I nod my head.
“But it’s worse this time,”Iwhisper.“Somuch worse.”
The memory of it makes me shudder.Ican still feel the magic sinking into me, twisting through my body, settling deep whereIcan’t reach it like a twisted, poison vineIcan’t pull out.
“Tell me about it,”Theronmurmurs.“Tellme what she said.”
“She said the hunger would grow—thatIwouldn’t be able to rest or find peace until…”Myvoice falters andIlook away, heat flooding my face.
“Until what?”he prompts gently.
I shake my head, but the words come anyway, dragged out of me by the same desperate need that’s been building since she spoke the curse.
“She saidIwould crave…”Iswallow hard.“Crave…”
Goddess,Ican’t say it.It’stoo shameful.
“Crave what, baby?”he asks, his voice softer now, coaxing.
The endearment makes my chest tighten and somehowIforce the words out in a whisper.
“Male seed.ShesaidI’dcrave male seed.”
The momentIsay it,Icover my face with my hands, mortified.Theneed surges again, sharp and immediate, like speaking it has made it real in a way it wasn’t before.Mywhole body throbs with it–the ache low in my belly turning into something deeper, more insistent.
It feels like a thirst–a terrible, burning thirstIcan’t escape and can’t quench on my own.
ButTherondoesn’t recoil–he doesn’t even look shocked.
“Crave it how, sweetheart?”he asks, his voice still steady.“Howdo you need it?”
I lower my hands slowly, my cheeks still burning.
“I…Idon’t know,”Iadmit.“Ionly know thatIdon’t want to get pregnant.Idon’t want my eyes to change.”Myvoice drops on the last words.“Idon’t want to lose everything.”
He studies me for a moment, his gaze intent but not unkind.
“I don’t blame you,” he murmurs.
For a moment we just stay like that, close together, his arms around me, the warmth of him seeping into my skin.Itshould comfort me.
Instead, it makes the need worse.
Because nowIcan feel him…smell him…hear the steady beat of his heart under my ear.Everythingin me is drawn toward him–pulled tight and aching with a needIcan’t control.
I make a soft, helpless sound and press harder against him.Goddess,Ineed him so badly butI’mso embarrassed to admit it.
“What canIdo to help?”he asks at last.
The question hangs between us–simple and yet impossible to answer.
I look up at him, my heart pounding, my breath coming too fast.Idon’t want to say it.Idon’t want to admit it out loud, even to him.
ButIhave to.
“I need your seed,”Iwhisper.
The words feel like a surrender but they’re true.
