The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 408

The first thing I did was separate what I’d harvested. The aphrodisiac plant went on one side, the plants I had gathered on the way back on the other side. I worked methodically, trimming stems, sorting leaves by size, setting aside anything that didn’t look right.

Then, I pricked my finger. Just a drop of blood was all it would take. I pushed the blood out into a small dish and then started the distillation process.

The distillation process wasn’t complicated, but it required attention. I had a small portable burner I used for field work that I set up on the table, along with a glass beaker and a length of copper coil.

I got the first stage going and while it ran I started on the blending ratios. This was the part that required actual thinking, which was why I preferred doing it alone. I was so deep in my notes that I didn’t notice I’d moved the cloth aside on the aphrodisiac cuttings until my thumb caught on something sharp.

It was a quick, painful sting. I pulled my hand back instinctively and looked down.

A bead of blood was forming at the tip of my thumb where one of the thorns had caught me.

“Shit,” I muttered, recalling Melissa’s warning about the thorns. I quickly grabbed a cloth and pressed it firmly to my thumb, standing. I figured I should probably get to the clinic before the aphrodisiac set in.

But it hit quickly. By the time I made it to the greenhouse door, it was too late.

The warmth set in immediately. It was like someone had struck a match in my low belly, and the fire was quickly catching on all of my organs and tissues, turning everything hot and irresistible. I turned, biting my lip. My vision swam, and the room seemed to have double of everything as I looked around.

Goddess, even biting my lip brought pleasure into my hips, and I let out a low, involuntary moan as I dragged the flesh through my teeth.

So when he pulled me into his arms, drawing me away from the table, I let myself smile. Let myself lean into him. Let my head fall back and let a laugh bubble from my throat.

Because it wasn’t real, right?

“Gideon,” I whispered as he hooked one arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his body. “Gideon…”

But what I didn’t know until it was too late, until he had already heard my soft moans and the way I whispered his name, was that it was real. All of it was real.

I only realized that Gideon was truly standing in front of me, holding me firmly with concern in his eyes, when he lifted my hand to his mouth and gently sucked on the wound.