wandering the trail heading north until I’d had enough of it, but...the fact that you’re asking that has me kinda nervous.”

“Well, if you were in a rush to get home, I’ve got bad news. If you were looking to wander for at least another two or three days, then have I got the news for you!”

Charlie blinked. “Just how bad were those storms last night?”

Almost the entire world had entered the digital age, but the TV screen up in the corner of the ranger’s cabin had been turned off while Ember was out.

“See for yourself.”

She closed the door behind her, turned on the screen and made a beeline for the coffee pot, needing a refresher before she took care of anything else.

“Ho...ly... shit.”

“Yeah. You must have been tired if you were able to sleep all the way through that, but it sure seemed like you were walking away from something troublesome. Maybe you just needed a new place to rest your head.”

There was no volume to go along with the broadcast, but Charlie didn’t need to hear anything to imagine the sound of branches crashing against the pavement and trees toppling into houses and powerlines.

It was a mess, the manner of which gave him a reason to bring a hand to his chest; he really would have been dead to rights if he’d slept in a storm like that with just a tarp and a bed roll.

“I guess I literally can’t thank y-you enough for letting me stay the night here,” Charlie said, unable to hide the nervous stammer from his voice. “Looks like that really would have been curtains for me, huh?”

“Probably wouldn’t have gone well, but the fact is that I must have scooped you up for a reason,” Ember guessed. “They say that everything happens for a reason, and I did a quick round on my territory, and no one else was out and about in this, so...whether it’s luck or fate, let’s just be glad that you spent the night, here.”

Charlie was still trying to come to terms with his potential brush with death when Ember noticed that subtle shift in his demeanor.

“As for repayment...the government pays my salary, so you don’t have to worry about that, but you can repay me another way, Charlie.”

The way she said those words, Charlie was beginning to wonder if he should have taken his shirt the rest of the way off, but he tried to tell himself that he was looking too much into that shift in her tone.

“Given what you just did for me, I feel like I’m forever in your debt,” Charlie admitted. “If you’ve got a job, you name it.”

“Forever in my debt? I wouldn’t have taken you for a hopeless romantic,” She teased. “I just need a little extra help clearing the debris from the pathways around here; if you don’t have the extra travel time to spare, don’t worry about it. I’ll guide you back to the right trail and get you on your way.”

She was kind, almost to a fault, but there was a certain sense of confidence about her that told Charlie what a straight shooter she was.

She never would have welcomed him into the cabin if she couldn’t handle herself in a dangerous situation, and she was skilled enough at reading people to know not only that Charlie wasn’t a threat, but that he was the sort to offer up help, even when it wasn’t needed.

He’d take her up on her request without a second thought.

“I really was just out for a wander,” Charlie admitted. “If there’s something I can do to help the woman who saved my life, it’s done!”

The self-fulfilling prophecy gave Ember that much more reason to smile. “I’ll try not to take up your whole day, but you’re gonna give me at least half of mine back with the help, I’m sure. That time is pretty invaluable when you’re patrolling the woods on your own.”

Charlie was already tossing off his sleep shirt at that suggestion, and a grinning Ember took in the show for a moment before she saw him going for the strings of his pajamas. “...You, uhm...you can use my room to finish changing, if you need,” she offered.

“Oh. Right.”

Flustered and smiling that much sweeter for it, Charlie grabbed his things and changed into a fresh outfit for what he was sure would be more work than an average day of hiking.

**

As many trees as there were dotting the wilderness of the great white north, Charlie was still in disbelief at just how many of them had been toppled by the storm by the night before.

It was a way of nature culling itself, as those older and weaker trees were pulled down by the storm, and Ember, for her part, was part of the conservation effort to make sure that those fallen trees were repurposed properly: be it grinding them into mulch, moving them into a clearing to create a habitat for some of the smaller critters in the forest, or cleaning up the widow-makers for the safety of other hikers, there was a lot more to cleaning up after a storm than Charlie would have imagined.

A few hours went by in the blink of an eye, and just as he’d suspected, the work itself was taking a toll on his body, but Charlie was glad to have done that meaningful, physical labor.

Just doing something more important than sitting at a desk and playing with a keyboard was enough, but having the chance to do something even more than that—something that was helpful to other people—was the sort of grace that he wasn’t expecting to find in his life, right then.

Delighted with the opportunity and hoping it would last a little longer, Charlie almost wanted to ask Ember if there was anything more she needed help with, but he didn’t want to overstay his welcome, either.

“You know, I’m still glad that I decided to give you a place in the cabin instead of forcing you to rough it out here, but I get the feeling you would have done just fine on your own,” Ember admitted. She’d taken to resting against the trunks of one of the trees that still stood, turning their latest water break into more of an hour off than a five-minute. “You’re handling yourself like you’ve done this kind of thing before.”

She made for a lovely sight, no matter where she stood, but in the throngs of nature, Ember looked like she was right where she belonged. The glow of her fur was a bit more subtle during the day, but that overcoat of orange-red would have been alluring without her being the only light in the room.

Even in the wilderness, it seemed that she was the only light that Charlie could see, and his stare of muted chocolate felt that much softer for being able to drink in her beauty, that way.

“I wasn’t much of an outdoorsman back home, but I spent some time in scouts. Some of that stuff really sticks, I guess,” Charlie suggested. “Felt a bit like riding a bike; one of those second nature type things.”

“Pretty fortunate for me, honestly. I thought this was gonna take us another hour, anyway...but this was the last of the large branches that we needed to clear from the path. Thanks for keeping my on my toes!”

Charlie was enjoying his own water from a canteen, having filled up at the ranger’s station before they left. He was planning on doing his part to make the hike as green as possible, but having Ember right there beside him, he would have confessed that he was going an extra mile, for having that watchful eye on his habits.

“I was just trying to keep up with you,” Charlie replied. “But this was...heh. Is it weird to say that this was just what I needed?”

“Not weird at all. Sometimes, a little hard labor and a job well done is the cure for what ails us...not to mention that hard work is its own reward, isn’t it?”

“That’s what they say, anyway.”

He was happy to drag the conversation out for as long as she would let it; every time Charlie thought she was going to send him off, she had a little more to say to him.

“You know what else they say, right?”

Her eyes were of such an intense, smoldering color that they were just as much a part of her namesake as the glow of her fur, and the power of her gaze brought a crawling warmth to Charlie’s skin, wherever she looked.

“Plenty of things, but I’m not sure where you’re going with this,” he admitted. “You’re the wilderness expert, after all.”

“I am. I know these woods like the tuft on the end of my tail, and what else they say...and what I say...is that if you’re gonna work hard, you’ve gotta play hard when you’re all done.”

“Couldn’t agree more. You got some fun suggestions of things I should do once I get back to the trail?”

He’d missed her message—or perhaps, failed to believe it—but hers was a flirtatious tone, such that Ember had to giggle at his response.

“We’ll get you back there soon enough, but before we do, I...listen...I don’t do this kind of thing very often...basically ever , actually, but it’s the perfect time of year to grab a swim in one of the ponds nearby, and there’s a couple that aren’t on any of the publicly available maps. Little secret that we rangers keep to ourselves. You wanna go check one of ‘em out?”

That might have been coming on a little too strong, but Ember hadn’t shown her entire hand, just yet.

What she showed was enough to convince Charlie to at least see what she was talking about, no matter how suspicious—or excited—that sudden chill in his spine told him to be.

“You’d really share something like that with me?” he asked.

“For the help you just gave me, I owe you a lot more than a swim in a private pond, but it’s technically against the law to pay you for volunteer work, and I don’t think you’d want any extra souvenirs to take home with you. Last thing you need is more weight to carry.”

“Well...maybe one souvenir would be nice?”

Ember offered a quick giggle. That sound was sweet enough, but bouncing off the trunk of the tree and leaning in to kiss Charlie’s cheek was the real treat, as far as he was concerned.

“There’s one you can take with you that won’t bog you down too much. You coming?”

“Y...yup.”

He wouldn’t bother trying with flowery words along the way, finding that Ember took too quick of a pace to make much conversation...but Charlie was grateful for that, if only to avoid tripping over his words.

**

It was at least another mile down a less beaten path, but Charlie was happy to take a walk off that path, going a direction that wasn’t anywhere near where he originally intended to go.

The fact was that he was trying to get away from the troubles of his old life, and that didn’t have to mean that he was going to complete his original loop: he was open to whatever adventure life was going to throw at him.

“You’re not gonna find lakes this clean and clear back where you come from, I bet.”

That far out from the rest of the world, there were still water sources that were mostly unblemished by the poisonous touch of modern society. The sunshine broke through the surrounding trees enough that something finally held a greater sparkle than Ember, herself, as sunlight bounced off of an almost glassy surface.

“Feels like something off of the background of a computer,” Charlie said. “That...s-sorry. That was probably kinda lame, but I guess I don’t quite get out enough.”

“No, no! I get what you mean: they always try to sell computer monitors with these fantastic pictures of landscapes and places that it feels like no one has ever been, but...if you ask me, the real thing is always better than the photo.”

Ember was approaching the lake with a slower stride, giving herself to drink in the sight of the pond, down at the center of a small valley. It was so picturesque that Charlie was starting to wonder if he’d actually camped out the night before and died in the storm, but more plausible than that was a dream...

...and neither turned out to be true, as he felt a gentle nudge in his tummy, from a friendly, playful elbow.

“Such a captivating sight that you almost walked right into it?” Ember teased. “And the pond looks pretty nice too, doesn’t it?”

The flicker of her tail showed just how much of a tease she could be, but Ember was planning on taking things a lot further than swishing her tail at the lucky, young man.

She couldn’t remember the last time she enjoyed being around a human that much, and further, one that she actually wanted to flirt with, but she surprised herself when she set her things down on the mingled sand and dirt of the shore...

...and pushed her fingertips into the waistline of her ranger’s uniform, untucking the hem of her shirt from her shorts.

“Yeah, it...it’s one of the prettiest things I...uh. Uhm. What are you doing?”

“What? We’re going for a swim, aren’t we?”

It was entirely possible that she was wearing a bathing suit under her outfit—Charlie hadn’t considered that—but he still thought she might want some privacy to strip away her outfit, at the very least.

When she started right into it, he turned his head the other way, but Ember could feel that subtle peek from the corner of his eye, even before she started unbuckling the clasp of her belt.

“You’ve got a point,” Charlie gave. “But I...h-heh...this is gonna be kind of a problem, but I didn’t even think about it: I don’t have any swim trunks on me. Are there any back at the station?”

“You’re not walking all the way back there just to get a pair of shorts,” Ember told him. “I don’t think there’s any there, anyway, and if we lose the midday sun, this water is gonna get bitterly cold , a lot faster than you think. This is our best window.”

Leaving Charlie without any excuse not to get in the water was all part of the plan, but Ember knew that he was still sneaking peeks when she tugged her uniform over her head and wasted no time reaching under the tight, snug grip of her sports bra.

“W-wait, what are you-”

“I can’t afford to get my uniform wet; can you?”

Tugging her bra up and over her head a moment later, Ember made a show of dangling it on the end of her fingertip, before she dropped it onto her backpack.

“You’re not really about to go skinny dipping the middle of your shift, are you?”

“First of all, I’m on break right now,” Ember mentioned. “Second...yes. Yes, I am. You’re not?”

Charlie would have been a fool to turn down that invitation, and he knew it, but that didn’t change the fact that it felt like his feet were trapped in concrete.

Those legs were quivering, and Ember, having seen some of the telltale signs before, wondered just how long it had been since Charlie was so intimate with a woman...if he ever had been.

“Well, you only live once, right?” he asked, taking the extra few seconds to find those words, just as Ember gave the first tug at her shorts.

That rugged fabric dropped to reveal a simple, practical pair of black panties, but their bikini cut was still alluring enough that Charlie couldn’t help stealing a quick glance...and Ember, feeling that stare once more, rolled her eyes.

“You’re about to see me totally naked, dude. If you really wanna look that badly, I promise I’m okay with it.”

Charlie was just starting to let out a sigh of relief, midway through his own shirt coming off of his torso.

“...Provided I get to see you naked before you get in the water, too. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”

He felt like he should have seen that much coming, but just before Charlie could find the words to protest, he saw Ember bending over at the hip to slide her panties down.

Her tail lifted—only for a moment—but that flash of the underside of her tail and the warm, soft pink that was hidden below was more than enough motivation for him to return the favor.

“Just...if we get caught out here like this, it was your idea.”

“If we get caught out here like this, I’ve gotta figure out which one of the other rangers blabbed about the location,” Ember said. “The chances of someone happening upon us right now are just about slim to none, so...unless you want me to splash you with your clothes on, you’d better lose ‘em.”

She was playful enough that Charlie wasn’t all that worried about getting caught, but she was just serious enough that he knew his clothes were at risk.

Instead of taking that risk, he stripped that much faster, and as he tossed his shirt away, he saw the naked vixen sprinting for the water, intent on grabbing up as much of it as she could before Charlie could strip out of his slacks.

Wearing rugged clothing meant that there would be nothing sexy about his supposed strip tease, but Ember was only looking back over her shoulder to see how quickly her new friend was giving pursuit.

He was practically tripping over the leg of his slacks as he went, and just as Ember reached the edge of the water, she saw him tugging his junk over the waistline of his boxers, stripping out of his clothes as feverishly as he ever had.

“And here I was, worried that I might have worked you a little too hard with all the manual labor,” she joked. “But you look like you’re ready to get back out there and lay some lumber, don’t you?”

Charlie was shocked to hear Ember making such a bold pun, but he was slow enough on the uptake that he still wasn’t sure if the vixen was just being playful, or if she was planning on sharing a bed with him, that evening.

Whatever the case was, he was having a blast, but he could only convey it through a chuckle of disbelief and a wide, delighted smile. “Pretty sure that laying lumber isn’t the best use of these fallen trees, is it?”

“We find plenty of dead wood that’s best used for things like tables and chairs, actually, but...I think you knew what I meant. Pretty nice, by the way.”

She could flick her tail in front of her pubic mound and cover her breasts, but Charlie could only lower his palms and try to contain himself.

As Ember made her way toward the water, instead, she covered up with the benefit of crisp, clear water, and stood just far enough in the pond itself that only the tops of her breasts were still visible.

“Hopefully it feels like we made an even trade, then. I still feel like I got the better part of the deal,” Charlie suggested.

He’d been in such a rush to get to the water, and he didn’t want to just leave his cock hanging out when he was in such a vulnerable place, but he still gave himself to the classic mistake of tapping his toe against the edge of the water.

Even in the summer, the ponds and lakes further north stayed cold, and it was with an almost frustrated gasp that he swallowed his nerves and took another step closer.

“You know, for a guy that was willing to take such risks in the first place, it doesn’t feel like you knew a ton about what you were getting yourself into. It’s a bit colder up here, isn’t it?”

Ember was always going to have one more teasing thing to say. Charlie was prepared for that, by then, but when he was shivering just from getting in up to his knees, he could think only of reaching out and dunking the vixen under the water...

...except that she didn’t seem bothered at all by the bitter cold of the pond.

“I’m not from that far south,” Charlie claimed.

“From the states, though?”

“Like most of your tourists, I’m sure.”

“Plenty of them, and they’re always the ones who think that they know what cold is, until they go for a dip in one of our freshwater ponds.”

“Speaking of that...how is that you’re handling it so well? Does a fur coat make that much of a difference?”

“Well, yes, but...if you’d swim a little closer to me, I think you’d find it a bit more comfortable.”

Charlie was just up to the tip of his member—one that was very unhappy with the contact—when he cocked a brow at Ember. “Aren’t you a little old to be peeing in the pool?”

“Don’t go giving me ideas,” she joked. “It’s actually the source of my warmth, and the closer you get, the more of it you’ll feel.”

Anything was worth the effort of warming up, and Charlie pushed through the next few feet with a faster pace...and just as promised, as he approached the vixen’s floating body, he could feel a warm, subtle and soothing, wrapping around his body, as Ember was resting over the exit vent of a hot spring.

“That’s...h-huh. That’s really nice ,” he marveled. “You just radiate that kind of heat naturally?”

“I am a fire fox, after all,” Ember noted. “Comes with the territory. I can actually use those powers to warm hikers that end up getting stranded while we wait for help to arrive, and when we get out of the water, I’ll be happy to use them to help dry you off.”

Charlie gulped, his cheeks flushed with a far greater warmth than her body was providing, right then.

“What? If you didn’t bring any swim trunks, I’m sure you didn’t bring a towel in your travel pack, either.”

“Actually, I did; wanted to have something on hand for the rare showers that I’d be able to take along the trail,” Charlie explained. “But your method...w-well...it really does sound a lot nicer, if I’m being honest.”

“I didn’t think you’d mind me working my magic on you.”

“Like you have been this entire time?”

Ember wasn’t quite bold enough to sneak in a naked hug, even with the cover of the water to her benefit, but she was happy to splash Charlie, soaking his tawny locks and giving his goatee a proper sheen in the process.

“Just as I was starting to think you’d never catch on, Charlie...even though you are quite the catch, as far as I can tell.”

“You’re giving me way too much credit. Trust me.”

“Given that I let you sleep in the cabin overnight, I clearly do trust you—perhaps a little too much, too soon—you should tell me a bit more about yourself.”

Charlie snickered. “For safety’s sake? No other reason?”

“Well, I need to know what information to leave for the mounties when they find my body tomorrow.”

“...You know, that sounds like the kind of thing that a vicious axe murderer would say to throw someone off their scent.”

“Then I guess that puts us on an equal playing field, doesn’t it?”

That time, it was Charlie who offered a splash, and Ember who was forced to wilt her ears as the water dripped down her head and over the bridge of her muzzle.

“Something like that, anyway.”

“I believe you were g-going to tell me something about yourself,” Ember stammered as she wiped the excess water from her face, flicking beads of it back at her new friend. “But if you want to get into a splash fight, instead, I’d be glad to show you why I’m the queen of this particular pond.”

Charlie didn’t think he could get into a proper splash fight with the vixen without things getting that much more amorous than they already had.

He wouldn’t complain about that fact—the adventure of life was finally being well lived—but he was having such a lovely time with Ember just chatting that he wouldn’t rush into bed, unless she pushed it that much further.

“If you think you’re up for it, bring it on,” Charlie argued. “If not...well...my name’s Charlie, as you know. I got tired of working for an accounting firm, some friends of mine had a falling out, a relative died, and I just...I felt like it would be nice to get away from it all for a while, but that’s the short version.”

“Short version is good enough for now,” Ember told him. “Long version...we’ll see if you feel like giving that after I’m done with you.”

“Done with me?”

“Yeah. I’ve still gotta finish what I started!”

Another, wider splash came from the vixen, her movement giving just enough of a preview of her chest that Charlie kept his eyes open a little too long.

Two eyes full of water were his fate, and as he tried to cover them up, he felt another series of splashes, forcing him to finally concede his defeat.

“O-o-ohkay! Omhfka...mnf!”

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of you getting crushed in a splash fight!”

She was just the right blend of playful, flirty, fun and serious to be a little difficult to read, but Charlie was sure enough, by then, that she wouldn’t mind him trying to settle that score.

Pushing through the assault and grabbing onto her wrists with blinded eyes, Charlie waited just long enough to hear the giggle from Ember before he gave a quick tug, pulling her head underwater.

“That oughta show you...”

He rubbed the last of the water from his eyes, only to feel the vixen grabbing around his midsection and giving him a push, back into the shallower waters...

...where there would be no way for him to hide the less-than-subtle response of his stiffening cock.

“Show me what, huh? You think you’re so t...tough. Oh. Oh.”

There was no use denying it, as Ember’s cheek brushed against Charlie’s stomach, just above the rising base of that shaft...but for the first time, she was given just enough reason to halt her flirtatious nature.

“Look, I can...I can explain.”

“You don’t have to. You were playing with a naked chick in a lake and you got excited. To be honest, I’d be a bit more upset if you hadn’t reacted at all...though this...this is a bit stronger of a reaction than I expected.”

Charlie could only snicker, at that. “...You made it sound like I was being so sexy.”

“If I could go back and change what I said, I would, but...how about I just make up for it by saying what I wanted to say when I first got into the water with you?”

“They say honesty is the best policy.”

“In that case, honestly...I...I was kinda hoping you’d come back to the station with me, and...you know...stay another night? Maybe in my bed , this time?”

It was the offer of a lifetime—the loop around the trails was completely forgotten—whatever plans Charlie had for his trip before, he’d gladly forsake in the name of Ember’s new offer...

...but there was one glaring issue that kept him from accepting that offer outright.

“If you mean it, that...I...well, we did just say honesty was best; I’d love that,” Charlie confessed. “But how would that even work? I mean, you being a vixen and me being a human...would that be okay?”

“It probably would be, but if you’re worried about it, I could show you one of my other powers while I dry you off; I promise it’ll take care of any concerns you have.”

Ember was full of suprises, but the fact that she was literally so gifted with magic was perhaps the greatest surprise of all.

Charlie was doing a great job of rolling with those punches and accepting things as she mentioned them, but as the pair stood up and out of the shallower waters, he struggled to accept the reality of watching a wet, matted vixen become dry so quickly: she shook some of the excess out of her fur—more like a dog than a fox—but those glistening drops that were left faded away so quickly that the beads turned to steam before his very eyes.

“Wh...w-what in the world...?”

“I was doing this with a lot greater effect in the water...you have any idea what kind of thermal energy it takes to heat up a pond like that, even for a few feet at a time?”

“Not a clue, but I guess I didn’t give you enough credit,” Charlie admitted. “You sure I’m not gonna get third degree burns from this?”

“I’m a bit more careful than that, I assure you...but...your skin might look a little different, when we’re all done.”

Charlie would have loved for her to give more of an explanation before she reached out and touched the end of his hand, but the warmth he felt wasn’t like the burning sensation that he expected.

It was of such a comfort that he couldn’t begin to fathom pulling his digits away, and with the natural glow of her fur aided by the wisps of steam that poured from her shoulders and back, Charlie was left to wonder once more if he’d passed away in his sleep, only to be greeted by a playful angel when he entered those pearly gates.

“It f-feels...feels nice ,” Charlie whispered. He couldn’t hide the subtle disbelief in his voice, but Ember wouldn’t hold that against him: she knew how wild it must have looked for the glow in her palm to pass over his skin...

...and leave a trail of fur in its wake, that fluff moving all the way up his wrist as she stroked it.

“It should. There’s something about becoming a fox that’s just so soothing , it’s kinda hard to describe. It's the kind of thing that you just need to feel, really.”

Charlie nodded his agreement at the sentiment, but he was in such a delighted state at that spreading heat that he didn’t fully register the words he’d heard, until the noticed his nails growing out and over the ends of his digits, copying the shape of a vulpine claw.

Turning his palm up to his own face and watching a new layer of flesh spread over the ends of his digits—pawpads growing in real, rapid time—Charlie didn’t have to ask the question, but it was sitting on his tongue with too much weight to be ignored.

“You...y-you did just say becoming a fox , didn’t you?” the words slipped out, but even as they did, he could feel a new length pushing his tongue over the edge of his lower jaw.

The changes were a little bit uneven, in that way, but the structure of his face was already starting to stretch, as his once firm bones became decidedly pliable.

He wouldn’t speak again until he was sure that his jaw was done taking a new shape, but it seemed a better idea to let Ember carry the conversation, regardless.

“You were worried about our being compatible,” she reminded him. “If you wanted me to stop, I could, but...I promise we won’t have any issue being compatible, if you let me finish this up.”

The truth was that Ember could have slept with Charlie just as he was, and there would have been no risks involved, thanks to that lack of compatibility. The idea of his being a summer fling was appealing enough that she would have settled for that, but the idea of giving Charlie that much greater a gift for his help carried too great a temptation for Ember to resist it.

To see the attempt at a smile on his face, as he adjusted to the way his lips were stretching around the end of a forming muzzle, she took it as a sign that he approve the decision, even when the flesh of his cock began sinking back into the shape of a vulpine sheath.

“On the bright side, I’m sure I could reverse this if you really wanted me to, but...I dunno how this is gonna go,” she admitted. “I’ve never actually tried doing this to someone before; just always knew that I could, and wanted to save it for someone special.”

That compliment didn’t change the fact that Charlie was still uncertain, but the entire time, there was a tickle spreading through his insides, as if he was being stroked by dozens of feathers, following that warmth wherever it moved through him.

The only moment of genuine concern was when a pop rang out from the expansion of his spine, and that growing length of bone continued to stretch out from his naked tailbone, moving further and further out over the curve of his rump—a bit of an unseemly thing—but the rapid covering of a plume of warm, golden fur around the end of that forming tail did away with the strange sight.

“Just about done,” Ember told him. The glow radiating from her paws became painfully bright as she pressed those palms into his naked chest, and under her touch, thicker tufts of fur immediately sprung to life, spreading up and out to meet with the patchwork that had been spreading all over his body throughout. “You were already quite the looker as a human, Charlie...and I’m delighted to say that you’ve kept all of your best qualities.”

His fur pattern mimicked her own so well that one would have thought they were born of the same litter, but where she had warmer eyes with an orange-red tint, Charlie kept the more natural looking chocolate of his human stare.

The golden-tinted orange of his overcoat was just starting to fill in around the edges of his elongated muzzle, and from the sides of his face, he could feel his ears stretching and moving up, gradually edging toward the top of his skull...and giving him a moment of veritgo, as he adjusted to hearing Ember’s voice from a new angle.

“And, not to be too much of a one-track mind, but...uhm...you still look like you’ve been enjoying yourself.”

The color and the shape had shifted, but the size of Charlie’s cock was about the same, though only half of it was still poking up through the opening of a cream-colored sheath.

Heat was pouring away from the tip with such intensity that Charlie would have been worried, if he couldn’t feel a similar warmth spreading throughout his body. He didn’t know how to turn it off, but it was a relief to think that he’d likely never be cold again; clothes had just become a societal formality.

“I just sprouted a tail, my ears are on top of my head, my tongue feels weird in my mouth, and I’m covered in fur...and you’re still focused on my cock?” Charlie teased, testing out his new lips.

“Is that a bad thing?”

He snickered. “I suppose I’m flattered. It must be pretty special if you’re still focusing on it, with everything else that’s changed.”

“It doesn’t look to me like you’ve changed that much,” Ember suggested. “Just highlighted some of your best features and updated your color palette, is all.”

“Really? That’s all?”

Her grin was too cheeky, by then. She’d done away with any hint of guilt she would have felt for bestowing that unique form onto Charlie.

“It’s not as simple as that, but we can worry about the more complicated stuff tomorrow,” Ember offered. “For now, we’ve burned away a good portion of the day outside, but I think I’d prefer to spend the rest of it inside...somewhere a little cozier than a pond.”

“Bit of a small bed, then?”

“Plenty of room for two, if you don’t mind being close to me.”

Their chemistry was on display from the start, but never more than it was when Ember stepped into his body and Charlie, for his part, took that half step forth to bring their naked chests into each other.

Unlikely as it was that they would be happened upon, the greater risk was leaving the station unattended for the whole day while they were out in the woods, doing what came naturally.

They had to head back...but Ember would lock the door as soon as it was closed behind them.

**

“You still feel warmer than I do.”

“I think that’s just in your head.”

“No...t-that...that’s definitely something else.”

They’d only just pulled their clothes back on for the sake of the hike, but neither one bothered with their undergarments.

With the station locked and an “out of service” sign hanging on the outermost door, the pair would have all the privacy they could ever hope for, and a sturdy, wooden building meant that no one would be able to hear what they were up to, unless they put an ear right to the window of that intimate living space.

It was small enough that two bodies in the room would feel cramped under any other circumstances, but right then, Ember wanted to feel the weight of the man above her, his naked flesh trapped between her thighs, his lips pressing upon her own with a feverish intensity that she hoped would still remain the next morning; she wouldn’t let this be a one-night stand.

He was going to give her the weekend, at least, and she’d do whatever it took to convince him to stay the rest of that week, if she had the time.

A lonely woman and a man that was searching for something found each other in that wilderness, and upon a bed with scattered covers and a narrow frame, their bodies nudged and pushed upon each other, even before there was any penetration to speak of...

...but there was no shortage of passion in the way that Charlie put his new fangs to work, nipping at Ember’s lower lip and teasing her flesh with that much greater intensity.

“Mnn...hmm...n-never could have guessed you’d take to this new body so well, but you’re just g-going after it, aren’t you?” Ember asked, poking the bear just a little bit more, without rushing Charlie into the act...but she could already feel precum pooling against her navel, as his member came to a full erection, throbbing between their pressed bodies. “Not that I’m complaining about that enthusiasm.”

She couldn’t help drawing attention back to his shaft, as it pulsed against the peak of her womanhood. She didn’t expect to feel such delight from distant throbs in that way, but the heated pressure and the weight against her clit kept her driven up the proverbial wall, such that she wasn’t going to bother trying to contain herself.

She, too, was allowing those primal urges to dictate her every move, from the scrape of her claws through the new fluff upon his back, to the way that she brushed past his muzzle, eager to sink her fangs into the side of his collarbone.

And he hasn’t even put it in, yet. I thought I’d be able to help myself a bit more, but I just want to mark him...wanna bite him everywhere!

She’d do nothing to keep herself from enjoying that moment, and Charlie, for his part, was loving that Ember decided to swing for the fences from the get-go.

“You’re one to t-talk about enthusiasm,” Charlie teased, finally having the chance to keep up with her impressive level of wordplay. “Going after my neck like...I’ve...I’ve never had anyone bite me like this before.”

Ember paused just long enough to separate her fangs from his flesh, leaving fresh dimples above his collarbone. “Problem?”

“Not even a little bit.”

She didn’t land another bite before Charlie decided to return the favor, his lips tickling the inside of her throat, his whiskers brushing along the underside of her chin...and finally, among all of those softer delights, his fangs pressed upon her neck, and his posture shifted such that his paws, once resting on either side of her, found new purchase in the supple flesh of her bosom.

“O-oh... fuck...y-you really are one eager tod, aren’t you?”

As if the precum that had pooled in her navel wasn’t evidence enough, Charlie was giving Ember plenty of other reasons to believe that she was being kept waiting as part of a longer play.

Her own moisture—that natural, soaking warmth—was slowly leaking away from her folds, leaving a trail of arousal that spilled all the way down the softer fluff of Charlie’s sack. She was happy to be able to tease him without having to use any other part of her body, but she quietly hoped that her touch would be enough; she didn’t know how much longer she could handle his tease without the expected payoff.

The distraction of such eager, talented paws upon her breasts, molding that flesh and teasing her nipples, however...

“Keep...k-keep going, Charlie...harder... bite me harder!”

She’d never be so bold as to make such demands of a human, thinking they weren’t as keen on that animalistic nature, but she knew she could trust Charlie to understand what she needed, and provide it in short order.

Her reward that time was to whimper into his ear and lift her hips toward him, pushing up from that missionary pose and showing that she could still do plenty to tease him, even when she was pinned to the flat of her back.

She almost managed to guide the head of his cock between her petals on that movement, and even the tease of penetration was such a delight that she could feel his impassioned voice, rumbling against the side of her neck, even before she heard the complimenting growl at the base of her ear.

“Gods...y-you...what are you waiting for, Charlie? Are you just t-trying to make me cum...w-without giving me the payoff?”

The way he was rubbing back against her, he hadn’t even realized that he was moving so much until the vixen called him on it.

So many of his movements were a matter of instinct, right then. He found that his brain was a-tingle with the same warmth that had spread throughout the rest of his body, but more than that, there was something else bubbling up within his skull, as if that vulpine nature was trying to get a foothold in his thoughts.

It wasn’t going to win the day so easily, but the slow, heavy sway of his tail and the driving weight of his hips weren’t conscious thoughts, until Ember brought Charlie out of that brief trance.

“Didn’t know you were that close,” he admitted, his teeth still nibbling at her neck between words, drawing a few, lust-drunk giggle from her. “Didn’t know I was...m-moving like that, to be honest.”

“Happens to me all the time,” she admitted. “When I’ve got my favorite toy and the mood strikes just right , s-sometimes...it’s a bit like I’m just letting nature move through me, instead of doing the work myself.”

“And when you finish?”

“It’s like waking up in your own body again, but someone left you a care package for your troubles...and that package just happens to be full of orgasmic pleasure.”

“Pretty sure I wanna go there.”

“You sure? Or do you need me to ask again? Cause...I’ve already asked a couple times,” she joked.

Her wink took the edge off the tease, but it didn’t stop Charlie from lowering his weight against her, trying his best to mingle vulpine instinct with human determination.

Whether he managed to get it right or not, he wouldn’t judge by the way that Ember squeaked with delight when she was pushed back down into the mattress, nor by the way that those high-pitched squeals gave way to a sharper, stifling gasp when the head of his vulpine cock pressed against her folds.

He wouldn’t let those simpler worries bother him right then, when such a flood of earthly delights was wrapping around the head of his member, sliding down his shaft one glorious inch at a time.

“Third time w-would have been the charm,” she whispered. “Knew it.”

Charlie kept his teeth together in a tight grit, barely able to handle the pleasure of that first thrust without crying out, but something about holding that sound back felt right, in the moment.

He wasn’t worried about Ember judging him—far from it—but he thought better of saving that praise for when the weight of his sack bounced against the inside of her thighs, bringing their bodies together as close as he thought they could be.

There was one portion of his anatomy that he hadn’t considered, but the full shaft of his cock was resting within Ember, soaking up a warmth that would have been the most enchanting variety she could offer, with or without magic to aid it.

“You say it would have been the charm...you planning on using magic to h-help get it in there?” he asked.

That he could still offer a tease, even when her inner muscles were holding his shaft steady, even when those plentiful juices were soaking down to the rim of his sheath...it was nothing short of impressive, but Ember wouldn’t be so easily outdone.

“Or were you casting a spell on me this whole time?” he added, leading off his first proper thrust with the recoil of his hips. “The witch in the woods, dazzling this young man into doing her bidding?”

“I don’t need to cast a spell to get you to do what I want,” Ember countered, her legs doing that portion of the work for her as they hooked around the middle of his back. “I just have to tell you to f-fuck me like you mean it...and I know you will.”

It wasn’t magic or a charm, but simply knowing her target that made Ember so confident.

She’d given him plenty of time to get comfortable with what she was after for the weekend, and feeling a full, powerful drive against her inner thighs, she knew that she’d picked the right man to spend that time with; whether it would just be the weekend or not, she wasn’t sure, but she hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Taking her life one day at a time, inspired by the very man that had wandered into her life, she would enjoy him for as long as she could...and right then, her body was clenching that might tighter at his driving shaft.

Juxtaposition left her wanting to hold that cock and settle against it, and yet, some other part of her wanted exactly what she was getting: a faster, brisk pace from Charlie’s hips, bouncing and pounding against her willing body.

“Only known me a couple d-days and I’m already that predictable...y-you...you sure you aren’t gonna get bored of me?”

“You’ve only been inside of me for a few minutes, and you’re already worried about keeping things fresh...that’s adorable. I haven’t even gotten used to how your cock feels, dude...and...”

Her voice faded behind a sharper gasp, but it was the scrape of claws that reached Charlie a moment earlier.

“And I don’t t-think I ever will...t-that...that’s such a wonderful fucking cock, Charlie...keep pumping...j-just like that!”

The chemistry they held in conversation and playful banter was carrying over to intimacy better than either one of them could have hoped.

It was such a quick spark that Charlie might have made a joke at the expense of Ember’s name, if he wasn’t so busy trying to hold back a louder moan.

Of course, she wouldn’t allow that.

“Fucking hell...t-this...this feels so good...s-so fucking good , Ember...are we due another storm?”

It took her a moment—even in the throes of passion, she blinked—but when she figured it out, her panting lips curled into a wry grin. “Looking for an excuse to stay here a little longer, already?”

“Any excuse to stay another d-day with you...another hour...another minute inside you...”

“Make it a week, and we’ll see if you’ve really got some staying power.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing the whole day; I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”

It wasn’t easy for Charlie to manage any grin right then, but his was decidedly vulpine when he lanced into Ember anew, moving with a quicker pace than he would have expected of himself.

He trusted that speed and instinct as his member stretched her innermost depths, giving her all the reason she could ever want to cling to his back and sing his praises, all the way through the waning moments of the act.

“Glad to hear it,” Charlie kept it that simple, deciding that it was high time to let his hips do the rest of the talking.

Those vulpine instincts agreed, and as Charlie cupped either side of Ember’s chest and pinched his fingertips on those stiff, perked nipples, she kicked her heels against the small of his back, almost like she was bucking a horse to a faster pace.

She wasn’t kept waiting long, as a panting, labored tod pounded into the shrinking gap between her thighs, those legs holding ever tighter around the small of his back and bouncing as their efforts shook the cheap, tiny bedframe.

“O-oh my goodness...Charlie...y-you’re still going faster? Fuck...I...I can’t take it anymore...I’m gonna cum...p-please... please knot me!”

The instructions didn’t make that much sense to Charlie, who knew plenty enough about canine and vulpines, but still hadn’t considered the way that he’d changed.

His body was quicker on the uptake than his ears, and those instincts kicked into high gear as Charlie pounded into his new lover with an even greater intensity—his pace was at a peak—but he could think only of thrusting that much harder, until his paws upon her breast were a delightful hinderance.

His paws slipped away from her breasts, and as his body went taut against her own, his paws wrapped around the back of her neck, cradling her in that much further at the peak of their passions.

“Ember, I’m...I t-think I’m gonna-”

“ Do it!” she cheered, her lips curled with an impassioned smirk at the sound of those words. She’d already been riding out the delights of his full, throbbing cock as it approached that point of no return, but hearing Charlie confirm those details carried an even greater weight than the pleasure itself.

There was a certain gravity to the decision she’d made. “Keep it in,” she demanded, as if she could sense him asking what he should have done with it. “Gimme that...t-that whole...f-fucking...load... now!”

She felt as if she’d gone into a heat cycle just from being around Charlie, and riding him into the throes of passion was a delight that she’d be sure to indulge again before the weekend was over, but she didn’t know that she’d ever get enough of him, as that first gush of warm, vulpine cum splashed along her sides, flooding her body up to the womb.

Coming along with an even greater pulse and then, a new pressure against the petals of her sex, Ember felt another sensation welling up inside of her...and though she couldn’t help it, a tiny, messy stream of feminine ejaculate splashed back at Charlie as he growled in her ear, pounding against her for as long as their bodies would allow it...

...but when the bulge of his knot slipped through her folds and sunk itself into the fluttering walls of her treasure, he went from as rapid a pace as he could manage to feeling like he’d been trapped in place.

“Wh...w-what the fuck...feels so good...b-but I can’t fucking move!”

“Of course n-not, dear...I did tell you to knot me, and you did such a wonderful job of it...f-fuck... ooohfuckdon’ttug!”

Her panic was met with a sudden flop from Charlie, who pressed himself against her as fully as he could, wondering what he’d done wrong.

He couldn’t see the subtle imprint of his member within her body, but he could feel their legs staying that much tighter together, and the unified throbbing of his cock within, meeting with every flutter and clench of her inner walls.

It was something more than the average human would ever be fortunate enough to experience, and long after he would have thought his pleasure should have come to an end, there were still long, messy strands of cum leaping from the tip of his cock, and all the while, a soothing, gathered pleasure was being released, following every pulse that came with another gush of that seed.

“I didn’t...h-heh. I didn’t mean to, but I guess I wasn’t expecting to literally get stuck ,” Charlie admitted. “This is, uhm...t-this is new to me.”

“Guess that’s on me for not warning you about that part, but I took it for granted,” Ember admitted. “My bad, but...I’m not...n-not complaining...oooohfuck...”

She was almost dizzied by the pleasure of her climax, and as she rested under Charlie, she happily closed her eyes and sunk into that pleasant sensation, finding that she almost preferred the soothing, rhythmic pulses of Charlie’s continued release to the actual peaks of ecstasy that she’d felt along the way.

Almost, at least.

“And I guess that means you and I will be stuck like for a while, doesn’t it?” he asked. “Not sure where this is all coming from...”

“Pretty natural for a tod like you to have a lot to give, honestly. I think you’ll get used to it.”

“Not gonna change me back, then?”

Their eyes locked for a moment, finding a new comfort in each other with the aid of the afterglow.

“Not unless you really want me to, but...h-however you are, whoever you are, I want you to stay a little longer, Charlie.”

There was just enough saved up in his account that Charlie could get away with stretching that week abroad into a month, and just one weekend together would surely be considered rushing in...but Charlie didn’t care, right then.

By the end of the weekend, when they’d gone at each other half a dozen times, he still didn’t care.

By the end of that first month, when Charlie was starting to look for jobs and Ember was dealing with some strange symptoms in the morning...he’d started to care, but that was for an entirely different reason.

**

It was all such a story that Charlie knew no one back home would believe him, but he wasn’t all that worried about whether any of his old friends would or not.

Truth be told, he’d only mentioned his experience to a few of his very closest friends and family members, and when he’d reached out for advice about Ember’s morning sickness and a positive pregnancy test, he was surprised, but delighted to see mostly helpful responses in his text messages.

Many months further down the line, Charlie was sorting out the paperwork to finish up his application for Canadian citizenship. He had all the reason in the world to stay, with Ember alone, but two small, newborn reasons were still asleep in their cribs, up at the top of a cabin that was tucked back in the wilderness, not too far from the ranger station where he and Ember first met.

“You know it was too good to be true, didn’t you?”

It still wasn’t a dream. Instead, Ember was bringing Charlie out of a daydream—first with a peck on the cheek—and then, with a gesture up the stairs, toward the sound of a waking, crying kit.

Their cabin was nicely appointed for being a relatively small space, and the walls were mostly decorated more natural tones and wooden notes, but one picture stood out among them: only they knew the story of the brilliant light in the middle of a forest, and they didn’t share it with anyone, but that massive flare occurred when the pair of fire foxes shared their love for each other that very first weekend.

Footage that was only captured from overhead was turned into the ranger’s station some time later, and a flustered Charlie realized what it was, while a proud Ember took a copy of the picture for her home—now their home—to commemorate that moment.

“I hoped they might sleep a little bit longer, but that’s okay. I’ve had enough of the mountain silence for one day,” Charlie said. “Shall I go upstairs and free the beasts?”

“You wouldn’t deny me a chance to see my babies before heading out for work, would you?”

“Not a chance, love.”

Their second kiss of the day was a sweeter, fully touch of lips, and Charlie took Ember’s paw in his own as they made their way up into the loft.

Before the kits arrived, they had just enough time to build up a wall and a door to split the space, giving Ember and Charlie a bedroom just across the loft from a modest nursery.

Like everything else about the cabin, it was small...perhaps a little too small, but they were happy with a modest and simple life together, even when the kits were their favorite pair of little complications.

“Barely awake enough to open their eyes, but here they are,” Charlie said, pushing through the door and admiring them from the doorway. “They must have known you were getting ready to head to work.”

“Wanted to break my heart before sending me out the door...you little terrors ,” she teased, never having lost that spark in her personality. “Can Mommy get a couple kisses, at least?”

Each parent reached into the cribs to pick up a kit, and for a moment, Ember had the grace of holding both of them to her cheeks, embracing that morning fuss for the blessing that it was.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to stay long, but when she got home from work, there would be a loving family waiting for her, and a husband who couldn’t wait to ask her about her day...

...and she couldn’t ask for anything better than that.