They made it most of the way to the bed before Ezra gripped her hand and pulled her into him, startling her as he wrapped his hand around the back of her head and pressed it into his collarbone. Ezra's hand trailed her hair so lightly that she could feel him tremble, and she let out a breath and relaxed under his touch. It was a moment for both of them to steady themselves, and Ezra lifted her chin to look into her milk white eyes. There, he checked her gaze for the fear he was used to, but she wasn't afraid any longer.

Of vampires, yes. But of Ezra, not so much. In order to live, she had to let another person into her heart, to allow Ezra to know her softer side. The touch of Ezra's fingers on her shoulder blades stiffened her body, and she bit her lip as the ice warmed to her skin and sank lower to trail her back. Lingering at the base of her spine, Ezra kissed her neck, and she leaned her head to the side to offer it for the blood he needed. Ezra accepted eagerly, and she had to breathe through her nose again as his lips pulled her skin to his fangs and they slipped into her flesh.

This time, Ezra drank. Still not much, but he cradled her head with a hand that slid up and bunched her long hair in his fingers as he took a slow draw of her into his mouth. Just that was enough to make her dizzy, and he swayed his body a bit as he removed his fangs and just held her. It was actually quite nice, just slipping her hands up behind his back and holding the fabric of his tunic at the shoulder. It was almost like a dance as he moved her side to side for just a moment before he brought his face back and met her eyes.

"Is it all right if I remove my clothes?" Ezra tugged on the strings at his neck that held his tunic together, and she nodded.

"It's hard to be intimate with them on," Luna said with a small smile that lit Ezra's face up so brightly that it was painful.

The last few days had been hard on him, and she liked seeing him calmer. Both of them had suffered at the hands of vampires, even if he was one. Years ago, she wouldn't have cared, but with the changing world, she was gaining softer sentiments. After all, her adopted daughter was mated to one and her brother had been changed into a creature of a dark, but he hadn't changed from the kind, caring man he'd been. That most of all made it easier for her to see vampire kind as human in a respect.

A blush colored her cheeks as Ezra took a step back and slid his shirt off, and he hesitated on his pants, eyeing her with nervousness.

"I..." Ezra inhaled her scent and shook his head. "Will you be upset if I'm..."

"Aroused?" Luna asked with a pitying smile. How could she blame the man when he'd had her naked body pressed to him just a moment ago? Ezra was also desperate for affection, and she really didn't want him to feel guilty if he enjoyed it. They had to enjoy it or this wasn't going to work. "It's all right, Ezra. We are both going to need to be aroused for this to work. Join me on the bed and we'll take it slow."

Easing his pants off, Ezra still covered his groin area and had a hard time focusing on her as she lay back on the bed and turned to him. Just as in the bath, she couldn't take her eyes off of his lean form. Muscle wound around his arms and thighs, but he wasn't so much muscular as he was toned. It was a little reassuring, even though she knew muscle mass had little to do with a vampire's power. It was just more comfortable, being in bed with someone who shared Torin's body type.

She felt no guilt as she thought of Torin now. It had already been decided in her mind. If Torin were here and knew that she had to either die or love another man just for one night, he'd tell her to be with Ezra. Sure, it would hurt for both of them, but they had been through so much together. They had always trusted and leaned on each other, and Luna trusted that Torin would understand.

"Do you want me to allure you into seeing someone else?" Ezra asked, lingering away from the bed, and she shook her head.

"No, Ezra. We agreed together that we would do this, and I won't pretend you're someone else. We can't do much with you over there though." Luna patted the sheets next to her, but he didn't move.

"Whenever I get that close, you cry. I know you said you wouldn't, but I..." Ezra met her gaze and shook his head. "I want you. I don't want that to frighten you."

"Well, you can't have me over there," Luna replied slowly, and it cracked the smallest nervous smile on his lips. "I'm not going to cry, Ezra. I promise. Just don't jump me, and I'll be okay."

While he didn't jump her, Ezra was at the bedside in a flash of mocha skin that heated her face until he slipped up on the bed and covered himself with the thin blanket. A comforter wouldn't cover his arousal, though he did try as he turned into her, keeping a few inches of space between them. Fire churned in the teal wave of his eyes as he waited for her to move, and she wondered just what his life had been like.

She had Torin, and he accepted her at every turn, for better or for worse. What had it been like for Ezra, always reaching but never able to touch someone that didn't flinch back and fight. Normally, someone forced into those things hardened their hearts and resigned themselves to it, even enjoying it if they saw no other way out of it or negative consequences, but Ezra continued to suffer just so that those women could live just a bit longer and not have to face a worse man. Such self-sacrifice was rare even among mages, and in that aspect, she really did love Ezra, his resilience, and his heart that had yet to shatter.

Reaching out her hands, she touched the side of his face, and he let out a groan that wrinkled every muscle in his face and had his hand pressing into his groin to still try and hide the physical reaction. A woman had likely never wanted to touch him romantically, and she wandered her hand down his neck gently before trailing her fingers over his chest, and he growled. Luna froze, unsure what that noise was for, and his eyes snapped open with apology and a tepid whine.

Whatever it had been, it wasn't hostility, and Luna took in his frightened expression and leaned in closer to his face. Ezra had done enough trying to get her to respond, so he was nervous to approach her for fear that it would all fall apart. That meant she had to take charge, and she slid her hands up into his hair and pulled his face to hers.

His lips were cool on hers, and she nearly had a heart attack when he turned her on her back and pressed her full body into the bed with his own. Dark magic pressed her into the bed, washing over her and it was hard to breathe until she allowed it in to mingle with her light magic. Once she did, it felt oddly comforting, like Ezra's soul was crawling under skin and absorbing her into him. Ezra pulled back and gave her just enough space to see if she was going to struggle, but she lifted her lips and stole his again.

They kissed until she had to stop for air that Ezra didn't need as a vampire, but he also couldn't seem to catch his breath as he roamed his hands down her. Trailing her shoulders with his fingers, he pressed his face into her collarbone and massaged her skin like it was something hallowed. The touch was light, affectionate, and never demanding as he advanced each inch with care and a slowness that showed he was testing what was okay to her. With his fingers, dark magic wrapped her every cell and charged her magic as she allowed it to saturate her skin further down.

As he sank into the space between her legs, she raised her knees, and he ran a hand along the inside of her thigh, raising his face to see how she was handling him so intimately close. Luna reached her hands up to do as he had been, leaving the brush of her skin and light magic in streaks down his chest as she felt and breathed him in. Ezra smelled like the clay of the bath chamber walls and also an earthy soap he'd used to scrub himself clean. It wasn't at all unpleasant as he drifted his hand to the lowest part of her thigh before stopping.

"Can I touch you... Natalie?" Ezra rasped, his fangs so long in the glint of the lights that she had to focus lower on his hands to keep from wandering back to her normal train of thought with his kind

"Softly," she murmured as she dropped her head on the pillow and watched the ceiling do a slow turn. It was half from catching her breath, half from her focus on his fingers as they dipped in-between her legs.

A soft stroke of his middle and forefingers dipped just into her before running up to her pleasure, and he ran his fingertips in meticulously calculated circles that had her clutching the sheets. By the time his finger returned to dip into her again, the moisture all but spilled out onto his fingers, and he pulled his hand back with surprise that shone in his eyes as she met them. Closing his, Ezra sank his fingers into her, moistening them in a deep slide that had her tightening around them before he retreated. Ezra lifted them up to his mouth, and she let out a groan as he licked up his fingers and tasted her.

"Do you not like me tasting you?" Ezra asked in a hush of breath, but his hands were on an entirely different train of though as they pulled her legs apart. "I like to taste you, Natalie. Am I allowed?" Ezra was asking in earnest, but the way it was said so huskily gave little room for argument.

"Yes, Ezra," Natalie whispered into the air.

Ezra's grip on her thighs tightened until it was near painful, but he released the pressure as he dropped his face down between her legs. The first flick of his tongue made her jump, but he knew it wasn't in fear. Vampires could smell lust, and the tip of his tongue had dipped into her, parting her lips, and just barely coated itself before retreating in a second. Hot breath chilled her as it met the moisture, and his hand ran through the moonlight hairs that ran just above where he was focused.

Starting at the bottom of her opening, Ezra slipped his tongue in and ran a long stroke up, sinking into her for the flavor before finding her swollen just above and dancing the top of his tongue on it. There was something to be said about the precision and speed of a vampire's actions, and his tongue flicking out, grazing her, and repeating in a heated rhythm had her at her edge so quickly that she was arching for that last warm pressure that would tip her over it.

Ezra has a different idea about that, and he braced his hands on her thighs as he lowered his mouth back to her wetness. There was nothing light about the way Ezra thrust his tongue into her, not satisfied until it was so far in that the base of it stretched her. Using a hand on her behind, he pulled her onto his face and sucked the sweetness from her. His tongue thrust and curled, reaching and tasting until it found the place that forced a moan out of her. Ezra really held her then, keeping her in place with his powerful muscles and catering to her need until it set her insides on fire.

It happened so fast, the fire burning through her loins, leaking out onto his tongue as she arched into him. Ezra didn't release her until she fell back down onto the bed panting. There she listened to him sucking and licking lewdly her until there was nothing left and he raised his face. With his thumb he rubbed away the remnants of moisture, and her face colored.

"I can't wait any longer, Natalie," Ezra said in a growl of allure that was near predatory, but she knew this was what they needed to conceive. Pleasure and desire. "If you allow me now, Natalie, you will bear my child."

"You may have me, Ezra."

The words had Ezra rolling his head back on his shoulders in desire before he plunged into her. She was so moist that he went all the way in in one thrust. And he didn't stop. Each push against her already sensitive insides had her moaning and mumbling things she couldn't even recognize as Ezra pulled her onto him. As he'd done with his tongue, he made sure she took all of him, and his hips slapped against her as he lost himself in pleasure not a moment later. A growl shook the room as his magic flushed into it, and he dropped his hands to either side of her head with a snarl. Luna knew what he wanted, and she turned her head to bare her neck one final time.

Ezra sank his fangs into her without restraint, clutching her throat, and she wrapped her hands in his hair as he spilled out into her, filling her with a rush of dark magic that she accepted and urged further in as she wrapped her legs around and locked them together as he eased to a halt. Hot breath nearly boiled her neck as Ezra calmed, and then he took in what he was doing and pulled his fangs from her.

"I'm sorry, Natalie. I don't know what came over me. I didn't need to bite you again."

Ezra covered his mouth but was still inside of her, and she chuckled before pulling him back down on top of her. A gasp escaped him, and she just didn't care as she stuffed his face into her chest. The man didn't struggle in her grips like a vampire held by a grand mage should. Instead, he relaxed into her with a low groan before he pulled her closer to get comfortable.

"It's best if we lie together, right?" Luna asked with a small smile and Ezra licked his lips awkwardly, running his fingers over a drip of red.

"Yes. Can I really lie with you this close?" Ezra asked, seemingly checking her every moment to see if she was going to push him away. "I can... pull out. It's just nice being one with someone."

"I know the feeling, and it's all right if you want to stay this way a little longer. I like having someone holding me, so it's pleasant," Luna said honestly, and it encouraged him to hold her tighter.

"This is the happiest I've been in my life," Ezra said into the night, and she touched his face with understanding.

"I think the happiest I've been in my life was when I bested my brother in a magic competition. That smug shit got overconfident, and stepping all over his pride was really invigorating," Luna said with a smile, and Ezra purred against her.

"I like holding you, protecting you," Ezra whispered.

"I'm sorry I can't be yours. I know how possessive vampires are," Luna said honestly, lifting her eyes to his with apology. Now that they were calming, she had to understand the repercussions of accepting to bear a vampire's child.

"That is all right," Ezra said, nuzzling her face with his. "For tonight, you're mine. That is enough."

They lay together and for once Luna didn't cry as she stared up at the ceiling and imagined stars. What pictures would she draw in them with Ezra if she didn't have Torin? Would she even see Torin again if this didn't work? No, she couldn't think like that. This would work, she would conceive Ezra's child and live, for Torin, for herself, and also a bit for Ezra. She wanted to see him out of this place, take him somewhere where he could find a woman who would really love him.

"I hope your brother finds you, Natalie, I really do," Ezra whispered into her hair. "If nothing else, I want you to escape with my child. That would make my life worth having lived after all this time."

"Ezra," Luna sighed into his neck before gripping his face on both sides and pulling it back so she could look at him. It had the poor man startled and nervous with his lips pinched in and his eyebrows lifted in concern. "If I go, you come with me. I won't leave you here, Ezra. I promise"

Luna held him until the words sank in and tears lined his eyes, and she let his face go to drop into the hollow between her chin and chest.

"Until then, I will protect you with everything I have, Natalie Aurion."

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