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She rose onto her tiptoes, laced her hands around my neck. I held her waist, always pleased when she dared to kiss me, her soft lips moving carefully over mine.
Kisses, children, the gift of her blood… if my life was proof of anything, it was that nothing in life was fair. I didn’t deserve her, but having her made me want to live up to that worthiness.
She made a soft sound, a sigh, nipping at my lower lip until I opened for her. Carefully, so carefully, I slipped my tongue around hers, holding still so she wouldn’t cut herself on my fangs.
Cirri’s weight pressed against me, her hands sliding down my shoulders and over my chest.
She stood upright slowly, opening her eyes again. Peering into my soul, it felt like, reading something there.
Bane, she said, faltering.
“Anything, my lady. Don’t be afraid.”
She raised her chin, firming her shoulders. When I came here, I was afraid. Nobody could understand me. But you learned. When I’m with you, I feel heard. I don’t feel invisible anymore.
I opened my mouth, and she put a finger to my lips.
What I’m trying to say… She took a deep breath, hands trembling. When I see you, the whole world becomes bright. Everything feels possible. I adore you beyond words.
“Surely you know that I feel the same. Cirri, you’re everything I hoped for. Everything… I thought I would lose. Most days I wake up and I can’t believe you’re real, that this is my life.”
The faintest, shaky smile crossed her lips. Then you do know how I feel. There’s not a single day I wake up and don’t want to be with you. But… this is hard to ask.
“For the third time, anything,” I growled, cupping her face with utmost caution. “And the third time is always the charm.”
I would give her anything. Books, palaces, children. Jewels or silks. All the paper in the holds, anything else she desired.
She could ask for anything and I would give it with open hands.
The sight of my terrible hands around that beautiful face… it was that image I had in my head, the tainted reflection of the princess and the monster in the glass, that made my stomach drop to my feet when she finally asked.
I want to be with you forever, she said, staring up at me with those eyes. This doesn’t have to end. I want you to keep me, Bane.
Anything but chaining her for eternity. Anything but forcing her to live through the times when things were bad… when I wasn’t even capable of pretending to be civilized.
When I was truly a monster to the bone.
But the same monster roared at me now, screaming and rattling the bars of my mind—it knew I would never give her up. It knew it was selfish, and delighted in that fact.
It knew I would say yes. I loved her, and I would give her anything she wanted.
I want you to give me your blood.