The Rules of Blood-Volume Two ; Chapter 56 (272) - The Afterheat of Instinct
“Did we…” Velakia muttered.
“We did,” Blanc nodded. “The Raw Vita took over both of us.”
She stared at him again, lost in the shapes of his face and the tangle of thoughts in her mind.
In the seconds her eyes lingered on Blanc, she relived the night before countless times. And with each memory, a flood of emotions tried to drown her. But the one that returned again and again was frustration.
With herself. With Blanc. With what happened. And with the fact that she had enjoyed it more than she wanted to admit.
Her past experience with intimacy had been nothing short of trauma.
The man she once believed was the love of her life had raped her, defiled her, and since then, she had feared it. Feared all of it. But now… Now that it had happened again, without control, without planning, it had been more pleasurable than she could’ve imagined.
She had felt passion. Care. Pleasure. A thirst for more. Fulfillment, even.
But had it been the beast inside her that felt those things? Or was it her? She hadn't been in control. And neither had Blanc. Yet now, with every breath, all she could remember was the depth of the pleasure carved into her soul.
It frustrated her. By the Vita, how much it did.
And she didn’t even know exactly why. She was confused.
Drunk on questions instead of wine. Somewhat rested, yet deeply restless.
Hungry, but despite food sitting right in front of her, she wasn't sure if it was for food.
And that only frustrated her more.
“We will talk later about it,” Blanc said, whispering, “Now eat, and get dressed so I can wake Lendros and Tehrani up.”
“Did they sleep through all that?” Velakia asked, shocked by the reveal.
“I doubt they would have stood by and done nothing if they were to hear anything, no?” Blanc asked.
“Yeah, probably not,” Velakia muttered, slowly getting to her feet.
“It seems hay sticks just as well to you,” Blanc chuckled as he wiped some of the hay off Velakia’s abdomen without even thinking.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on NovelFire. any occurrences elsewhere.
But when he realized what he had just done, he froze.
“I-it’s fine, I can get it on my own,” Velakia stuttered, moving to pick her clothes up lost between the hay.
“Yeah, sorry,” Blanc muttered, shaking his head, as he moved from behind the bales of hay, letting her dress up.
The casual comfort he had with his wives showing up at the worst of moments.
Once Velakia came from behind the bales, dressed up in last night’s clothes, with the basket of food in hand. Seeing that, Blanc went and woke Lendros and Tahreni up.
And by the confused, half-drunk look on their face, it confirmed to Blanc and Velakia that they slept through the entire night.
Their breakfast went mostly in silence, all enjoying the taste of food for the first time in a while. What conversations started were all in the foreign language of his three companions.
A language Blanc was slowly getting the hang of as he kept listening to it.
But he didn’t listen to it this time. His mind was far away. Back with his wives, back in the Domain of Blood Maroux.
Were they well? How were the pregnancies coming along? Had the talks with the Rotunda Merchant Company gone smoothly? He thought of anything but the problem at hand.
Afraid to face it. Afraid to imagine Celine and Miyanna watching from some unseen place, judging him in silence. Still, he knew this situation was… beyond ordinary.
And he planned to tell them. All of it.
He’d write a letter the moment they left the Domain and reached the next city. Maybe he’d send gifts, too. Would that help? Or only make things worse?
He didn’t know.
But what he did know, what he was certain of, was that he would be honest with them, to the very end. Even if it meant Miyanna might beat him half to death.
He knew he deserved it.
After they finished breakfast, they got their stuff and left the barn, walking silently around the house. Planning to remain unseen by Brendon and his family.
For a second, Blanc, as they passed Silvia’s carcass, which was wrapped in a thin cloth by the side of the house, was tempted to harvest its Raw Vita, but he felt bad doing that to a beast that was so deeply loved. He felt as if he would steal something from Brendon and his family by taking away her Raw Vita.
And so, making sure not to touch her chest, he petted the beast’s corpse and left Brendon’s home.
With dawn still beneath the horizon and the village fast asleep, Blanc and his companions felt safe walking straight through it, back on the road towards the edge of the Domain. Whatever had happened between the hay, whatever control he and Velakia had lost, it did not change anything.
The journey had to continue, and both of them knew that. Sera still needed to be rescued and returned to the Blood. Velakia and her protectors still needed to leave this land for their own.
What happened between them changed nothing about those facts. At least, not outwardly.
Blanc knew, deep down, that last night would complicate things in ways he couldn’t yet predict. And he could only pray to the Vita that, when he was to return home victorious, his wives, especially Miyanna, would not kill him. As that might affect their pregnancies.
But until that day came, there were more pressing matters, as the road ahead was long. Two more Domains still stood between them and the Domain of Blood Seraph.
And having nearly crossed three of the six Domains in this first stretch of their journey, only a fool would believe no further trouble lay ahead. As the next two, despite being smaller than the Domains they passed until now, were far more dangerous.
Blanc could only pray he was ready to face them.
.
!
Volume Two ; Chapter 56 (272) - The Afterheat of Instinct
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