The long road

His eyes flashed to hers quick, worried. Had his lack of control offended her too greatly? Instead, what he found in her eyes was the burning fire he had tried to quench with an entire ocean. He caught his breath, unable to move as she pressed closer to him. Her lips touching his. The taste of the Empress in his mouth. He groaned a soft, tortured noise, deep in his throat. He was only a man, how could he fight this?

And then she was gone. A feral, animalistic part of him tried to stop her. One of his canines caught against her lip, and he tasted her blood in his mouth. Then she was gone, and the sudden absence of her warmth against him left him cold. Chilled. He trembled, sliding to his stomach on the cool morning sand, and looked after the fleeing form of the Empress. The taste of her blood and the scent of her coat lingering on his senses.