Liliette grimaced as a groggy groan escaped her lips. Her body felt unnaturally heavy, as though it had been filled with sand. The sunlight spilling across half of her face was irritating, and even the soft touch of the sun-dried pillowcase felt bothersome against her skin. She hadn’t been the one caught in the rain, yet she was the one bedridden.
It wasn’t a cold—it was the all-too-familiar torment of menstrual cramps. Irregular and unpredictable, they struck with unrelenting force every cycle. Groaning softly, she buried her face deeper into the pillow, trying to block out the discomfort. As she lay there, her misery was interrupted by a low, gentle voice.
“Liliette.”
A warm hand threaded through her hair. Vlad’s touch was soothing, each stroke along the back of her head tender, as if trying to lull her back to sleep.
