Page 70 of My Summer Girl

My ancestors used the flames to ward off unwanted creatures and to let go of all that didn’t suit them. That’s what I need, and to bleed and feed Solera. I’ve not spent time with my realm recently. Hopefully giving them my blood won’t make me too woozy after my apt donation to Vex.

There’s an order of things that needs to happen, and I’ve missed them all.

A strangling grip holds my wrist and subconsciously, my thorns spike out, reacting to the intrusion. Vex yelps and they drop my wrist immediately.

“Bloody hell,” they harshly complain. When they turn their hand, it’s bleeding, changing color. My body releases a type of toxin into the skin as a protectant. Unlike with Mira and Raevar, they’re not accustomed to Vex, and after taking my blood, they’d see them as a threat.

Without thinking better of it, I bring Vex’s hand to my mouth to remove the reactants that won’t affect me, and before my lips can touch their skin, they yank it back swiftly.

“I have to suck out the toxins,” I respond, reaching for them again.

“No, that’ll create a blood bond,” they whisper, both fear and pain etching across their features as I try to understand.

“You want to suffer?” I question, wondering where the complexity of this being came from. Why would they rather suffer than do something that’s so... normal.

“I’ve only ever bonded to Dulce,” they explain, their forehead scrunched with something akin to dismay. “Bonding to you would make you connected to me forever, it’s not something to do so lightly.”

I shake my head, not wanting them to suffer. They flinch as if my thoughts brought on the pain of the toxins. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

“I do,” they hiss, closing their eyes. “You won’t want to be tied to me. I’m not an easy mind to latch on to.”

I come closer to them, feeling so many different emotions, but the most prevalent is care. They’re in my kingdom, they were hurt by my thorns, and they shouldn’t have to be in pain because of me.

“We have many rules here, to keep order, but I have personal ones as well. I don’t let those around me suffer, I don’t take without giving back, and I’m as sure as Solera is green that I won’t let you go on with this kind of pain without healing you. No matter the cost.”

“It’s not a good idea,” they nearly plead with me. “I’ve been in pain tons of times over. This won’t be too bad.”

I scan them from head to toe, noting sweat dotting their brow, the blotchiness to their skin, and the way they’re trying to hide the pain they’re feeling.

This time I don’t ask. I reach forward, grabbing their hand. With absolute conviction, I bring their palm to my lips and suck. The wounds are nearly healed and the sucking power I have to use is far more straining than it would be if this three minute dispute didn’t happen.

“Fuck,” they rasp, their other hand dressed in rings holding my head. It sparks something both inside my chest and between my thighs. I’m not entirely sure where it stems from, but Solera, it feels electric.

The poison goes through me, tinting my cheeks with warmth, but I don’t stop. Not even when I know all of it is gone. Their blood tastes like pure sugar, like I’m drinking from the sweetest possible fruit.

“Verano,” they warmly murmur, sounding like sex and warmth.

I hum, wanting to take more. I’ve never drank blood. It’s not in any of my histories as a normal sharing practice. We don’t have Saephyns in Solera, usually.

Until now.

“You’ve got to stop, precious,” they tenderly urge, brushing their fingers through my hair. Similar to my bond and connection to this realm, something snaps tight in my mind, connecting to my heart and throughout my body. With this, I can somehow feel Dulce.

She’s... lovely.

My chest warms as I tug on the little strings that now tie me to her.

Popping off the wound on their wrist, I breathe out, pleasure unlike anything I’ve ever felt before filling me. “I feel her.”

Their face sharpens, the softness disappears. They cup my jaw, calculating, but the touch is gentle enough to feel caring.

“We’re irrevocably tied now.”

I can’t stop the whimper from escaping my lips. “I’m tied to all here,” I respond, feigning disinterest, knowing this goes so much deeper. It’s a blood bond, bound to the beating organ in my chest.

But then this ping of awareness nestles in my chest. It’s deep, like new roots taking place where none have ventured before. This is entirely different, and there’s no denying the feeling sprouting its little wings inside me.

Fear takes over and before I know what to do, my feet take me in the opposite direction. I thank Solera for not allowing them to chase after me.

---