Chapter 64: Blood and Bonds
Lorraine’s POV
Pain has a sound.
It’s not screaming. It’s not sobbing. It’s the absence of breath. The stuttering gasp that gets caught somewhere between your lungs and your throat as you realize your body has become your cage. That was me. Trapped.
I touched my chest, slowly, terrified of what I’d feel, and what I wouldn’t. My fingertips met skin that wasn’t torn open anymore, but it wasn’t whole either. The wound had closed in some places, rough scar tissue forming like a rushed patch job. But it still throbbed violently underneath, numb and burning at once, as though my body wasn’t sure what to do with itself. I couldn’t breathe right. Every inhale felt like my ribs were cracking.
And then Kieran turned to me.
"I have to mark you."
I blinked at him. "What?"
He moved closer, his expression serious, unreadable. There was something simmering behind his eyes, something he didn’t want me to see.
"To put it simply," he said, his voice rough, "if you want to be healed completely.... I need to claim you. Fully. With my mark. I must fill you up with my seed."
I let out a bitter, breathless laugh. "Are you seriously suggesting that the way to heal this...." I gestured to my barely closed chest wound, "....is to fuck me?"
His lips didn’t twitch. His expression didn’t change. That scared me more than if he’d laughed it off.
"You’re not joking," I whispered.