"I am your wife."
"..." Lucien remains silent for a brief moment; his eyes threaten to sparkle, but he quickly regains control.
When Arlene looks at him, the air changes; his presence is as gentle as it is dangerous, like a perfume that envelops you before you realize it.
Only then, with a calm smile, does he say:
"Fufufu~, it seems to be true; you have good control over your instincts."
Sigh.
He lets out a sigh, looks at me, and gestures for me to enter the house that is clearly not his.
Arlene enters, and Mayla follows, almost hidden in her shadow.
While Lucien was still processing the situation, she leaned slightly toward him and whispered,
"You owe me one."
Lucien blinked, puzzled. A favor? When had that happened?
Mayla just looked away, as if it were apparent to both of them, but she didn't explain anything else.
Without giving him time to ask, she stepped aside, staying close to Arlene, watching as the vampire examined Vanessa as if she were a rare specimen.
"What are you?" Arlene asks, sniffing her a little; this only makes her narrow her eyes.
"I-I'm Vanessa," she replies, even stuttering, but internally, she feels like crying: 'Why do these vampires always give me the same answer?'
"I didn't ask you that; I asked if you're human or not." Arlene steps back and takes a seat on the sofa, crossing her legs sensually.
Vanessa frowns, not understanding the question; even so, she replies, "Yes... Yes, I'm human."
"I see," Arlene says, but she doesn't quite believe her. "What's your blood type?"
"Null RH."
She nods. "Have you been in contact with the cultists?" she asks again.
"Yes, I was a member of their sect, but when they found out my blood type, they locked me up; I managed to escape." Vanessa didn't give him all the details.
Lucien, who was leaning against the wall, listening to all the questions, couldn't help but look at Vanessa again; he was assessing whether what he had just taken in was a danger.
"Why are you asking her so many questions? Can't you see you're scaring her?" says Selene, looking at her friend with a sigh, even though she knows deep down that all those questions are for a reason.
"That's true, it's just that I saw something interesting in her, since you've been through a lot recently." Arlene leans back with a sigh and looks at Lucien: "Even so, it's surprising that she has such good control over her instincts."
"It's not control," Lucien corrects her and explains, "I simply struck a precarious balance between my rationality and my vampiric instinct."
"Vampiric instinct?" she repeats.
"Yes, I think it's more appropriate to call it that than simply 'instinct.'"
"Certainly, it's more appropriate to call it vampiric instinct, but what do you mean by striking a weak balance?" Arlene asks, intrigued.
"Hmm..." Lucien pauses for a moment, searching for a way to explain it, but he can't find the words or an example.
He was going to use the example of cats entering mating season, when they are driven by a strong urge to reproduce, and that's why castration is the way to prevent it...
However, it wasn't an example that suited his situation.
"I can't find the words to describe it," Lucien said honestly.
Arlene stops looking at Lucien and looks at Selene: "Can you tell me where there's a room?"
"What are you going to do?" Selene lowers her eyes.
"I just want to do something with my husband," she replies with a sensual smile, revealing her fangs.
"..." Selene hesitates for a moment before pointing her in a direction: "There's a room over there."
...
Once in the room.
"What do you want to tell me?" Lucien asks, leaning against the wall.
Arlene approaches him sensually, moving her hips provocatively, and stares at him with red eyes.
"I wonder how much better his blood is now that he's a vampire."
"What?" He raises an eyebrow, confused.
"Don't tell me you're not curious about how my blood tastes." She moves around him like a nine-tailed fox, enveloping Lucien with her alluring scent.
He swallows hard; to be honest, he's very curious to taste her blood, although... he's not entirely sure.
Then Arlene whispers in his ear.
"You don't have to hold back."
That word was like a trigger; he throws her onto the bed and moves his hands like snakes, undressing her with extreme professionalism.
He sees her pale skin, as if all the blood had drained from it, with sexy black lace, her thick legs that make him want to bite them, her breasts that are neither too big nor too small, but just the right size.
His eyes began to glow an intense blood red. Lucien approached Arlere's neck, smelled it, and sank his fangs into it.
"Ahhh~!" Arlene let out a soft moan.
Lucien ignores her and begins to drink her blood. It was the most delicious he had ever tasted; it was completely different from all the others he had tried so far.
It was as if he were eating a five-star meal prepared by a chef with three Michelin stars. Its taste was too addictive, much more so than the drug.
He began to feel his vampiric instincts take greater control, and this was evident when he sank his fangs in harder.
Arlene feels her body tremble as she thinks with a smile, 'He's having trouble controlling himself.
She was testing the real limits of what Lucien could endure because of his vampiric instincts, because if he let himself be carried away by compulsion, he would simply kill him.
She doesn't want an incompetent husband.
After drinking Arlene's blood for a few minutes, Lucien gradually regains control. The intense glow in his red eyes begins to fade; he pulls his fangs out of her neck, feeling his mind much clearer.
"Ha... ha... ha..." Lucien breathed heavily, leaning on one hand as he looked up at her. A thin trickle of blood ran down the corner of his mouth, mixing pain, adrenaline, and something he couldn't describe.
Arlene watched him from below, tilting her head slightly, like a predator assessing its prey.
"Heh... you really have good control over your vampiric instincts."
Her smile curved with dangerous mischief, and her eyes danced with a sparkle that betrayed both amusement and interest.
"But the test isn't over yet..." She moved a little closer, her voice, almost a whisper, brushing against his skin. "Let's see if you can resist the pleasure."
Lucien struggled to regain a shred of rationality. His expression tightened, his brow furrowing, on the verge of replying, but...
He didn't have time.
Arlene grabbed his chin firmly and sank her fangs into his neck without warning.
The sensation shot through him like a whip.
First, heat.
Then ecstasy so intense it nearly brought him to his knees.
Lucien stifled a moan, clenching his teeth as a chill ran down his spine.
Arlene's lips were relentless, and each sip she took seemed to strip away his rationality piece by piece.
His eyes began to shine again, more intensely, as if his instincts were trying to force their way out. His breathing became heavier; his fingers trembled, fighting against the primal urge that insisted on taking control.
Arlene, sensing that tension, smiled against his skin and drank a little deeper: "Mm~ interesting..." she murmured, as if she could read the conflict burning inside him.
Lucien closed his eyes tightly, clinging to his consciousness as if it were slipping through his fingers.
He had to resist.
He had to stay in control.
His heart was beating violently, mixing pain, pleasure, and a fear that kept him anchored to the edge of the abyss.
Even so... he didn't give in.
And although Arlene continued drinking, he managed to remain steadfast, without completely losing himself to instinct.