Page 20 of Cruel Vampire King

I shook my head, not willing to answer. My heart hammered in my chest and I found a good spot to stretch out on. What had that been? He wasn’t kidding when he said his magic could be erotic. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe he hadn’t exactly been trying to keep that eroticism contained…

***

It was dark when Greyson woke me. “Time for you to take watch,” he whispered. His face was close to mine. “Unless you want to slip off for a bit? Nobody will notice.”

I’d been dreaming of him—at least, his face. It had been Luken in that strange way that dreams were. There was still that earning in my core. I glowered at him as I pulled away.

“No, thank you,” I growled, harsher because of my physical arousal. It didn’t take long for me to get my body under control, but my mind was another story. It kept wanting to replay the images it’d dreamed… only with Luken’s real face.

Seriously, what was wrong with me?

Greyson leaned back on his heels. “Is there something wrong with me?”

I brushed my hair from my face and put it into a fresh braid. “Just because I’m saying no doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you.”

“Snarling as though the offer is offensive indicates something else,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “I’m a handsome guy. We’re in this forest without anyone else. We could both diein the morning. What’s so repugnant about wanting to have a quick fuck in the forest?”

“There are cameras on us,” I said, grabbing the hindquarters of one of the griffins. I tore the meat off the bones. “I told you before, I don’t want to end up on porn sites. So just leave it alone. Ysara’s been flirting hard with you. What’s wrong with her?”

Greyson grunted and shrugged, not looking at me this time.

Was he more of a douche than I’d thought? Could he really be trying to turn me on with his magic? I didn’t want to examine that too closely. Maybe I didn’t feel that electric pull toward him because I was unconsciously protecting myself. Not that I was comparing my attraction to him to the all-encompassing pull I felt toward Luken.

If I had any sort of self-preservation, I shouldn’t be attracted to either of them.

“Ysara’s already with someone. I’m not in for that sort of threesome,” Greyson muttered.

I frowned at him as I chewed and swallowed the tough meat. Only then did I realize that Thessa was the only sleeping figure in camp. I stiffened, looking around. Kael and Ysara were missing! My heart started to beat harder. Kael was supposed to have the map. Had they slunk off, betraying us?

“They left some time ago,” Greyson said coolly.

I understood the implications of his previous words. But I jumped to my feet anyway. “It’s not smart to go sneaking off. Stay here with Thessa.”

Part of me wanted to wake her up and drag her with me. If I didn’t feel safe with Greyson, why would Thessa be? But itwasn’t entirely that I didn’t feel safe with him. Even if he had tried to stoke my fires with his magic, I didn’t think he’d go any further than that. And I’d be back soon enough, to stop him from using his pretty mouth to get his way with her.

Besides, some arrogant part of me insisted that Greyson wasn’t interested in just anyone. He wanted me.

Our wolf-shifter and orc had left a clear trail through the forest. With the full moon overhead, the shadows were short, and the terrain easily traversed. Still, I heard them before I saw them. The grunts, the cries of pleasure. I hesitated before I crept to the edge of a cedar and peered through its branches.

They’d both discarded their clothes. Ysara straddled Kael, gyrating her hips wildly as she leaned against his chest. Their eyes were locked on each other, oblivious to the forest around them. A surge of something went through me, and I beat a hasty retreat. It wasn’t arousal; the sight did nothing for me. Whatever it was, it was the same reason I didn’t interrupt them, why even though I’d gone to bring them back to camp, I was leaving them.

Pity?

Jealousy?

As their cries of pleasure faded, my mind turned to Greyson’s offer. Was this really something that I needed to hold to? What did it matter what people thought about me? I’d been meticulous in preserving my modesty during the Trials. Hiding in bushes when I relieved myself, keeping myself covered when taking care of my injuries. I didn’t want people to look at me that way. It made me sick to my stomach to think of strangers jerking off while thinking about me.

I tried to imagine sex. Not with anyone in particular, just the act. When I’d first gotten my period, my mother had sat me down and explained the facts of life.Sex feels so much betterwhen you wait for marriage,she told me. I’d full-heartedly believed it. After her wedding, my oldest sister, Anna, had casually said that the first time was awful and she wouldn’t have waited if she’d known what it was like.

I would have gladly fallen in with Greyson at one point in my life. That time was long ago, though. Even Kael and Ysara taking advantage of what comfort they could from the physical act was outside of possibility for me. I’d trained myself not to react. I’d trained myself not to become aroused. I had a purpose.

Maybe I’d damaged myself too much to ever enjoy that sort of relationship. In the end, it didn’t matter. Because this wasn’t about me. It was never about me.

I snorted, annoyed at myself. I’d lost focus. Between Greyson’s flirting and Thessa’s innocence, I’d started to think of ways to end this without my team dying. Even Kael and Ysara, though I didn’t feel particularly bonded with them. We were getting closer to the end, when I’d have to kill them.

“Don’t get weak now, Elara,” I murmured to myself.

Arms wrapped around me. I gasped as I was pulled backward, a hand slapping over my mouth. I elbowed back instinctively, but whoever had grabbed me seemed to have anticipated this move. I was spun around, my elbow grazing nothing but air. Then, I was suddenly pinned against a tree. There was no pain, only pressure as two hands grasped my wrists and pinned them over my head. A rigid body pressed to mine.

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