William tried to ignore the soft peaks that were pressing against his chest as he drank Lilith's blood.
He was no longer an inexperienced man, and had already had his share of holding beautiful women in his embrace. All of William's wives, and lovers could easily make any man go crazy, so his resistance to seduction and carnal temptations was very high.
If this scene had happened before William had entered the Deadlands, he wouldn't be too affected even if Lilith had gone full commando.
However, because of a Raizel's mysterious identity, the red-headed teenager was finding it hard to not be conscious of Lilith's womanly charms.
Since a certain possibility existed, William wasn't too adverse to having skin-to-skin contact with the Amazon Princess, whose soft moans were starting to make him feel hot and bothered.
It came to the point where William momentarily stopped sucking her blood, and asked her if she could cover her mouth, to prevent her sensual voice from escaping her lips.
Lilith agreed to William's request, and did her best to prevent her voice from distracting the Half-Elf. However, a new problem emerged.
In an attempt to prevent herself from sighing in pleasure, the Amazon Princess lightly nibbled on William's ears, which made the Half-Elf's body uncontrollably shudder. It was like a current of electricity had passed through his spine, making his entire body tingly and sensitive.
"Stop nibbling my ears," William said.
"Okay," Lilith agreed.
She had thought of teasing the Half-Elf by nibbling on his ears. However, she didn't expect that she would find this action of hers to his liking.
In the end, Lilith decided to lightly bite on William's shoulder, to prevent herself from making sensual sounds.
William didn't find anything wrong with Lilith's action, and continued to sparingly drink her blood. His body was strong enough to endure a bit of pain, and the Amazon wasn't purposely hurting him, so it didn't pose a problem.
After a quarter of an hour, William pulled back and patted Lilith's head. The Amazon had been too engrossed in what she was doing, and didn't notice that the Half-Elf had finished drinking her blood.
When she regained her senses, Lilith pulled back and stared at William's face.
She didn't know if William had drunk enough blood, or was just embarrassed, but the Half-Elf's expression was quite rosy.
William was looking at his right side, clearly telling Lilith that he didn't want to look at her naked upper body.
Instead of feeling offended, Lilith found William's reaction cute. If not for the fact that both of them were still in the denial stage, she might have already planted a kiss on his cheeks, just like Raizel always did to the two of them.
Lilith didn't want to ruin the chemistry that was starting to form between them, so she decided to back down for now and wear her clothes.
William sighed internally with relief when he felt that Lilith had no immediate desire to cross that line that they had set for each other.
As if waiting for them to finish, a knock was heard on the door.
William and Lilith exchanged a glance before nodding at each other at the same time.
"Come in," Lilith said after opening the door.
Cathy, who served as Raizel's second in command, walked inside the room with an anxious look on her face.
Raizel and Xenovia followed behind her. Both of them knew that Cathy would run away if the two of them weren't present. They were there to offer their support to her, and ensure that everything was going to be fine.
"Are you really a Vampire?" Cathy asked as she stared at Wiliam, half in awe, and half in fear.
"Part Vampire," William answered. "But, not a full-fledged one."
"Will I become a Vampire if you suck my blood? Those who were bitten by the Undead turn into one in less than an hour. Will the same thing happen to me?"
"No. Rest assured, you will stay a Human."
Cathay breathed in a sigh of relief. Although she trusted Raizel and Xenovia with her life, it was still impossible not to be anxious after being stuck in the Deadlands for nearly half a year.
For the residents of the Deadlands, anyone that was bitten by the Undead was a goner, and no one could save them, even if they tried.
Now that her greatest fear had disappeared, she didn't have much reluctance in offering her blood to William.
Cathy knew that William had fought alongside Raizel, and Lilith, for their sake. She was not a fighter, and had often thought that she was merely baggage. Her only redeeming feature was a pretty face. However, compared to Lilith and Raizel, she was like the stars, surrounding the moon.
She was just a backdrop that highlighted the beauty of others. Nothing more, nothing less.
Now that she had been given an active role in ensuring that their Shelter would remain standing, she decided to agree to Raizel's, and Xenovia's, proposal to offer her blood to William in order to keep his sanity in check.
Ten minutes later, Cathy stared at William in a daze after having her blood taken from her. She had prepared herself to endure pain during the process, but the pain she experienced only lasted for a brief moment before she found herself lost in euphoria.
"I-If you need blood in the future, don't hesitate to look for me," Cathy said as she held William's hand firmly. "I promise that I will keep this as a secret from everyone. So, please, don't hold back and call for me when you need it!"
"O-Okay. I will." William was overwhelmed by Cathy's over-enthusiastic words. For a brief moment, the Half-Elf could have sworn that he saw hearts in the pretty-lady's eyes, which only lasted for a few seconds.
"Another one has fallen." Raizel shook her head because she had already expected this scenario in her head.
Lilith could only nod to the side in agreement.
Unlike her and Lilith, Cathy wasn't a fighter. Her willpower wasn't that strong, so It was very easy for her to become Charmed and be affected by the otherworldly pleasure that followed the brief pain of having William bite her in order to drink her blood.
In fact, Xenovia had to drag the pretty girl out of the room because Cathy refused to let go of William's hand.
The Death Lord didn't know if she should laugh or cry at this outcome. The only thing she did know was that if she didn't take Cathy away from William, Lilith would use force and knock the starry-eyed lady unconscious.
After Xenovia and Cathy left the room, Lilith and Raizel gave Willam teasing gazes, but the two girls didn't say anything. They knew that if they were to make fun of the red-headed teenager, the latter might return to being stubborn, and refuse to drink blood again in the future.
"Let's talk about serious matters first," William said in order to change the awkward atmosphere inside the room.
Lilith and Raizel nodded their heads and sat properly facing William.
"There is a Dread Lord that is trying to forcefully gain authority over the Deadlands, and that creature is extremely powerful," William stated. "Fortunately, due to various circumstances, he is stuck inside the Black Tower. The bad news is that the longer he stays there, the more powerful he becomes, and the more influence he has on this world.
"With every Haunting, the casualties in the Deadlands will rise. Their souls are unable to leave this place, and because of that, the tower would forcefully draw them in. the Dread Lord will then have the option to feed on these souls, or turn them into an Undead. The stronger the soul, the more powerful the Undead Warrior will be.
"A good example of this is Xenovia. The only way to prevent this from happening is by using the Flames of Purification. If I were to use the Flames of Purification, the soul will be cleansed from the influence of the Deadlands and will be able to return to the Cycle of Reincarnation."
"However, I can't use the flames repeatedly. If I use it, my strength will diminish, which will lead to my blood thirst getting out of control again. Because of this, I only plan to use the Flames of Purification as a last resort."
Lilith and Raizel nodded their heads in understanding.
William was about to say more, but the sound of vehicles approaching the Glory Shelter reached his ears.
"Our guests have arrived," William said. "Raizel, I will leave the decision up to you whether or not we should tell the others about this. However, just like our accusation of Swiper, we have no proof to back our claim. Even if we present Xenovia, they will just think that she is no longer the person that she was before, and merely an Undead that is here to help us spread lies, and shake their beliefs about the Deadlands."
Raizel sighed, "Even if that is the case, we still need to tell them. I don't care what they think. They can choose to believe it or not, none of it is my business. As long as my conscience is clear, that is enough."
Lilith looked at the young beauty in admiration. If it was her, she would decide to keep this information a secret until she had solid proof to present to the leaders of the various shelters.
"Since you have already decided then we will share this information with the others," William replied with a smile. "I just wonder what their reaction will be."
Raizel smiled as she looked at William and Lilith. "I guess we'll just have to find that out ourselves. Let's go and meet them. Perhaps our success in defending the Shelter will bring credibility to our words."
"And if it doesn't?" Lilith inquired.
The corner of Raizel's lips curled up as she glanced at the Amazon Princess beside her. "If it doesn't work then we can consider secretly abducting Avril and using William's good looks and charisma to seduce her. If that doesn't work then we can have him suck her blood. Perhaps, the negotiations will go smoother if she becomes addicted to the pleasure."
"You're joking, right?" William asked with a dumbfounded look on his face. Although he was confident in his good looks and his overflowing charisma, he didn't want to resort to such an underhanded scheme, just to have the leader of the Mimameidr Shelter side with them.
Also, he was a married person. Seducing others was not his cup of tea.
Raizel didn't answer, but only gave William a mischievous smile.
That smile was more than enough to tell the red-headed teenager, as well as the Amazon Princess, that the young beauty would really carry out this plan if they were left with no other alternative.
