Page 19 of The Blood Moon Hunt

My skin prickles at his words, an uneasy feeling settling in my chest. “Why would you need to protect me?”

Damien moves closer, crouching down in front of me so that our faces are level. His proximity sends a wave of heat through my body, making it harder to think straight. “Because you’re different, Selene. You know that, don’t you? The power inside you... it’s not like anything we’ve ever seen before.”

I open my mouth to protest, but the words die in my throat. Because deep down, I know he’s right. I’ve felt it—this strange energy that’s been building inside me, threatening to spill over at any moment. But I don’t understand it. I don’t even know how to control it.

“I don’t know what I am,” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper. “All I know is that... this isn’t what I expected. None of it is.”

“How much experience have you had with men?”

My breath catches at the question, heat flooding my cheeks. “What?”

His gaze doesn’t waver. “You heard me.”

I swallow hard, feeling my heart pound in my chest.I don’t want to answer, but there’s something in the way he’s looking at me that makes it impossible to lie. “Not much,” I admit, barely able to meet his eyes. “I’ve never really... been with anyone.”

His expression shifts, surprise flickering across his features before he settles back into that same calm control. “Never?”

I shake my head, embarrassment rising in my chest. “I had a boyfriend once,” I say softly, my voice thick with old frustration. “But we didn’t do anything beyond kissing. He... wanted more, and I wasn’t ready. That’s part of why we broke up.”

Damien raises an eyebrow, and I can tell by the way his lips twitch that he’s fighting the urge to say something. “Why weren’t you ready?”

I shift uncomfortably, unsure how to explain. “I grew up in a really conservative family. My parents taught me that... intimacy was a sin outside of marriage. I guess it just stuck with me.”

He scoffs, a sound filled with disdain. “Humans and their ridiculous rules,” he mutters. “They teach you to fear your own desires, to suppress what’s natural.”

I open my mouth to protest, but the words stick in my throat. The truth is, I don’t know if I still believe all of that. It’s just... what I’ve always been told. And the memory of my ex breaking up with me because I wouldn’t go further—because I couldn’t let myself go—still stings.

Damien watches me closely, his gaze intense. “So you’ve never experienced it,” he says quietly, as if he’s piecing it all together. “You’ve never let yourself feel it.”

I shake my head, the weight of my inexperience pressing down on me. “I’ve never... I’ve never even—” My cheeks burn with shame, and I look away, unable to say the words.

But Damien isn’t fooled. His eyes darken with understanding, and he leans in slightly, his voice dropping to a husky murmur. “You’ve never climaxed,” he finishes for me, his tone laced with both intrigue and something darker.

I nod, feeling like I’m on the edge of a cliff, unsure whether I’m about to fall or fly.

His hand lingers near my face, his thumb brushing the curve of my jaw. “Your body wasn’t meant to be caged like that, Selene. It’s part of who you are, part of the power inside you.”

The way he says it, like my body and my desires are something powerful, somethingimportant, sends a strange thrill through me. I’ve never thought of it like that. I’ve always seen my restraint as something to be proud of, something that made me good. But now, with Damien so close, with the heat of his body seeping into mine, it feels less like control and more like a chain. A chain that’s been holding me back.

“Let me show you,” he whispers, his lips brushingagainst my ear. “What it feels like to be free from those human chains.”

The heat between us is suffocating now, my body responding in ways I can’t control. Every fiber of my being is screaming at me to close the distance, to let go of everything I’ve been taught and just... feel.

His breath ghosts over my lips, and for a moment, the world falls away. There’s only Damien, his eyes dark and intense, his touch soft but insistent. My heart races, and I know I should pull back, but I can’t. I’m too far gone.

His lips brush against mine, and I feel my body arch toward him, every nerve ending alive with need.

Then, just as his lips are about to press down, something shifts. A flicker of energy pulses through the air, and the runes around us seem to glow brighter. I feel the power building between us, raw and untamed, like a storm waiting to break.

But instead of fear, I feel a strange sense of release. Like everything inside me has been held back for so long, and now, in this moment, I’m finally free.

Damien’s lips hover over mine, his breath warm and steady. “Are you sure, Selene?”

I meet his gaze, my chest tightening with anticipation. And for the first time in my life, I know exactly what I want.

“Yes,” I whisper.

Chapter

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