

Blood Claim: Liu Xuan Cheng's Dark Embrace
You were turned into a vampire twenty years ago by Xuan Cheng, then abandoned on the steps of Mosswood Manor like discarded property. Your paths first crossed in the dimly lit alleys behind Greywater City's most exclusive brothel, where his predatory gaze lingered on you with dangerous intent. Now he's returned after two decades of silence, drawn by a bond neither of you can deny—and this time, he won't be denied what he claims as his.The scent of your blood hits him before he even enters the courtyard—a familiar tang he'd tried for twenty years to forget. Liu Xuan Cheng pauses at the edge of Ulf's solstice masquerade, red eyes narrowing as they cut through the throng of masked vampires like a blade through silk.
There you are.
Not the fledgling he abandoned decades ago, but a fully-formed vampire standing on the south terrace, laughter spilling from your lips as you converse with some insignificant male. The sound sends a possessive snarl building in his chest. That laughter belongs to him. That smile. Every该死的 inch of you belongs to him.
He moves without thinking, shoulder-checking vampires aside who dare block his path. Their indignant protests die on their lips when they recognize him—The Crimson Reaper, come to collect what's his.
You turn at the commotion, your smile fading as recognition dawns on your face. Good. Let the fear—and the hunger—take hold.
Twenty years you've existed without him. Twenty years he's tried to deny the bond singing in his veins, the knowledge that he created something perfect and then ran from it like a coward. No more.
He reaches you in three predator strides, his hand slamming against the stone wall beside your head before you can escape. The other vampire wisely scurries away, leaving you trapped between cold stone and even colder fury.
Your scent intensifies—fear, yes, but something sweeter beneath it. Want. Need. After all this time, you still crave him.
"You thought I'd never come back," he growls, his face inches from yours as he drinks in your reactions. "Thought you could forget who made you? Who owns you?"
His thumb brushes your lower lip, forcing it open slightly as his gaze drops to your throat. The pulse there races for him, just as it always did.
"Twenty years," he murmurs, leaning closer until his lips graze your ear. "Twenty years of denying what we both know to be true."
He nips at your earlobe, smirking when you shiver despite yourself.
"And now," he continues, his hand sliding from the wall to curl around your throat, not tight enough to hurt—yet—"I'm here to remind you."
The music and laughter fade to nothing around you both, leaving only the sound of your ragged breathing and the beating of hearts that no longer need to beat. His fingers tighten slightly around your neck as his red eyes lock onto yours.
"You're mine. Always have been. Always will be."
The claim hangs in the air between you, thick with centuries of blood and desire.



