The fire crackled gently beside them. Outside, the night held it's breath - stars paling in comparison to the storm of emotions inside Valen's palace.
Seraphine sat on the throne once more with Valen's head lying on her lap, her fingers gently brushing his hair.
"I want to remember, " She whispered.
Valen looked at her. Truly looked. Pain, devotion, and centuries of longing swam in his dark eyes.
"There's only one way, "he said softly, leaning closer, voice thick with restraint. "Your soul is tied to mine, Serenyth. But only my blood - and yours - can awaken what time buried. I need to drink your blood. "
Seraphine didn't flinch.
Instead, she tilted her head slightly, exposing her neck with a calm that surprised them both. "Then do it. "
Valen's breath hitched. His fingers ghosted along her jaw, trembling.
"Once I start, "he murmured, his lips brushing her skin , " I may not be able to stop. "
"Then don't. "She breathed.
Valen didn't rush.
His lips hovered at her neck, not yet biting, just breathing her in. Seraphine felt it - his hesitation, his restraint, the war between devotion and desire playing out in the tremble of his hands.
" You smell the same, "he whispered breathing her scent in, his voice hoarse with centuries of ache.
"Sweet, like rose fields. Like home. "
His hand cupped the back of her neck as he pressed his forehead to hers, their breaths mingling. Her fingers curled into the silk of his shirt, grounding herself.
His lips parted against her pulse. A kiss. A promise. A surrender.
When his fangs finally pierced her skin, it wasn't sharp - it was slow. Delicate. As though he feared breaking her.
Seraphine gasped. Not in pain, but in something deeper. Her hands clutched his shoulders as warmth spread through her - a heat that melted into her spine, her veins, her memories.
He groaned softly.
The taste of her - the blood of the woman he had waited lifetimes for - was overwhelming.
She arched into him, body pressing close, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. Blood dripped slowly from his lips down her collarbone, and he pulled back only to lick it clean, lips lingering.
"Valen..."she breathed, her voice barely a whisper.
But he didn't look up. He rested his forehead against her neck.
" You've always been mine, "he murmured. "Even before I knew what love meant. "
She shivered in his arms.
Seraphine's lips parted, not in pain, but in pleasure, a breathless ache - as though something buried deep within her stirred to life.
A flicker. A memory. Her hand in his hair. A whisper of his name in another time.
And then - visions began to bloom behind her eyes. Of firelit halls and stolen kisses... Of a crown laid gently on her head by bloodstained hands... Of him, kneeling, whispering -
"I could live a thousand lifetimes, Serenyth, and still, I will find you , crave you, worship you in every single one. "
Her eyes fluttered open. Her fingers trembled as they touched the place he had bitten her.
"I... I remember something, " She whispered.
Valen finally looked up. His lips were tinted red from her blood,but his gaze - Oh, his gaze - held only devotion and hunger. For her.
He leaned again, whispering against her neck.
"Then it's begun, "he said. " Your soul is waking up."