In Lines Of Love ~ Kimchay

65. Bigger Fish in the Water

Kimhan...

He's called the Deadliest one for a reason, right?

But even among the Theerapanyakul bloodline, Kim was also the most stubborn. The kind who never bowed, never yielded, even when the old ones like Korn commanded him to.

And this group of hunters, led by Kittisawasds, the same faction Porsche once crawled out from....he hated them.

He fucking hated humans.

But this particular human, Younger brother of Porsche Pachara Kittisawasd, Porchay Pichaya Kittisawasd… this petty, reckless hunter… was driving him insane.

First, Porchay dared to attack his brother. Then his sire and not just anywhere but during the most sacred Theerapanyakul ceremony under the Crimson Moon.

How dare he?

To Kim, his sire and brothers were everything. His family, his blood, his vow. And this human, this fragile creature with a pulse pumping with pride, wanted to destroy it all with some false idea of justice?

He scoffed bitterly. Quiver at the memory that led heat going down to his groin.

Porchay.

Porchay was wrong about everything. About the Theerapanyakul, about the curse, about the balance between man and night.

Kim wanted him dead this time not played with, not chased dead.

Enough of this Tom and Jerry.

But ever since that night, ever since the ceremony was interrupted by the rain of silver bullets and the stench of burning flesh, Kim couldn’t stop thinking about one thing.

That smell.

The sweet, metallic scent of Porchay's blood. It was tinged with iron, yes, but there was something else something aromatic, something that made every fiber of his dead body twitch with hunger.

At first, he thought it was disgusting. The scent of prey should never draw a Theerapanyakul in. They were highly disciplined, Yet the longer he stayed near it, the more it became… infuriatingly intoxicating.

When he fell to the ground dazed, his body numb from the silver-infused bullets, he opened his eyes and saw Kinn, Porsche, and Tankhun helping him, forcing him back into consciousness.

And in the haze of smoke and chaos, he saw him.

Pichaya.

The hunter lay sprawled across the white tile, weapon knocked from his grasp, chest rising and falling slowly. His face was strangely peaceful.... too peaceful for a man who had caused so much ruin.

Strands of hair fell across his brow, his lips slightly parted breathing softly like he was the innocent in all of this?

He didn’t look harmless… but he didn’t look like a monster either.

Kim could hear his heartbeat, smell the rhythm of life pulsing through his veins. His body moved on its own Until his hand reaching out, fingers trembling inches away from that fragile warmth... He could just—

A firm grip stopped him.

Kinn.

The elder Theerapanyakul voice was low, commanding. “Enough.”

Kim blinked, the trance breaking, and allowed himself to be pulled away to safety, to restraint.

But as they retreated into the shadows, he couldn’t help glancing back. The image of Porchay.. Porchay.. Porchay... Chay burned in his mind... the soft chest rising with every breath, that faint pulse echoing through the air.