Chapter 367: Blood and Bond III
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Sekhmet’s hands moved with deliberate slowness, as if time itself bent to his will. He traced the line of her shoulder, where a thin smear of dried blood —not hers— still clung to her skin like dark paint. His thumb pressed against it, smearing the crimson across her collarbone, painting her in the evidence of the night.
"Stay still," he murmured, and his voice was low, almost reverent.
Lily obeyed his command. Her breath came shallow, her chest rising and falling beneath the ruined fabric of her dress. The heat of his touch burned through the layers still covering her, and she watched his eyes track every movement of his own fingers.
He brought his hand to his mouth and licked the blood from his thumb. His gaze never left hers.
"You taste like the hunt," he said. "Like victory."
She felt her pulse quicken, felt the warmth pooling low in her belly. "And what else do I taste like?"
He reached for her wrist, turning her palm upward. A thin cut still lingered there, a small wound from the fighting. He pressed his lips to it, his tongue tracing the edge, tasting the iron of her blood.
"You taste like mine."
The words sent a shiver through her. He released her wrist and stepped back, letting his eyes roam over her body. The dress was torn at the shoulder, stained across the bodice, clinging to the curves of her hips. Every blood mark on it told a story of the night’s violence.
"You looked beautiful tonight," he said, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "But more than that, you looked dangerous."
She felt her cheeks flush. "Dangerous?"
"Predatory." He reached for the first fastening of her dress, his fingers working the fabric loose with practiced ease. "When you singled out that enforcer —the one in the leather coat— you didn’t hesitate. You stalked him. You chose your moment. You ended him before he even knew you were there."
The fabric slipped from her shoulder, baring her skin to the lamplight. He pushed it lower, revealing the curve of her chest, the edge of her ribcage.
"You chose like you belonged beside me," he continued, his voice velvet over steel. "Not because I commanded it, but because you wanted to."
The dress fell to her waist. She stood before him in the dim light, she was half clothed, marked by blood and sweat and the lingering adrenaline of battle. His gaze traced every inch of her exposed skin, lingering on the dark veins that pulsed beneath her throat, on the faint scars that still marked her from the feeding.
"I do belong beside you, hunting together," she said, and her voice held no tremor. "Tonight, I learned it for the first time."
Sekhmet said, "Say it again."
She replied, "I belong beside you."
His hands found her waist again, sliding around to the small of her back. He drew her close, her bare chest pressing against the rough fabric of his shirt. She could feel the hardness of his body, the heat radiating from his skin, the steady thrum of his heartbeat against hers.
"I am yours," she whispered, the words escaping her lips like a secret she had been keeping too long.
He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. His pupils had expanded, (red) darkening his irises until they were nearly crimson black. The predatory stillness that had defined him during the hunt had returned, but now it was focused entirely on her.
"Mine," he repeated, savoring the word. "From this night forward, remember this feeling. Remember what it means to choose, to kill, to stand beside me not as a true vampire but as a wife."
He pressed a kiss to her throat, just above the pulse point. She felt his tongue trace the line of her artery, felt the gentle pressure of his teeth grazing her skin. It was not feeding. It was for tasting her.
Sekhmet repeats everything. "You looked beautiful tonight," he breathed against her neck. "You looked dangerous. And you are mine."
Meanwhile across the hall, in a room smaller than Sekhmet’s but no less elegant, Vera and Vela undressed in silence.
The twins moved in perfect synchrony, removing their soiled clothes and laying them aside with practiced economy. Their silver hair caught the candlelight, gleaming like molten metal as they moved. The scent of blood clung to them as well, but they had already washed their hands and faces, leaving only the memory of the hunt in their veins.
Vela was the first to speak.
"She stood well tonight."
Vera paused, her fingers stilling on the clasp of her underdress. She looked at her sister through the mirror that hung between their two beds. "Yes."
She added in response, "Not just well. She chose properly."
Vera turned, her expression unreadable. "I know."
The words hung between them, carrying more weight than their simplicity suggested. For days there had been tension — a subtle but persistent undercurrent of jealousy that neither had voiced aloud. Lily was first wife. Lily bore the mark of Sekhmet’s favor. The twins had accepted it because they had no choice, but acceptance and embrace were different things.
Tonight, something had shifted.
Vela crossed to stand behind her sister, her hands reaching around to undo the fastenings that Vera’s fingers had fumbled. "She really is the first wife now."
Her sister replied, "Yes."
It was not a question. But a statement. It was an acknowledgment.
Vera leaned back into her sister’s touch, the tension in her shoulders easing as Vela’s fingers worked the knots loose. The underdress fell away, and they stood together, twin reflections in the mirror, their bodies identical in form but distinct in the way they carried themselves.
"She changed tonight," Vela continued, her voice low. "I felt it through the bloodline. The way she fed... it was deliberate. Intentional."
"She stopped being prey," Vera said softly.
"Yes." Vela replied.
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