Page 78 of The Sorcerer of Shadowholde

“Why did you bite me?” she asked, unable to answer his question.

Of course, he’d hurt her. The sting of the bite was gone, but the memory lingered, sharp and burning. Still, after the initial shock, the initial pain, it had aroused her, just as she’d imagined it would when she pleasured herself to the thought.

Renatus was quiet for a long while, pressing their bare chests together as his arms wrapped around her. “I am sorry, Vita. I lost control, the blood… it can drive you mad.”

“Were you going to kill me?” A nagging question, one that had flashed through her mind as his fangs sunk into her.

“No, of course not, no. There are bites to kill, bites to feed, and bites… to mark one as yours.”

Vita tried to ignore her racing heart.

“Am I yours, High Consul?”

He smiled, though there was sadness in his eyes. When he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by a presence in the bathhouse.

Aurora.

“Thought you might need these,” she said, setting a pile of clothes and towels on one of the stone tables.

She smiled at Vita, none of the usual mischief present in the gentle look. Aurora left without another word, but already the moment was gone.

Renatus separated from her, stepping out of the pool as water dripped off his pale skin.

“We should get dressed.”

CHAPTER 33

Renatus

VITA WOULD BE THE death of him.

Well, the eternal death.

What a mistake yesterday had been. The girl had come to him, of course she had. He’d led her on long enough, her melancholic eyes pleading at his door last night. The look on her face when he’d told her to go back to her cage… if his heart still functioned, that look would have torn the organ in two.

The sex….

Definitely a mistake, though the moment itself had been perfect enough. Vita was perfect. That was the problem.

Beautiful, kind Vita.

“Am I yours?”

Renatus didn’t thank the Gods often, but he did last night when Aurora had interrupted them after her question.

“Am I yours?”

Impossible to answer.

No, Renatus knew what heshouldsay, what heshoulddo. Vita was too sweet, too innocent, too kind… she deserved better. She deserved her handsome city guard, the one with the mess of curls and strong jaw.

The one who loved her.

Though Renatus no longer had the ability to love, he still knew it when he saw it. The guard loved Vita, and she loved him back. Their night in the Temple of Unera had made that clear enough. He had not gone there to spy, not initially, but it had been impossible to turn away. Standing in the dark, he heard all, saw all, as the two showered each other with their adoration.

Beautiful Vita. Though she looked likeher, she was a woman all her own. Confident, intelligent, generous. Losing her… he could not go through that again.

No, it would be easier to push her towards the boy, the city guard, thePraetorianguard.

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