The Devil's obsession with the Heiress

[Music recommendation: Danny Elfman - On His Knees]

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"Don’t push me away anymore," she whispered softly, pressing her face against his back.

Gavriel felt her soft hands wrap around his waist, and his muscles corded beneath her tender touch, but he remained still as he breathed, "Aliana..."

"No..." Aliana spoke, pressing herself closer into him. "I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t bear to see my husband chained up like some prisoner while those things bit into your skin so ruthlessly. It would be cruel of you to think that I would just sit still and watch. So I did what I could at that moment."

She rubbed her forehead against his back, feeling the muscles ripple beneath her touch. "I accept that I barely know anything about this world... but that is why I need you to speak to me. Tell me everything I need to know, and I will listen. But you don’t get to push me away after chasing me down."

Her hands shook slightly as she confessed, "If the night is difficult, then let me bear it with you. Don’t just leave me behind without a word, abandoned to my own chaotic thoughts. I won’t allow it. I would rather suffer with you than let you go through it alone."

Aliana couldn’t see his face, but she could feel his breathing getting harsher. It terrified her that he might ask her to leave again, so she tightened her grip on him, even though remaining still was becoming torturous while her whole body felt like it was being set ablaze in such close proximity to him.

"So please... don’t push me away. Make me understand and... let me in, Gav." Her cheeks burned as she whispered, "I... I need you so much."

As a gesture to get her point across, she pressed a soft kiss to his spine and heard another low hiss escape him.

It was then that she felt his hand move from the tiled wall and settle over hers, and Aliana could have sworn that her heart leapt out of her chest at the thought of him pushing her away again.

He effortlessly pried her fingers loose from around him, as though she hadn’t been clinging to him as if her life depended on it. A sinking feeling settled in her chest at the thought of him disappearing again.

But what happened next was too fast for her to comprehend.

A gasp escaped her lips as he suddenly yanked her forward, and her back met the cold tiles as he loomed over her.

One hand slammed against the wall beside her head while the other caught her chin, tilting her face upwards until she was forced to meet his burning red eyes.

She held her breath at the sheer intensity in his gaze. There was nothing but raw hunger in those crimson eyes, so powerful that her legs nearly gave way.

Finally, he broke his silence. "All this time I have been holding myself back for your sake, yet here you are... hell-bent on having me ruin you, aren’t you?"

He leaned closer, his sinful whisper brushing against her ear. "Do you want me to break you, Aliana?"

Aliana’s eyes widened at his words. "B-break me?"

"Yes," Gavriel replied. "Carelessly, you gave my beast the one thing he has been craving all along during the full moon." He leaned closer, his breath brushing against her lips while his hand slid down to her throat, wrapping his fingers where he could feel her pulse hammering.

"Unknowingly... you initiated a ritual that demons perform with their mates."

He tightened his grip slightly around her neck, his eyes boring into hers as his thumb caressed her throbbing pulse point. "Now... he and I both want it. We want you, Aliana."

Pain and dark desire swirled in his eyes as he whispered, "Tell me... what am I supposed to do when you offer yourself so enticingly to the very jaws of the beast I should be protecting you from?"

As Aliana absorbed his confession and realised what she had unknowingly done, her breathing grew heavier beneath his possessive, burning touch.

"What happens if I give in?" she asked.

Gavriel’s jaw tightened at her question. Anger surged through him because he could see that, instead of being terrified, she was intrigued by it, almost eager. He could taste her burning desire for him, and under normal circumstances, he would have been delighted. But this was different. He needed to give her a raw, unfiltered version of what it entailed.

"Demons have distinct ways of enduring the full moon," he said, his voice dropping to a gravelly tone. "Some meditate in solitude to harness their heightened strength. Others rely on methods that demand a partner."

"Other means..." Aliana murmured, remembering how Cillian had mentioned something similar without ever explaining it.

"Yes..." Gavriel’s eyes darkened as he placed his hand against the wall, curling it into a tight fist as he fought to maintain control. "It means relentless, unforgiving passion until dawn. A raw exchange where both partners channel and stabilise each other’s powers after feeding on each other’s blood."

Aliana’s heart hammered against her ribs. Before she could process the weight of his words, Gavriel released her throat.

His hand trembled as he reached up, gently tucking a wet strand of hair behind her ear. "Now tell me... is that something you could truly endure?"

Silence descended between them as her eyes searched his, almost as though she were trying to determine whether he was joking.

But the severity of his expression told her he was completely serious.

Assuming he had finally broken her resolve, Gavriel took a step back into the water. "Leave... before I lose the last shred of restraint keeping me in check-"

"Yes," she interrupted, her hand shooting out to grip his forearm. "If it is with you, I would."

Shock flashed across his face as his eyes snapped back to hers, as though he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

Slowly, he shook his head. "Partners who are incompatible do not survive the night, Aliana."

"How can you be so sure we aren’t compatible when we have already..." She broke off, lowering her head as heat flushed her cheeks.

"I am not only talking about physical compatibility. It is our powers as well. Both parties involved need to possess powers on par with each other, or they need to be fated mates to withstand the entire process. And you... not only are you human, but your own powers are unpredictable, while I..."

His jaw clenched. "I am different from the others. My powers are not that simple, Aliana. They have a mind of their own. They fight me for control every step of the way, and tonight is exceptionally dangerous because they can take complete control if they want to. Even now... which is why I prefer locking myself inside those magical binds-"

Gavriel stopped when he saw the hurt in her eyes.

"So what?" Pain crossed Aliana’s face. "So what if I am human? I have powers too... powers that dissolved your barrier before. I absorbed your energy then, helped you stabilise it, and I can do it again."

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