The Reserve: Part 5 free porn video

Enko is always coming up with new and interesting things at the reserve. From big events like the runner races to small things like tunic rentals. The runner races are simple. A group of runners has to cross a field before a predator catches them. We offer various difficulty levels by adjusting the initial gap between the running group and the hunting party, it’s quite popular amongst werewolves. They were among the first offerings we had at the reserve. Tunic rentals came about much later. Some species are excellent at tracking by scent. Predators who would like an additional challenge can rent a used tunic from a random runner to hunt that individual. For a little more money they can even choose their runner either by name or scent. You can imagine mine get picked up a lot.

Among the various contributions Enko has made, is a rather unique chair that I have come to regard as diabolical. As you can no doubt guess, she’s quite proud of her creation. I remember the first time she unveiled it to me. I was coming back from home base after a long morning of building. I had hoped to hop into a hot tub for a bit, but she intersected me as I strode into the spa.

“It can wait,” she said excitedly, “come with me, come with me!”

I shrugged and followed her up to our private area. I love Enko more than anything in this world. Two worlds actually, now that I think about it. She seemed giddy, it’s a cute look for her. It's also a sure sign I’m about to be duped.

“I think you’re gonna like this, love,” she said walking into a room gesturing to the chair, “whatcha think?”

Before me stood a strange contraption. It was composed of a series of metal bars and leather straps. How to actually climb into it was somewhat unintuitive.

“Neat I guess…,” I offered, “what is it?”

“I’ll show you!” she said offering a hand, far too excited for me to be anything but suspicious.

I accepted her hand, somewhat shyly, I figured she had brought me up here for more than a casual glance.

She guided me onto the device such that I was sitting down with my legs spread.

“Seems a little uncomfortable for just sitting, my love,” I chided playfully.

“Well, it’s a sex chair, dear,” she chided back quickly strapping my legs down.

I had to admit, the design was quite clever, I was thoroughly secured. In fact, I noted I couldn’t move my hips at all. I didn’t know it at the time, but that particular feature would be my demise.

“Seems a little tall,” I remarked, noting that my hips were considerably higher than hers.

She tilted her head and regarded me in a mild confusion for a moment.

“Oh, well, I won’t be standing, love,” she stated walking across the room.

It was my turn to look confused. I was already pretty high up, did she have some sort of platform or something, how was this going to work?

She returned to me with a chair. I continued to stare at her confused. Rolling her eyes she placed the chair in front of me and, with a rather devious look in her eyes, sat down and looked up at me, head tilted.

Then I got it. Her head was at the perfect height. This wasn’t just a sex chair, it was a feeding chair.

“Ah,” I said, “now I s--”

“Let’s try it!” she interrupted excitedly jumping up and rather quickly forcing my arms to the side and restraining them.

With a pair of expert clawed hands, she tore my tunic off and gave me a devilish grin. I was locked in place and apparently not going anywhere. Bondage is fun, more so with Enko as far as I’m concerned. This woman knows me better than anyone, which also makes her more dangerous than everyone.

With a lustful and greedy disposition, she sat down and regarded me as I sat restrained, naked, and immobile in front of her. She was obviously enjoying the scene, a familiar sensation began to rock my body.

I’ve always regarded Enko’s aura as special. I don’t know that I can really explain why, but it’s uniquely hers, and I have come to love its influence over me. Like a proper hug from a loved one, there’s just nothing quite like it. I reacted as one does, and she began. To this very day, the effects of a Mageni’s aura on a man are an incredible feat in my mind. Combining that with genuine affection for one another and I can honestly say I’ve never felt anything more fulfilling on either of the worlds I’ve lived on. I’ve made love to a lot of people, but I love this woman, mind, body, and soul. I owe my life to Enko, literally and figuratively.

The first few orgasms were as intense as they were quick. That’s no surprise on account of how well she knows me and my body, she’s had years to perfect her technique, and perfect it she has. What was surprising, was how hard the intensity seemed to build. Thinking about it, I suppose one of my greatest tricks to prolonging these encounters is shifting myself about ever so slightly to extend the time between orgasms. That’s not to say I can prevent them entirely, but long enough to stack the deck in my favor. This chair, and its ability to restrain my hips, negated that ability.

All of this was obviously evident to Enko, who stopped long enough to pull off me and look up in a triumphant smile. I was tired from my morning, and now she had an extra edge over me. Her eyes flared purple with a magical brilliance.  All Mageni have some level of magic. It slowly recharges over time but seminal fluid can help supercharge the process. Enko, being a nilian, can burn through and use lots of magic, particularly when spell-slinging. She was thoroughly enjoying a replenishment off of me.

“I think I’ve got your secret figured out, love,” she teased. “Let’s make sure though.”

With that, she dove back down upon me and continued to rip orgasm after orgasm from me. I was helpless, even more so than usual. The more I pleaded, the more she pressed onward. In the end, she managed to push me to unconsciousness in record time. I love that woman, but damn her.

I woke up sometime later in our bed. Enko was beside me, holding me in a tight embrace. I smiled and stretched out, still feeling sore from working earlier that morning. My stirring must have woken her as I turned to see her smiling at me.

“Hey, lover,” she grinned, stretching out as I had done. “That was fun, I’ve never seen you pass out so fast.”

“That thing is evil,” I replied, returning her smile.

She touched her nose to mine and closed her eyes still smiling gently.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna like it.”

“You busy today?” I enquired, hoping maybe to steal some more time with her.

Her expression shifted a bit indicating that she was. I gave a slight frown, but I understood, it’s a busy life keeping the reserve running.

“Sorry, love, we’re short-staffed and someone has to hit the farm today.”

The farm is where we get the bulk of our supplies from, including food, spices, and milk. I understood, the business had to come first. Well, okay maybe I came first, but you get my meaning.

I was sore, and a dip in a hot tub still sounded wonderful. Even still, I was about to offer to go with her to help. All of this must have been easy to read on me because before I could voice an offer she spoke.

“Stay, I know you’re sore. Plus, uh, drained,” she added playfully and glancing down. “Go relax, I’ll catch you later.”

Empathy has its perks. I smiled, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and strode out of the room, grabbing a new tunic on my way out.

The spa was practically empty. There were a single runner and three succubi, two of which were attempting to lure the man across the line. It’s how a succubus hunts I suppose. He seemed engaged in the conversation. I myself have always found succubi to be boring individuals. The only thing a succubus seems interested in is becoming the most alluring and well accomplished of their kind. Pretty one-dimensional if you ask me.

For my part, I joined the man in the tub who turned immediately to regard me. I knew him, and like myself, he had little to no interest in bedding a succubus. That implied he was playing with the two that sat at the table, and had no intention of crossing the line with them. We exchanged a pair of knowing smiles and I chuckled.

The water felt amazing on my sore muscles, and I found myself relaxed almost immediately. The runner turned back to the succubi.

“Excuse me, ladies,” he offered, before retreating to speak with me.

While obviously discouraged, they didn’t let up their attempts to woo him.

“Cruel thing, talking with them like that knowing full well you’re never gonna go with them,” I said loudly, nodding my head towards them.

“Well, good thing the relief crew is here,” he chided back. “How’s the build going?”

“Was fine this morning, but Enko pulled me aside before I could make it back.”

He regarded me with a knowing smile. I shrugged in return. Enko maintains a relationship with several of the runners. She has a reputation as being insatiable when she’s in the mood. I’m proud to say I’m one of very few who can go the distance and relieve her of that burden solo. That said, I suppose if anyone should be able to do so, it's appropriate that it's her life partner.

“Guess I’m up then,” he said standing up and stretching, “see you back at base.”

With that, he got up and left, leaving two of the three succubi rather disappointed. For their part, they looked at me and promptly decided to leave themselves. I have something of a reputation within the succubus community as being uncatchable. Don’t get me wrong, any of them would love to claim they’ve gotten me, but my disinterest towards them, in general, discourages many.

Thinking about it, I suppose I’m somewhat famous across two worlds. In my home world they undoubtedly must have figured out what happened, I would think my disappearance made the news. Meanwhile, I’ve carved out quite the reputation here at the reserve too. Two worlds, how many people can claim that?

The third succubus remained behind, leaving only the two of us in the entire spa. I closed my eyes and kicked back in the hot tub.

“Rather rude just ignoring me like that,” she accused playfully.

I sat up to regard her. It was odd, she was somewhat plain looking for a succubus. Still beautiful, but not outstandingly so. Succubi, and I assume the resulting sub-species, have a pseudo-psychic ability they tap into to make them appear with features the target individual finds attractive. The ability can be honed over time, but this one seemed to be off the mark. It was interesting enough I decided to engage in conversation, why not?

“Well… no need to be rude,” I said sitting up with a smile, “what’s on your mind?”

“So he does talk,” she replied, seeming honestly surprised.

“Talk, sure. But I don’t think you’ll find me on that side of the line on your behalf,” I said gesturing.

“That’s fine,” she smiled, moving closer to the table between the two tubs.

I moved opposite of her and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to make her case.

“Drink?” she offered, nodding towards the bar.

We don’t usually allow the runners to have alcohol in the park unless it's given to them by a predator. It can serve several purposes ranging from a simple reward to loosening us up. In the case of a succubus, I had little doubt her goal was the latter.

“There it is,” I chided, rolling my eyes.

“There’s what?” she asked incredulously, albeit playfully.

“You want to get me drunk enough to loosen my inhibitions and cross the line. Succubi, such a one-track mind,” I said shaking my head.

“And here I thought there was no need to be rude,” she shot back, still playfully. “I’m just trying to be nice, but if your uh… inhibitions, are so easily dropped then I sup-.”

“Oh my goodness,” I interrupted, “fine, fine, a drink would be wonderful.”

With that, she gave me a smile and wandered to the bar and back producing two glasses and plenty of libations. A drink really did sound good, it had been a while and I was looking to relax, why not, indeed.

The conversation, much to my surprise, was quite pleasant. Despite her obvious desires, I didn’t feel like she was trying too hard to persuade me to a night with her. We talked about all manner of things. She was particularly interested in my home world. In return, I was curious about her life ambitions which, to my surprise, were far more comprehensive than the average succubus.

So there we were. We sat, we talked, and we drank. All in all, it was a good time, and we carried on for a couple of hours or so. Not once did she try to get me across the line, although I still believed it was her end goal. After all, why else would she be here?

Alright, I might have had a little too much, I admit that. Even still, for a succubus, I found this woman quite intriguing. She really seemed like she just wanted someone to talk to, although I still didn’t believe that deep down. More interesting, her plain appearance had little to do with ineptitude on her part, she simply wasn’t trying that hard to seduce me. She was able to prove that to me by altering her appearance for me. I guess I was feeling red hair and green eyes that day, and I have to admit, she nailed it.

As we sat talking, she had shifted her appearance back as it had been when we first met. I’m not sure if the technique is draining or if perhaps she just didn’t want me to think she was trying too hard. Either way, I still found the conversation to be pleasant.

My mind was awash with alcohol, and I was thoroughly enjoying myself, continuing to taunt my hard-felt belief that she simply wanted the prestige of saying she had bedded me, my reputation is well known in her circles.

“Oh come on, you still expect me to believe that you’re not trying to get me?” I asked with a bit of a slur. Pointing a finger towards her I continued, “I still think you’re hoping I’m going to slip up a--"

I was interrupted by her suddenly reaching out and grabbing my hand. To my horror, I realized I had slipped up, my gesture had gone beyond the line. It was a fair grab, and if she decided to, she could pull me all the way across. Nuanced as it was, she was the reason I had crossed the line, and as far as other succubi would be concerned it would be a fair catch. I found the moment sobering.

She gave me a gentle smile. Oddly, I didn’t see a trace of anything predatory or wicked. I waited to see what she would do.

“It wouldn’t be the cleanest catch, but It’d still count,” she teased.

Then, she started pulling me across the line, even a succubus has formidable strength. When my arm had been pulled over all the way I figured the jig was up.

I felt a mouth press against mine, a hot wet kiss, and then… my arm was free? I opened my eyes to see her smiling, eyes closed.

“That was nice,” she said, eyes still closed, “forgive me, I couldn’t resist.”

Having now retreated to safety I regarded her more thoughtfully. Had a succubus really just let me go? Me? I have to admit, I was taken aback.

It was her turn to regard me. She smiled, and cast her glance down.

“Still think I’m just here to uh, bed you?” she teased, albeit somewhat solemnly.

I stared back at her silently. My mind a bizarre cocktail of thoughts… and cocktails I suppose. I think my silence stung, which wasn’t my intent. She sighed.

“It's getting late, I think I oughta turn in,” she said, getting up to leave.

For my part, I continued to stare in stunned disbelief. I’ve often cited succubi as uninteresting. This chick was not. I’d probably regret it later, but heck, she’d already caught me. Having the decency to let me go was just… exceptional, particularly for a succubus. Really, I think that’s the word I kept coming back to: exceptional. I tried to run down my thoughts as she started to walk away. She really seemed like she was just gonna walk away.

“Wait,” I said to her back as I stood up out of the tub.

For her part, she turned to look at me questioningly, lost somewhere between confusion and curiosity. Thoughts flooded my head, but I kept coming back to her. I’ve always regarded succubi as boring and one-dimensional. The fact that this one stood out, well, maybe that was worth getting caught. After all, a succubus won’t catch a runner unless they choose to get caught.

I must have looked lost for words because she finally spoke.

“Wait? Wait for what? It’s getting late,” she said politely.

Her question disrupted my thought process and I turned to look her in the eye. Did I really feel up for doing this? I was about to make her a legend amongst the other succubi. It would likely mean every other of her kind doubling down and trying even harder to lure me when I was at the spa. I had gotten quite accustomed to being left alone about as often as they tried to woo me.

The look on her face seemed genuinely confused which fortified my resolve. I was pretty sure this wasn’t a trap, she was just an honest to goodness, interesting succubus. I rose up out of the tub, stepped across the line, and stood in front of her, the water still dripping from me. I stood there for a long, somewhat awkward moment.

“Okay,” I said nodding softly, offering no further context.

She stood there staring at me for several moments before visibly brightening, bordering on giddy.

“Really?” she asked in almost a whisper, her entire body bent down and leaned forward in genuine shock.

I took a moment to harden my resolve. Then, I gave her a gentle smile and a nod.

“Consider me intrigued,” I offered with a shrug.

A moment later I was nearly tackled to the ground by an ecstatic succubus. With an ironclad grip, she started trotting towards the guest quarters, a huge smile across her face. I wasn’t sure if I’d just made a mistake, but screw it, others have worked way harder to have me for a night, or two, or thr--

I realized I wasn’t sure how long she was planning on being here. Whoops, I thought as we continued further towards the guest quarters.

It had been a long time since I’d been with a succubus. I had tried them out a night or two long ago, but that was before I really understood much about them and certainly before I had any kind of reputation as impossible to woo. They aren’t like other Mageni, and certainly not like the other predatory types that like to hunt at the reserve. The same psychic ability they use to alter their appearance can also harvest pleasurable feelings from men under their care. My understanding is it’s a bit like getting high. The natural result is a night well and truly focused on the pleasure of the man, which is an odd change of pace in my line of work.

It didn’t take her long after we got back to the cabin to get things going. I wasn’t surprised to see she had rented a cabin. More than once I’ve seen succubi offer nice quarters for the night in an attempt to win over runners. Hell, I’ve seen it work too. Personally, I find a good breakfast more of a temptation than anything.

The cabin wasn’t our best, but it was way cozier than anything I would have been sleeping in otherwise. She pulled me into the bed, I was on top. Ridicule me if you must, but it had been a while since I’d been on top. In my world it's seen as masculine, here, well, let's just say most of my partners want to make sure I’m not going anywhere. If I’m being honest, I almost wasn’t sure what to do.

Sensing my hesitation, and likely correctly understanding why, she pulled my head to hers and we shared a long kiss. I found it quite sensual, but not overtly erotic.

“Would you undress me?” she asked innocently enough, it wasn’t a demand.

I leaned up and helped her pull off the dress she was wearing. I was amused but unsurprised to find she wasn’t wearing any undergarments. Then I removed my own tunic before climbing back on top of her. She looked up at me shyly, almost like she was embarrassed. She was playing me like a fiddle, but I found it adorable all the same.

Her aura was soft, in a manner of speaking. It was there, don’t get me wrong, and I was responding all the same, but I couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t as intrusive as other species. It was certainly less intense than most types of venom.

We started slow enough before shifting positions a few times. We moved around her different orifices, mouth, vagina, and ass. I’ve found that I truly come to appreciate a sexual partner after we’ve gone around the world like that. She must have sensed as much somehow with whatever insights her pseudo-psychic abilities granted her. I’ve only done it with a few partners, but most of the names on that list are still pretty important to me.

The whole time it was like she could feel my thoughts and desires, even as suppressed as they were. I’m not really sure what I wanted myself, but she made do.

The orgasms were intense, but she gave me time in between them to recover. It was a very different kind of love-making than I’m used to. I found myself enjoying the evening as we continued to play and shift in a much more moderate pace than is typical in these encounters.

A couple of hours in I was feeling sufficiently drained. Ordinarily, I’d be steeling myself for hours more to come. Much to my surprise, she began to slow down and then stop. She slid smoothly off of me with a satisfied sigh.

“Mmm, now that’s way better an evening than I figured I had coming,” she said smiling, apparently still thoroughly enjoying whatever psychic cues I was sending her way.

“Yeah,” I responded, “are we actually going to bed?”

She gave me a strange look and leaned up to look at me.

“Do you… not want to go to sleep?” she asked earnestly.

“Well, sure, it's just…” I trailed off thinking about how comparatively short the session had been.

Seeming to understand my meaning she smiled and closed the distance between us giving me a hug.

“I told you, we get more out of this by giving you what you want, and you’re tired, I can sense that,” she stated matter-of-factly.

I just nodded my head gently, trying to wrap my head around that. Maybe I had been a little harsh in my judgment against succubi. After giving her another look I decided my general intuition was probably correct, but everyone is their own individual. This chick proved that.

As if sensing my unsung praise, the succubus gave me another smile before moving me gently into the bed in a sleeping position. She flipped around before backing into me to cuddle, making me the big spoon. Once again, it was a sensation I was somewhat unfamiliar with, although Enko does sometimes let me cuddle her and not the other way around. I was out in minutes, it had been quite an interesting night.

It had been a long time since I’d slept that well, I remember waking up feeling truly refreshed. The succubus woke with me. I’m pretty sure she was able to sense my alertness, the evening had filled in a handful of blanks about succubus psychic capabilities. After realizing she was awake too, I stretched out and yawned to begin the morning.

“Good morning,” she said turning around to smile at me.

“Morning!” I returned cheerily.

My attention immediately began drifting towards the most important question of the day: what’s for breakfast? As per usual, she seemed to sense my thoughts and proceeded to query me about my favorites. Funnily enough, most predators don’t usually bother to actually ask what their caught prey would like for breakfast, instead opting to pick for them. Furthermore, some of them actually get upset if they find out they haven’t ordered your favorites. Life’s funny like that I guess.

Thirty minutes later I was feeling rather content. It’s nice to get pampered every once in a while. I imagine my good mood made her feel pleasant as well.

Over the course of the night, I had learned she was going to stay for another two nights. That seemed pretty good to me. Especially if the following days were going to be anything like the first one.

After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk. There was a pleasant trail that ran towards the river where we could cross and follow the water. It's one of my favorite paths in the park, although I’m usually forced to run along it instead. It was strange walking with a partner along it, particularly one that wasn’t considerably larger than myself.

“I see why you like it out here,” she said, casually observing the calm water, “it’s so… peaceful.”

“I’m normally moving too fast to appreciate it but yeah… I love it out here.”

We decided to continue north through the woods. I showed her a couple of food drops and where the premium stuff usually goes. I did not explain the spotter towers to her, lest she give away the code to someone. I’ve been ambushed by a predator who knew our whistles more than once.

Finally, we arrived near the northernmost part of the park, just west of the centerline. In recent months I had come to be fond of a particular treehouse we had built out here. It was smaller than anything we had back at home base but more spacious than a typical spotter tower. There was ample room for two or three runners to sleep if they wished, and even a small chest I kept various rations and potions in. The best feature had to be the counterweighted elevator system to get into the thing. See, most of our counterweight systems are designed around the average runner. I myself am somewhat bigger than the average man in this world. Most of the counterweights in the park move very slow for me, if at all. It's gotten me caught a few times. I had built this one more for me, some of the runners didn’t even know it was out here, and it had adequate weight to hoist a heftier individual.

“So, how does it work?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Well…,” I started, walking towards a cleverly hidden rope under tension, “it’s pretty simple, get a foot or two onto the small platform here. Aaaand…”

I kicked a small hook on the side breaking the anchor. The counterweight dropped and I rose quickly to the treehouse platform. After dismounting I turned to look back down at her.

“LIKE THAT,” I yelled down to her.

I decided it couldn’t hurt to give her a first-hand look at the treehouse, so I leaned out and looked down towards her.

“GRAB THE COUNTERWEIGHT AND TRY TO PUSH IT INTO THE AIR,” I yelled down while pointing to the fallen weight.

For her part, she walked over to the boulder-sized piece and stared at it briefly. I could almost hear the thoughts running through her head. There was no way she could lift that. Even still, she put her arms around it and hoisted up. Much to her surprise, it leapt from the ground and returned into the canopy while the trolley dropped from the side of the treehouse.

She looked up at me somewhat confused. I returned the look and made a gesture indicating she should hurry. Not that she could know but the counterweight would fall again if the hook wasn’t attached or someone didn’t board the trolley.

Seeming to understand my gaze she stepped cautiously onto the small platform grabbing the rope with both of her hands. A moment later the weight dropped again and hoisted her into the air, coming to a stop right at the treehouse's level. I offered her a hand to step off.

“What was that!?” she asked excitedly.

“Minor enchantment on the pulley system, neat isn’t it?” I returned.

She looked at me strangely, but I understood why. Enchantments are expensive, and for good reason. Spell slinging may be common enough amongst the Mageni, but even the best mages struggle to imbue magic into objects. The ones that can charge an obscene amount of money to do so, meaning most folks stick to the essentials if they use it all. The reserve has plenty of enchantments. We use them mostly for things like hot water and even air conditioning in some of the nicer cabins. Lighting is perhaps the easiest and most common use for it.

“My partner is a nilian,” I offered in explanation.

Nilians are among the most naturally gifted in spell-slinging. As such, they are disproportionately represented amongst the few enchanters in the world. Even still, it’s a fairly rare ability.

“Enko’s an enchantress?” she asked.

“A master potion brewer too,” I responded quite proudly, “enchanting a pulley seemed like a good exercise to try, she’s just starting to get the hang of it. Neat though.”

She simply stared at me in disbelief for a moment. Then she looked out towards the pulley system, lost deep in thought.

“Are all the pulleys out here enchanted?” she finally asked.

“Goodness no!” I exclaimed, “just getting this one was hard enough, although I might have her try something on that zipline.”

She turned to regard me again, visibly excited. It was a good look on her, I was thoroughly enjoying the view. A thought occurred to me then.

“Wait, how do you know Enko?” I enquired.

“Well…” she started, somewhat shyly, “just about everyone in my circles knows about Enko and the reserve… and her lover from another world,” she finished, looking up at me softly.

For my part, I simply stared back at her, feeling somewhat dumb. I was reasonably famous in succubi circles, it stood to reason they would do their due diligence on me. I found myself wondering if I was ever going to live down accepting a succubus after this.

“Fair point,” I stated simply, absent-mindedly letting my eyes drift down her body.

I felt the telltale signs of a Mageni’s aura heating up. More intriguingly, I found that I myself was in the mood. I took a moment to consider whether she was feeding off of me or if I was feeding off of her. I honestly wasn’t sure. I looked back up in time to catch her eyes in a meaningful exchange. I smiled gently, and she returned the gesture.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever made love up here,” I said casually, turning to look out into the distance in a playfully disinterested way.

“Really,” she said stepping forward, matching my ironic disinterest, “well, perhaps we ought to fix that.”

“I don’t kn-,” I started turning back to look at her, something in her eyes simply stopped me mid-sentence.

We stared at each other longingly for a moment. Then the dam broke, and we fell into each other's arms in a passionate embrace with a heartfelt kiss before collapsing into a pile on the floor of the treehouse.

Like the night before, the sex was gentle, fun, and passionate. About an hour later we were sprawled out on the floor of the treehouse. I was on a chemical high and her a psychic one. It was a perfect afternoon.

After our time in the treehouse we moved back towards the cabin. We had missed lunch but decided an early dinner was a reasonable solution. She fed me well for the rest of her stay. When it was time to leave she gave a kiss and a thanks. As I watched her go I found myself wondering how much trouble I had carved out for myself in the future with other succubi. Thinking back to the smile she gave me before leaving, I decided it had been worth it.