Page 23 of Luna's Forgotten Vow

And I haven't touched a woman in several months, either. It must be why I cannot control my synapses, control Kaelin, as he snarls inwardly, driving me forward.

"What was your mother's name then, child?" I barely hear Baldwin say before my fingers wrap around Seraphina's arm possessively.

Both look up at me in the same surprise that half the hall must be, but I can barely think past the pounding in my chest. The anxiety. The yearning. This...madness that controls me, the urge to mark, fuck, taste, hurt and heal her. To own. To fucking possess.

"Forgive me," I say. "Seraphina was just retiring. She doesn't like these things much."

She tries tugging her arm from my grip and it only makes my muscles tense, at the possibility that she prefers Baldwin's company to mine. "But I'm not?—"

Baldwin nods, wizened blue eyes searching between Seraphina and me. "I understand." He takes Seraphina's pale hand and kisses her knuckles. "We will continue our conversation another time."

She nods, letting me steer her away, but not before she says, "Her name was Ceri, my mother."

Seraphina doesn't notice as I lead her away, but Baldwin is frozen to the spot, his complexion paler than it was seconds ago. I file the reaction away for later as we reach the foyer.

Snatching her arm from my grip, Seraphina whirls, glaring at me in a way no one else would dare to. "What is wrong with you? It's a little too early to go territorial on me, don't you think?!"

I blink at the anger in her tone, her scent as her temper flares higher. It's like flames crackling. My cock twitches. Gods, I'm fucked. "You do not smile for me like that."

She frowns. "What?"

I touch her without realizing I have, trace my fingers along her jawline. She tenses and I hear her heart beat a little faster. From anger, no doubt. "You must dislike me very much. This arrangement. Our marriage."

She trembles, her chest rising. "It isn't even real?—"

"You see," I whisper, sliding my hand around her neck to cup it firmly, the other gripping her waist tightly. "That is the wrong mindset. You keep thinking it isn't real and everyone else will begin to think it, too. If we're going to make this work, it'll have to seem real." I lean over her, nuzzling her cheek.

I can't help it. She smells so good.

Her ear. Behind it. Her neck. I bury my nose deeper, unable to stop a growl from vibrating in my chest as I catch a whiff of fear, rage, and something else. "Do you like being bitten?"

"Stop it, Soren," she breathes harshly.

I kiss her neck slowly. The sound she makes at the stroke of my tongue against her skin doesn't sound at all like anger. My pants tighten painfully. She fists my jacket, to lean against me or push me off, I am unsure, but I don't stop, not as my canines graze her pounding pulse.

Seraphina gasps, back arching, and before I can give in to the haze of red blinding my vision, she pushes me away, her breaths hard.

For a moment as we stare at each other, I think she might cuss me out. But her cheeks are a flaming red and she turns, running up the stairs faster than I can stop her.

CHAPTER 8

SERAPHINA

My feet hit the ground, my ankles reverberating from the impact. My heart is in my throat and the branches won't let up, trapping me, tripping me.

I look back, heart hammering and I swallow a scream as I sight them, pulling away from the darkness of the night. Chasing me.

They'll kill me, again, like they have every night.

It's yet another nightmare I have no way of leaving. It always ends the same way, with my skull splitting and blood flowing down my legs. It always ends with my eyes trained on the skies, my vision blurred and obscured.

But this time, the pretty man with brown eyes doesn't come for me. I see beady black eyes, chapped lips and yellowing teeth. Matted dyed hair in varying shades of red like a bad dye job. I see his face, the tattoo on his temple.

And the last thing I hear before the world blinks out of existence is, "What do we tell the Luna, Matt?"

I start awake, breathing hard. I check the clock and it's 2 a.m. At least, I no longer scream loud enough to wake the entire mansion.

It takes a moment to recognize the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the see-through windows and the view of the woods beyond. Right. I'm in Soren's room.

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