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“W-what?” A tremor ran through me. “I’m…not weak.”

His eyes widened. “I didn’t say you were.”

“Yes.” I drew in a ragged breath. “Yes, you did.”

His dark brows furrowed. “I asked if your head was hurting you.”

I stared at him, my stomach shifting. I’d seen his lips move. I’d heard him whisper—

“Poppy?” Was he closer? I thought he might be. “What did you hear?”

“I heard…” I folded an arm over my stomach and glanced at the doors.

“No.”

The sharply spoken word drew my attention back to him.

“The result of what you’re thinking will be the same as before,” he warned softly. “And there’s no reason to run. I won’t hurt you again.”

Don’t trust him.

His lips pressed together as he fell silent. Several heartbeats passed, his eyes searching mine. It really was like he could see right into me, and I didn’t like it.

Then, he did the strangest thing.

He grinned, one side of his mouth tipping up. It didn’t reach his eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”

His statement caught me off guard. “You don’t…scare me.”

“Is that so?” A tinge of satisfaction filled his voice. “Then why do you keep backing up?”

I wasn’t…

Reaching back, I felt the cool stone wall.

He lifted a brow and crossed his arms. For a moment, I was distracted by how the simple movement caused the skin of his biceps to tighten and the muscles of his chest to flex in the mostfascinatingmanner. Heat crept into my cheeks.

Honest to gods, it was the very last thing I should be paying attention to. I could almost hear a weathered voice telling me to focus. The voice that belonged to…

I couldn’t remember. Frustration rose, and I gripped my gown tightly.

“I know you’re confused right now,” he said.

“You…said that already.”

“I wasn’t done speaking, Princess.”

A jolt ran through me when I heard him calling me that over and over, a hundred—no, a thousand—times.

“And on top of that, you must be starving. But deep down, you know who you are,” he continued. “You know who I am. Deep down, you remember how much I mean to you.”

Dryness coated my mouth, and I loosened my grip on my gown.

“Your love for me is the only thing allowing you to stand before me without going for my vein, despite how badly you need to feed,” he revealed. “You don’t want to risk hurting me.”

A shock ran through me. Was that the reason? Why I ignored the instinct? The pounding in my head increased, causing my muscles to tense. The hunger was making it so very hard to concentrate.

“Yet, I’m offering my vein to you.” His voice deepened, turning hoarse. “That is how powerful our love for each other is.”