Page 83 of Their Blood Queen

He catches me before I lose my balance, but now one of his hands is against the wall and his arm blocks me in. His other is looped around my waist, and one of his thighs is between my legs.

I stare up at him, stunned. The tang of blood is in my mouth from where I bit myself, and I lick my lips, waiting to see what he’s going to do.

I’ve never heard the name of my home village before, but my soul seems to recognize it.

His stormy blue eyes appear dark in the frail light of my bath parlor. His gaze bores into me as I stare back at my own reflection in his blown pupils. “You’re a prized selection, Scarlett,” he says as he leans in, his breath hot on my lips. “But you were never meant for monsters. You were meant for me.”

When he kisses me, I break.

Because no one has ever spoken my secret aloud. It’s always been shoved into a box, contained, locked away.

Edward knows about it.

And he wants me because of it.

When his kiss goes to my throat, I suck in a breath. He removes his thigh and I whimper, but I don’t know what has me so pained.

He goes lower, and when his tongue flicks past the mark above my navel, desire shoots straight to my core.

I don’t think. I act on instinct as I thread my fingers through his hair and guide him to where I want him.

Where I need him or else I’m going to implode.

When his tongue slides over my sex, I slam my head back against the wall again and close my eyes.

It feels wrong.

But right, too.

I’m so confused, I think as he thrusts his tongue over my entrance, making my hips buck with his movements.

“Tell me to stop, Scarlett,” he says as his breath over my sensitive nub makes my core throb. “Because I… I want this too badly to stop on my own. You’re not the only one affected by Cain’s blood.”

Right, the contract would go both ways. How callous of me not to realize that Edward is likely experiencing the same effects that I am.

Why should we suffer like this?

We’re in a courtship, are we not? It isn’t wrong to enjoy one another.

A little relief isn’t scandalous or unexpected. In just a few weeks’ time, I will accept him as my husband.

He will be inside me, so why can’t we just have a taste of the life waiting for us?

“Don’t stop,” I say, which must be all the encouragement he needs.

Because he closes his mouth over my clit and he sucks, hard.

“Cain!” I cry out, the word meant as a curse. I must completely black out at that point because everything turns dark, and before I know it, I’m deep inside my nightmares. Shadows unfurl around me as broken shards of glass flicker through the air.

I’m alone with the beast who wears Cain’s face, and his nostrils flare. I’m not sure if he’s scenting me, or angry.

“Hello, Scarlett,” he says. It sounds almost exactly the same as when Cain said those words in the ballroom.

I distinctly remember his hands around my waist and how he made me feel.

Like prey caught in a trap.

His beautiful, monstrous face stretches into a grin, showing sharp teeth. “You called?”

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