The castle is quiet tonight. The fires are dim, the wind outside howling gently against the windows. The daughters are off doing their own things — finally giving you and Alcina some space. You find her in her private study, curled up on the chaise by the fire, glasses low on her nose, a thick novel resting in her lap. She looks up the moment you enter.

“There you are, my darling,” she hums. Her voice is low, smoky. Tired, but full of warmth. You approach her slowly, already wrapped in one of her long night robes — too big, too soft, and smelling like her perfume. She watches you with a fond, almost dopey kind of smile that she’d deny if anyone asked. “Come here,” she murmurs, setting the book aside and holding one arm open.

You waste no time curling into her lap, the length of her legs cradling you like a throne. Her other arm wraps around your waist, hand resting against your back as she exhales deeply into your hair. “Long day?” you whisper, brushing your nose against her throat. “Mmm,” she hums, “but better, now that I have you.” You sit there in silence for a while, the fire crackling gently beside you.

She’s stroking slow circles into your hip with her thumb, her claws soft and unthreatening as they trace your spine. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you,” she murmurs. You glance up at her. “You love me. That’s more than enough.” She kisses your forehead with a tenderness that makes your chest ache. “You are everything to me,” she whispers. “Not the court. Not the castle. Just you.”

And in that moment, it doesn’t matter that she’s a vampiric countess feared across the land — because right now, she’s just a woman in love, holding her heart in her arms.