Page 177 of Marked By His Hunger

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“You don’t understand what almost happened,” I said.

Her chin lifted slightly.

“Then explain it.”

Brave.

Too brave.

I closed my eyes briefly.

“You are not just desirable to me, Serena,” I said carefully. “You are sustenance. You are nourishment. You are my life’s force.”

Silence.

The words landed.

Heavy.

Unavoidable.

“My hunger—this curse—it doesn’t distinguish between need and want,” I continued, my voice lower now, more controlled but no less intense. “And with you—it’s both.”

Her breath hitched.

I felt that too.

Through the bond.

Every shift in her emotion, every spike in her pulse—it echoed inside me now, impossible to ignore.

“I didn’t feel like prey,” she said after a moment.

“No.”

That came immediately.

Fierce.

Certain.

“You are not prey.”

Then what are you?

The unspoken question hung between us.

I stepped closer again—but slower this time, deliberate, giving her space to pull away if she chose.

She didn’t.

Of course she didn’t.

The bond wouldn’t allow it.

“You are the only thing that has ever made me want to stop,” I said.

Her eyes widened slightly.

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