2.5

She let out a long and displeased moan, protesting at that annoying feel of her head hurting so much. It felt so big and inflated she swore it would pop off after just a little bit of pressure added.

Her eyelids were still closed yet as she slowly regained awareness and feel in her limbs, a swift and scorching wave of heat warmed her from the inside out, leaving a trail of dampness all over her skin.

She bit back a tired yawn and only then did she realize how scratchy and dry her mouth and throat felt, her instincts pushing her to hunt for at least a drop of water. She was parched. Completely dehydrated.

So she tried to stretch out her numbed limbs before anything else, her muscles straining as she tried and tried...to no avail.

Her brows furrowed, mere seconds before her eyelids snapped open, meeting a very unfamiliar ceiling. Its dull and weathered beige paint glared right back at her, giving her no hints whatsoever of where she could possibly be and what happened to her when the cooling touch of a small puff of air caressed her cheek, making her quickly turn her head and look.

She immediately regretted that rash decision as a merciless wave of pain and nausea hit her so hard that she saw stars, her vision clearing just so that she could meet those two violet and endless galaxies.

“Em-” her voice came out so scratchy and raw, effectively startling her out of using it as she continued to look at him until she finally became aware of that other body pressing into hers from the opposite side.

Having learned her lesson from that earlier mistake she chose to do it slowly this time, letting her head gently loll to the other side and have a look, meeting Meoni’s ever curious and interested gaze.

“Rise and shine, sweet-cheeks,”

She only groaned in response at that familiar greeting, dismissing that mild deja-vu sensation as another wave of nausea hit her, making her stomach roil unpleasantly.

“Fuck,” She let out an anxious whine after that nasty word, forced to tear herself away from that suffocating body-sandwich as her upset stomach started to demand it more firmly, urging her to find the closest spot where she could safely spill her guts out.

So she lunged forward and crawled on her hands and knees to the foot of the bed, that simple action causing so much strain on her already struggling body.

And with trembling arms, she leaned over the edge and dry-heaved a few times, her empty stomach rewarding her with a bout of stabbing pain after every convulsion.

It was settled. She swore to never get drunk again, no matter how pleasant or relaxing its immediate effects. Its aftermath was absolutely brutal.

She pulled herself back a little once she was sure that her stomach wasn’t going to try and push out her insides again, feeling those tiny dots of perspiration kissing her temples and upper lip as she sat on her haunches and breathed out her exhaustion.

*Sweet Jesus.*

Both Meoni and Emerick watched the little human with growing concern as she struggled so valiantly to overcome whatever was plaguing her feeble body.

Her slender and petite figure trembled ever so slightly, making her appear more fragile than ever as her skin had also gotten a corpse-like yellowish hue.

She leaned back over the edge as her stomach performed another spasmodic motion, the BloodHound sensing that abrupt decrease in her blood pressure milliseconds before she lost balance. But before she could even begin to fall he was right there with her, halting her dangerous descent by grabbing the back of her dress with one quick move.

Madeleine’s lips parted to let out another tormented moan, hearing that familiar hiss in her ears whilst black dots clouded her vision, partially severing her grip on reality. She knew what was about to happen. It’d happened to her so many times before, after days of starvation. She was about to faint.

She could feel her heart beating so fast within her chest in a desperate effort to keep her conscious, her body shuddering from a cold shiver and her damp skin puckering with goosebumps right before Emerick pulled her in between his warm and comforting arms.

“Oh no! Is she dying? By the seven realms! I remember the Alpha telling me how feeble their bodies are! One disease here, one small jab there and they immediately waste away!” It was Meoni’s voice. She could still hear it even from beneath that stuffy hiss, her vision barely able to focus on Emerick’s blurred features gracing her from above.

“Puny damned creatures! I don’t want her to perish, I’ve already grown fond of her presence!”

At the sound of that, she made an incredible effort to turn her head and have a look at the princess, managing to notice how distraught she seemed.

She let out a tiny and amused snort. The princess thought that she was going to die! She really needed to explain to them what a hangover was.

“Please, laxian, is there something we can do to aid her?”

“Calm. She is not dying,” Madeleine’s shoulder vibrated from that gentle hum that was Emerick’s masculine voice, that same gentle hum and the feel of his skin against hers managing to soothe her a little.

“Her body is weakened from that toxin they call alcohol. It made its disastrous course through her system and now her organs are trying to recover from it,”

“I could offer her some of my blood,” he suggested after a moment, followed by the princess’ determined reply,

“Do it!”

“She has to accept it first,” Emerick’s brows pulled into a frown as his gaze rose to regard the illyrian princess. He didn’t like the idea of forcing Madeleine into anything.

*Never again,* he mentally swore, lowering his gaze back to the fragile little creature resting in between his arms, listening to the sounds of her harsh breathing and those increased heartbeats before he raised his hand and gently touched her cheek with his fingers, watching her eyelids flutter in response.

“Madeleine...” he didn’t get to finish that sentence as she immediately nodded, too desperate to even care about that excruciating pain she knew she was about to feel. She just wanted it to stop. The nausea, that looming haziness.

She felt like a rag-doll as right after her answer, Emerick didn’t waste a single second waiting and pulled her up against him in one quick move, making her kneel on the bed as his arms wrapped around her body like steely bands, one snaking underneath her breasts while the other wrapped around her lower stomach.

She could barely hold herself upright but that didn’t matter since she had her inhuman super-soldier holding her so tightly against him, those hard muscles pressing against her back in such a delicious way as she let her head fall back and rest against his shoulder.

Her droopy gaze casually fell on Meoni and she panted with anticipation, not having to wait for too long as before she could even realize what was happening Emerick had already sunken his fangs into her neck, making her whimper from the blinding pain.

She wanted to scream as loud as she could.

She couldn’t even fight or squirm though as she was already far too weakened for that but it didn’t matter. Because the very moment that hot liquid streamed into her system, she let out a breathless moan as a powerful wave of lust washed right over her.

He pupils dilated and her eyes widened, her heartbeat slowing down as she continued to look at Meoni.

Her nipples pebbled from underneath her flimsy dress and she wanted to mewl again, enticed by those familiar tingles in her lower stomach and nether regions. Her cheeks filled with heat as a trickle of wetness gathered at her core, quickly remembering that she still wasn’t wearing any panties -thanks to Laxian’s way of clothing.

*We really need to find some proper clothes to wear,* she passingly thought, still aware of the way Emerick was holding her captive in between his arms. Her breath was still coming out in powerful and harsh pants, not really surprised to feel that hardened length pressing at her lower back through their clothes as he firmly held her, refusing to let her go.

But that certain look in Meoni’s dark brown eyes, that all-too-familiar lustful glint and the way her lips mildly parted as she peered at them both from beneath her long lashes made her falter a little, definitely not having expected to incite such a reaction from her.

The princess rapidly mumbled something in laxian right before her gaze trailed over her body once, quickly followed by Emerick’s sharp and firm response thundering from right behind her ear.

“You do not have permission,”

*Huh? Permission to what?*

Madeleine’s brows furrowed a little, watching Meoni draw in a hearty inhale, her mildly tanned cheeks coloured with redness as she only continued to peer at her with that misted look in her eyes.

The princess licked her lips and visibly swallowed, feeling her own nipples poke at the thin material of her dress and that fleshy channel between her legs lubricate itself with a generous amount of liquid. She felt completely relaxed and ready for mating after that visual stimulation she’d just received.

And it smelled so...enticing. The scent of their little human’s arousal. Why was the BloodHound refusing to let her taste it? She wouldn’t hurt her. She would make her feel good. She knew that it would please her, she’d seen the way humans liked to please each other in those recorded motion pictures. She wanted to try it too. Her servants had offered her that kind of pleasure so many times before. She knew how good it felt.

*“Please, BloodHound. I wish to taste it. You can mate with her whilst I do it, I don’t mind,”* her head tilted to the side and she innocently peered back into the BloodHound’s starlit eyes, timidly biting her lower lip like she’d seen the humans do it.

She wanted to try. She wanted to experience exactly what she’d seen the humans do in those motion pictures called videos. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Why couldn’t they do it too? Their little human was already prepared for mating. She was cured of that poison now, thanks to the BloodHound’s powerful blood coursing through her system. And she seemed to be willing too. They could smell her. It was very strong, permeating the air between them.

She could also smell the BloodHound’s mating pheromones too, blending with the human’s and hers as well. And he smelled so inviting. He attracted her, just as much as Madeleine’s heady scent made her salivate. He was a potent and virile male, his Alpha-worthy qualities and prowess bringing out that innate need within her to mate with him. Have him impregnate her. Her body knew that he could offer her powerful and viable offsprings. That is if she were actually capable of procreating.

But he wasn’t her chosen or destined mating partner and they currently weren’t inhabiting Laxian anymore. They were on Earth. And laxian laws weren’t applicable here. *Thank the Alma Mater.*

They were...free. Free to do as they pleased. And she wanted to explore them. Both of them.

*“I can taste you too if you want me to,”* she meekly suggested, so interested in performing such a gratifying act for him whilst wondering at the same time what he would taste like on her tongue, inside her mouth. His skin, his seminal liquid.

Emerick’s jaw reflexively clenched after hearing the princess’ offer, his sharp and decisive answer coming right away.

“No.” He didn’t want her to do what those corrupted humans did to him back at the facility. They touched him without consent. And they forced him to do that to Madeleine too.

He was finally capable of understanding what those emotions were now. What he’d felt during his time there. He felt powerless. Feeble, even. Used and discarded. Degraded. As if he were an inanimate object.

It was what Madeleine felt when he did what he did to her. He knew that now. Why it felt so...wrong and evil. And why it made him feel such intense emotional distress.

_________________________

***Alma Mater- nourishing mother***