Two days had passed since Ryan had woken up in the fangs of Ayala and her gang. Not much had changed since then, neither for the better nor the worse. His tail and ankles were still strung up with several feet of rope, numb and aching from the hemp cutting into them, and he was still draped over the lopunny's shoulder like a sack of berries, heading toward an uncertain future. The tall male didn't even give him a chance to look at the path ahead, leaving him completely in the dark and guessing where they were going and what the rest of the gang was up to.

Not that knowing would've helped the eevee much. They were so far away from what had become his home in this new world that everything around him felt foreign, from the crooked trees and brambly bushes to the pale flowers and the harsh, salty winds whipping around his muzzle. The umbreon could've revealed where they were headed, but it would have been pointless. After all, he already knew the name of their destination from Pip's loose mouth, Malayaki, and it meant nothing to him.

Yet, as long as they hadn't reached their destination, Ryan refused to give up hope. Even though his ties were so tight that no amount of tugging and jostling could loosen them. For hours upon hours, his gaze had been sweeping back and forth across the swaying grass and bushes, focusing on every odd speck and movement. Any pokemon they passed could potentially be Lily, disguised as someone else, even if they didn't pass more than a dozen over the entire day, and apart from a few frightened, pitying glances, they show little reaction.

Not even a tall, armed tyranitar guard on patrol dared to stop the rugged entourage to investigate. He was probably just as glad as everyone else that the gang had better things to do than relieving him of every last coin.

Ryan's eyes finally began to grow tired as the sun closed in on the horizon, drenching the cloud-speckled sky into a fiery hue like the flickering flame of a forest fire. Another day of his involuntary journey away from the guild was drawing to a close, and the worst part of the day was yet to come when the gang leader announced with a gruff bark, "Halt! We've reached the campsite, boys. Sven, Mirry, help Sickle set up camp. Pip, move your useless ass and fetch us some wood, but try not to fall over the cliff. Finn, follow me. I want to show our guest something."

A sense of dread gripped the eevee at her words. Her tone did not bode well.

"Yes, boss," the lopunny grunted, lumbering after the umbreon while the rest of the bandits scattered about a small dusty area a few feet from the trail. A ring of crudely cobbled-together rocks around a pile of ash and charred logs marked the center of the campsite. They quickly dropped all their gear and unpacked their bedrolls beside the firespot while the salandit shuffled off with his head hanging like a wilted flower. Ryan, meanwhile, was about to receive his first look at the path ahead in days as Finn dropped him onto a rock, just a foot away from a precipitous drop.

"A-ah! Careful!" Ryan protested with a hoarse croak. His heart skipped a beat as he looked over the ledge. Two hundred feet below him, the roiling, foaming waves of the sea awaited him with jagged rock spikes poking from the deep turquoise waters. The ocean spanned almost his entire vision, extending far beyond the horizon with no other land or islands in sight. And while the vast abyss triggered a primal fear deep inside the tied eevee, the sight of a sprawling coastal city below him invoked a much more profound dread in his heart.

Ayala settled beside him. Draping her forepaws over each other, she beamed with an uncomfortably merry smile and an eagerly swaying tail. She didn't speak for a minute, allowing the rushing of the waves and the distant clanging and rustling of the busy harbor town to do the talking and smother that stubborn ember of hope he had so stubbornly clung to.

"We've almost reached our destination," the umbreon finally whispered. Her big red eyes gleamed at him with joy. "Aren't you excited?"

Ryan gulped hard. His eyes filled with tears as he refused to look at her, staring down at the town instead. So that was Malayaki. A twisted network of narrow streets and roads cutting across dark-roofed, shoddy brick buildings, a harbor with a few large and small sailing ships moored to the docks, awaiting to be loaded and unshipped. Somewhere down there waited the one who had caused all of this misery, and he dreaded even thinking about what would happen once he was in their clutches.

"Fuck you," the eevee muttered through pressed lips.

"Oh, come on, cheer up a little. At least you won't have to put up with us much longer~" Ayala giggled. "Finally, you'll be someone else's problem with that thick skull of yours."

Ryan closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. Then he let out a pained groan. "I really hope they cut your reward because you tied me up too tightly, you evil bitch," he hissed, wiggling his strung-up paws at her. "You're lucky that I can't move or I'd toss you over this cliff."

"Oh my, how mighty feisty for someone in your position. Where's that sudden fire coming from?" the umbreon laughed.

"You know exactly where it's coming from, you filthy bastard!" Ryan growled. Tears started to roll down his cheeks, soaking his fluffy brown fur.

"Oh, do I? Well, I apologize, but I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Mind explaining it to me?" Ayala cooed, innocently fluttering her eyelashes as she leaned toward the distraught eevee.

"Get any closer and I'll bite your nose off," Ryan snapped at her, his fur bristling and his ears flattening. "How can you sleep at night doing this?"

"As it turns out, gold can buy a lot of comfy pillows," the bandit boss chuckled, tapping Ryan's snout with one paw before she rolled onto her side. "Sickle? Come here, handsome! I have a special assignment for you~" She gave the eevee a teasing wink. "Oh, and do bring the gag as well."

"What!? You're going to gag me? Why?" the eevee cried out. "Why now of all times?"

Ayala balanced her head on a forepaw, pursed her lips, and purred, "Because you're getting a little too noisy for my liking."

"No! Don't you dare! Don't even think about it! Fuck you! I hope you get robbed by someone even worse than you!" Ryan bucked and squirmed in his restraints, tugging and tearing on the ropes. He no longer cared whether his kidnappers noticed, though he made sure not to get too close to the precipitous drop next to him. Unfortunately, his rage-fueled surge of violence did nothing to loosen his obnoxious ties, and one more restraint was coming his way when the slinky liepard strutted toward him with a wooden gag hanging from his muzzle.

Ayala gave Sickle a lick and nuzzle. Then she took the gag from him and approached the writhing eevee.

"Stay away! You're not allowed to touch me! Stop it!" Ryan's protests escalated into a defiant howl as the umbreon got on top of him.

Once she had pinned him down, she slipped the gag over his head and crudely yanked the wooden mouthpiece into place, stifling his cries into a muffled whimper. Next, she tightened the looped strap that was attached to the piece around his skull, tugging on it until it was firmly secured. "Ack, stop squirming. Do you want to fall over the ledge, you fluffbrained eevee?"

"Oh my, he seems furious. What has gotten him so riled up?" Sickle chuckled with a roguish smile.

"I think this poor guy has separation anxiety because we're going to part ways tomorrow," Ayala cooed and jostled Ryan with her forepaw. "Am I right?"

Ryan could no longer talk. He could barely even breathe as the umbreon pressed him down against the rock, but he could still shoot her a deadly glare from his narrowed, tear-filled eyes.

The bandit leader giggled and bent closer to his head. Her hot breath in his ear, she added with a growl, "Oh, many times I would've loved to spank your obstinate butt for trying to escape, for trying to turn one of my boys against me, for threatening and insulting me, and for beating us up with your friends, but I'm not allowed to. Luckily, there are other ways to punish a stubborn pup like you, and what better time to do that than on our last day together, so you have something to remember us by~" Then she climbed off of him and hooked her paw around his side, dragging him a few feet away from the edge of the cliff.

Ryan still glared at Ayala as she stepped away. He wasn't actually sure what she was planning. Corporal punishment was out of the question. Would she tease and mock him even more? Finally, a strange suspicion came to him when she stopped two feet from his face and pushed out her butt at him.

Raising her gold-banded tail, the umbreon gave her captive his first good look at the treasures hidden underneath. He obviously had caught glimpses of her tight pink dimple and fat black spade before, but she had never put them on such deliberate display for him. The sight and sweet, intoxicating scent of her arousal immediately made him salivate, whether he wanted to or not.

"Come here, Sickle. I'm sure he'll appreciate a little show just for him," the umbreon purred with a devilish grin. "So make sure he sees every little delicious detail."

"With the greatest pleasure, my dear," the liepard replied and joined his boss. But instead of moving fully behind her, he stayed next to her as he slipped his muzzle underneath her tail. That way, Ryan could watch how the feline darted out his slender pink tongue and washed it over Ayala's swollen folds, savoring her hot nectar with sloppy slurps while her spade jumped toward the root of her tail in trembling anticipation.

"Oooh, yes. Right there. Your tongue is so warm and wet, Sickle," Ayala let out a fake moan, but the horny shiver that raced through her was anything but fake. She lowered her head against the rock and hiked her tail even higher, pushing her butt into the liepard's licks with needy insistence.

"And your nectar is as delicious as always~" Sickle replied. Casting an impish glance at Ryan, he licked his lips and swallowed her juices with a wet gulp. "Jealous?"

The eevee let out a weak huff. He wanted to look away and close his eyes to ignore what they were doing, but he couldn't. His body simply ignored the command, and his gaze remained fixed on the action, flooding his mind with titillating arousal, making him drool and coaxing the tip of his thick pink cock from his sheath. He was fully at the mercy of his primitive desires and curiosity, and that was exactly what the umbreon and liepard counted on.

"Good," Sickle nickered. He pressed his muzzle against Ayala's sex with a slobbery smooch. Then he delved his tongue into the clenching core, exploring her with vigorous wiggles that Ryan couldn't see, but clearly heard in the umbreon's dirty gasps and groans.

"Yes! Deeper, Sickle! Lick my fat cunt. Fuck me with your glorious tongue!" Ayala whined, dragging her claws across the ground as she received the male's affection. "Oooh yes~"

Finally, Ryan gathered enough willpower to squeeze his eyes shut, but Ayala's sexy backside had already burned itself deep into his mind and retina. The liepard's wet licks continued to fill his ears as much as the umbreon's lusty moans and whimpers. The damage was done. Inch after inch of his cock slipped out of his snug sheath with powerful throbs as a blazing lust infested his brain. His horny instincts didn't care that she was an unreachable fruit, dangling so infuriatingly close in front of his nose, nor that she was the one who kidnapped him and tied him up. Soon, there was no reason left. Only the growing desire to mount her.

As if the umbreon had read her captive's thoughts, she groaned, "Okay, that's enough. I'm ready. Mount me. Breed me. Make me yours~"

Ryan dug his teeth deep into his gag, tensing up every fiber of his body in an effort to ignore her saucy whispers, but to no avail. He was more receptive to her teasing than he liked to admit, and he finally opened his eyes again to watch as Sickle pulled away from his boss's wet, glistening cookie and winked at him. "Our little spectator here is hard as rock."

"Good," Ayala replied. "I bet he'd love to mount me and punish me with a deep, hard fuck, ramming his fat, knotted cock inside me until I can't walk anymore. Am I right?" She winked at Ryan as she swirled her tail tip around the liepard's chin. "So go ahead, Casanova. Give me exactly that~"

"With the greatest pleasure, my dear," Sickle replied and jumped onto her in a smooth, effortless motion, bringing another object of temptation to the eevee's attention. 

The spotted feline wasn't particularly hung, but the stiff, barbed pink cock jutting from his sheath flooded Ryan's horny mind with even more fantasies. He drooled so much that he almost choked on his spit. That tight pink hole underneath Sickle's slender tail made him act up as well, but none of it was within reach, nor would it ever be, as the liepard aligned his tapered member with his boss's wet, puffy entrance and buried it all the way to the sheath in one forceful thrust.

"Ah, fuck yes! Give me that barbed prick. Fuck me, Sickle. Fuck me silly," Ayala growled.

The liepard gladly obliged, starting to rut her in a horny frenzy. He didn't even bother to ease her in, plunging his spiny cone in and out of her fat cunt with resounding smacks and shlorps. His movement never lost any of its nimble grace, though, making this the most elegant pounding Ryan had ever witnessed.

Meanwhile, Ayala shook from the wild rutting with ever heartier groans and cries pouring from her muzzle. Usually the uncontested leader of the pack, she squealed like a bitch in heat as the male bit into her scruff and pinned her down against the rock. "Harder, Sickle! Fuck me harder! Give me all you got!" 

Her cries fanned the eevee's arousal until he could barely think straight anymore. Soon, his ragingly erect cock was no longer dripping but drooling a steady stream of gooey pre, and it became sensitive enough to twitch from the tepid sea breeze wafting around it. Yet, there wasn't much he could do to alleviate his mounting arousal. With his paws tied, he could only awkwardly slide his cock against the back of his hind legs while Sickle hammered his boss into submission with his furred sack flailing wildly about, and the trickle of stimulation didn't help in the slightest. It only got him hornier and more desperate for proper relief, be it from a paw, tongue, or the stupid liepard's tight pink asshole that kept winking at him while he fucked Ayala.

The coming minutes merged into a blur as the eevee lost himself in the spectacle in front of him. Mindlessly grinding away at his own legs, he hoped it would be enough to make him cum, but he wasn't even anywhere close when Ayala finally erupted with a guttural roar.

"Fuck! Yes! Yes yes YES! Sickle, I'm cumming! Don't stop now!" she cried out as a mighty orgasm ripped through her. Her spade started flexing even harder, clenching around her partner's tapered pecker to milk him from his precious load. Not only did the eevee have a front row seat to every single one of her violent, squelching contractions, but she also squirted a stream of clear, glittering girl cum from her convulsing cunt, soaking the male's nuts and leaving a puddle right in between them and Ryan to tease him with even more of her intoxicating scent. "Harder! Deeper!"

The eevee whined as the liepard rammed his partner with ruthless might. While the dark type savored Ayala's orgasmic contractions with unconcealed delight, Ryan was damned to lie there and watch, achingly erect, yet far from his own climax, unable to stop his hips from moving and unable to avert his gaze. At least the exhilarating view enhanced the pleasure he got from his clumsy humping.

"Ah, Ayala. Your clenching pussy feels magnificent," Sickle grunted, letting go of her scruff. "I don't think it'll be long before I join you, my dear."

"Then do it! Cum inside me! Give it to me! Fill me with your cum! Knock me up with your cubs! Breed me!" Ayala demanded in a howl, smacking her tail across his side with playful impatience. "Breed me, Sickle!"

"Yes! Yes, Ayala… oooh… I can't hold it any longer…" the liepard gasped. He gave the umbreon a few more frantic thrusts before he collapsed on top of her with his eyes rolled back and a hearty whine. "Here you go! Take my kittens! Grow big and round with my litter, Ayala!"

Ryan chewed his lip as Sickle unloaded his seed inside the female. His mind was filled with the urge to suck on the male's taut, clenching sack and swirl them around in his muzzle while they released their precious load. He wanted to shove his nose against that twitching, tensing pucker, take a deep sniff, and even deeper lick to feel it clenching even harder around his tongue as he mashed his prostate. But most of all, he wanted to take his place and be the one to drive his knotted cock into Ayala's plump, welcoming pussy, stuffing and swelling her with his load. This wasn't even about punishing her. He was too horny to think about anything but blissful relief, no matter who happened to be the partner… even if it was her and her lackeys.

Sadly, none of the eevee's fantasies would come true. While he was still wrapped up in his vivid imagination, Sickle's climax ebbed, and he pulled out of the umbreon to treat Ryan to the delicious sight of her cream-stuffed black vulva. It still clenched from her own diminishing climax, pushing out a cloudy mix of her fem cum and her partner's gooey semen.

"Oh wow, look at him. I didn't expect him to enjoy it this much," Sickle remarked as he slipped away from the umbreon. A smug grin was plastered across his muzzle as he spotted Ryan's swollen, gushing cock.

Ayala was still catching her breath, her legs quaking from the pounding, but once she recovered, she treated herself to a good look at their tied captive as well. "You're right. What a dirty little pervert, getting off to watching others fuck a gal right in front of him while he can't do anything about it. How pathetic."

Ryan blinked at her with lust-clouded eyes, unable to muster more than a feeble whine in response.

"Anyway, it looks like he might cum from this. We obviously can't have that," the umbreon growled. Then she turned to the camp. "Finn? Sven? Mirry? Come over here, and bring some extra rope… no, not you, Pip. You stay there and keep thinking about all the money you almost lost us because you couldn't keep your horny dick away from our esteemed guest."

The eevee shivered as she mentioned the extra rope. But when the three males joined them, he couldn't help but notice that their packages were on full display as well. He had caught glimpses of their cocks before, but he had never been more captivated by them than right now, his eyes flicking from male to male. The lopunny was the biggest of the bunch, sporting a huge, veiny pink penis, the glans of which was halfway covered by foreskin, and a pair of hefty, hanging breeding orbs to match. The zigzagoon was on the other end of the spectrum with a long, but thin pecker and a snug furry sack like Lumi, while the petite ekans flaunted a surprisingly large pair of swollen, nubby cocks that looked like a pair of meaty flower cones.

"Yes, boss?" Finn grunted, holding up a piece of rope. "What are we gonna do with it?"

"Tie that thing around his cock and tail and tug it tight. I don't want him to accidentally hump himself to completion while you guys run a train on me," the umbreon purred, wagging her fluffy black backside at the bunch. "Now get to it. The sooner you're done with that, the sooner you get a piece of this~"

She didn't have to tell the lopunny twice. With a swift motion, he wrapped the rope around Ryan's penis and fastened it with a knot, squeezing out a stunned groan and squirt of pre from the restrained male. Then he pulled the eevee's cock away from his legs until it pointed fully backward and slung the other end of the rope around the base of his tail, tightening everything down. He stepped back and rubbed his paws with a pleased grunt, "There you go."

"Thank you, Finn. Now come here, boys. All holes are open, and we're not done here until I'm stuffed with your cum," Ayala invited them, flipping onto her back to spread her fat, cream-filled cookie with her forepaws. "Let's celebrate that we're a whole lot richer this time tomorrow~"

Ryan clenched his paws, letting out a pitiful whimper as the males gathered around their leader, with Finn carrying on the torch from Sickle. Getting on top of Ayala, the lopunny grabbed her forelegs and aligned his massive member with her dripping spade in one swift move. "Can do, boss," he chuckled before he unceremoniously slammed his cock inside her, stretching her plump vulva into a wide O with a resounding squelch and gush.

"Ooooh, fuck yes! Now fuck me hard, you big brute!" the umbreon cried out, swatting her tail across the lopunny's butt.

"Gladly, boss," he grunted and got going. There was no finesse in Finn's movement. His pounding was a much more feral spectacle than Sickle's graceful mating, rough and blindingly fast, but it was no less intriguing to watch. Once again, Ryan found himself spell-bound by the sight, staring at his two mating abductors together with the liepard, who had settled beside him, and it grew even more intriguing when Sven and Mirry joined in.

The ekans took full advantage of his slender, scaled physique, slithering between the lopunny's legs, underneath his swinging sack, and right up against his boss's butt. He curled his tail around Ayala's hind leg, casually rubbing his barbed pink hemicocks against her furred thigh like a lewd brush while he sampled her scent directly from her clenching pink tailhole with wet tongue flicks and happy hisses. Then he nuzzled that snug pucker with his snout and dug in, carrying the umbreon's blissful cries to new heights as he delved his forked taster deep inside her.

Ryan's nose twitched, and he licked the drool off his lips as he watched Mirry, helplessly bucking his hips as far as he could, but to no avail. Angled away from his legs, his tied-up taper just hung there in the cool sea breeze, twitching and leaking with no more chance for relief. He really wanted to cum to rid himself of his maddening arousal, but part of him knew that it wouldn't actually alleviate his desire. He'd be satisfied for about a minute before his lust would return with a vengeance…

The eevee also picked up smacks and slurps that had to be coming from Sven. He didn't see more than the zigzagoon's tail popping out to the left and right from Finn's large frame as he was having his fun with Ayala's muzzle. His mind filled in the blanks, distracting him with fantasies of mounting and face-fucking the umbreon in a wild rush. It honestly tempted him even more than any of her other holes, because it would shut her up, and part of him was kind of thankful that Sven's cock turned her teasing comments into wet, throaty moans and gags.

"You wish you were in their place right now, don't you?" the liepard piped up with a smooth purr just as Ryan started to appreciate the absence of Ayala's teasing. "I don't blame you. She's such a delicious treat."

Ryan rolled his eyes with a distraught whimper, squirming in his restraints in a futile attempt to get away from Sickle.

"You probably can't decide which hole you'd go for first, right?" Sickle continued, shooting the eevee his most mischievous side eye. "Or maybe you'd rather be in her spot? Taking thick, fat lopunny cock like you took Pip's cock?" He let out a stagy sigh. "What a shame that we're not allowed to have fun with you. Maybe we shouldn't give you away and keep you?"

Ryan let out a huff. Sickle's teasing was in no way inferior to his mistress's poisonous tongue, making sure that he couldn't even enjoy her getting pounded silly and beyond in the slightest.

"But alas, can't do that. You're too precious, boy, and we wouldn't want any of us growing too attached to you, do we? Right, Pip?!"

The eevee picked up an angry grumble from the campsite, but nothing more. He could clearly see the salandit's massive, throbbing erection before his inner eye. He was probably just as riled up as the rest by the spectacle Ayala was putting on.

At least that meant he wasn't the only one suffering, Ryan thought in his horny haze. A matted smile grew on his lips as he returned his attention to the show before him in an attempt to blot out the liepard's smug waffling. This was going to be a long evening.

Sickle swapped back in after Finn had blown his load inside their boss to take some very sloppy seconds, and Mirry slithered his way around Ayala to take over her muzzle from Sven, granting the eevee some more respite from her teasing cries as she choked on both of the ekans's cocks at once. Although, could it really be called respite when his brain was melting with such mind-crushing arousal that he was starting to get a headache from it? Not to mention the growing ache in his swollen balls as he shifted closer and closer to the edge without ever passing it, trapped and taut in constant anticipation of a release that refused to arrive.

Before long, Ryan grew desperate enough to hump the air, but that only made things worse. The coarse hemp rope chafed against his sensitive bits, and instead of sweet relief, he only winced and grimaced in discomfort, harder than ever, painfully on the edge with nowhere to go, and with too little willpower left to resist watching the seemingly never-ending gang-bang before him. Again and again, round after round, the bandits took turns on their leader, stuffing and stretching her holes until she was a shaking pile of bliss. Her black fur glistened in the orange glow of the setting sun, she was gushing from all openings, and soon sported a big, round belly full of hot, sloshing cum. Even after the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the golden rings on her body lit the campsite brighter than the flickering flame of the campfire, dousing everything in a pulsating shine.

The eevee watched Ayala every waking second, sweating and shivering like he had been struck by a high fever while he was trapped between pain and pleasure. And while he was rocked by another cramp in one of his tied paws, his ears picked up a groan from the campsite. 

The salandit had given in and helped himself over the edge, abandoning Ryan as the only one on the edge of perfection.

After what felt like another whole hour, the other males finally ran out of steam. One by one, Mirry, Sickle, and Sven scattered around the umbreon in tired heaps, barely able to keep their eyes open while Finn pushed two more big, gooey nuts inside her to top her off. Then, even the long-eared brute yielded to his mounting exhaustion and slipped off their leader's butt.

"Ahhhh, that was divine. Thank you, boys. You know how to make a girl happy~" Ayala sighed with a dopey grin on her muzzle before she sluggishly dragged herself up onto her wobbly paws. "I still need one of you to fetch me my special bag. Sven, would you be so kind?"

Ryan quaked with arousal as the umbreon turned around, flaunting her huge, swaying cum belly with every step she took toward him.

"Looks like you've thoroughly enjoyed the fun," she cooed, licking her lips as she ogled his aching, strung-up boner. "It's just such a shame that I'm not allowed to help you with that. Really. I would've loved to guzzle that big, delicious cock all the way to the sheath~"

The proximity of the cum-stuffed female, her words, and her intoxicating musk managed to coax the eevee's knot out of his sheath, sending a twang of overstimulation through his battered brain. A single flick of her tongue would've been enough to set him off, maybe even a single hot breath from her muzzle, but he couldn't even ask for that, although he was at a point where he would've literally begged for it. Only a miserable whimper escaped his muzzle.

"Ah well, I guess it's time to rest up before your big day tomorrow, isn't it?" Ayala added with a head waggle.

As if Ryan were capable of falling asleep right now! His mind was still spinning with pent-up arousal, and her casual reminder of things to come wouldn't help him rest easy either.

"Here's your bag, Ayala," the zigzagoon whispered, having returned with a small satchel.

"Thank you, Sven," the umbreon said and took the satchel from the male. She bit the string that tied it up, loosening it with a firm tug to reveal its powdered content. "Anyway, I'm imagining that you'll have some trouble going to sleep after this, but don't worry. I got you covered. What worked on your stubborn zorua friend is going to work on you just as well~" With that, she slipped a paw into the satchel and flung some of the dust right into Ryan's face. "Now sleep. Don't resist it."

Sleeping powder! That's what that was, the eevee realized just a moment too late, as he had already inhaled some of it in a surprised snort. He sneezed. He sneezed again, all while turning his head away and trying to hold his breath, but it was too late. The thoughts inside his head lost all cohesion like a yarn ball cut apart, the warmth of his arousal keeping him company for just another heartbeat before he passed out cold.