Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
43
Lucian
Her taste lingers on my mouth long after I have gathered her into my arms.
Not just the blood—though that alone is exquisite—but the sweetness of her. Honey and heat and something uniquely Julia, a flavor that sinks deep into me and refuses to let go. I can still feel the way her body quivered beneath my touch…can still hear the soft, helpless sounds she made when she came for me, echoing in my ears like a benediction.
I close my eyes, breathing her in. Gods, she’s amazing, my curvy little human.
I have fed many times over the centuries. Blood slaves…willing donors…ritual offerings taken for power or survival. But this—this is different. This is not hunger alone. This is intimacy…consent. This is trust given freely.
And it has changed me.
I can feel the Sanguis Vita spreading through my system now, warm and potent, flooding places that have burned for so long I had forgotten what relief felt like. The ache—the constant, gnawing fire left behind by my father’s curse—dims. The pain is not gone…not cured…but it has quieted within me.
For the first time in years, the Blood Lust loosens its grip on me. My thoughts are clearer. My body is steadier. The relentless need that has driven me for so long retreats into something that’s almost manageable.
I exhale slowly, letting myself relax for the first time in years.
But one feeding will not cure me. I know that.
To break the curse fully, I will need her blood again…and again and again. I will need regular, frequent feedings. By tasting her so deeply tonight, I have bound myself to her more tightly than any vow or ceremony ever could.
Because now that I have tasted her, my body will crave her above all else.
If I am denied her blood for too long, the Blood Lust will return sharper than ever—stronger. And if I am deprived entirely…
I may not survive it.
The knowledge should terrify me. Instead, it fills me with a fierce, almost reckless certainty.
I don’t care about my own vulnerability. I would rather risk everything than live without her.
Julia snuggles against me now, warm and soft, her breathing finally even as the pain leaves her body. I stroke her hair, memorizing the way she feels in my arms, the subtle weight of her, the way she fits against me as though she was always meant to be here.
Mine, whispers a voice in my head. Mine forever.
I once believed I was searching the Human Realm for a cure…for a resource. For a solution to the Blood Lust and the curse my father left me.
But somewhere along the way, I found her instead—Julia.
And now I know the truth—I am not interested in a cure if it costs me Julia. I don’t want her blood without her heart. I don’t want her power without her presence.
I want her.
All of her.
I swear to myself, as I hold her close, that I will devote myself to her safety and her comfort. That I will shield her from the Magistrate, from rival Dons, and most of all, from the consequences of the dangerous choice I have made in binding my survival to her.
I will be her protector. Her anchor. Her haven.
And if the day comes when she leaves me—when she returns to the Human Realm and I am left behind, wasting away without her blood—then so be it.
I will endure it.
Because loving her, even briefly, is worth the price.
I press a kiss to her hair, breathing her in once more, and hold her as though she is the center of my world…because she is.
44
Jules
I wake slowly, wrapped in warmth.
For a moment, I don’t move. I just lie there, half-dreaming, aware of strong arms around me and the steady rise and fall of a broad chest at my back. The bed is impossibly soft, the sheets still warm from the fire burning low in the hearth.
Then reality drifts back in and I remember what happened.
Lucian…last night between my thighs. The way he tasted me and eased my pain. The way he made me come so hard…
I shift slightly—and immediately regret it.
A dull, familiar ache answers the movement, low in my belly. It’s not as sharp as before—not enough to make me gasp. But it’s persistent…heavy. A reminder that my body is still very much doing its monthly thing.
I sigh softly despite myself. I had hoped that the pain was gone for good, but apparently no such luck.
Lucian stirs behind me at once, as if he’s been half-awake already. His arm tightens around my waist, possessive but gentle.
“Ah, my darling,” he murmurs, voice rough with sleep. “Are you hurting again?”
I don’t even bother pretending.
“A little,” I admit. “It’s not terrible, just… there.”
“Come,” he says quietly. “Let me ease you.”
There’s no hesitation in him, no embarrassment, no impatience. Just calm certainty—as though caring for me like this is the most natural thing in the world.