He frowned at the direct order, hard though it was to refuse. "Possibly. But if we go that far tonight, there's no turning back."
"I don't wanna turn back, Laric," she mewled, smearing her wetness on his leg again with renewed undulations and thrusts.
"I want you to be mine. Just—if you won't fuck me tonight, then at least say you're mine. Say it, please."
"Where are these feelings coming from?" he asked, trying to steady her. "Have you questioned them?"
She blinked thoughtfully, but her hips continued their movements. "I don't care. I need you. I need you like I haven't needed anyone since I died—the first time," she clarified.
"I never feel this way about anyone. I won't
let you go, so don't ever ask me to!"
He shook his head and put his palms on the mattress. "This is too much."
"Like Hell it is," she hissed, grabbing his wrists. With all her might, she forced his hands up and back onto her ass, then just as he was preparing his next protest, she stripped off her hoodie in one fluid motion.
Alaric stared at her in complete astonishment.
The perfection of her figure could not be denied. Could it be resisted? He didn't know, but it seemed an impossible ask.
He felt his skin grow hot and sweaty at the sight of her nude figure, her lissome, pale body, her perfect, round breasts, her
tempting flower, the way it all came together in a series of curves uniquely her.
Her hands found his throat, and he didn't complain. "See? I'm yours, Laric. This body—it's yours to love and cherish however you want. Tell me you don't want this."
He shook his head, his mouth slightly ajar, as his eyes took in the sight of her and his ears just barely processed what she'd said.
"I want you to…to love me," she said, her cheeks somehow flushing with the words.
"I want you to treasure me and only me. Imagine—us together forever, wrapped up in sheets like these, but better, making love and giving one another pleasure until the Earth itself dies and turns into a sun-dried
husk."
She sighed happily, baring her fangs in a wide grin. "Imagine it, Alaric ."
"I don't deny it has some appeal—"
"Baby, please," she said, squeezing his throat, making him choke as she cut him off.
"Stop this silliness, Alaric. Don't make me just take what I need from you and pretend you don't need it too. I'd really prefer you gave yourself to me willingly, but I don't know if I can trust my heart around you when you say no too many times when you really mean yes."
Alaric choked and hacked, tapping Vladira's hands, and she let go of her grip after a big eye roll and a high pitched groan. "What is it, Darling?" she asked in irritation.
She had shown him her true self now. Alaric had seen the monster for what she was. Her threats, her violence, her mad passion—all of it laid bare at his feet, with nothing left to hide.
Intellectually, he knew that this was the turning point where he should decide to slay her once and for all, giving up his own life to die a hero.
But…there was something about crazy, evil women that really polished his scabbard.
"I'm yours," he said, coughing, making her eyes light up with surprise.
"I'm yours, and you're mine. But—with some conditions."
"What?!" she shouted, so excited that she hovered a foot off of his lap.
"Name it!"
"No murdering women just because they look at me," he began.
Her lip quivered and brows furrowed with indignation. "You ask the impossible. You're my territory. If some horny human slut comes around shaking her bosom in your face, it'd be dishonorable for me not to kill her."
"That's—" His voice trailed off and he let out a sigh. "Well, that's something I think you're going to need to work on, because we can't leave a pile of bodies in our wake.
Technology is different in this time period.
There are surveillance devices everywhere, and forensic science has come a long way. If you murder every woman that finds me attractive—well, you might be murdering every single woman."
She smirked. "Pretty confident in yourself, aren't you, handsome?"
He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down from the air and back onto his lap.
"Compromise with me here."
She pouted. "One murder…a month. Tops."
Alaric considered it, tapping his chin in thought. "One murder a month. And you have to leave no trace and cover your tracks. And ideally it should be a criminal or something, not an innocent woman."
"The greatest crime is waggling tits in my man's face," Vladira said, pounding one fist into the opposite palm.
Incidentally, it caused her own perfect breasts to jiggle in a rather charming way.
"That is…not a crime," Alaric groaned. "Look—clearly, we need to take this slower."
Her nostrils flared as she crossed her arms, making a face of offense and fury. "What?! But—you're mine! You said so!"
"I did, but you don't want to agree to my terms."
"Because your terms make no sense, ! Think for a second. Let's say some dumb whore comes up to you and kisses you on the mouth or the dick—"
"Interesting scenario but go on," Alaric noted, arching a brow.
"Obviously, she deserves to be impaled on a spike and left to die over the course of several days, right?" she said, spreading her palms as though she expected to find common ground here.
Alaric closed his eyes for a moment, inhaled the deepest, darkest breath of his life, and fought not to sigh as he exhaled.
"No," he said quietly. "No, that is a case of the punishment not fitting the crime."
"But you're mine!" she hissed, throwing her arms around his shoulder and pulling his face into her chest. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you —"
"I'm starting to see your logic a bit," he muttered from between her breasts. "Maybe scale back the proclamations of love until—"
"But I love you with all my heart," she declared proudly, hugging his head tightly.
"Listen. Shh. Stop talking. Don't even breathe for a second."
Curious what she was getting at, Alaric obeyed. He waited to see what would happen—but it was a sound that he was meant to hear.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.