With slow, wicked pleasure, she trailed her nails down Rea's stomach—lower, lower—until Rea shuddered beneath her, and arched up her hips involuntarily, seeking the touch she shouldn't want but ached for anyway.
Impressive! You are still resisting. Is it only easy to surrender to my powers when you are the one forcing yourself on me? Annabella said gasping as she arched her eyebrow.
Annabella pulled back and sighing cutely unleashed even more power. The glow in her violet eyes deepened, shimmering with something inhuman, something terrifyingly beautiful.
I have never unleashed this much power before. I gotta give it to you!
Annabella with a trembling voice moaning because of the raw, electric pleasure-pain of it. said:" I command you to strip ... Now ."
A pulse of unseen energy wrapped around Rea's limbs, an unbreakable command sinking into her...
And her hands moved on their own.
Shaking fingers gripped the hem of her shirt.
Annabella watched as the fabric slid up, revealing inch by inch of Rea's flushed, trembling skin.
Rea still had her briefs on, but she had never felt more exposed
A slow, wolfish smirk curved Annabella's lips.
"Good girl."
Rea hated how those words sent a shockwave of heat through her groin.
A slow, satisfied hum left Annabella's lips.
"See?" she said sadly, kissing and biting all over Rea's collarbone and breasts. "Obedience isn't so hard, is it?"
"Anna…" Rea gasped, her voice surrendering and trembling.
Reagan was gone.
She surged up, lips crashing into Annabella's with a force that stole breath. Her hands moved without thought, and then pinned Annabella down yanking Annabella's wrists above her head.
Their bodies collided—desire, guilt, hunger all spiralling out in one explosive moment.
Annabella moaned into the kiss, her body arching with need, with power…
Then Rea pulled back, panting, her eyes burning as she drank her in—Annabella's flushed cheeks, her heaving chest, her skin so warm it nearly glowed.
Her silk dress clung to her like a second skin, but not for long.
With shaking hands, Rea grabbed the hem and stripped it away, revealing the full glory of her curves, flushed skin, and the glowing seal still pulsing like a second heartbeat on her shoulder.
Rea's mouth found her again—her neck, her breasts, kissing, biting, sucking like a woman possessed. Her hands cupped the perfect curve of Annabella's ass, dragging their bodies together, grinding down on her harder and harder until they both gasped.
Annabella whimpered, her head tipping back, hair spilling in waves over the bed as her thighs trembled beneath Rea's grip.
With slow, wicked pleasure, Rea rocked against her.
But even through the pleasure, even as her body gave in again and again, Annabella's voice broke through, soft and almost… lost.
"Why do I suffer more than you when I use my powers on you?" she whispered, eyes half-lidded, dazed. "Once again… you'll get the best part of the deal…"
Her lips trembled. "I hate pheromones."
Rea paused, mid-grind, her groin still throbbing on Annabella's inner thigh but her heart… faltering.
"No...I will ....not fail" she breathed heavily as she broke through the pheromone haze. Rea stilled, her hands still tangled in Annabella's golden hair, her lips still grazing flushed skin… but her soul recoiled.
This wasn't right. Not like this.
With a gasp, Rea pushed herself off of Annabella so fast she stumbled, hitting the cold floor with a thud.
Her body still pulsed with heat, but it was distant now—like static clinging to her skin. Her chest rose and fell with ragged, trembling breaths.
Her hands trembled as she raised them.
And then, in a voice louder, with desperation:
"Purification flames... come to me."
A rush of light burst from her palms and covered her whole body, flickering gold-white fire, bright enough to cast sharp shadows along the walls of the tent. It didn't burn with heat. It burned with pain—cleansing, holy, a flame forged from soul-magic and willpower.
Rea growled as it touched her.
The flames curled around her wrists first, then crept up to the rest of her body like living serpents, hissing as they scorched away the invasive pheromones crawling through her bloodstream.
Her body buckled, pain and purity clashing like thunder in her veins.
But she held steady.
She would not be a puppet.
She would not hurt Annabella again.
Smoke was rising from her body, skin raw, kissed by sacred fire. She coughed, barely able to breathe.
And on the bed, Annabella stirred.
Annabella's voice trembled as she whispered, staring at Rea, who lay crumpled on the ground, barely holding herself together.
Her body was covered in the faint glow of the purification flames, the physical remnants of her sacrifice still visible as a jagged, raw burn across her skin.
She had gone to extreme lengths, using magic that could have killed her, just to free herself from the lingering effects of Annabella's pheromones.
"You burned yourself?" Annabella's voice was almost a whisper, fragile, as if the words themselves could shatter her.
Rea's eyes met hers, but the weight of her gaze was distant, almost lost. Tears traced down her cheeks, mixing with the grime and sweat of the frantic moments that had come before. Her jaw was clenched tight, but it couldn't hide the tremors of pain that wracked her body. Her chest rose and fell in erratic breaths, each one a painful reminder of what she had done to herself—and yet, she didn't regret it.
With what little strength she had left, Rea forced herself to stand, her legs shaking violently beneath her. She couldn't look at Annabella anymore. Not like this. She had lost control, lost herself in the chaos, and now the weight of her emotions, the guilt of everything she had allowed to unfold, was crashing down on her.
Without another word, she turned and stumbled out of the tent, her steps faltering as she forced herself to move as far from the scene as possible. She didn't know where she was going—only that she needed to escape, to get away from the tangled mess of feelings and magic that had consumed her.
Her heart pounded, desperate, and her mind raced with thoughts she couldn't process. The pheromones—Annabella's intoxicating scent—still clung to her, tormenting her every move, every thought.
It was a struggle to keep moving, but somehow, she managed. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, deep into the woods, away from everything she knew. Her breath came in shallow gasps, but the world around her had already started to blur. The cool air of the forest didn't help; it did little to ease the heat inside her, the confusion in her soul. The pheromones continued to pull at her, an insidious, relentless force.
Finally, in the depth of the forest, Rea could take no more. The magic—the tension—had overwhelmed her completely. She fell to her knees by a stream, her head spinning as her body trembled, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Rea reached inside herself for the power she had kept hidden.
With an effort that felt impossible, she summoned it. The Ambrosieus power rose within her like a wave, wild and untamed, a force of nature that she could barely control.
Her body burned with the intensity of it, the magic swirling around her in a haze of silver and violet.
For the first time, she called it not out of desire or manipulation but out of necessity. She needed it to stop the pain, to break free of the suffocating grip of the pheromones that still twisted in her chest.
The power coursed through her, shattering the last remnants of control. She cried out, but it was a cry of release, of surrender. The world around her faded. Her body finally gave way to exhaustion, and the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was the cool touch of the stream against her skin. The world went dark.
Annabella sat in the quiet of her tent, her body still trembling from the power she had unleashed a power that had been meant to dominate, to claim, but had instead left her feeling hollow, lost. The faint glow of the seal on her shoulder flickered dimly, a reminder of the consequences of what had transpired.
Her violet eyes, usually so full of control were dulled with exhaustion, and her body felt heavy, as though every inch of her had been drained.
She wanted to go to Rea.
The thought consumed her, gnawing at her every nerve. She knew that Rea had fled—ran off into the woods after using the purification flames.
Annabella could feel it, the way the air had shifted when Rea had pushed herself beyond her limits. The bond they shared, even with all its tangled, messy complexity, was still there. Annabella could feel her pain, her fear, and most of all, her anger.
But even as that desire to find Rea grew, Annabella knew it was impossible. The guards outside her tent, unaware of the full scope of the chaos inside, were on high alert. Annabella's position—her power—would have alerted them if she so much as tried to sneak out.
She lay back against the pillows, the soft fabric of her bed failing to soothe the storm raging inside her. She could feel the pull to go after Rea, but it was futile. She was trapped, bound by her own weakness.
She thought to herself: "Hold on Rea... I will find you"