Chapter 38
Mark
"You bitch!" I roar, my voice reverberating through the house with a crash.
The witch is dead. And I failed. I couldn't get anything out of her, I couldn't make her release Sandra from the curse.
Sandra...
I turn to her. My chest tightens when I see her trembling, her eyes fixed on the dead woman on the floor. Her face is pale, her lips parted as if she wants to say something but can't.
"Shhh..." I pull her into my arms, and she surrenders without hesitation, burying her face in my chest before she starts to cry.
I hold her tight, protecting her from the cold that seems to spread through the room now that it's all over.
"Everything will be alright, I'll take care of it, my love..."
Balthazar clears his throat, getting our attention.
"Sandra... are you feeling... different?" The caution in his voice is evident, and there is a glimmer of hope in it. "It's rare, but sometimes, when the person who cast a curse dies, the effects dissipate... just like any mental manipulation she may have inflicted."
Sandra sniffs, lifting her face to look at me.
Her eyes shine, moist, confused.
"I-I..." she hesitates, taking a deep breath. "I don't know, but I still feel the essence flowing within me, and I'm still in control of it. I haven't exhausted myself."
My heart races, tension taking over.
"What if you transform against your will again?" I ask, trying to hide the concern in my voice.
Balthazar frowns, as if it were an obvious question.
"She needs the key to free herself completely. She needs to remember what the witch said when she cast the spell. Some riddle, a command..."
Sandra bites her lip thoughtfully, her eyes focused on some distant point.
"She said so many things..." Her fingers grip my shirt tightly, as if trying to hold on to something. "I can't remember now, my mind is a mess."
I hold her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me.
"We'll figure it out together, my love. Everything will be alright," I murmur, kissing her forehead and pulling her against me again.
Her arms tighten around me, and she lets out a shaky sigh, rubbing her face against my chest, up and down, nodding.
"If you want, I can make her remember, Sandra. I can induce her mind to return to that night," Viklaus suggests.
"Can you really do that?"
"Of course, one of my vampire powers is mental persuasion."
"I..." She swallows hard and looks back at me. "I'm tired now, can we leave it for another time?"
"It doesn't have to be now, we can try later."
"Right," Viklaus nods and looks at me seriously. "Before we go, we need to inform the authorities about what we found."
I close my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.
Hell. This just complicates everything.
"Ted..." I call him on the walkie-talkie. "Take care of it. We have supernatural beings in the police force, you know who to call."
"Understood," he says on the other end of the line.
"There's nothing else we can do, not here. The grimoire is nowhere to be found," Viklaus concludes, his voice cold and practical.
I nod in agreement.
"Let's go home, Kitten."
I guide her outside, keeping her close. I know I need to be her strength now, even with the bitter feeling of having failed. I failed to protect her. I failed to prevent her from suffering. And it eats away at me.
"Please..." Her voice is low, almost a whisper, and I hold her closer to me.
I need a moment alone with Sandra. She is visibly shaken, and honestly, so am I.
My team can continue without me; I've done what I needed to do. Jack drops us off at the cottage before heading to the company with the van, accompanied by the others. All the way home, I can feel Sandra trembling in my arms, and the weight of that tension settles on me too.
I don't waste any time. As soon as we enter, I take her straight to the bathroom.
I kneel in front of her, carefully removing her boots, and then, with a gentle movement, I lift the hem of her dress and begin to take it off.
She doesn't protest, just lets me take care of her, her eyes downcast, her body stiff with tension.
I take off my own clothes and turn on the shower, pulling her under the hot water.
Steam rises around us as I slide my hands over her body, massaging her shoulders, arms, every tense muscle.
When I reach her hair, I wash it carefully, my fingers sliding through the strands, massaging her scalp.
She leans her hands against the wall, tilting her head back, her eyes closed.
"Mmm..." she purrs. "That feels so good. Thank you..."
"No need to thank me." I finish washing her hair, letting the water run down and wash away the lather. I lower my face and kiss her shoulder. "It's my duty to take good care of my female."
"I should take care of you too," she sighs softly, turning to wrap her arms around my neck, drawing me into a soft kiss. "You're still recovering, and you spent so much energy today..."
"I'm fine."
"Don't lie to me, Mark."
I sigh and rest my forehead against hers.
"I'm better than yesterday, tomorrow I'll wake up better than today," I promise.
When we finish, I wrap her in a soft towel and dry her gently. She watches me silently, her eyes full of emotion, allowing me to take care of her, understanding that I need to.
I take her to the bed, sitting her down carefully before picking up the brush. I sit behind her and begin to comb her wet hair with slow, rhythmic movements. With each stroke of the brush, her shoulders relax.
I brush a strand of hair away from her face and kiss the curve of her neck, feeling her shiver.
"How are you, love?" I murmur against her fragrant skin.
She sighs, nestling against me, her back resting on my chest. She lifts her face to look at me.
"Fine, just..." Sandra takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Maybe a little shocked by what I saw."
"What about the curse?"
"I..." She bites her lip, thoughtful. "I didn't feel anything when the witch died," she whispers.
"But now, do you feel anything?"
"I'm afraid to search for the curse inside me and..." She swallows hard. "Find the barrier, realise that I'm still trapped in it. I want to enjoy it while I'm still in control. I've never lasted this long in this form... and I don't feel exhausted."
She turns, settling herself on my lap with one leg on each side of my body, her arms around my neck. We are still completely naked, and I groan when her pussy rubs against my cock, making it throb and harden.
Our newly formed bond makes me want to possess her all the time. It was torture having to get up today and not be able to bury myself in her again, make lazy love when we woke up and then fuck her hard in the second round... spend the whole day in bed with her.
But two things prevented me: Sandra trapped in the feline body and then having to go hunting for the witch.
"I want you for the rest of the day, to enjoy every second by your side while I'm still here. Will you stay here with me?"
"I'm all yours for the rest of the day..." I gently bite the curve of her neck, just above the mark I left, and then whisper, more intensely. "I'm all yours, forever."
She smiles, beautiful, and wriggles, eliciting another hoarse moan from me.
"Sorry, your ribs..."
Sandra tries to get off me, but I hold her by the waist, pulling her back.
"I'm not moaning in pain, my love. It's the thrill of feeling your hot pussy teasing my cock."
"Oh!" She smiles again, blushing.
Her hands slide down from the back of my neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps until they reach my chest.
"Can I see?"
I hesitate for a moment, not wanting to let go of her body, but I remove one of my arms from around her and lift it slightly, revealing my side.
"They're healed..."
"Yes, Balthazar's potion did the job."
"He mentioned the side effects..." she murmurs, her green eyes full of concern seeking mine. "Are you alright?"
I press my lips together, wishing I could say I'm fully recovered, but my essence and magic are still weak. I know that if I dare to take another potion now, my body will end up dependent on it...
I need to let myself recover naturally, wait for my essence to strengthen and grow on its own.
But without the healing acceleration I ingested earlier, my essence would be dragging itself through my cells, patching up wounds out of sheer necessity for survival.
And I needed to direct all my strength towards protective magic.
Even so, I almost exhausted it completely by maintaining the barrier around us in the witch's house. I can barely feel it now.
"I'll be fine."
She nods, understanding the truth behind my answer, and lowers her head, kissing the place where my heart beats.
My whole body warms up and I have plans for what to do with her, but when the sound of her stomach echoes in the air, I put my desire on the back burner. We have time, all the time in the world now that we are together for me to do whatever I want with her...
But first, I need to feed my Kitten.
"It's already lunchtime, how about I make us something tasty?"
"Hmm..." She lifts her face and nods, biting back a smile. "You're beautiful, you take care of me, and you cook too? You're the complete package."
"And I have a huge package for you between my legs."
"Mark!" She opens her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise. "Are you joking? Where did the grumpy guy I know go?"
"He doesn't exist when he's with you, Kitten, you make me want to be the best I can be."
I kiss her smile quickly before pulling away. If I linger here, I'll end up making her my feast and forgetting about the real food.
"What would you like me to make for lunch?"
She thinks for a moment, absentmindedly caressing my face with her fingertips.
"The forest is safe now that she's dead, right?" she asks, looking at me expectantly.
"Yes..." I frown, a little confused by the change in conversation. "Without the witch, the wolves are no longer being controlled, so they won't come after me. And you no longer have to fear monsters appearing out of nowhere."