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Made from blood, magic, and love.

That’s what the books said. But I had only tasted his blood, not mine. I hadn’t been hurt, and I had kept a tight hold on my magic—the way I always did around him. I would never forgive myself if I enthralled him with my powers.

We walked into my bathroom where I took off Nikolai’s dirty shirt and pulled him into the shower with me.

A soft smile sat on his kissable lips when I took the soap I had made myself, foamed it up between my wet palms, and then spread the sweet smelling bubbles all over his body.

He bit his lip when I washed his cock and balls. I wasn’t trying to arouse him again but wanted to care for him.

“Can you tilt your head back so I can wash your hair?“

He did as I asked, groaning softly when I lathered the wet strands with more foam, massaged his scalp, and then rinsed his hair under the warm spray.

“Thank you, Jules,” Nikolai said when I had finished and he had turned around to me again. “I can’t remember anyone ever doing this for me. Except for my mum when I was a kid, of course.”

His cheeks blushed, and I fell for him all over again.

“You are welcome, Bunny. I hope it felt good for you.”

He reached out and hugged me, pressing a soft kiss on my brow.

“Yes, it did. I loved it.”

“I loveyou, Bunny.”

Nikolai held his breath for a long moment before he exhaled deeply.

Then he leaned back a little and brought his hand up to cup my cheek.

He trailed his thumb over my skin, raising goosebumps on my arms. And those eyes, they told me everything I needed to know. For a moment, I was tempted to tell him he didn’t need to say it—I could read it all on his face.

“Me, too, Jules,” he told me with tears in his eyes. “God, I love you so much.”

Then his warm lips were on mine again, stealing my breath and every conscious thought.

It was difficult to leave the shower, to dry off, and get dressed because neither of us wanted to let go of the other. Every time we caught each other’s eyes, we grinned and blushed like teenagers.

Every single second of the last 433 years of my life I had waited for this. And nothing had prepared me for the depth of my feelings for Nikolai.

“Can you stay for a bit longer?” I asked him when, at last, we both wore trousers. Nikolai had grabbed a fresh T-shirt from the small backpack he brought.

“Yeah, I can stay for a bit. There is nowhere I’d rather be, anyway.”

Once more the skin over his sharp cheekbones reddened. I wasn’t so sure anymore who in our budding relationship worshipped whom.

I am his to command.

We curled up on the sofa, my head on his solid chest, drank some more coffee, and looked out into the forest until, at last, it was time for him to leave.

“Bye.” He didn’t cross the arch. “Jules?”

“Yes?”

“I really want to come see you again next weekend. My coach put me back on the roster for the next game. That’s Thursday night in Feuerfeld. But I could come back on Saturday. Maybe we could have lunch together, or I could bring my laptop so we could watch something? I mean, I don’t even know if it will work around you…your magic, I mean? Probably not, that was a stupid idea. Just ignore it.”

I gripped his forearm to stop the flood of words tumbling from his mouth.

“That sounds wonderful, Bunny. I’ll come pick you up. And while electronic devices usually don’t work around my magic, I will try to suppress it long enough that you can show me a movie.”