The Devil's Cursed Witch

As comfortable silence fell on the two, Ember wondered what else she could talk about, but then the spire of the palace came into her sight and she felt relief.

'Soon, we will be arriving. Just need to hold back for a little while.'

With their conversation no longer there to distract her, the silence engulfing the two of them starts to grow uncomfortable once more. Though she wasn't meaning to, she began to find herself getting immersed in Draven's scent.

'I need a distraction. We need to talk some more!'

But not knowing what else was there to say, Ember could only keep quiet, and once again, her senses were zeroing on her loud heartbeats.

By then, the sun was already setting. It was dark by the time they reached the gates of the palace. The five horses stopped by the entrance of the building, and Erlos, Reya and Clio climbed down from their horses first. The two female elves were about to attend to their master, but as they turned to look at the large beautiful black stallion at the rear of the group, they were shocked.

"Where did Miss go?"

"Weren't they here just now? I saw His Majesty helping Miss get down the horse."

Clio found the flower bouquet on the ground and picked it up.

"Could it be...?"

Erlos disturbed the two servants, "You don't need to worry about Miss."

The Moon Elves nodded as they understood that the King had already taken her away.

-----

Inside the top floor of the southwest wing of the palace, two figures appeared out of nowhere, a man and a woman. The moment they appeared, the man pressed the delicate woman against the stone wall of the hallway and tugged the hair at the back of her head to make her look up at him. Without giving her a chance to realize what was going on, his lips captured hers into a passionate kiss.

Ember was startled, but as if it was the most natural thing, she kissed him back. Pressed against the wall behind, she received her harsh, rough kisses without backing down.

Draven harshly sucked and nibbled her lips, cradling her head to angle her face, not even paying attention to her struggle of keeping up with him. All he knew at this moment was the desire he felt--a thirst so overwhelming, he wanted to taste every inch of his mate, to have her quench that terrible, terrible thirst.

Ember could only give in to him to let him have his way while she enjoyed that dominating, breathtaking kiss.

Draven, half losing his sanity as he gave in to his instinct's demands, gradually tightened his grip on her hair, to the point it was pulling at the scalp at the back of her head, causing her to wince in pain.

Loud needy groans from his throat and the heavy breathing mixed with the light moans from his mate, echoed in the hallway. His dominating tongue not letting go of hers even for a moment, turning her breathless.

He had done his best to hold back but now it was the time to let go. In return for his entire day's torture with Ember being so close to him but unable to act on his urges, he deserved at least this much.

After a demonically long and passionate kiss, Draven had to stop with a frown.

Blood.

Only when he tasted blood in his mouth did he realize he had hurt Ember. While panting heavily, his red eyes darkened with desire, he forced himself away from his mate who was holding onto him weakly.

She was gasping heavily for air as if her life depended on it, her lower lip bleeding as he had been biting her during the kiss.

Seeing he had hurt her when he didn't intend to, a tinge of regret flashed in those darkened eyes. He closed his eyes briefly, his frown deepening as he loosened the grip of his hand on her hair.

He looked at her hurt lower lip and caressed it with a thumb. His gaze seemed to turn gentle and the darkness inside his eyes started to disappear.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice low and gentle, the regret of hurting her filling his mind.

When Ember heard the concern in his words, she opened her eyes, but she was unable to answer readily as she was still trying to calm herself from that exhausting intimate act.

After getting her wits back, she nodded to assure him, but did nothing other than stare at him. When they were kissing earlier, Ember could sense the change in him. It was not simply urgency. It was a sort of intuition--as if he was the same yet different person at the same time.

They had been intimate before, but Draven had never acted this way.

'Is it because of the strengthened effect of the bond?'

Keeping her still pinned between his body and the stone wall, Draven's hand moved to caress her cheek, his thumb brushing gently on her hurt lip. "Does it hurt?"

Ember shook her head, silently enjoying his gentle side, a side he showed only when caring for her, which she had grown to like.

"You seem to have learned how to remain sane despite being under the effect of my scent," he commented, narrowing his eyes at her.

Ember merely smiled awkwardly because she didn't tell him the task he had given to her- learn to resit his scent, she had succeeded it. It was a matter of willpower, and she realized that understanding their circumstance had allowed her to gain more confidence in controlling her urges.

Glancing closely at the delicately beautiful face of his mate, he asked, "Your decision, I am still waiting to hear it."

It was more like he was expecting her to answer what he wanted deep inside his heart. He wanted to complete that bond but needed her consent...Moreover, there were other difficulties related to it that he wished to put aside and wished for nothing but for his mate to accept him.

Ember didn't know what to say at this moment.

His intense-looking eyes remained fixed on her puzzled face, waiting expectantly for her to answer.