Page 51 of The Soulless Witch

“Four days,” Celeste repeated as she wiped her mouth. Stepping closer, she rose to her toes and brushed her lips against mine. “I…goodnight.” I waited for her to say something more, her expression clearly telling me she wanted to, but she didn’t. So when she stepped away, I pulled her back into my arms, kissing her with all those unspoken feelings that waited to pour onto her when she was ready. By the time I released her, she was panting, her face flushed with color.

“Sleep well,” I said and left the room. I listened to her stand perfectly still while I walked toward my chambers until, finally, she climbed into bed. The curtains were already drawn in my bedroom, but there was a candle burning, with a note and a glass of fresh blood waiting beside it.

I didn’t bother with either. The note said the same thing every night‘Master, please, drink this to keep up your strength.’ While I appreciated Chester’s concern, it was getting frustrating. It’s not like I wanted to be weakened, or that I wanted to drain the woman I loved from her blood. It’s just that with the bond between us strengthening with every moment we spent together, so did my hunger for her. It was all going to go back to normal once my heart was full, and for that to happen, she’d have to stop fighting the bond.

I stripped my clothes, lay down on the bed, and locked my eyes on the ceiling above. There were still a couple of hours until daybreak, so I doubted I’d be able to fall asleep, but I didn’t want to bother Celeste by making any noise.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a knock came on my door. A slender figure in a long nightdress slipped in, closing the door and cutting off the light from the corridor. I doubted she could see that well in the complete darkness, but as she moved toward the bed, there was no hesitation in her steps.

“I can’t fall asleep,” Celeste whispered, her melodic voice filling the room. I watched her draw near, her magic gliding over my skin as it guided her to me.

Studying her beautiful face, I tried to imagine exactly what was keeping her from resting, but her expression betrayed very little. The only indication of her nervousness was the deep breath she took as she stopped in front of me.

“Would you like us to…talk?” I asked, not entirely sure what I was suggesting. If she wanted to tell me what was bothering her, I’d listen for days, but the subtle scent of arousal coming from her, and the very obvious way her hard nipples pressed against the fabric of her nightdress, suggested she wasn’t here for that.

“No, I don’t want us to talk,” she said, and I felt desire surge through me as I reached for her. “I want you to listen.”

My fingers stopped just short of touching her, but judging by how her eyes remained focused on my face, she hadn’t noticed the movement.

“Alright,” I said, letting my hand fall into my lap.

“When we first met, I had only one condition for our relationship. No falling in love.” Her voice was steady and serious, but I knew her too well to see past the centuries of hiding, of controlling, of holding back her real thoughts and feelings. I had seen glimpses of those on the rare occasions when she’d forgotten to pretend to be empty inside. “You broke that rule.”

“Celeste…” I moved to get up, but her hand sliding to my shoulder was enough to stop me.

“Let me finish,” she said, her voice raising an octave. Settling down, I nodded. I wasn’t sure she saw me, but she continued. “I didn’t do it because I thought you were unworthy of my love, or because there was someone else in my heart. I did it because I had already sold my soul, and I could no longer love another person.” I opened my mouth to say that wasn’t true, but quickly closed it when she added, “Or so I kept telling myself.”

Moving closer, she stopped between my legs, cupping my cheek. Her hand barely touched the skin, but her warmth spread through me like fire, reminding me of what it felt like to have a beating heart, to be alive, to be whole.

“Yet the more time I spent with you, the more that excuse felt like a lie. In all my life, nobody had ever made me feel so weak and so powerful at the same time. Nobody had made me feel so safe and so alive. Nobody had made me wish I had my soul so I could…so I could love them back the way they deserved.” I watched as tears spilled from her eyes, making their way down her pale cheeks before dropping onto my legs. More than her touch, those tears burned my flesh, making me curse myself for being the cause of them.

But I didn’t stop her, because more than any other time before, I knew exactly what she needed. And she needed to let those thoughts out even if it made her cry, even if it made her heart beat so fast that I was afraid it might kill her.

“I was…Iamafraid, Roman. I’m terrified of this feeling,” she said with a trembling voice, wiping her eyes. “I’m afraid that it might consume me like before and I can’t…” She sucked in a sharp breath and without thinking, I caught her hand, squeezing it lightly. That seemed to calm her enough to continue. “When I think about my happiest moments on this earth, you’re in most of them. Even after I hurt you and ran from you, you still look at me the same way you did before. So I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t stand the fear and the pain in your eyes when you look at me and wonder if I’ll be gone tomorrow when you rise.”

Freeing her hand, she cupped my cheeks, lifting my head toward her. Even full of tears, her eyes were bright and so unguarded that I thought my heart started beating again just from the sight alone.

“So stop. Stop wondering if I might leave, because I won’t. I won’t leave again. I’ll stay beside you for as long as I live. I might need time to learn how to…how to let you in, but I won’t run away from that. I swear it.”

If I could still cry, I felt like I’d be crying rivers by now. But my body was dead, and despite that, this woman, this creature of flesh and blood that could have absolutely anyone in the world, she was saying she was willing to love me. No, no, I wasn’t going to cry. I wanted to scream with joy. But she was so fragile, I was afraid that one wrong move could scare her back into her shell.

“Thank you.” I put my hands over hers, turning my head to the side so I could kiss her palm. “That’s all I need.” I dragged her into my lap, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “I’ll protect your heart with everything I have. And I will protect your body with everything I am. Until our last sunrise.”

“Until our last sunrise,” she whispered against my neck, her breath coming out in shaky rasps.

We stayed quiet for a while, holding each other, until I scented her arousal surging again. Smiling to myself, I nudged her to get up, keeping my hands on her waist.

“Would you like to sleep now?” I asked, even though I already knew what she was going to say. I let my hand slip down her leg until my fingers brushed against her naked flesh. She sucked in a sharp breath but pressed harder against my palm.

“No.” Her voice was laced with so much impatience, that it took everything in me not to toss her on the bed and sink my teeth into every part of her. She gulped as if she could read my thoughts, then slowly slipped to her knees, the movement allowing my fingers to push the nightdress up. Her eyes lowered to my cock, already harder than it had been in two hundred years, and she licked her lips.

“Take it off,” I said, tugging on the loose fabric. Celeste obeyed, slipping the garment over her head and tossing it on the floor. She straightened her shoulders, giving me a delightful view of her milky skin and perky breasts, of the enticing curve of her stomach and her hips. I forced my attention back to her face, her eyes slightly slanted, as if she was growing tired. Worry pushed away the fog of lust threatening to destroy my sound judgment. “Are you sure you want to do this now? We have time. I—”

“Please,” she whispered in a hoarse, needy voice, her hands moving to rest on my thighs. My cock gave an excited jerk when she slid her fingers higher, her eyes never leaving mine.

“Go on then,” I said softly, watching her eyes open a little wider. A smirk tugged on her lips as she leaned closer, sliding her tongue over the length of my cock. I hummed in approval and she continued to taste it hungrily, her eyes darting up as if she could actually see me in the dark. Once her lips closed around the head and her tongue flicked over the slit, I dug my fingers into the sheets to stop myself from thrusting deeper. She took her time like she always did, but we didn’t have much of it tonight. I could already feel her movements getting sluggish, her body pressing against my legs as if it was too heavy to stand on its own. “Deeper,” I commanded, and she looked up in protest. “You won’t?”

She paused for a second, then brought my cock deeper into her mouth until I felt the head hit the back of her throat. She gagged for a moment and tried to pull away, but I caught the back of her head, keeping her in place.

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