“No,” The word came out sharper than I meant as I stepped forward, panic already clawing up my throat. “Darling?—”
“Enough!” Her voice cracked through the steam as her dagger appeared in a shimmer of starlight. Before I could stop her, she sliced her palm and placed the dagger carefully aside.
Blood welled bright and red, vivid against her wet skin.
My world tunneled.
The spray of the shower was suddenly an enemy trying to wash away what I couldn’t bear to lose. I reached behind her and shut it off, the sudden silence deafening as water dripped from both of us in the quiet that followed.
She stepped closer, arm raised.
“Are you sure?” I rasped as my hands trembled.
Her voice was a whisper of unwavering trust. “Drink.”
I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t deserveher.
But I closed my lips over the wound anyway.
Her blood hit my tongue like a fucking inferno—sweeter than sin, darker than magic, a wildfire crashing through my veins and sinking claws into every corner of me. It didn’t just feed my power—itbecameit. I could feel the starlight woven into her cells, the ancient hum of something older than time. My cock jerked hard, thickening against her soaked clothes as a moan tore from my throat.
My free hand gripped her waist, fingers digging into the wet fabric plastered to her skin, and I drove her back a step, crowding her back against the slick tile wall with the weight of my body.
She gasped, high and sharp as my cock ground into her thigh, rigid with need. Her scent was everywhere. Her taste filled my mouth. My magic unfurled in a violent, aching stretch like it had been starved for centuries and was finally,finallybeing fed.
Her head tilted back against the wall, breath stuttering as she clutched at my shoulder. I could feel the tremble in her legs. I wanted to sink to my knees and worship her. I wanted to bury myself in her until every name but mine blurred. I wanted to, but then, something shifted.
The storm inside me… settled.
The thrumming, frantic need dulled from a roar to a low hum. My magic stopped clawing at me from the inside out. And suddenly, I wasn’t ruled by it. Iwasn’tdesperate for more.
I was… full.
I pulled back, stunned, lips still slick with her blood. My breathing was ragged. Her hand still bled, a slow, almost faint, trickle trailing over her wrist—but I didn’t feel the urge to lunge forward again. There was no madness or snapping of control.
Just peace.
“Fuck,” I whispered, staring at her hand like it held salvation. “It worked.”
My heart slammed against my ribs like it didn’t know what to do with the calm suddenly threading through me.
She reached out, touching the corner of my mouth with trembling fingers, brushing away blood I hadn’t realized was there. Her eyes searched mine like she could feel the shift too. Like sheknew.
“You’re never allowed to push me away again,” she said softly, fiercely. “I love you.”
I couldn’t speak at first, because somehow, she’d just given me back a part of myself I hadn’t realized was missing.
A dozen responses tangled in my throat, none of them enough.
“I love you, Bastian.”
The words echoed around us again, softer now, but no less fierce as I gazed down into her eyes.
Stars, shemeantit.
Kieran—this fucking wild, brilliant, reckless woman who burned through every part of me—lovedme.
I should’ve said it back right then. But I just stood there, soaked and naked in the steam with her blood still warm on my tongue, completely unraveling.
