Page 36 of Taken By My Guardian's Fangs

Gaël hadn't even any idea how or when it started. All he knew was that he had lost his heart to her, and the knowledge terrified the hell out of him.

The last time he fell in love, he ended up failing the woman he had sworn to cherish and protect, and in one moment of weakness and selfishness, his own wife had caused the death of their baby girl.

While he knew Juliette could never do such a thing, what if it was him who fucked things up again? Would he be able to let her go if she wanted to leave him? Or would it be better to not take the risk of letting her know of his feelings?

Juliette was struggling not to cry. How could things be so beautiful and perfect between them for one moment...and then so painfully bleak in a blink?

Even with her eyes closed, she could feel Gaël gazing down at her...while the air around them gradually grew heavy. It almost felt as if her guardian, who was the epitome of strength and power, was afraid...and she was just as scared, because she had a feeling she knew exactly why that was.

The other wards often teased her for always having rose-colored glasses on, whenever Gaël was involved.

But that wasn't true at all.

Others might strenuously insist that her guardian was ruthless and merciless, but how could she ever agree to that when he had always been gentle and tender with her?

Gaël would always be her knight in shining armor, and when she remembered how he had first promised to keep her safe—-

I will never let anyone hurt you.

She also knew that her guardian would want to keep his word, even if it meant sacrificing his chance to further increase his strength.

And that was what he was afraid of, wasn't he?

Her guardian was worried that she might have become too emotionally attached to him, and that he would end up hurting her if he were to marry Emilia after this.

"Juliette..."

The intimate sound of her guardian's voice made Juliette's heart ache. He definitely knew she was in love with him, and that meant it was up to her to do the right thing.

Gaël bent down to kiss his ward, but just as his lips were about to touch hers, Juliette suddenly shook her head and he was forced to rear back. It was her first time to reject him, and his gaze narrowed at the way she avoided his gaze while sitting up and wrapping the covers around her body.

"What's wrong?" he demanded.

Juliette shook her head. "Nothing's wrong."

If that was true, then why was she still refusing to look his way? Could she have figured out how he felt about her...and she was wondering how best to turn him down?

Gaël's jaw clenched. "Look at me, Juliette."

The harshness of his voice made her flinch, but he didn't give a damn, and after a few more seconds, Juliette finally lifted her gaze to his, and seeing his ward fighting back tears made him feel like punching something. Was the idea of Gaël loving her so damn bad?

"You know, don't you?"

Juliette was having a hard time breathing. "Know what?"

"How I feel—-"

"Yes. I do know." It was Juliette's first time to cut her guardian off like that, but she had no other choice. She knew Gaël always preferred to speak bluntly of things, but she also knew it would kill her to hear him actually say he didn't love her.

Gaël's chest felt hollow as Juliette struggled not to cry in front of him. This could only mean one thing, couldn't it?

"Can we talk about this—-"

Juliette shook her head. "I'd rather not. And I also k-know that you might feel like you have to do something about these...these feelings," Juliette said jerkily, "but please just...don't. It's more than enough for me that I was able to do my duty as your ward."

And there it was, Gaël thought dully. While making love to her had changed his world entirely, Juliette only considered everything that happened between them as her duty as his ward. But because she was always so damn kind, this was her way of letting him down as gently as she could.

Juliette felt the bed shift as Gaël stiffly rose to his feet. She could barely see past the tears she was doing her best to keep from falling, but in the end, there was nothing to see, with Gaël turning his back and walking away without another word.

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