Lucius POV
So this is what it means to have a beloved.
I've heard the term before, but I never understood it. Never really cared to. Beloved, soulmate, mate—those words always seemed like weak, sentimental constructs, too tied up in fragile emotions to be of any real use. But now… now I know what they mean. I know it, and it terrifies me.
I couldn't deny it anymore. Even as much as I wanted to rage at her, as much as her decisions frustrated me to no end, there was something else that kept drawing me back. There was something about the way her smile could cut through the darkness in me, like light forcing its way into the blackest corner of a cave. Her smile… damn it, it was like a drug, and the more she smiled at me, the more I wanted to be a better man. It was infuriating.
