Snort.

GA?L STARED BLANKLY at his ward. Surely, he couldn't have heard his shy, sweet Juilette say such a thing. Impossible, he told himself, but when he was about to ask Juliette to repeat her words—-

"Do you think it's possible?"

"Possible?" He felt like a fucking idiot for repeating her words, but he simply couldn't believe he had heard her right. Had she really asked him—-

"For them to take my sangferia ."

—-that?

Ga?l's lips pressed together in a straight line.

Fuck!

He realized all at once that he should have seen this coming, considering what yesterday's class had been all about.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

It was just like his Juliette to go to the extremes. She was always so damn eager to please him, and he remembered how in the first few months of his guardianship, Juliette would stay up late at night to study Caro cookbooks and wake up early in the day to personally make Ga?l's breakfast.

While that side of hers was adorable as hell, Ga?l's conscience had been uncomfortable with such treatment, and so he had taken pains to make his ward realize that he was no god for her to worship. It had taken almost an entire year before he had been able to convince Juliette to act less like a slave and more like the pampered ward that she should have been, but even to this day, Juliette continued to look at him with stars in her eyes.

She truly did seem to think he could do no wrong, but what if Jean Luc's words were now coming true? What if one wrong word from him could make his ward change in a snap?

"Let's talk about this privately, shall we?"

Her guardian's curtly spoken words made Juliette belatedly remember where they were, and it was only then that she noticed how the sight of them together had attracted the attention of hospital staff and visitors alike.

"Fang o'clock," she heard a female nurse whisper, and as the latter's friend giggled and blushed upon taking a peek at Ga?l, Juliette wanted to do some blushing herself. Fang o'clock was a term coined for Caro-and-human couples, and she couldn't help feeling giddy that other people apparently saw them that way.

But when she glanced at Ga?l, her heart sank, and her smile faded. The chiseled edges of his gorgeous face were so much harsher, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was because of how those nurses had described them. Could her guardian dislike the idea of people mistaking her as his girlfriend?

Jean Luc was right, after all, Ga?l thought broodingly as he waited for his ward to get inside the limo before following behind her. Juliette might have once been the most charmingly sweet ward any guardian could ask for, but girls inevitably grew up to be young, headstrong ladies, and that was when the trouble started.

Juliette's heart sank when her guardian opted to sit across her instead of taking his usual seat next to her. Although the distance between them was no more than a few feet, it somehow seemed daunting and uncrossable, and the shuttered expression on his strikingly beautiful face only made her feel more miserable and isolated.

She just wasn't used to seeing Ga?l look at her so disapprovingly, and it made her want to beg for his forgiveness. She didn't even know why those words had come out of her mouth, but they had. She was tempted, really, really tempted to take those words back, but when she thought about how those same words could be her one and only chance to be with him before he married someone better—-

Juliette lifted her chin, and her voice only quavered ever so slightly as she asked, "May we speak about it now?"

"About what?"

Juliette couldn't help feeling hurt. "Stop pretending to be dense about this, Ga?l. It's not like you—-"

"Neither is it like you to speak of such things!"

It was Juliette's first time to hear such an icy bite in her guardian's voice, and she couldn't help feeling hurt even though she knew she was partially to blame for provoking him.

Ga?l was starting to feel increasingly on edge. He was no fucking prude - no self-respecting Caro was - but it just wasn't like his ward to talk about these things in his presence. "Why do you wish to speak of such matters all of a sudden?"

Juliette, recalling Aprilynne's words, was able to answer her guardian's question truthfully. "Because of something I learned."

Ga?l's lips tightened. As expected, it was that damn professor's fault that his ward was acting out of character. That man definitely had some explaining to do, but in the meantime, he must do what he could to undo the corrupting damage the former had caused.

"Whatever it is you've learned—- "

Juliette blinked at the note of distaste in her guardian's voice.

"You should first consider whether your source is trustworthy."

"It is," Juliette assured him. If anything, Aprilynne could be a little too honest, and the older girl tended to get into trouble because of her lack of tact.

Ga?l's irritation grew at how quickly his ward had responded to his question. Yesterday was only the first day of school, so why was Juliette vouching for her professor's trustworthiness with such confidence? Did she really know the man that well or was she being influenced by other factors? Professor What's-His-Name might not be that bad to look at, but Ga?l had expected more from his ward, dammit!

"Let me ask you this then..."

Her guardian's frigid tone threw her off, and Juliette wondered uneasily if she had caught Ga?l in a bad mood.

"Between your source and me, who do you consider more trustworthy?"

"Um...both of you are—-" Juliette saw Ga?l's beautiful face darken, and she quickly backtracked. " You are more trustworthy, of course." I'm so sorry, Aprilynne, she mentally apologized.

Ga?l relaxed slightly at his ward's words. "If you mean that—-"

"I do," Juliette said firmly.

"Then I'd like you to trust me when I say it's best that you lay this matter to rest."

Juliette was stunned at first, and then frustrated. Immensely. Was he saying that because he still thought of her as a child?

Ga?l felt compelled to say more when his ward only stared at him. "Virginity isn't a tool—-" A strange sound cut him off, and it took a moment for Ga?l to realize that Juliette had actually snorted at him, and now she was gazing at him in horror, like she herself had a hard time believing she had done such a thing.

What the hell was happening?

Juliette was usually all cute and ladylike, but just yesterday, she had accidentally farted, and now she had snorted at his words like they were the worst piece of b.s. she had ever heard. It was adorable in a way, but it also disturbed him because this was not how his ward usually behaved.

"Has something happened?" Ga?l asked finally. "You know you can tell me anything, don't you? It's my responsibility as your guardian to protect you."

Juliette bit her lip hard. She knew this was her chance to make up some excuse and have everything go back to normal, but was that what she really wanted?

A few more seconds passed, and Juliette's mind began to work furiously. This was her only chance to change the direction of her future. She needed to be careful and strategic, and so first things first—-

"I just don't think you're the one to say those words."

Ga?l's brows shot up at his ward's outburst. Juliette had always been docile as a lamb, and the part of him that wasn't used to being questioned and challenged like this couldn't help but bristle.

" Everything is a tool for you—-"

Had his ward just insulted him?

"But in a good way," she then clarified so earnestly that it had Ga?l torn between exasperation and resignation.

His ward was basically telling him he was a ruthless SOB, wasn't she? And he was that, and he had never any problems admitting this. But Juliette being Juliette, she still ended up describing his flaw like it also happened to be a virtue.

She started wringing her hands, and Ga?l's blue gaze narrowed. Why was she so damn anxious?

"I'm not a child, okay? I know about how you used to visit several virginity auction houses in the past—-"

Ga?l had the grace to flush even as he felt the need to defend himself. "Those were extraordinary times. It had only been months after the first attack," he reminded her curtly, "and it made me paranoid. I wanted to make myself stronger, and I was determined to exhaust all possible means to do so. Everything I did, it was to honor my duty to protect our family."

Juliette was touched that he thought of her as family, but at the same time she had this foolish urge to cry. The duty he spoke of involved deflowering other girls, and the mere thought of it devastated her.

But...

What was done was done , Juliette reminded herself. She needed to move forward, and so she heard herself say, "That's what I want, too."

Ga?l wondered if something had been lost in translation. Exactly what did she want as well?

"I want to do my duty, too," Juliette stressed, "and that's why I'd like the center to take my sangferia—- "

What the fuck?

"—-and have them bottle it up for you."

Ga?l didn't know whether to snort himself...or strangle his ward for even thinking such a thing. "It is not your duty—-"

"If you meant what you said that I'm part of your family—-"

"You are," Ga?l said sharply.

"Then we all have a duty to protect House Bellecourt," Juliette said feelingly, "and this is my way of doing mine."

Jean Luc's words came back to haunt him as Ga?l studied the flushed features of his ward. Could this truly be it? Could this be that something Juliette would want, and he wouldn't be able to give? And if he were to deny her this, would she then do something stupid - perhaps something as grossly idiotic as giving her sangferia to another man just to spite him?

Juliette's hands curled tightly against her lap as she saw Ga?l's expression darken. He had never looked at her like that before, and she had to remind herself that this was all part of the plan.

"Fine then."

Juliette nearly jumped out of her seat at the abruptness of her guardian's words.

"Tell me what you know of sangferia ."

Juliette swallowed hard. "I know that if its source is a chemically compatible match, its extraction—-" She stopped speaking when her guardian shook his head.

"That's where you're wrong."

Juliette lowered her head at his words.

"Sangferia loses its potency when it's extracted indirectly in any way," Ga?l spelled out with a curl of his lip. "It cannot be, as you had not so delicately put it, 'extracted' and 'bottled up' like some fucking pseudo-miracle-water that one can then peddle off in eBay."

Juliette kept her head down...because she didn't want to risk giving herself away. There was nothing Ga?l had said that she didn't already know, but this, too, was all part of the plan. Since she couldn't tell him that she wanted him to take her virginity, she had pretended to play dumb so that the proper method of consuming sangferia would come from him.

Ga?l hardened himself against the sight of his ward's bowed head. She was the one who had insisted on talking about this. She had made her bed. Now she had no choice but to lie in it.

" Sangferia must be directly consumed from the source's flesh if one wants to maximize its potential. Moreover, a source's chemical compatibility also depends on the assessment of numerous variables, some of which include the thickness of one's hymen and the amount of pain the source experiences in her deflowering."

Although all of these extra details about sangferia were something she had also studied, Juliette could no longer keep herself frum blushing by the time Ga?l finished speaking.

Sex might not be a taboo subject for a race that enshrined pleasure, but she was human, not Caro. Moreover, it was one thing to read about virginity...and another thing entirely when it was her own guardian talking about the thickness of one's hymen and the pain of a woman's deflowering.

What have I gotten myself into, dear God?

"Look at me, Juliette."

Juliette took a deep breath before slowly lifting her gaze to his.

"Now that you know about all of these things, do you still think doing your duty is a good idea?"

A moment passed, and then he heard his ward whisper 'yes'.

Fuck .

Ga?l had thought he would've scared her off by now, and the fact that he hadn't left him staring at her in disbelief. "Do you understand what you're saying?" he demanded. "Doing your duty means that you are letting me consume your sangferia at its rawest and freshest."

Oh God.

Just hearing Ga?l say such things about both of them had her toes curling hard.

"It might also require me to take your hymen in the most painful way possible."

Juliette's senses reeled.

Oh God.

To hear Ga?l say such blatantly sexual words, and the knowledge that those words were directed to her thrilled and terrified Juliette at the same time. But more than that, it made her body want to—-

Fart

Oh drat, I meant flutter!

Ga?l raised a brow when his ward suddenly made a choking sound...just as her body released a scent that had his nostrils flaring.

What the hell?

He was no innocent lad not to know what this scent was, and it couldn't be anything else but lust. His ward had never been aroused around him, so how the hell did this happen, and what should he do about it?

Juliette finally mustered the courage to speak...but without meeting her guardian's gaze, and thus making her miss the frustration that flashed over Ga?l's chiseled features.

"I don't care about how much it hurts. All I care about is doing my duty."

Time passed, but the silence between them remained unbroken, and Juliette started feeling antsy. But just as she lifted her head to ask what Ga?l had to say, it was already too late, with the limousine already rolling to a halt before the massive doors of the Bellecourts' palatial home.

Oh no.

Juliette's shoulders slumped as Ga?l took her hand to assist her out of the car, but just as she was about to climb up the steps leading to the portico, it was then her guardian bent his head to purr into her ear—-

"I'll be in your bedroom by midnight."