I stared at her for a long moment, taking in every detail of her beautiful face—her pretty green eyes, her slim nose, her full lips, and my heart tightened in pain at the thought of those features cold and stiff in death.
"Why, Dawn?" I asked very softly.
Her face further contorted in sadness. "I..." she began "I didn't want anyone else to get hurt and I ... I felt so lost..."
Slowly, I sat up in bed "Baby" I said softly, "Why didn't you tell me?"
I rose from the bed, moving past her. "I thought we were in this together?"
"I'm sorry..." She whispered.
"No, don't apologize, I'm not mad at you," I said, turning to face her. "Dawn, I love you, but you don't know how much it hurts me to know that you'd rather die than resort to the option of killing a vampire to have some measure of control"
I stepped closer. "I know you have morals and principles...and I respect that. I've always honored your wishes to avoid harming others, even if they are monsters. But I didn't realize the situation had become this serious, Dawn"
I pointed outside the door, "Elizabeta rots in a cell. She attempted to kill you. You had a justifiable reason to kill her, it'll have eased the pressure of you unleashing" I added further. "There are evil vampires out there, we could've found one and... " I paused. "Baby... you should've set your morals aside, not choose to die"
My heart constricted further as I spoke, "And what about me? How did you think I'd feel?" I paused, pointing to myself.
Drawing closer to her, I wrapped my hand around her waist, "It's killing me I didn't know you'd gotten to this point"
She stayed quiet, head hung low like a little child getting scolded.
"Talk to me, baby." I coaxed sadly.
Dawn looked up, tears rolling down her face as she shook her head, her voice coming out in a squeak. "I was overwhelmed, Dragos. I'm… I'm so sorry" She exhaled a shaky breath. "And now I feel worse 'cause Azrael's dead because of me"
I pulled her to myself, stroking her hair softly as she poured her heart out.
"It's alright, he made his choice" I soothed, then pulled back to look at her. "Whatever it is, whatever thought... whatever problems you have, we face them together, okay? Together"
She nodded, sniffing. "Together"
"Don't ever leave me again. Promise me"
"I promise"
As I stared into her eyes after she said those words, I realized that a part of me still doubted them.
†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
DAWN
A few nights later, I quietly watched Dragos train. He wielded his sword, moving flawlessly—his movements as fluid as water itself.
It was such a beautiful but sad sight.
His sword, shone under the moon as he cut through air, his muscles straining with exertion, his breath coming out in short, sharp gasps as he poured out his grief into every swing.
I watched him from a distance silently, my heart aching with sorrow for the man I loved.
I knew training was the best way for him to get his mind off things.
Stepping forward, I moved towards him, my hands wrapped around myself to shield me from the cool night air.
"Dragos," I called out softly, and he paused mid-swing, turning to face me with a surprised and concerned expression.
He hadn't noticed me standing there.
I was a bit scared that the talk we had days ago had left him with some feelings of dislike for me, but thankfully, I was wrong.
"Dawn, what are you doing here?"
He watched me ward off a slight shiver and threw his sword to the ground, then proceeded to gently rub my hands to warm them. "You shouldn't be out here. It's cold"
"I couldn't sleep" I admitted. "And I wanted to be here with you."
He pressed a kiss to my forehead and threaded his hands through my hair. "I'm fine"
"Are you?" I asked worriedly, my eyes flitting to the sword. "Why don't you ask one of your uncles to train with you?"
"At this point, they're probably tired of me already" he forced a chuckle and stared down at me.
I paused for a moment, then spoke again, "Let me have a go at you. No swords though" I said.
Dragos laughed, pulling my cheeks. "No"
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because you're not a fighter" he replied casually.
I suddenly aimed a punch at his face but Dragos caught my fist mid-air, a smile breaking out on his face "See?"
I huffed and inched a step backward, "I've taken you once, I can take you again"
He smirked "Yes, but that wasn't you"
"Whatever"
I attempted another punch, but Dragos dodged it, caught my arm, and twisted me around that my back was to him.
"Stop trying to fight me, loser," he teased before releasing me.
I did not give up, assuming a fighting stance, and Dragos sighed, stepping back to give me some room.
He seemed amused by my determination.
"Very well then, little inferno"
I began to circle him, and I watched Dragos struggle to avoid exploding into laughter. But, when I failed to make the first move, he playfully stepped forward, aiming a mock punch at my shoulder, but I was able to sidestep, dodging his attack with ease.
"Not bad," Dragos praised with amusement.
I rushed forward quickly, throwing a series of punches, but as always, Dragos skillfully avoided all three, chuckling as he seized me by the waist and backed me up against a nearby wall.
He pinned both my hands above my head, locking eyes with mine, his own reflecting desire and admiration.
"Are you ready to surrender now?" he asked seductively.
I still panted but my gaze remained defiant and challenging. "No, if you release me, I'm confident I can still throw a few punches."
"Ah, but I have no intention of releasing you, sweetheart," Dragos replied, before capturing my lips with his own.
My hands still remained pinned up by one of his own, while his other slipped under my cashmere blouse to caress my breasts.
My moan was muffled against his lips as I attempted to free my hands, but Dragos held me firmly.
I'd missed this so much.
Further opening my mouth to him, I let him take full possession, our tongues clashing together in reckless abandon.
I loved that despite his composure, he kissed like a goddamn sex god.
After a moment, Dragos pulled back, releasing my hands, his head slightly tilted as he watched me with a smouldering gaze. "What is it that you do to me, Dawn Carter?" he asked softly, his finger gently tracing my swollen bottom lip.
I caught his finger between my lips, slowly running my tongue over it.
His gaze darkened with a ravenous hunger as he watched me, biting his lip. "That's enough," he murmured, pulling his finger from my mouth.
Dragos cupped my face, leaning in to kiss me again. His lips moved against mine slowly at first, tasting me, teasing me, deepening the tension between us.
As the kiss grew more fervent, my restless hands moved from his hair to roam over his back, pulling him even closer to feel the warmth of his body against mine.
Dragos sensed my urgency building and stopped the kiss, sinking to the ground, his hands moving to the strings of my bottoms.
"Dragos..." I gasped, unable to hide the desire in my voice. "Maybe we should go inside."
A mischievous grin danced across his lips as he silently pulled the strings of my pyjama bottoms. "No, darling"
I glanced around the silent compound. With his mother and Rafael away in some distant country, and Dacianus and Geta inside the house, we were alone outside.
He started to kiss my thighs and I grabbed the tree for support, still a bit nervous about being out in the open. But my thoughts were interrupted when I felt Dragos' mouth close over my sex.
Suppressing a moan, my hands left the tree, gripping his hair as desire overtook my entire body, his tongue working ever so masterfully around my clit.
"Oh," I whispered breathlessly. "That feels so good"
His tongue pushed deeper into me, then withdrew to lick again and again, his fingers digging into the flesh of my hips while mine pressed his face further into my mound.
My sex tightened around him, and he released a soft sound of pleasure, repeating the licking and sucking process.
His tongue continued to tease and probe and circle, till I felt the familiar build-up of an orgasm, my hips writhing in pleasure.
Sometimes, I found it unreal to be living in a world where vampires existed, let alone living with a family of them and even being in love with their Alesul.
Right before me was a vampire of five hundred and sixty-five years, on his knees, his head buried between my thighs, his mouth bringing me an ecstasy beyond my wildest imagination.
As pleasure coursed through me, my mind briefly wandered to how many women Dragos might have pleasured with that same tongue in the past.