Page 46 of Blood of Two Crowns

Keres’ fangs sank deep into the delicate flesh of my neck, igniting something deep within my soul.

Each gulp of my blood was mirrored in the pulse in my clit as my orgasm continued to work its way through me. She released her bite only when the last of my orgasm passed, and as its haze lifted, the need to claim her in returnburned.

It felt like nothing short of a privilege to push this goddess on her back, to part her thighs, and gaze down at her pink,wetperfection. To witness her vulnerability. To receive her love.

I licked up every drop of delicious arousal dripping from her entrance before gently sucking her clit into my mouth as I slid two fingers inside of her to tease a spot I’d come to know well. I pressed upon the soft area just above her pelvis as I stroked the inner wall parallel to it, and my tongue flicked steadily against her clit.

The soft little cries and moans spilling from Keres’ throat, coupled with the wet noises of my fingers working her pussy was enough to have my own core clenching with need again. In under two minutes, her tight channel was spasming. Fluid rushed out of her, and I drank every fucking drop.

My fangs weren’t nearly as long as hers, but they were just as sharp. Before her orgasm waned fully, I made my mark against the thick flesh of her inner thigh. Keres whimpered as the fierce clenching of her core renewed.“I love you.”

Chapter

Twenty-Five

MAREINA

I’d been less resistant this time when Asterion had urged me to feed. The effects of his blood were unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. I’d been dying to ask, but the male seemed so plagued by whatever was already going on inside his mind that I couldn’t bring myself to add to it by potentially stirring up the long-buried emotions tied to his origins.

This time, I’d managed to feed from him without tearing out any chunks of flesh, and we’d both dutifully suppressed the symptoms my venom induced. For the first time since I’d arrived to Vassileo, I felt some modicum of peace.

Asterion and I laid on the couch in one of my rooms, reading together with my head at one end and his head at the other, and our legs comfortably twined together. The comfort, intimacy—however platonic—and familiarity of the position managed to reduce the constant pain in my chest and the tether between me and my mates to a dull, throbbing ache.

The book I’d managed to dig up in Azrael’s library was breathtakingly licentious and proved a worthy distraction from my recent celibacy.

The presence of one of Azrael’s palace staff had Asterion and I peeking over the tops of our books at one another. At the sound of their knock, I called them in.

A hooded figure appeared, reminding me somewhat of my father’sPharalaki. Except, apparently, these ones could speak. And in a surprisingly feminine voice.

“His Majesty requests your presence in his study.”

Well, that’s a first.

Since I’d arrived, I’d barely seen the male.

My gaze slid back to Asterion, whose brows were now lowered with unmistakable concern, instantly winding the tension in my chest. “I’ll come with you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these statues…,” I remarked, gazing up at the towering stone effigies lining every—single—wall. All of depicting the same female. Asterion gave a noncommital grunt, throwing the statues a cursory glance before his gaze returned to the palace staff member leading us to Azrael’s study.

“Do you know who it is? Are they sculptures of someone real or…?”

“They’re of hissoulbound.”

My brows leapt. “Where is she?”

Asterion shrugged a single shoulder, the thing bigger than my actual head. “No idea.”

Ouch.I rubbed absently at my chest, just above where the rhyton was buried, as the pain in my chest burned anew at the reminder of my own soulbound.

I shifted my gaze from the creepy effigies to Asterion. The male was, at the best of times,dour.But this? The rigidity of hismuscles, the tension carving into every feature? Was definitely not the norm.

“Are you ok?”

Asterion’s gilded gaze snapped to mine. “Yeah, why?”

“Ever since Azrael sent for me, your scowl’s become…. significantly morescowl-ly.”

A corner of Asterion’s mouth quirked, relieving a fraction of the tension in his features. When he held out his hand, I placed mine in his, and he tugged me into his side. “Sorry. I just… anything that involves Azrael puts me on edge.Azraelputs me on edge.”

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