Another six months of torment passed.

  Six months of pain, endless training, and attempts to hold back the power inside him that tore outward like a starving beast craving flesh and moans.

  During this time, Drake finally learned to conceal his mana.

  He hid his aura — thick, heavy, saturated with demonic temptation, the kind that made women lose their minds.

  He managed to dull the pull of his gaze.

  And at st, he could live beside Moraena almost like a normal person.

  Almost.

  “You’ve got a head like oak!” the witch snapped irritably, smming her palm on the table. “I told you exactly how this weave should look!”

  On the table y a complex diagram — a magical scheme where dark and demonic magic intertwined: red and bck threads pulsed like living veins, oozing something dark and oily in pces.

  Drake stared at it as though it were a map of a mad byrinth.

  “I can’t memorize all this!” he groaned, rubbing his temples. “This is some kind of hell. Why is it so complicated…”

  Moraena struck him on the head without hesitation — sharply, but not hard.

  “Because you’re too zy to think!”

  He winced and rubbed the back of his head.

  “And stop getting distracted.”

  She narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms under her breasts — causing the heavy mounds to rise even higher, stretching the thin fabric of her dress to its limit.

  “I can see perfectly well where you’re looking.”

  Drake sharply averted his gaze, feeling the fabric of his pants tighten below his stomach.

  “I’m not looking.”

  “You are.”

  “I’m not!”

  “Then focus.”

  He took a deep breath and stared at the magical diagram again.

  Over these months he had made incredible efforts to learn to control himself.

  And Moraena, as if on purpose, kept testing his endurance.

  She began dressing even more provocatively: dresses with plunging necklines where her heavy breasts were barely held by thin fabric; slits up the thighs all the way to the top, revealing pale skin and the hint of no underwear with every step.

  “Good job,” she said after a while, with a slight smile. “Now you at least look decent and aren’t staring openly.”

  Drake smirked — low, with a slight rasp in his voice.

  “Got it. If I can withstand the assault of such a beauty, I’ll handle the rest without any problem.”

  Moraena jabbed him with her elbow — hard, but smiling, causing her breasts to sway and brush against his arm.

  “And stop channeling mana into your voice.”

  Drake flinched.

  “What?”

  “You did it again.”

  She looked at him sternly — but something warm flickered in her eyes.

  “Incubus tricks don’t work on me.”

  He smiled — slowly, predatory.

  “Another year, Moraena… and you won’t be able to escape me.”

  She grabbed the book lying nearby and hit him over the head several times — not painfully, but audibly.

  “Overconfident idiot!”

  Drake just ughed — deep, vibrating ughter that sent shivers down her spine.

  But inside Moraena, everything was far from calm.

  She felt herself growing more attached to him with every passing day.

  It was foolish.

  Dangerous.

  Hopeless.

  In nearly a hundred years of her life she had never been with a man.

  Her curse made everyone who looked at her see a hideous monster — rotting flesh, protruding bones, empty sockets oozing bck slime.

  Everyone.

  Except him.

  Sometimes she caught herself thinking:

  What will happen if one day he sees the truth?

  If one day he sees her the way others see her?

  Will he be able to accept it?

  Or will he simply leave…

  That thought painfully squeezed her heart.

  If that happens, I won’t be able to go on living.

  Suddenly Drake rose from the chair.

  She didn’t even have time to say anything.

  He stepped closer and wrapped her in a strong embrace.

  Moraena froze.

  She was a tall woman — confident, strong, with heavy breasts and wide hips.

  But beside this nearly two-meter-tall young man she suddenly felt fragile, small, a girl in love.

  He leaned closer and quietly whispered in her ear — hot, low, scorching her skin:

  “I love you.”

  Her heart raced so violently it felt like it would burst from her chest.

  She closed her eyes for a moment.

  “I love you too…”

  But a second ter she sharply pulled herself together.

  She snapped her fingers.

  Magic instantly forced Drake back into the chair, pressing his head to the book.

  “There. Much better.”

  She resumed her stern expression — but her cheeks burned, and between her thighs wetness seeped, which she tried to hide by squeezing her legs together.

  “Now nothing will distract you from studying.”

  Drake lifted his head and smirked — his eyes glowing red.

  Moraena shook her head, but her lips trembled into a smile.

  “Ladies’ man.”

  But inside her a fire was already raging.

  She wanted him.

  She had long ceased to be just a witch.

  She was a woman who, for the first time in a hundred years, felt desired.

  And that feeling was more dangerous than any magic.