Chapter 4: The Curse of Want
His hand shot out, and her neck was caught, gripped by his fingers.
She didn’t have time to react, to fear him, before darkness enveloped them and the forest vanished from her sight.
Her soul chilled, and then they were in a dark room where he shoved her away. Aurelia scrambled back until her legs hit something, and she dropped onto a bed. Breathing hard, she clutched herself as he loomed over her.
Her heart was racing from the teleportation; it was the most frightening thing she’d ever experienced.
He said nothing, staring down at her with a look of anger and lust.
Tilting his head, he took a slow step forward. Maybe he was mistaken. He couldn’t possibly desire her. Not her.
His fingers gripped her face, shoving her head back so he could look at her. To fight back, Aurelia would have to take her hands off her breasts. She didn’t.
Besides, could she win against a creature like him?
When he dipped his head and claimed her lips in a rough kiss, she accepted that she couldn’t. All she could do was hope that he would have mercy on her.
He deepened the kiss, and she felt his tongue slide boldly against hers, weakening her until her pulse weakened, suppressed by his heavy aura.
He suddenly ripped his mouth away from hers, pushing her away from him. Aurelia collapsed onto the bed, her hair fanning across the dark sheets as she tried to catch her breath.
Swallowing hard, he turned away, pacing around the room with suppressed outrage.
Pulling the covers around her, Aurelia slowly regained strength and sat up to watch him.
He paced for a long time, his long black coat dragging across the floor as he did. His fingers formed tight fists, clenching and unclenching in visible indecisiveness.
Bracing herself, she prepared to talk her way out of this. “Look… I know I promised y-you my body—”
“Silence,” he rasped.
She tensed, swallowing hard. “I’m a p-princess. I cannot dishonor my family like this. I’ll give you money. I’m wealthy; as soon as I reclaim my throne, I’ll pay you. Handsomely.”
He stopped.
Slowly, his head turned, eyes staring at her from under his curly hair. “Pay me?”
The low, raspy sound of his voice sent shivers over her skin, and, trembling, she shrank back. She was terrified of him. Terrified of angering him, terrified of her body’s reaction when he touched her.
If she said no, what would he do? Take her life?
“How… how much do you want?” she whispered.
He turned to face her, and like a hunting beast, he prowled toward her.
When he reached the bed and pressed a knee to it, she tensed, gripping the covers.
“You think you can pay me?” he whispered, leaning in close. “I give you the breath of life, and you think your money can compensate me?”
Her chin trembled, her soft lips pressed together as her grey eyes stared up at him in terror.
A hiss-like sound parted his lips as he bared his teeth in a frightening snarl. Her expression twisted with horror, and when she tried to move away, he gripped her arm, jerking her against him.
“What will you offer me, princess?” he rasped in suppressed fury. “Gold? Diamonds?”
Aurelia was trembling. “P-please… please, don’t k-kill me.”
His body suddenly flared with arousal, and, cursing, he released her. Panic simmered in his heart, mingling with the rage that burned there.
Something had gone wrong. He’d messed up.
He was furious, and he wanted her dead. But still his body buzzed with lust for her.
He wanted to get away from her, but instead, he leaned toward her, bringing their faces inches apart.
He wanted to mercilessly slit her throat, but instead, his hand rose, gently cradling the smooth line of her jaw.
His body, following the orders of an invisible master, did everything against his wishes.
“No…” he whispered in abhorrence, watching his fingers caress her skin. “No.”
He tried to rip his hands away from her. But instead, he leaned even closer to her unbelievably warm skin.
And her? Her revulsion cindered, burned away by the desire he elicited within her. Her horror, eroded by his touch, turned into keen interest.
Aurelia lifted her lips like a sacrifice and, with suppressed gratitude, watched him lower his mouth to accept the offering.
This kiss was even deeper and more enchanting than the previous. In moments, they tumbled onto the bed, and he groaned against her lips, lost in the sea of desire they were drowning in.
His tongue was faintly cold, but its every stroke left a trail of heat. A fire-blazing weapon of ice couldn’t exist.
But it did in this man. Aurelia couldn’t understand it, but she couldn’t think at all. His hands roamed her body, and every touch was a taste of paradise. It had to be a drug. This simply couldn’t be normal.
His coat was tossed aside, and his shirt followed.
A proper young lady would scream in horror at the scandalous sight of a man’s bare chest. But Aurelia gasped instead, pulsing with need and delight at the sight of his perfectly sculpted masculinity.
Very soon, his body was as bare as hers. Her eyes, filled with the kind of craving only street women would know, took their fill of him. If she, in her right mind, could see herself, Aurelia would’ve buried herself in shame.
But she wasn’t in her right mind. She was caught up in the web of lust that tangled them together, intertwining their souls until the ancient enmity between their bloodlines was stirred into the mix.
Taking her knees, he raised them and then parted them. She gasped and moved to cover herself. But then her body thrummed with desire, and Aurelia moaned, falling back into the bed. Her hands fell away, letting him expose her to his gaze as he parted her thighs, positioning himself between them.
“You’re perfect,” he whispered.
The glow of his eyes captivated her. His hands slid down her creamy thighs, and then she felt his fingers. On either side of her pleasure bud, they stroked and teased until she was slick and squirming.
His thumbs, gentle on the sides of her sex, parted the slick folds.
Her breath caught, and she gently trembled, making his blood rush with satisfaction. Determined to drive her insane, he slowly slid a thumb down her slit. She cried out, arching off the bed as pleasure racked through her body.
“If you will pay me, princess,” he rasped breathlessly, watching pleasure paint her face as his fingers brought her to climax. “I will take it in the currency… of your pleasure.”
Her eyes opened, lids heavy with arousal as she stared up at him. “Yes…”
He was already moving, his rigid length pressed to her entrance. When he entered, slowly and with suppressed desperation, both their bodies screamed with pleasure.
His head fell back, eyes closed, and lips parted as his fangs lengthened.
The joining was done. More than just their bodies, locking into an agreement older than time.
They were bound.