Crumblings of sandstone littered the overgrown courtyard, casting long, low-sun shadows across the grass. The air began to calm, the lash of the sun dying down after another blistering day.

Tendaji clutched an ivory box within his hand, the other carrying a jug of water, two fingers clutched about the handle. Looking over to his cook pot, the contents were obscured by a heat-haze of some sorts. He leaned over to breathe deeply of the mixture of meat and spice. Coughing somewhat violently, he took a step back. The kick of the spice always caught him off guard. Tipping the water into the stew, his free hand gathered the other piles of ingredients, throwing them into the cook pot before dropping the lid into place.

“It's about time you cooked me this meal you've been droning on about, Ten.” Sha'an was barely visible. Those piercing eyes and her scaled hood gently caught the light, until she heaved herself over a mound of stones and into the courtyard, the ornate stone floor barely visible beneath the lush greenery of flowers, dirt and long leaves. A large bag was strapped to her shoulders, the telltale sounds of delicate valuables clinking together as she sat down.

“And it's about time you hit the estate of the water baroness. You only wear that look when you've stolen something very, very important, and..." Tendaji's words were interrupted by the cackling of his business associate waving around a rather phallic piece of glass work and gold. Tendaji furrowed his brow.

“No one's going to want that. I can take if off your hands if you want some coin for it, though. It looks a little more dignified than using a polished stone.” The disciple kept his business-like and matter of fact tone about him as he took a seat by Sha'an, leaning over to take a look at her.

It was their ritual. This secluded, ruined courtyard of what was once a great stately home in the arid countryside, brought down by excess decadence and greed seemed an almost righteous place for thieves to take refuge.

“No, my little poppy. This is a symbol of the hypocrisy of the wealthy--pious and pure by day, yet indulging themselves with a symbol of opulence within the confines of their palace.” Sha'an retorted.

“...'Poppy'?” Tendaji raised a brow to such a strange statement. He'd never seen her in such high spirits before, especially high enough to warrant an endearing title as such.
“Because I am intoxicating, or you wish to eat parts of me deemed tasteful? Or simply a medicine to dull the senses?” He teases, reaching for a nearby pot of salve.
His agile fingers began to dab small amounts of the thick paste into irritated patches of her scales, working from head to tail.

“Because you're overlooked due to your purpose. That, and the intoxicant thing. It's nice to have someone to relax around. No worries about knives in the back.” Sha'an let out a sigh of content, writhing gently as she began to disrobe.
Her midriff and arms were somewhat irritated, apparently having been in some kind of altercation judging by the trauma.
“Careful with my stomach, dear. I caught a bit of a staff blow when I was on my way out. Nothing broken, it's just...” She let out a wince as she felt the ointment smear over that tender wound. Though the analgesic effect would kick in shortly, the initial sting brought a painful reminder of her lapse in judgement.
“Tender... anyway, besides being a most wonderful tool of blackmail, it's also nice for those times I cannot slip away to meet you. Sometimes my needs are difficult to keep off the mind.”

“Understandable. My lump of marble will do for my purposes, anyway. I'll look at the rest of the loot later. Right now you need to lay still and let that sink in.” Ten gently ran a finger along her jawline, unable to stop himself from breaking into a small smile. Her resilience was of little comfort to him, at times. Risk was still risk, that anxiety that she may one day not return to their hideout was always present.

“It's helping.” Sha'an lidded her eyes, relaxing in the warmth of the nearby fire. The smell of the strew permeated through the air. Forbidden flesh, beasts considered unfit in this land. Tendaji's homeland brought with it recipes exotic even to her. Though he had been stolen from his homeland, part of it came with him.
“Though, I do enjoy my prize, I must admit it will never replace the embrace of a lover.” Opening her eyes, she took one of Ten's hands into her own.

His skin felt so soft to her. Though she did her best to keep her scales supple, it would never compare. Though she had come to terms with how she was born, part of her always wondered about humankind.

“It means a lot, Sha'an. You're about my only friend outside the temple of the Dead-Mother. I have a few 'contacts', but not like this.” His hands squeezed hers gently, those bright eyes of his looking over the serpent's body. He'd considered his care-giving done after applying the ointment, so he stood, reaching for a clasp on his light, ceremonial robes.
“The stew will take some time. It has to reduce until it is thick, and rich.. A bit like some of your marks.” Loosing himself of his sacred robes, Ten's skinny frame was on full view.

He took time in folding his clothes. They were one of the few possessions he took great care of. His image as a holy man made for a great cover in his work as a fence. Few would dare search a priest, even a disciple of the Dead-Mother without fear of drawing the wrath of the laws.
Content with their state, he lay himself down facing Sha'an, soon feeling her tail wrap around his leg. That grip was a comfort to him. She held him as if he had always been there, yet never controlled him beyond what he'd allow.

“That's just as well, Tendaji.”
Pressing her face to his, that long, serpentine tongue coiled into his mouth. Joining their lips in a gentle manner, her arms pulled her close to him, pressing her bosom into his chest. She could feel every inch of his warm skin against hers, that subtle heat, the outlines of various parts of him pressed against her. This was her poppy, and she indulged with passion. Pulling away from her love, she gently pressed a finger to his nose.
“I have a yearning that glass and gold cannot fulfill.”

Tendaji felt her hand stroking down his side. Reaching his hip, the scaled arm slipped between them, squeezing that girth she lusted for. Gently rolling on to his side, Ten displayed himself proudly.

His body was was lean; despite his trade in riches, the day to day life of a priest of the dead-mother was that of sacrifice. Not a penny went to his pocket. Taking only what was needed, that devotion had taken a toll on him. For Sha'ans purposes however, Tendaji was blessed with all she sought.

Still coiled about his legs, she held his flaccid member aloft with just an index finger, looking down on Tendaji. Clumsily reaching about behind her, she patted the ground until her hand clasped the glass cock she'd snagged. Her lips curled up into a rather deviant smile.
With utmost care, she began to lift Ten's scrotum with the tip of that transparent toy. Hearing the lithe boy squirm and let out a stifled moan, her hand gently lowered the toy to his taint, moving it gently down as his prick began to ascend.
“Now then, you say you keep a stone for such purposes as self indulgence? I never knew the Dead-Mother was so... accepting.”

“Even the downcast need hope and... indulgences.”
Reaching down to grip his member Tenadji peeled back his foreskin to reveal the dark crown. His excitement let him stand freely, that now hardened member gently throbbing in time to the beat of his heart.

For now, Sha'an set the toy to one side, eyeing up a spot of oil Tendaji hadn't used for cooking. Her placing of the glass plunder was deliberate; she made sure her lover saw its location as she crawled up his legs. Flicking her tongue out, she could taste the heat of his glans. That soft, muscly fork lashed at it to cause another throb.

“Sometimes I regret that I am so hated within the city, Tendaji. My visits to you are few and far between.”
Rolling her tongue out again, she coiled it around his cock. The warmth, the taste! It made her tail flick in delight as she opened her maw to draw it within. Tendaji gently tilted his hips forward in his eagerness, rewarded with that first, drawing suckle.

Grabbing the base of his shaft with both hands, she held him in place rather easily. His taste seemed to draw her saliva free, her cheeks and tongue working into that tender skin with a keen slurp.
Ever the tease however, she withdrew the now glistening dick to run her tongue down it, bringing it to a stop as they reached the bottom of those smooth orbs. Her eyes saw the subtle movements of his muscles as he tried to avoid squirming in his delight.

“Nngh, if they could all simply take to get the time to know you, Sha'an.. I'm sure they'd be swayed by your eloquence and...” his words trailed off, arcing his back as those tongue-forks lapped back up his taint and coiled around his pods.
Sha'an's ability to manipulate him had grown with each encounter. Though she never had need to, her memory of his each and every pleasure or passion would have made the ideal blackmail to a holy man.

Sha'an pulled away from him, pleased with his writhing and the throbbing of his aroused member. There was just one more thing she needed to do. Grasping the glass toy once more, she upended the small bowl of oil over the transparent shaft, watching little drips of the golden fluid dribble down. Shifting her tail in excitement, her free hand lifted that curvaceous backside off the ground to slowly ease in her plundered prick. The noise of satisfaction made her shiver.

“Now, let's make the most of our time before dinner.”
Slithering up his body, Sha'an made sure Tendaji would feel every scale and ridge as she positioned herself until that sudden, quick insertion happened. Her scales glistened around her keen slit, her earlier teasing having worked both ways. Bracing herself, she dipped her head, pressing her snout to his forehead as her innermost depths embraced his member.