Page 69 of A Touch of Darkness

I close the distance between us, my hand gently brushing against hers, and my breath hitches as she looks up into my eyes. She is everything beautiful in this world.

Despite my growing desire, despite my desperate, insatiable need to claim her, I restrain myself.

“Then we find another way,” I whisper, my voice filled with a promise I am terrified to break. I look into her eyes, my words carrying the weight of all that I’ve kept buried for so long. “This is what we were meant for, Sylvie. Across lifetimes. Again and again. We can figure this out, but it’ll take both of us. The Society is no match, not when we’re together. Not when both of us are willingly working against them—to end all of this.”

She looks at me like she’s just had a brilliant thought, but she’s holding back. She doesn’t release it freely to me, only looks at me with a sly smile, one I’d love to kiss off her face.

“What is it?” I ask, her silence piquing my curiosity.

Her gaze lingers on mine, but it’s more than curiosity that stirs in her eyes. There’s something else, something barely contained, and I feel it like a current between us, a pull I can’t resist.

She holds her thoughts tight, her lips curling in a way that makes my heart thunder, that clever smile of hers a challenge I’m not sure I’m prepared for. If she only knew how much it stirs something darker in me, something primal that wishes to take all of her, to lock her away in a world of just the two of us.

But I can’t. Not yet. Not like this.

“What is it?” I ask again, my voice softer, coaxing, though it belies the unrest rising within me.

She doesn’t answer immediately. The silence stretches between us, thick with anticipation, as she continues to ruminate. I see the way her fingers twitch, the way she holds herself just so—as if she’s about to reveal the universe or keep it hidden forever.

“I have an idea,” she says, her voice laced with uncertainty, but her eyes betray her. I know she’s already started to form something, a plan of her own, and my heart quickens at the thought of her taking control. Not just of her destiny, but of ours.

“And what is that?” My tone is quiet now, but I’m on edge, desperate for her to lay it bare. To let me see inside her mind, even though I know it will mean facing a future I can’t fully predict.

She steps closer, her breath warm on my skin. The proximity should be maddening, but it only sharpens my focus on her—on her every word, every movement.

“I think…” She trails off, her eyes flickering to the floor before returning to me, almost like she’s trying to gauge how much I can handle.

“If we’re truly meant to end this,” she continues, her voice steady, “then maybe the answer isn’t to fight them with force. If my virginity is the key to their plans, then I want to wield it as a weapon, not a weakness.”

Her words hit me like a strike of lightning—sharp, electric. My pulse races, every part of me waking to the possibility she’soffering, and I know she’s right. She has the power to shift fate on her own terms. She always has.

My eyes lock on hers, and for a heartbeat, I think I can hear the echoes of all the mistakes and the regrets and the things we’ve left unsaid. But this time... this time will be different.

I can see it in her eyes—she’s not just talking about altering our fates. She’s talking about taking control.

But there's more. I can feel it, like the pulse of some hidden truth just beyond the reach of my understanding.

She takes a step closer, and the air between us hisses with expectation. I can smell her, taste the subtle warmth of her skin on my expectant tongue, and it drives me mad with desire, with something else, something darker that lingers beneath the surface.

Her voice drops to a whisper, barely audible. “Lucian,” she breathes, “there’s something I need from you.”

I don't answer immediately. I can’t. Every muscle in my body is taut, poised like a bowstring drawn too tight. But I know—I know—that whatever she says next will be the moment that defines us, that will carry us toward whatever future we’re about to choose.

“Take my virginity, Lucian,” she says, each word a quiet strike to the chest. “You’re the only one who can. It has to be you.” She pauses. “Iwantit to be you.”

The words slice through me like a blade, a maelstrom of emotions, of ancient cravings and desires long buried. But I force myself to listen, to hold steady. Her eyes are unwavering, and I know that what she’s asking of me is not just for her—it’s for us, for Lara, and for the fate of everything.

“We can find another way, Sylvie,” I tell her, wanting her so ungodly badly but not wanting her to lose her own autonomy over this.

She shakes her head, silence lingering between us.

The urge to flat out refuse—to protect her from this, from me—rises within me, but I suppress it. I know this is her choice, her sacrifice, and if this is the way forward, then who am I to deny it?

“You don’t understand,” I murmur, struggling to make sense of it all. “This is more than just blood. It’s…” I can’t finish. I’m losing myself in her, in the depths of her request. She’s asking me for something I should never want, not like this. But I do. Fuck, I do.

Her eyes harden, and the fire in her gaze is sharper than I’ve ever seen it before. “Don’t. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. I don’t want to hear anything other than ‘yes.’”

I feel a rush of heat through my veins, my mind spinning as the full implications of her words hit me. I know this will change everything. I know it will bind us together in ways I can’t even begin to comprehend.

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