Page 12 of Once Written in Gilded Blood

I wait for her to disappear around the corner before I let my shoulders fall. Each day the weight of the lies becomes heavier and more burdensome upon my back.

Alira is waiting for me, sitting at the edge of the bed with her beautiful starlight hair swept to one side, exposing her neck for me to partake in her gilded blood. A rush of thirst moves through my entire body, warming my chest and making my thoughts fade.

I wish it could be this simple all the time—her and I living in my palace and sharing warm moments, spending the days walking the grounds.

My eyes shift to the balcony glass doors, where the dreadful flowers haunt me with their beauty and horror. I force my gaze away, wincing at the truth of my decisions. Ones that never seemed to bother me at all until I brought her here. I suppose it didn’t occur to me that she would be so intrigued by the presence of the flowers like she is. The guilt only grows the longer I keep the truth away from her.

She must never find out.

I will see to it that we remove every single peony once the war is over. We will no longer need the veil. We can plant new ones that grow and bring happiness without such tainted roots. The mark of my evil will be buried, and she’ll never have to know.

Never.

Chapter 5

Alira

Kalel’s lips are hot against my neck. Gold streams down my chest and bleeds into my gown, turning the beige lace fabric metallic and shimmery. He has me pinned on the bed, our hands pressed together fiercely against the sheets, fingers delicately intertwined as he devours me with long, languid gulps that consume my every thought.

His teeth are ruinous aphrodisiacs the moment they enter my bloodstream. Like a snake’s sharp fangs or a lover’s intimate kiss. It’s sensual, and I yearn for him to touch me like this every night. Our chests are melded together, breaths fluttering in and out as if we can only take in shallow sips of air when we collide. Sips of him are enough to entirely infatuate me—to be my utter undoing.

Kalel retracts his teeth and sets his attention to my throat, dragging his tongue across my skin and licking away the blood that escaped his ravenous gulps. He dots my breasts with kisses, gliding his hand along my thigh and pulling up my nightgown.

He lifts his head and sets those dreary golden eyes on me. “I’m afraid I’ve made a mess of your gown, little godling. So it wouldn’t be the worst thing if I ruined it completely, would it?” His gaze is filled with lust and filthy thoughts. There’s no possibility of evading his charm, his lewd lips, and how he always seems to draw more need from me. My core aches to be filled by him, to be connected to him.

“What am I to do with you?” I whisper over his lips, tasting my blood.

Kalel lets out a small groan as he leans into the kiss, threading his hand through my hair and letting the other slide my undergarments down. “You’ll have to train me better, one might advise,” he murmurs into our heady kisses.

I inhale sharply as he pushes two fingers inside me. My back arches, and a cry escapes my parted lips. I swear to the gods, I’ll never adjust properly to the sheer size of him. All of him. His fingers, his height, his teeth, his cock. My eyes shut as I feel his length growing and pushing needily against my thigh.

“I will never not love the sounds you make. I will never not take them from you and steal them for myself.” His voice is just above a whisper as he does exactly as he says and steals each moan from me as he thrusts his fingers into me, building my orgasm closer and closer to climax.

Kalel pulls his pants down and frees his pulsing cock. It’s hot, and precum is already beading at the tip, making me lick my lips. He rubs the head of his dick at my entrance, giving extra attention to my clit and making me writhe beneath him desperately.

“I miss you, Kalel,” I murmur against his neck, inhaling his smoky scent as much as I can to satiate my senses.

He presses into me harder until his tip is spreading me open and he’s filling me to the brim. Any words I had on my tongue get caught in my throat, and a wave of ecstasy overcomes me as he pumps his hips into mine.

Kalel hooks his arm beneath me, wrapping it around my lower back and holding me close. “You will have all my attention soon, I promise. I long to be nowhere but by your side, Alira. Everything I’m doing and sacrificing is for us.”

I bury my face into the crux of his neck, taking in his words and closing my eyes as we moan softly together. I want to believe him. How could I not? But there’s a nagging string of doubt that will not stray from my mind. Worse. I cannot seem to let it go either. I return to the uncertain feeling often and try to poke holes into everything around me. Because if something is too good to be true, well, then it must be, surely.

Kalel’s knot grinds at my entrance as he thrusts himself into me. His back is slick with sweat, and the moans he makes only cause my muscles to squeeze around him tighter.

He hasn’t knotted me since the night after our wedding. I know he’s trying to be respectful of my hesitance to have children right away, but sometimes I long for that filling sensation again. To have him swelling so big inside me that we can’t part.

A deep groan vibrates from his chest. “I want to knot you so fucking bad.” He sounds like he’s physically in pain, and as he stops thrusting his hips and pulls back to look at me, I can see the agony in his eyes.

I suck in my lower lip. It’s still not a given whether or not we can even produce children together since he’s a demon and I’m a demigod. Even so, the likelihood is minimal.

Kalel stares down at me, dark strands of hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. His brows are knitted together with need, lips parted just enough to show his sharp fangs. My eyes drift to the mark on his chest—a mirror of the one on mine. The sacred oath bond. For a split second, I forget what it even does, then it comes back to me. It’s an oath for trust, one that tied our lives together in case I attempted to kill him.

While the bond ties his life to mine, it doesn’t protect me from him in case he tries to kill me, but it can tie aspects of ourselves to one another. Like strong emotions…guilt. It’s become this heavy weight on my chest where the mark lies. Is that why I’ve been having so much doubt with him?

I push away the worry and try to stay in the moment.

Kalel reads my expression and smiles. “Don’t worry, I won’t knot you again unless you want it, little godling.” He bends down and presses a kiss to my forehead.