Page 69 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Cedric

A hidden society retraining humans on the meaning of life.

It almost sounded too good to be true.

Except the concept reminded me of the old world, making it not nearly as far-fetched as one might believe.

But I heard Lily’s doubts as I escorted her toward the back of the jet. She was struggling to fathom such an existence, her indoctrinated mindset incapable of accepting the possibility.

I showered her with knowledge and experience, depicting a past in flashes of thought that had her glancing at me as we entered the bedroom.

She didn’t speak or ask questions. She merely listened to my memories and opinions, hearing the very real understanding of Khalid’s concepts.

Did I still wonder if it was all bullshit? Yes. But I couldn’t decipher a motive for him to lie about such a world.

Everything he’d said made sense.

And more, I agreed with his leadership decisions .

This new world bored me. There was no excitement or challenge. Just a bunch of enslaved humans who bowed to their morbid fates.

Lily had been my only intrigue. My renewed reason for life. And Khalid was offering me an opportunity to truly have her.

If it was all a lie, we would face the consequences of our hope then.

However, for now, I was choosing to believe in our future. To think about an existence where I could be with Lily freely. Maybe even turn her, if that was her desire.

I just wanted to be with her.

To love her.

To worship her.

To enjoy her.

I don’t deserve you, little flower , I confided in a mental whisper. But I’m going to spend this entire flight trying to prove otherwise.

I was going to help her forget the horrors of the last few weeks.

Fuck, no. That wasn’t good enough.

I was going to make her leave all the horrors of her entire damn existence behind. Because I intended to take her to a new place of being, introduce her soul to the future, and ensure she was ready to face whatever awaited us in Khalid Region.

This could be our final few hours together.

Or it might just be the beginning of our true destiny.

I refused to consider the former and instead indulged in the latter. Because Lily provoked a foreign hope inside me, one I felt dwindling in her own heart.

Blood Day had changed her.

The lycan camp had manufactured a dark reality that had shattered my sweet flower’s sense of purpose .

So I would stoke the little flame left inside her and ensure it burned as hot as an inferno when we finished.

I caught her by her nape and pulled her toward me, my gaze capturing hers. I’m going to remind you that you’re mine, love. My Lily. My flower. I’m going to make you bloom again .

She shivered, causing her scent to sweeten to my senses.

She was excited and scared and overwhelmed, creating an intoxicating mix for the predator within me. I wanted to devour her. Claim her. Destroy her, just to watch her grow again. And then give her stronger roots to stand on.

Tell me what you want, Lily, I said, holding her just inside the en-suite bathroom. Khalid had been right about the shower—it was an impressive size. Shall we start there, love? With me stripping you and washing every inch of you with my bare hands?

Yes, she breathed. I can still feel their presence on my skin. Like claws digging into my soul, reminding me where I’m supposed to be right now.

You’re supposed to be with me, I corrected her. “Because you’re mine.”

“Prove it,” she dared, a hint of fire flickering in her blue-green irises. “Make me yours again.”

“You were never not mine,” I promised her. “That much is very clear to me now.”

But even more than that, I was hers. And I’d been hers since the first moment I’d laid eyes on her.

She’d changed everything just by breathing. Her air had become mine and mine had become hers, marrying our souls before our hearts had ever had a chance to beat.

I let her feel the ferocity of my emotions as I took her mouth, my tongue immediately seeking entry and finding her more than willing to accept.

Because we were perfect together .

Combustible.

Passionate.

Untouchable.

I ran my palms over her, removing her jeans and her sweater while her hands divested me of my clothes, leaving us naked against each other. It was a dance of limbs and fingers, emboldened and intensified by our need for one another.

But this wasn’t about sex.

This was about touching each other. Remembering the feel of us. Reveling in our joining. Memorizing and claiming each other on the surface, while our spirits intimately connected on another plane.

Energy hummed between us, making me feel alive as I deepened our kiss.

She moaned in response, her mind flaring with wants and desires and a need to just be here with me, to exist in the solace of our bond.

No more Blood Day. No more lycans. No more prospect of the moon chase. I’d saved her, and her roots were firmly grounded in reality now, even if it all felt like a dream to her.

I grasped her hips and walked her backward into the shower. The water came on automatically, pelting my back with cold spikes. But I didn’t care. It was worth it to curl myself around Lily and protect her from the chilly temperature.

She practically melted into me, absorbing my warmth and my strength, and simply existed with me in the moment.

You’re so fucking perfect, I told her. So beautiful and patient. I meant what I said, sweet flower. I don’t deserve you.

But I was going to try to be good enough for her anyway .

And I would start with this—with caring for her properly.

Dried blood stuck to her skin, making this shower more needed than ever. I didn’t want any part of her marred by the experiences of the past.

Those lycans didn’t own her. I did. My Erosita. My mate. My flower to nurture and grow.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, her thick blonde eyelashes parting to reveal her alluring gaze. “You’re mine, too.”

“I am,” I admitted. “I’ve been yours from the day I first saw you.” Which I’d already admitted, at least to myself. But it didn’t hurt to speak the words aloud. “I love you, Lily.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered against my lips, her mind marveling at the changes between us and how far we’d come. The fact that any of this shocked her just further proved how much I had to make up to her.

I’d never cared for another like this before, had never even desired this sort of connection. However, now I found it necessary to prove myself. To be worthy of her. To be the man she could rely on… for eternity.

The water finally began to warm, allowing me to pull her more fully beneath it. But she didn’t seem to notice. Her focus was on me and my mouth, her gaze hungry as she assessed what she knew was hers.

“Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you,” I promised her. “Tell me how to please you.”

“I want you to make me feel alive,” she whispered. “Own me. Make me feel safe. Make me… make me feel like I’m yours.”

“You are mine,” I told her, my palm gliding up her middle until I reached her throat. “And you’re safe with me.” I squeezed her neck, the action contradicting my words, but that was the point.

Trust. That was our strength, our core platform that we both stood on together.

She trusted me not to hurt her even when I had every advantage to do so.

Because she knew deep down I could never truly harm her. It had always been this way between us.

And tonight would be no different.

I cut off her airflow for a few more seconds, then soothed away the pain with a kiss and a breath into her mouth. She moaned, arching into me, not seeming to care about the blood still sticking to her skin.

She wanted more.

She wanted me.

And I wasn’t going to deny her for another second.

My grip shifted to the back of her neck, my opposite palm finding her hip. “Open your mouth a little more for me, darling. I want to properly own you.”

She obeyed, her tongue eagerly meeting mine as I devoured her to completion. My sweet flower wanted to feel possessed, and I was a slave to her desires.

The water continued to flow around us, heating our skin and reminding me of our first shower together—when I’d taught her the importance of taking what she wanted.

She remembered that lesson now as she eagerly explored my body with her palms, up and down my abdomen and around to my back.

There was no hesitation. She claimed me just as thoroughly as I claimed her.

My Lily, I breathed into her mind, growling as her palm found my hard cock. She stroked it, memorizing the length, and gently traced the head.

Fuck me , she demanded, making me smile. You told me to tell you how to please me, Cedric. And that’s how I want to be pleased.

So bold, I whispered back to her. Such a studious pupil, learning how to seduce and please her Master.

I maneuvered her backward into the wall.

My all-star student, I continued. You never gave up no matter how hard things were. I always admired that about you. Even when it had infuriated me. Because all I’d ever truly wanted was to improve her existence in this cruel world. And she’d seemed hell-bent on ensuring her downfall.

All for an unattainable desire to join the Vigils.

Yet if sheer will could have achieved that goal, she would have succeeded.

I prefer my existence with you, she said as I grabbed her hips to lift her into the air. However fleeting this might be.

She recognized that we might not be heading to the utopia Khalid had described. But similar to me, she discarded the worry because there was nothing we could do about that fate now.

Which meant we had these few precious hours to exist.

And I intended to take full advantage of it.

I slid into Lily’s warmth, fully aware that she was already wet for me. No preparation needed, our minds having done all the work for us.

She wrapped her legs around my waist, clinging to me as I drove into her slick heat, seating myself all the way inside her.

Fucking perfection . It was like this female had been made for me, her pussy an addiction meant to tempt my predator to fall into an unending oblivion.

I would never desire another.