( prologue. )

00. to be loved.

THE MUSICAL CADENCE filled the walls of the room, muting out what was really occurring in the room, going down hot and heavy. Clothes long discarded trailed the room like one would choose rose petals, fingers scratching into growing immortalized skin leaving pink marks in their wake. David's teeth traced down Sera's jawline, his hands moving from her waist to her neck just to push chocolate curls off her pale skin. While he screamed of alpha male, she was quick to grin, her fangs pushing out of her gums and slightly into her bottom lip as she changed their positions, grabbing his arms and slamming him into the wall next to her mirror that shook in place. 

"Your Highness," David murmured, still able to taste the blood from her feeding on her lips, mixed with wine and fresh salt water. 

Seraphina let out a soft chuckle that was melodious in nature, and he looked down at her eyes that burned a bright electric blue color. His fingers dug into her skin as he lifted her up with ease, her legs loose around his waist as she cautiously supported herself. "You don't have to call me that," she told him as she nuzzled his nose with hers. 

Their heartbeats fell into sync, that and their breathing filling the room. 

The newly crowned coven leader pushed her black curls out of her eyes and ran her fingers through her lover and confidant's hair. David's chuckles filled the room.

"Don't tell me you're going soft, Sera."

"Mm, I make exceptions for you." 

Within a blink, he had run over to the bed and dropped her back on her silk sheets, her curls spilling into a halo around her pale features, a faint redness in her cheeks, peaking in her lips that were slightly parted. Her nails gently traced down the muscles of his back and stopped at his waist as he looked at her.

There was a paleness in his tan features, his blue eyes analyzing her and then he kissed her nose, peppering them over her face. His hands slid up her bare hips, thumbs feeling taut muscles, and his lips dove under her ear, feeling her pulse dance before she tilted her head back and exhaled, closing her eyes. His nose felt her black lashes brush the arches of her cheekbones, and as her hands ran back over his shoulder blades, she spoke ever so softly, that if he wasn't listening so attentively, he would have missed it altogether. There was a softness in her voice— a vulnerability that Sara ever rarely let anyone see. 

With the exception of David. 

She had spent her whole life around him, had grown up around him, and trusted him more than anything. It was only fair she found her safety around him.

"David, please," she exhaled, and he pulled back, his hands slipping under her body and pulling her close to his chest, her legs tightening around his waist as the bed creaked under their weight. 

Her eyes fluttered open again, slowly for him to watch the desperate, hazy look there, her pupils slightly dilated. 

As he sank his teeth softly into the skin of his neck, she gasped, and her eyes closed again, her head thrown back in desire and lust. The sigh that left her afterward was nothing but relief, and it sounded like heaven to the eighteen-year-old vampire. 

He felt the warmth of her crimson fill his mouth, and he was hesitant to continue for the intimacy of the action — to see someone's blood memories, their lives lived, every memory they had been a part of and experienced, even the ones they couldn't remember. 

"You can keep going," Seraphina told him, her fingers rubbing his shoulder blades.

With that, his eyes regained their blue color and he even closed them, moaning when he began to feed on her, her moaning becoming the symphony he wanted to hear when he died. With the squeeze he gave to her hips, she knew what it meant instantly, and she sank her fangs down into his shoulder. Her fingers tightened into his shoulder blades

When he pulled away a few minutes later, she opened her eyes, a different haze there, affectionate as her thumb traced his bottom lip, wiping the blood off, before he kissed her forehead.

"Thank you." He spoke softly. 

"Thank you," she told them gently, before she closed her eyes, pressing her head against his chest as she watched the wounds she inflicted on him heal.