Page 71 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

The thought had not occurred to me. I had to admit that wasn’t a message I wanted to send. That didn’t mean I was willing to risk her safety. Did my mate command the power of the Rio Oscuro? Yes. But even powerful queens had bodyguards.

“I never said I was going alone,” she said with a soft snort. “Aurelia will come with me.”

“We have no idea what powers have awoken in the Council. All of those vampires are fucking ancient, my love.” I slid my hands under her, pulling her to the edge of the bed so I could rest the side of my face on her thigh. The contact soothed some of the ragged panic I felt at this plan, but nothing could soothe it completely until it was over and done with.

“Your mother included,” she pointed out, “and she’s still on our side.”

“But she will not risk her neck publicly. She’s made that clear. You can’t rely on her aid if shit hits the fan.”

“I think she would help me.” Thea stroked my hair, her gaze lowering to the mark on my chest — her mark. “Our lives are bound together. She knows that. And you will know if something is wrong. You will feel it.”

But would there be enough time to reach her? “Thea,” I said her name quietly, “the night that Willem took you...”

She stilled, her breath catching, her hand hovering over my hair.

“Our bond was faint with the distance.”

“It’s stronger now,” she interjected. “I don’t think the distance will matter.”

“Maybe not,” I agreed, but that wasn’t the point I was trying to make. “It was faint, and then it was gone. You were gone.” It had felt like my soul was being shredded, like I’d been left to bleed out as half of my very being had been ripped away. “There was no light then, only darkness. Despair. I can’t bear the thought of feeling that way again, of wondering if you are alive. But more than that, that darkness…”

The monster I had become then was nothing compared to the power thrumming inside me. Darkness. Death.

She was quiet for a moment. Even her mind was blank. “You are still you,” she said gently. “And if you have been a monster in the past, you’ve had your reasons. I know and trust you.”

I knew what she meant, and if Thea could trust me, I needed to trust myself, even when part of me howled to protect her.

“And I trust you with everything,” I whispered, turning my head to press a kiss to her soft thigh. “I trust you with my life, my soul, my magic.” I kissed her again, moving higher up her leg. “You are my Queen.”

“And you are my king,” she murmured.

Looking up at her, our eyes met, and I saw the same molten need I felt burning there. I yanked her closer, leaving her ass hovering dangerously close to the edge of the bed. Without breaking eye contact, I shifted, freeing my hands so I could undo the sash of her robe. It fell open to reveal the creamy valley between her breasts, down to the flat plains of her stomach that disappeared where her thighs still pressed together.

“I serve you,” I murmured as I placed my hands on her knees and urged her legs open wider. She tangled her hand in my hair, leaning back on her other hand to steady herself as my head dipped lower. Her scent hit me, and I growled as bloodlust rushed through me. I would let her go. I would trust her. But that didn’t mean that I had to like it. It didn’t mean that my instincts weren’t roaring at me to fight, to protect, to claim. There was only one way to quiet them.

Shadows deepened as I drank the sight of her, the smell of her, in as deeply as possible. Sliding my palms up her thighs, I savored the heat and the magic seeping between our bare skin, dark and light mixing until it became something entirely ours.

I guided her knee over my shoulder, and her breath hitched. Our eyes locked as I lowered my mouth to taste her. Sliding my hand up, I pinned her to the bed, licking and nipping. She shifted restlessly, her hand tightening in my hair, her teeth biting into her lower lip as my tongue worked itself more deeply inside her.

So beautiful.

“More,” she moaned.

I obliged. Not stopping when her thighs clamped around my head. Not stopping when her whimpers turned to begging. When I finally lifted my eyes, the world was dark. Thea pried one eye open languidly, beckoning me with a finger and a languid, wanton smile. I rose, shoving down my loose silk pants. Her eyes hooded at the sight of my erection, and I allowed myself a smug smirk.

“Like what you see?” I asked before lowering my body over hers.

She bit her lip and nodded. My cock fell heavily between her open thighs, and I could feel her wet heat calling to me. She propped herself on one elbow, the room filling with her sweet Jasmine scent. “What are you waiting for?”

I smirked at the impatience in her tone.

“Go to the Council without me, but I’ll be damned if you leave this room without my scent all over you, ” I purred as rolled my hips, brushing my crown along her swollen seam.

Her answering smile was feline. With her palms she pushed me onto her back, twisting to straddle me. Folding my hands behind my head, I let her take charge. Her copper hair fell like a curtain over her shoulders, and if I had any doubt that she was a real, fucking Goddess, it vanished as she sank onto me and began to ride.

“”Maybe I should mark you,” she simpered, tugging her teeth between her teeth as she moved on me.

I grabbed her hips, arching my hips to fill her more deeply. “You already have, but by all means… Keep going.”

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