Page 72 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

She huffed a laugh, and I wondered what I’d done to deserve her—why fate had given me her. Her fingers ghosted down my chest, magic sparking in their wake. I felt it calling to my own, felt it burning through my veins—claiming me just as it had changed me. Sinking my fingers into her hips, I urged her harder, faster until her hands covered mine and filled me with the source of my life: her.

I threw my head back and growled as her power filled me, as it filled the air around us. My hips bucked up, and I filled her with my own release. Shadows wrapped around the shimmering gold. We were life and death. We were in eternity—a cycle with no beginning and no end.

We collapsed into each other’s arms, neither of us speaking as our ragged breath gradually returned to normal.

Thea traced the mark on my chest. “I’ll never get enough of you,” she murmured.

My arms tightened around her, knowing that soon I would have to let her go, soon she would face the Council without me. Burying my face in her hair, I breathed her in. “Neither will I, my love. Neither will I.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THEA

“I like this even less,” Julian grumbled.

I twisted my hair up, my eyes finding him in the mirror. “I know, but look at it this way, I’ll have more allies with me.”

His eyes remained shadowed. They’d been that way since we’d finally managed to pull ourselves from our bed in time for me to prepare for my audience with the Vampire Council. His newest annoyance was a message from Jacqueline informing him that she and Camila were coming with me to see to business of their own.

“I wouldn’t consider my sister an ally,” he warned. His mouth flattened into a grim line, but not before I saw a flash of fang. He was really on edge, but I loved him for fighting it.

“But Jacqueline is,” I said firmly, adding, “and Camila is in love with her, so she’ll listen to Jacqueline. Everything will be fine.”

He didn’t look convinced, and if I was being honest, I wasn’t entirely certain it would be. Julian arched an eyebrow, and I knew he’d caught that thought.

I wrinkled my nose. “Remind me to learn more about shielding my thoughts.”

“Why? I’d rather know what you’re thinking,” he said, coming up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned to kiss my shoulder. “Even if you’re just coddling me.”

“I wasn’t coddling you,” I protested, but I didn’t lift my eyes to his as I carefully applied lipstick.

“I’m on edge. You want to soothe my anxiety, but I’m being a baby.” He rested his chin on my shoulder.

“I never thought you were a baby!”

“I’m paraphrasing,” he admitted, “and I know you’re right. It’s just...”

“What?” I recapped my lipstick with a sigh and twisted around to face him. “You have your shields up—which is totally unfair, by the way. I can’t hear what you’re thinking.”

“You don’t want to know,” he said darkly.

“Ride or die,” I murmured, brushing the back of my hand down his face. He looked so haunted that I almost didn’t want to know, but that would get us nowhere. “You used to trust me more.”

“That was before I knew the Council might kill you,” he said in a low voice, devoid of the savage sensuality it usually contained. Now he sounded deflated as though the events of the last week had hollowed him out entirely.

“Why would they kill me now? What’s done is done. Magic is awake.” I shook my head, still not quite believing it. “It would just be petty to hurt me.”

“You don’t think the Council is petty?” He barked a harsh laugh. “Come on. You’ve met my mother. I think we’d be wise to heed her warning.”

I didn’t need to remind him that things were a bit more complicated where his mother was concerned. She might have been acting in our best interest, but she’d also lied to him for centuries. I didn’t blame him for his mistrust. I wasn’t certain I trusted her motives myself, but I was warming to the idea that Sabine Rousseaux might not like me, but she didn’t want me dead.

It was a win, if only by a very small margin.

“Exactly. I know what she told us.” His gaze seared through me, both searching and absent. “But don’t fool yourself into thinking she’s your ally when you meet with them. She will play her role well.”

“I won’t,” I promised. “But you forget I’m a Queen now. The Council won’t move against me.”

“You haven’t been coronated.”

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