Page 99 of The Witch's Pet

“Julia.” I reach up with both hands, cupping her face, forcing her to look at me. Her winter-blue eyes are glossy and vulnerable in a way that makes my chest ache. “I’m not Charlotte. And you’re not the same person you were then.”

“You don’t understand. When feeding feels this good, I lose control. I cannot stop myself from taking everything.”

“I trust you, Julia. I know you can stop because you’ve done it before.”

“I’ve only been able to stop because I have to. Because of the binding spell.”

“The spell is still there. You’re safe. But I think you can stop because you want to, not because you’re forced to.”

Something shifts in her expression. Her eyebrows pull down, like she’s letting herself hope.

“Keep going,” I breathe, rolling my hips against her hand. “I’m not afraid.”

She searches my face for a long moment, then begins stroking me again, slower and gentler. The incantation flows from her lips like a prayer rather than a demand.

Dark tendrils bloom from her skin and snake toward me, wrapping around me and holding me to her.

I keep my hands on her face, maintaining eye contact as the pleasure builds. The feeding resumes, but it’s calmer, more controlled, more careful.

“Just like that,” I gasp, my every muscle coming alive. “Don’t stop.”

She kisses me deeply, letting out a sigh into my mouth.

The slowness awakens something new inside me. The desire is just as fierce, but it’s so different from before. The tendrils of magic tighten around me, awakening every cell in my body. A flutter builds in my chest, and then my belly, until I reach a peak and there’s nothing left to do but freefall.

She gives one more slow stroke, and my climax crashes over me like a wave. I cry out. Julia stops kissing me to watch my face, and I hold her gaze as my body convulses with ecstasy. My essence flows into her, and relief floods her features as she realizes she’s in control, and she’s not destroying me.

The air shimmers, like heat rising from summer pavement. The fire flares brighter. Shadows writhe on the walls. My chest grows hot, something deep inside me pulsing like a second heartbeat.

Julia’s eyes widen.

“Do you feel that too?” I whisper.

She nods.

My heartbeat quickens. “Is it the binding spell?”

“I—I believe so.”

The warmth expands, radiating from where the binding has lived all night.

“Kiss me,” I whisper, pulling her face toward mine.

The words spill out, almost frantic. I just want her lips on mine one last time before the spell that’s been keeping us together breaks.

She does.

The kiss is desperate, but I no longer feel my essence draining. She’s just kissing me for the sake of kissing me.

The room warms, like the sun is rising. Every cell in my body hums with energy. The spell strains inside me.

“What have you done to me?” Julia whispers against my lips, her words so broken and vulnerable I can hardly bear it.

I open my mouth and deepen the kiss, holding her face gently between my palms.

She slides her hand up my waist, chest, and neck, stopping to cup my cheek. For once, her touch isn’t rough and possessive, but careful.

The heat intensifies until it’s unbearable. Light bursts behind my closed eyelids. The spell pulls at my chest, wanting me to be flush against her. It brings me closer, closer, until I can’t get any closer without beinginsideher. And then—