What have I gotten myself into, dear God?
"Look at me, Juliette."
Juliette took a deep breath before slowly lifting her gaze to his.
"Now that you know about all of these things, do you still think doing your duty is a good idea?"
A moment passed, and then he heard his ward whisper 'yes'.
Fuck.
Gaël had thought he would've scared her off by now, and the fact that he hadn't left him staring at her in disbelief. "Do you understand what you're saying?" he demanded. "Doing your duty means that you are letting me consume your sangferia at its rawest and freshest."
Oh God.
Just hearing Gaël say such things about both of them had her toes curling hard.
"It might also require me to take your hymen in the most painful way possible."
Juliette's senses reeled.
Oh God.
To hear Gaël say such blatantly sexual words, and the knowledge that those words were directed to her thrilled and terrified Juliette at the same time. But more than that, it made her body want to—-
Fart
Oh drat, I meant flutter!
Gaël raised a brow when his ward suddenly made a choking sound...just as her body released a scent that had his nostrils flaring.
What the hell?
He was no innocent lad not to know what this scent was, and it couldn't be anything else but lust. His ward had never been aroused around him, so how the hell did this happen, and what should he do about it?
Juliette finally mustered the courage to speak...but without meeting her guardian's gaze, and thus making her miss the frustration that flashed over Gaël's chiseled features.
"I don't care about how much it hurts. All I care about is doing my duty."
Time passed, but the silence between them remained unbroken, and Juliette started feeling antsy. But just as she lifted her head to ask what Gaël had to say, it was already too late, with the limousine already rolling to a halt before the massive doors of the Bellecourts' palatial home.
Oh no.
Juliette's shoulders slumped as Gaël took her hand to assist her out of the car, but just as she was about to climb up the steps leading to the portico, it was then her guardian bent his head to purr into her ear—-
"I'll be in your bedroom by midnight."
Goodbye, messy room.
Something happened between them.
Even though the words were never uttered out loud, it was what all the others were thinking when they saw the way Juliette was unable to meet her guardian's gaze over dinner. And although Gaël did act his usual courteous self towards his ward, the others also didn't fail to notice the look in his eyes when Juliette got up to leave.
Were they seeing things...or had the second-born Bellecourt finally realized his ward was no longer a child?
Gaël finished his dinner with the rest of his family in silence, and he abruptly excused himself from joining them for coffee. He had much to think of, and foremost of his concerns was whether he would truly accept his ward's decision to offer him her sangferia.
It was only a quarter past ten when Gaël silently treaded the stairs leading up to the top floor of his family's three-story estate. It was where all of their wards' bedrooms were located, and midway up, Gaël's heightened sense of hearing as a Caro allowed him to hear the hustle and bustle of activity inside Juliette's room.
He listened for a few moments, and he realized that she was hurriedly doing her best to fix her room in time for his arrival. This went on for another half hour before he heard her enter the shower...and slowly take off her clothes.
Fuck.
Gaël strove for control, but it was impossible to keep his mind from conjuring an image of his ward disrobing herself. It felt fucking wrong to think of his ward in the shower, but the moment imaginary visions of her nude body teased his mind, his cock surged into life, and hunger for her flesh seized his entire being.
This wasn't fucking right, but God, how he wanted her!
He listened to her shower, and every minute of it was torture. To imagine her body glistening and wet, and what it would be like to wrap his fingers around her throat just as he...
Control yourself, dammit.
He swung away and cursed himself under his breath. This was insanity. And God knew he was the last man on earth to do something crazy, after what his moment of insanity had caused him in the past.
But when the grandfather clock struck midnight, and its heavy ringing echoed through the hallways of the estate, Gaël told himself that he should still go to Juliette's room, if only to tell her that he had changed his mind.
This was insanity, after all.
Insanity.
But when he found himself looking down on his sleeping ward, and he saw that his charming, sweet, beautiful Juliette was drooling in her sleep—-