Imperfect, Yet Entirely Mine

“I love you, Your Grace…”

She could not step forward to stop the other woman confessing to him.
Hers was a life spent forever curled in on itself, hiding the truth that she was a beastkin.

***

Cassion’s lips suddenly curved into a mischievous smile.

“How do you know I’m strong?”

His voice dipped low; the formal tone he had used moments ago dissolved into something far more intimate. Lunaria swallowed dryly. A sharp thrill ran down her spine, straightening her posture before she could stop herself.

“… I just know.”
“Because you’re beastkin? You can sense it?”

That was not what she meant.

Instead, she thought of the man who had overpowered her during her heat — his stamina, his control. The way he had lifted her effortlessly and turned her body as though she weighed nothing at all.

They had already spent four nights together.
It was only natural that such memories would arise unbidden.
And yet, Lunaria slowly realized something that made her chest tighten.

Aside from interlacing their fingers and occasionally lifting her into his arms, he had never once kissed her.

Cassion, you do everything else.

So why won’t you kiss me?
What exactly are we to each other?