Chapter 18
Euphemia
Heat surrounded me—but there was something else beneath it. Something just out of reach. I tried to grasp it, to name it, but it slipped away each time I reached for it.
My eyelids were heavy. My limbs sluggish. My skin burned as though I were trapped in a fever.
Was I ill?
Would I die before summer ever came?
Something brushed against me.
It made the fever worse—a desperate ache clawing deep inside me.
A hand held my hip, guiding me, steady and sure.
Him.
His scent was everywhere.
Dark musk.
Earth and pine.
His.
I tried to speak, but a soft cloth pressed to my face instead. I breathed it in without thinking.
Him.
I drew it into my mouth, sucking gently, and moaned at the taste.
Him.
Thaddeus.
My eyes snapped open just as a sharp cramp seized my stomach. I groaned, hissing through the pain, and then a slick warmth coated my bloomers.
Oh, God.
This was death coming for me at last. And it wasn’t content with taking my parents.
“Hush, my sweet. Let it come. Let your heat ready your body for me,” he whispered against my ear.
I didn’t understand a word of it.
“Eedjiat,” I gasped, breathless and panicked.“Get a doctor—or a priest. I’m ill. I’m dying.” I lifted my hand, trying to slap at his face, but my strength failed me.
Another cramp coiled low in my belly.
His tongue—warm and slick—curled around my earlobe, a gentle suck that made me shudder despite myself. Then he pressed against me from behind, grinding slowly, deliberately, as if my body were already answering him without my consent.
“You are not ill or dying, Euphemia,” he breathed against my ear, his voice low and steady.“Your beast is awakening—the one living in your chest.” His lips brushed my skin as they trailed down my neck.“You felt her. Heard her growl.”
His hand tightened on my hip, holding me firmly in place before he dragged his hard length between my cheeks.
My insides pulsed in response, traitorous and aching, and I pushed myself back against him—silently begging for more.
