Page 75 of His Realm

He stopped walking. “It’s the same for me.”

It was good to hear.

“But you know that,” he said, “because I can’t hide anything from you when I take your blood. When I drink from you, my heart opens to you, does it not?”

I nodded, choked up suddenly.

Stepping in close, he slipped a hand around the side of my neck and whispered low, “Normally, we speak of these things at night, in our bed, in the dark.”

I nodded.

“It’s good that we can say anything to one another, at any time.”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat.

“But really, it’s simple,” he said, stepping back and smiling, tugging gently on my hand to get me walking again. “Before I made you my font, changed your blood, changed how your heart pumps blood, I was possessive of you, I wanted you. What you saw in my eyes bleeding to black was carnal, animal need.”

“And after?”

“After I made you mine and only mine,” he explained, his voice strained, “now both me and my beast have laid claim, and sometimes—” His breathing was shaky. “—more often than I would like, you see me flicker between the two when I take you.”

I smiled at him, and he stopped moving. “Why does that please you?”

“Because I’m guessing lots of guys have seen the black eyes over the centuries. You even told me once that it scared many.”

“I may have overstated the number of⁠—”

“No, it’s all right. I’m well aware that you slept with the populations of small countries before I came along.”

He was grimacing. “I think you’re⁠—”

“A big country, then? Like how big? Like China big?”

Exasperated huff of breath from him. “Listen, you⁠—”

I laughed, and he looked stunned. “I don’t care. Really. It’s not important. What is important is that you’ve only slept with me since we met, and I’m betting I’m the only one your eyes have ever changed to gold for.”

He only stared at me.

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” he grumbled. “And you know that.”

I nodded. “Yep.”

“Very confident, are you?”

“In your love? Well, yes. Yes I am.”

He grunted, grabbing my hand and giving me a gentle tug. “As you should be. I am thoroughly bewitched.”

I waggled my eyebrows at him.

“Though I have no earthly idea why.”

“I’ll show you when we get back to our quarters.”

After a moment he said, “Can you not walk any faster?”