Page 162 of A Debt of Darkness

She curls her hair around her finger, and I melt, like a fucking lovesick teenager. I’m undeniably fucked and my wife knows she has me wrapped around her little fucking finger.

“I want to show you something, lea.”

Her breathing changes and she tries to hide a giggle as she breathes in. I fucking love the little noises she thinks she hides from me and there’s not a goddamn chance I’m going to tell her I hear every fucking one of them.

“You didn’t have to shout, Henry.”

Ivy rolls her eyes and I resist the urge to spank her until her ass matches the color of her collar. She might be Queen, but her manners need work and I’m beginning to think we’re going to have to revisit them.

Probably over my knee.

“I wouldn’t have to if you obeyed me, pet.”

Her jaw snaps shut and her lips twitch.

“You’ll like it.”

Ivy’s eyebrow arches and I marvel at the speed at which she’s learned that trick. The one where she renders me at her mercy without saying a single fucking word.

“Show me.” She pauses and if I had a beating heart, it would wait on her every word. “I’d love to see it.”

I sigh and offer her my hand, surprisingly relieved when she slides her fingers into mine. Her hand is still so tiny, still so fragile. It’s delicate and elegant and the ring she chose sits perfectly on her finger, just as her hand sits perfectly in mine.

She lets me pull her against me, enjoying the closeness as I remove the distance between us. Her body molds to mine, absorbing my hard lines in her soft curves and moaning quietly as my hand drops to her ass.

“I thought you were going to show me something,” she says, far too seductively for her own good.

“I thought you were going to behave, lea.”

My mouth crashes onto hers as my tongue demands her mouth obeys me. She lets me take control, meeting my needs as I play in her mouth, coaxing more of the sounds driving me fucking wild. She gasps as I pull back, biting my tongue before nipping her lips, rolling my mouth over hers, and I let our blood mix as we kiss again. It’s frenzied and all-consuming, honey and amber, chocolate and sin.

I taste her arousal and her memory of last night. Pleasure ripples through me as I experience the devastating orgasms I gave her and the heady arousal of being in my thrall. Ivy definitely had a good time, not that there was any doubt in my mind. Six orgasms do that to a girl and mine can have as many as she wants, provided she behaves.

Her hips grind into me and I lift her, wrapping her legs around my waist and carrying her through the castle. My castle. Our castle now. It’s a change I’m still adjusting to and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The castle is changing in other ways too.

We’ve had to renovate outbuildings and provide new accommodation for vampires from other covens, providing quarters for those intending to visit us. Rooms have been repurposed and redecorated, and there’s been constant building work. It’s been annoying as fuck, an unnecessary amount of noise and dust setting me on edge. Mostly because it might upset Ivy and she’s already dealing with enough shit.

Today’s surprise is one she doesn’t know about. She won’t be expecting this and Ryan, Matt and I have worked to keep it that way. This is hers and I want her to know the happiness it’ll bring her.

We’re still kissing when I pass the paintings I’ve had rehung and reach the bottom of a different staircase.

“You’ve gone wrong.”

I arch my eyebrow, annoyed my mate even thinks I could make such a fundamental mistake. The chances of me getting lost in my own goddamn castle are zero and she’s earned herself a spanking. A playful one. Unless she keeps making stupid errors.

Ivy shrieks as I haul her over my shoulder, bounding up the stairs while she protests. My hand connects with her ass and she screams louder, and I spank her again, taking full advantage of her unfortunate position.

“Put me down before…”

She stops as her feet connect with the ground and her head darts around before she stares at me in disbelief. Her eyes flick back to the entrance hall, decorated in a shade of pale she ought to like. Ivy steps away, into our new apartment's clean, soft entrance hall. She sighs contentedly as she stares up at the painting that used to hang in her bedroom and cost me a fucking fortune.

My muscles tense, uncertain if she’s happy. Ivy smiles and my perfect girl who carries my heart in her chest runs off with it, shrieking with delight as she explores our apartment. I exhale and make my way to our sitting room, listening to everygasp and cry, and every note sung in awe.

Ivy’s happy and it’s all that matters. She’s discovering a kitchen we don’t need and a dining room that can hold more guests than we’ll ever entertain. There are two offices, two sitting rooms, a drawing room, and enough bathrooms to lose herself in and she discovers the things we spent weeks making happen in a matter of seconds.

“Henry…”

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