The kiss started hesitant.
Selene's lips were cool against mine – vampire physiology making her skin several degrees below human temperature. But there was warmth underneath, heat that ca from sothing deeper than body temperature.
She didn't pull away imdiately. Didn't push back or snap my neck.
Instead, she kissed back.
Tentatively at first. Like soone rembering a language they hadn't spoken in centuries. Her hand remained on my chest, feeling my heartbeat, and I felt her power probe at mine – testing, questioning, trying to understand what I was.
I deepened the kiss, my hand sliding up to cup her face. Her skin was impossibly smooth, ageless, perfect in the way only centuries of vampiric preservation could achieve.
The hesitation lted away.
Selene's other hand ca up to grip my shirt, and suddenly the kiss turned fierce. Passionate. Five hundred years of loneliness and isolation pouring into that connection.
She kissed like soone starving. Like soone who'd forgotten what genuine want felt like.
I matched her intensity, my other hand sliding to the small of her back, pulling her closer. Our bodies pressed together, and I felt the supernatural power crackling between us – divine and vampiric, oil and water trying to mix.
It should have been repellent. Instead, it was intoxicating.
Her fingers tangled in my hair. My hand slid lower, tracing the curve of her hip through the midnight blue fabric.
The kiss went on. And on.
Until suddenly, Selene caught herself.
She pulled back, her hand against my chest creating distance. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and a faint flush colored her pale cheeks.
"That's – " she started, her voice not quite steady. "That's enough. You got your request."
She stepped back fully, putting several feet between us. Her hand touched her lips, as if surprised they'd just been doing what they'd been doing.
For the first ti since I'd t her, Selene Blackwater looked uncertain. Almost shy.
"Thank you," I said, keeping my voice level despite my racing heart. "That was – "
"Don't," she cut off, smoothing her dress with hands that trembled slightly. "Don't analyze it. Don't make it into sothing it wasn't. You asked for a kiss, you got a kiss, and now we're done."
"Of course. I apologize if I overstepped – "
I shifted my weight, trying to adjust discreetly, but it was impossible to hide the very obvious problem that had developed during our kiss.
My dick was rock hard, straining against my pants, creating a bulge that was impossible to miss.
Selene's eyes flicked down. Stopped. Widened slightly.
For a mont, neither of us spoke.
Then color flooded her pale cheeks – a deep pink that spread down her neck. I hadn't thought vampires could blush like that, but apparently five hundred years old or not, so reactions were universal.
"Is that..." she started, then seed to lose her words. "Are you..."
I tried to turn slightly, to hide it, to salvage so dignity from this situation. "I apologize. That's – it's not intentional, I just – "
"Is that because of ?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
I could have lied. Should have lied. Made it about sothing else, anything else.
But I'd already gambled everything on honesty.
"Yes," I said simply.
Her blush deepened. "From just a kiss?"
"From you," I corrected, eting her eyes. "From looking at you in that dress. From feeling your body against mine. From knowing what you are – all that power, all that danger, wrapped in a form that's absolutely perfect."
"Alexander – "
"I'm not trying to manipulate you or play gas. You asked, and I'm telling you the truth." I gestured to myself, to the obvious evidence. "This is what just being near you does to . What watching you move does to . What that kiss did to ."
Selene stared, and I watched her process. Saw the wheels turning behind those ancient eyes.
"I should have you leave," she said finally. "This is inappropriate. Unprofessional."
"Probably."
"You ca here to retrieve the ring and claim your reward from the collection room. Not... this."
"I ca here for the ring, yes. But I also ca here for you." I took a step closer. "And I know you felt it too. That kiss. The connection. You wouldn't have kissed like that if you didn't."
She wrapped her arms around herself – a defensive gesture that seed out of place on soone so powerful. "I don't do this. I don't get involved with people I do business with. I don't let myself want things I can't control."
"Maybe that's the problem. Five hundred years of control, of being the vampire queen, of never letting yourself just... let go and feel things." I risked another step. "When was the last ti you let yourself want sothing just because you wanted it? Not because it was strategic or useful or good for business?"
"That's not – "
"When, Selene?"
She was quiet for a long mont. Then, so quietly I almost didn't hear it: "I don't rember."
The admission hung in the air between us.
"The ring ans a lot to ," she said finally, changing the subject. "You brought it back when I thought I'd never see it again. That deserves... reciprocation."
"You already gave the collection room access and a favor. We're even."
"Are we?" Her eyes dropped to the bulge in my pants again, and her blush returned. "That doesn't look even. That looks... uncomfortable."
"I'll handle it later. It's fine."
"I could help."
The words ca out rushed, like she'd said them before she could think better of it.
I stared at her. "What?"
"I said I could help." She cleared her throat, trying to regain so composure. "The ring ans a great deal to . And you're clearly... affected. It would be ungracious of to ignore that after what you've done."
"Selene, you don't have to – "
"I know I don't have to. But perhaps I want to." She moved closer, and I saw determination replacing the shyness. "Besides, if I let you leave in this state, you'll be uncomfortable all night. And I prefer to settle my debts completely."
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