Pout.

IT WAS A FEW MINUTES past five in the morning when Ga?l silently slipped into Juliette's bedroom, and unlike the past few days, he did not find her still asleep and naked under the covers.

Instead, he heard his ward singing in the shower, and a smirk curved over his lips when a part of the song had her belting out of tune. His Juliette had many wonderful qualities, but a lovely singing voice she definitely did not possess.

Juliette opened her eyes as she reached the chorus, and her words turned into a shriek when she saw a bare-chested Ga?l grinning at her.

"Wh-what—-"

But before she could get another word out, he already had her up against the glass wall, and his mouth swooping down to take her mouth in a long, drugging kiss.

Aaaaaaah.

With Ga?l having introduced her to all sorts of things in the past few days, inhibition was already a thing of the past, and Juliette no longer hesitated to surrender herself to the passion that just kept burning hotter and hotter between them.

She kissed him back just as eagerly, since this time she had no fear of having her feelings exposed. Ga?l told her that her responsiveness would only make her sangferia more potent, and so this was just her being "dutiful".

A whimper slipped past her lips when Ga?l's hands started palming her breasts. And just like before, he was oh-so-good at tormenting her flesh, with the way he kneaded and fondled her swollen tits with infinite patience.

Even though she could feel his cock throbbing powerfully behind his jeans, and she was clawing his back with her nails and begging him to take her—-

(oh please, please, please)

Ga?l refused to take heed, and so he played and played and played, and just as she was about to go out of her mind, he then bent his head down to give her nipple a little bite—-

Aaaah!

That was it for Juliette, and she was barely aware as Ga?l swiftly let her down on her feet and held her by the waist before kneeling down to eat her cum. Since today was the last day of her menses, she could feel her pussy only releasing just the smallest amount of blood, and this, too, was something her guardian hungrily drank, and oh, the feel of his mouth on her sex, and his tongue on her flesh—-

"Jules?"

It was Aprilynne, knocking briskly on Juliette's bathroom door, and Ga?l lifted his head as his ward squeaked out a yes. Whereas her cheeks were flushed with pleasure just a few seconds earlier, she now looked a little sick at the thought of Aprilynne finding out that she had her guardian with her in the shower.

Juliette's heart skipped a beat when she saw Ga?l's cold, blue eyes suddenly start gleaming with wickedness. Whatever it was he was thinking, it couldn't be any good, and just as she shook her head, begging him not to do anything that would expose the truth—-

(oh please, please, please)

"Do you still want to hitch a ride with me or not?"

Something shiny, sharp, and dangerous flashed out as Aprilynne asked her question, and then his fangs were piercing the flesh of her inner thigh, and Juliette's legs gave out as she felt her guardian start to drink her blood.

Oh God.

"Jules!" Aprilynne knocked on the door again.

"I'm..."

Oh God, how could she be coherent when this was the very first time her guardian was drinking blood that was not from her menses? This was his first time to use his fangs on her flesh, and although she had read, heard, and saw from others that a Caro's bite was supposed to be deliriously pleasurable, everything she imagined did not compare at all to reality.

"Jules!"

This...this was surreal in just how good it was. Just how hot and delicious. It was just so—-

Oh God, oh God, oh God—-

Another knock rapped against the door. "Are you coming or what?"

Ga?l sucked harder on her thigh, and as she felt her blood gush out and into his mouth, Juliette could only gasp, "Y-Yes, I'm c-coming."

And so she was.

GA?L WATCHED FROM JULIETTE'S bedroom window as his ward and Aprilynne came out of the house. While Jean Luc's ward got behind the wheel, Juliette couldn't seem to help herself as she glanced up at her bedroom, and Ga?l smirked at the way her eyes widened upon seeing him.

As Aprilynne's SUV sped away, Ga?l wasn't surprised when his phone vibrated with an incoming text from his ward.

Juliette : Why are you still there?!

Ga?l : Just enjoying the scent of your cum.

Juliette : OMG

He probably had his ward blushing as she read his message, and the thought had his lips twitching. Of the four wards taken in by House Bellecourt, Juliette had always been the quickest to blush, and it was a trait that everyone in the family, the other wards included, couldn't help taking advantage of from time to time.

Juliette was really the most adorable ward, and she had been even more adorable earlier, when she had pouted and pounded his chest with her fists. 'You're so mean! How could you make me say such a thing to Aprilynne?'

When he lazily pointed out that her words had been true both figuratively and literally, it only had his ward growling like a little kitten, and that, too, had been adorable. Irresistibly so, that by the time Juliette managed to free herself, her lips had been deliciously swollen from his kiss, and Ga?l had been breathing hard because it just wasn't fucking enough.

God, how he wanted her!

Just as Ga?l was about to turn away from the window, it was then he noticed someone else at the driveway, and icy blue eyes that were exactly like his narrowed up at him.

Shit.

Ga?l left Juliette's room in a blink, but by the time he reached the driveway, Severin was long gone. The world might think of Severin as the most charming and easygoing of all Bellecourts, but what they didn't know was how all of it was a sham. While 'secretive' wasn't exactly the right word, that brother of his had always been the type to conceal his innermost thoughts behind bland smiles and sarcastic quips.

God knew what Severin might be thinking now, and the thought of Severin telling their other brothers of what he thought he saw lingered in Ga?l's mind even as he began his work for the day.

A meeting with Etienne Hirsche had Ga?l visiting the billionaire's headquarters in downtown Miami, and Ga?l couldn't help but notice how security protocols seemed to have further tightened since his last visit.

Etienne's human wife and their one-year-old son were also in the billionaire's top-secret underground laboratory when Ga?l was finally cleared for entry, and Spencer greeted him with a cheerful smile.

"Say hi to Uncle Ga?l," Spencer urged her little boy, and Henri, who was the mirror image of his father, smiled at his mother before looking at Ga?l.

"Say hi to Uncle Ga?l," the boy said dutifully, and the two of them were still laughing when Etienne came out from one of the testing rooms.

Etienne dropped a kiss on his wife's lips, and seeing Spencer blush reminded Ga?l of his ward. He was starting to think of her all the time, and that was not good.

Spencer listened quietly as the two Caros discussed the latest threats that had Hirsche Medical Center taking additional security measures in the past twenty-four hours. The original breed of vampires used to be mindless with bloodlust, but with the increasing infusion of vidange blood in their systems, they had since evolved in terrifying speed.

"Vampires can now become obsessed?" Ga?l could barely fathom how much vampires had changed in such a short span of time. Old bloods like him and Etienne used to know everything about vampires. Unfortunately, what they had learned a decade ago was no longer applicable. Even worse, the vampires that had launched the first large-scale attack against humans three years ago barely had anything in common left with the creatures that were now hiding and scheming from every dark corner.

"I have a feeling it's something they've been capable of for some time now," Etienne said grimly. "We just didn't know about it then."

"Does this new ability of theirs make them more dangerous?" Spencer questioned.

"Unfortunately, yes," her husband answered, "since it makes them more unpredictable. But again, this is only a theory for now—-"

"All of your theories have become true," Ga?l pointed out, "so I'll take your word for it and let Jean Luc know so we can improve security at House Bellecourt. Have you told the Brethren? Or L'Alliance?"

"They have been informed, and while we have nothing to worry about as long as Riyu is head of the Brethren..." Etienne's lip curled. "You know how L'Alliance is when it comes to theories. "

Ga?l's smile was humorless. "Indeed." L'Alliance was the preters' version of the United Nations, and it was unfortunately as bureaucratic as most human-led governments were. L'Alliance didn't like taking risks for mere theories, never mind if the cost of waiting for further proof meant the loss of innocent lives.

It was almost noon by the time their meeting ended, and Ga?l had to decline the couple's offer to join them for lunch. "I need to be at UdLA for Juliette."

"How is she, by the way?" Spencer asked. "It's been a while since we last saw her."

"I'll take her with me on my next visit," Ga?l promised.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?"

Etienne couldn't help smirking at the way his friend stiffened. "Take care with your words, wife," he drawled. "You speak as if Juliette were Ga?l's daughter."

Spencer blinked. "I thought that was what a ward basically meant. Isn't it the same?"

"It's not."

Although Ga?l's tone was courteous, Spencer couldn't help looking at Etienne worriedly as soon as their guest left. "Did I say something wrong?"

"On the contrary, my love...you said exactly what that man needed to hear."