Would you like me to remind you?" The Blood Beast baited her.

When her only response was silence, he asked, "I'm sure you know how cruel I can get with such disrespect."

The Blood Beast's face arrested her attention.

His mismatched eyes surrounded by thick, dark lashes peered out from behind the lock of his raven hair.

His lips were red and full, stretching into a boyish smile that could dazzle the Vampire Court and the Consortium.

It was a mouth that could tighten to a fine line when he was annoyed by a creature's existence.

Her rebirth disoriented her that her brain was taking its sweet time trying to recall her memories and scan where this man—this vampire in front of him fit into her life.

As an Amazon, fighting was the automatic response under threat.

Now that the Blood Beast had taken over the Vampire King, she was under extreme vulnerability.

He was deadly dangerous.

Luna registered it in her brain that it was the Vampire King she was talking to.

At first, Luna didn't recognize the Vampire King because he wasn't wearing a mask like he did at the Blood Moon Banquet.

'So this is how he looked like.' She mused.

Bu, the Blood Beast, had taken over the Vampire King the moment one sapphire blue eye turned into a reptilian yellow with golden dots similar to the other eye.

She saw it in her own eyes how the Vampire King slowly transitioned into the Blood Beast as they fought for consciousness.

She looked up, and two gleaming gold orbs stared down at her.

There was a hypnotic quality to them, an erotic persuasion she couldn't deny, even though she knew it wasn't just the Vampire King she was with.

"You know who I am," He said, and the words were deep and warped as he took her chin in his unyielding hand.

Luna flinched imperceptibly, the only indication she had heard his words.

Turning her face away from him, Luna stared back into the forest.

His fingers brushed the translucent skin stretched taut over high cheekbones and jerked her around to face him.

Luna refused to meet his eyes.

The Blood Beast's teeth sank into her neck.

Luna's muffled curses were drowned by the sound of him sucking her blood.

He leaned against her and drank deeply, and Luna turned black and blue from his touch.

A low moan escaped her parted lips.

Clenching her fists, she offered him no resistance as he bound her hands.

Fangs. Those were fangs nipping at her flesh.

Please let me go," Luna said as she tried to push him off her, but he was as hard and strong as a boulder.

Her tears flowed in excruciating pain and pleasure, tracing a grimy path between her eyes and ears.

A single tear slid down her face--a contrast to her calm words. "Please."

The Blood Beast wasn't careful.

He was rough, manhandling her as he bit her neck.

The stars burst into her vision. It wasn't anything she had ever felt before.

The Blood Beast was overridden by lust.

Her screams of pleasure turned into pain.

A vampire's saliva was their advantage as a predator.

It felt like a drug to a vampire's prey, and they don't want them to stop.

A vampire victim would rather die than making the predator stop.

Fear threaded through her passion and thickened it, adding a dangerous edge that opened her even further.

She put her hands on his arms.

Goddess, he was so hard, so strong.

He was so heavy on top of her.

The Blood Beast's body relaxed as he felt her muscles yield.

Luna was dying at the moment.

She lay still while the Blood Beast drained her out of her life force.

She made a conscious effort to heal her body using the spells she had conjured from Hecate's grimoire, which was now stored in her memory.

She breathed evenly, trying hard to make it through until the Blood Beast was satisfied.

Nobody could take her soul, not even the Prince of Hell himself.

The bloodsucking seemed to last for an eternity before the Blood Beast stopped.

Luna sighed with relief when his fangs left the punctured skin of her neck.

Her bruises disappeared as she fixed the cells of her body by the magic of regeneration.

The Blood Beast indeed had a deadly touch.

No normal being in this realm could survive his curse except her.

"Are you done, Your Highness?" Luna said weakly with a sarcastic hint in her voice as if she hadn't had another near-death experience if it wasn't for the magic bestowed by Hecate.

The Blood Beast's amber eyes widened for a fraction before regarding her coldly.

He probably wondered why she was still alive and talking to him as his thumb traced the shadowed circles beneath her eyes.

"I'm the High Priestess of Hecate." Luna breathed softly, losing her energy as the minutes go by.

She jutted her chin in cold defiance as she stared into his glittering blue eyes.

She blinked slowly and reminded him, "You can't kill me or you will have to deal with the goddess."

The Blood Beast growled when he heard Hecate's name.

Did he remember that she was the goddess who cursed his consciousness attached to the Vampire King?

He touched the bandage on her chests.

It had healed along with her rotting flesh from the Blood Beast's touch, but she was too weak to fend for herself.

Her body slumped as he stroked her long silver hair.

Without another word, he bound her feet and threw his cloak over her.

The Blood Beast felt the chill in the air and realized that he must wrap the cloak more tightly around her before gathering her up in his arms.

He carried her, and she hung unmoving in his grasp.

"Vampire King." Luna kept calling but to no avail. She can't reach him.

Her hoarse voice was muffled into the space between his neck and shoulder when she spoke, "Your Highness."

Unfortunately, the Blood Beast was still in control.

The King had wrapped the other cloak around his waist as he strode from the artificial pool.

The Blood Beast was quiet as they moved farther away, passing through the forest.

Luna didn't know where they would go, but she was lulled by the gentle sway of the Vampire King's movements as he carried her on his broad shoulders.

Luna yawned softly, snuggled deeper into her cloak, and closed her eyes.

She might as well rest before she knew of the Blood Beast's plans for her.