The Game of Temptation: The Rise of the Moon

Chapter Twelve: The Lovers Flower

⚠️ SEX SCENE ⚠️

"You... really?" I gasp. Viserion's eyes blaze with an intensity that's hard to meet. I take an unconscious step back, and he advances.
"Ever since I met you in that grove, I felt an overwhelming need to possess you. To claim you, entirely, as mine alone." Because I carry a piece of your heart... that's what draws you. I swallow nervously, trying to summon the courage to tell him the truth, when he charges onward in a fevered rush.
"I've spent a century caring little for anyone or anything. And yet, my desire for you has overtaken me."
"I thought... But I was sure..." I inhale sharply. The tumult inside me tightens to a pointed, keening ache, my body inflamed at his words.
"Seeing you that night lit a fire that has only grown to consume everything in its path." Viserion's voice is a medley of regret, of want, of need.
"I could not let you leave. My reputation for selfish cruelty is well-earned, as you've surely seen by now." His eyes bare into mine, his gaze full of awoken desire.
"Something about you brings forth all my darkest impulses. But you are innocent in this. And I... I must make amends."
"Viserion?" I ask slowly. His breathing is labored as if he struggles to maintain composure.
"For all the numerous ways I have misused you, Alora... I apologize." I stare at him, anger rising in me.
"Words without action are meaningless," I state, my voice shaking as I try to contain the tears begging to flow.
"Believe me, few understand this better than I." Viserion scoffs, "So let me show you."

His voice drops to a murmur, his expression stormy and unreadable.
"What the devil are you doing to me, Alora?" His hand drifts to the charm that binds me to him, fingertips ghosting over my throat.
"What are you doing?" I demand. I'm suddenly very aware of every shallow breath, silently pleading for more of his touch.
"This allows me to track you, true." Viserion states, "But it's also imbued with the most potent protective spells I know. So long as you wear it, you are safe from all curses and enchantments that are within my power to oppose."
"... I didn't know that," I mumble.
"Even if you are not with me..." Viserion sighs deeply, "As long as you wear this, you are safe from harm." His lips move silently as his thumb circles over the charm. A flare of white light swirls upward, then fades like frosted breath.
"And now you are the only one who may remove it." Viserion swallows hard, his eyes refusing to meet mine, "You can leave... and this charm will keep you safe."
"You're... releasing me?" I gasp. Viserion's hand drops from me and he turns away.
"Yes."
"But..." I gasp, feeling the charm under my fingers, "...why?" I watch Viserion's back flex as he faces away from me.
"Because I can no longer live with this pain that I bring you. Because I would see you happy. Because..." A saucer-sized bloom breaks from its bough and floats like a feather on the breeze, catching both our gazes. Viserion stretches out a hand, beckoning it toward him with a gust of wind to catch it in mid-air. He pulls the dark flower to him, staring at its glowing center for a moment... then turns and gently takes my hand and places the flower in my palm.
"You're giving me this?" I ask slowly. But that means... Viserion's eyes meet mine as he cups my hand around the bloom, then turns away from me with great effort of will.
"I do not understand myself of late." He sighs, "The things I want from you torment me. And I'm certainly not a man who restrains myself from what I want." He sighs deeply, "But you... you do not deserve to be trapped in an empty palace with a broken, heartless man." My heart swells with a sudden surge of emotion. Alone in the clearing, magical glowing blooms all around me, and something powerful and intense takes hold. So, I make a decision.
"Viserion," I say, stepping in front of him. He goes to turn away from me again, but I take his hands in mine.
"I'm not going anywhere."
His eyes flash in confusion.
"What?" Viserion demands. My fingers touch his cheek with a trembling hand, unable to resist the urge to touch him.
"I want you, Viserion. Broken heart and all." I pull him to me, heart galloping out of control as I tilt my chin to meet him.
"Alora–"