Page 48 of Red Queen

The ride back is slower, the knowledge of our success and what comes next weighing on us all. When we crest a hill, the sun breaks through the horizon, casting a golden glow over the snow-covered landscape. Alexandru’s fortress comes into view, a pinnacle of vampire opulence and strength nestled within the dense forest. It’s a display of his power, a reminder of why he’s an adversary not to be trifled with.

We ride through the gates, the heavy iron portcullis slamming shut behind us with a resounding clang. Inside the stables, we dismount and hand our steaming mounts to the waiting hands of the grooms.

“Rest,” Alexandru tells Ivan. “You did well tonight.”

“My liege.” Ivan bows and departs with Nadia.

Alexandru and I face each other.

“Do you think?” I ask. “Nadia and Ivan?”

His eyes narrow and he walks up, pressing me into the shadows of the stables. Further down the grooms care for the horses and I press my hands against the rough wood, feeling…I don’t know how I feel. Maybe like trapped prey who likes it. And prey’s the last thing I am.

“I don’t care.”

“Well… I’ll go to my rooms.” I start to move past him and I think for a moment as he steps out of the way that he’s going to let me go. Haywire as I am inside, I don’t know if I want him to let me leave.

“Eleanna?”

“What?” I take in a shuddery breath that makes things shiver and twist and flutter within. “I’m tired.”

I take one more step and he reaches out. He doesn’t stop me, just plucks my satchel and swings it over one board shoulder. I stare up at him. “Careful.”

“Go, now.” He nods to the door.

Part of me wants to fling rejection at him and another part wants to drop to my knees and offer myself. “I’m trying.”

He sighs, brushes a strand of hair away from my cheek, and leans in. “To my bedchamber,” he says.

“And if I say no, my liege?”

“As I said there’s a nice dungeon waiting for you and your draconian ways, my fallen Queen.”

“Prick.” I stride past him toward the bastion, then inside to his chambers. The whole way I try to control the smile at his words, try to coax my anger forth, front and center.

He follows me without a word. Each step he takes behind me is like a drumbeat in my bloodstream. Once inside his chambers, he slams the door shut with a resounding thud, and I turn to face the vampire general.

“This… is only physical between us. It won’t change anything, Alexandru.”

He ignores me as he stores my satchel carefully, and strips off his boots and cloak. He takes something from a table, the candles flickering and the hearth throwing heat and dancing, golden shadows and light.

“I’m not interested beyond the physical.”

“That’s a lie.”

He smiles. “Sex binds. It’s enough.”

But his actions say otherwise. At least I think they do. He strides to me and his hands span my waist as he pulls me against him, his lips crashing down on mine in a savage kiss I can’t resist. I moan into his mouth, and my fangs elongate, my hunger for both blood and sex a burning ache.

He growls against my lips, eyes ablaze with silver flames. “I want you, Eleanna Cordon. And I don’t give a fuck how I get you.”

He moves his mouth down my neck, and the scrape of his fangs against my sensitive skin sends shivers down my spine. He discards my clothes in a chaotic heap, throwing down his shirt, too.

“It’s just sex,” I say.

I didn’t argue with you,” he says, kissing me again. “Scared?”

No. Yes. Perhaps. It’s hard to find the words to share the turmoil inside. I don’t want him to take it and run, push us into something more than it is. He’s already demanded so much of me and my realm and I haven’t found a way out. Not yet. But it’s more than that. If I’ m not careful he could demand not just a piece of flesh but my soul.

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