Page 31 of Queen of Vampire Hearts

Running and hiding from the most powerful witches in the world was supposed to be impossible. They touted their scrying as all-seeing and all-knowing. In my head, I listed the necessary precautions I needed to install at the castle to protect my witch from any who would dare harm her or take her from our home. I needed to make a few calls and burn some of the millions of favors I’d accumulated over the years.

“When was this?” I asked.

How long was she on the run? How long was she alone?Her own kind was hunting my vulnerable mate while I was dying of boredom in this very castle. I wished I’d found and protected her sooner. I’d been selfish, only thinking of my boredom, my needs. If I was more like Erik, I would have scoured the globe for my mate and then searched other realms. But I didn’t, and she had suffered because of it. She had been alone and vulnerable. And I? I was mulling over a war or conquest in some pleasure den, hoping my boredom would not grow into true detachment.

“I was twenty-one when they sentenced me. It’s been a long ten years.”

Born immortals stopped aging when we were at the pinnacle of strength. Though the event that triggered the stop was different for each species. I’d stopped aging at twenty-nine, Cassandra at twenty-four. We were born with some of our race’s characteristics, but we didn’t blossom into our full powers until we were at our prime. It was rumored that witches didn’t gain their immortality or even their entire magical arsenal until some sort of strange initiation before the Council.

“So young.” I kissed the top of her head. “I wish I could have been there for you.”

She glanced up at me, her lips parting slightly. “What would you have done?”

“Killed them all for you.” Her bright eyes shimmered with emotion. My fangs filled my mouth at the thought of her being in danger. The tension returned in a rush, and the need to hunt and kill her enemies was foremost. I could taste their blood in my mouth and feel it dripping down my throat. I would make them say her name, so they understood the reason their lives would end.

My mind played the brutal images on a loop, and I blinked in surprise when she placed both of her hands on my cheeks. She turned me toward her, distracting me from the rage. She must have released her legs while I was imagining the various ways I was going to torture those that pursued her. Her soft touch on my face soothed me instantly, allowing my fangs to retract and the madness banging in my skull to recede. Her effect on me was swift and powerful.

Phoebe placed a soft kiss on my lips, almost unsure. “Thank you,” she whispered and kissed me again. She wrapped her arms around my neck and licked along my lower lip, deepening the kiss. I moved my hands to her waist, just barely stopping myself from yanking her on top of me. My fantasies of death and destruction quickly flipped to all the ways I was going to fuck her.

“For what?” I managed to ask between kisses.

She pulled back to look at me again, and I got lost in the lilac glow of her eyes. “I’ve never had anyone who made me feel even the slightest bit safe. Though we have things to work through,”subtlejangle of the cuffs, “thank you for making me feel safe.”

She shifted uncomfortably, as if annoyed at having revealed so much to me. Before she could withdraw, I kissed her forehead, both eyelids, nose, and ears. “You are always safe with me,regina mea.”

I was resisting going further, but she pulled me on top of her on the bed. She pressed her lips against mine urgently, snagging her tongue on my enlarged canine. At first, I thought it was an accident until she repeated the action, letting me suck the little droplets of blood from her tongue.

“Your blood is like a drug,” I said, hovering over her. I looked down at Phoebe, wondering again at this beautiful woman that fate declared was mine. It was humbling being mated to such a bewitching female. I would guard her with utter ruthlessness.

Phoebe’s hands slipped beneath the waistband of my briefs, but I stopped her, circling her wrists with one of my hands. “I will not claim you, Phoebe. Not until there is trust between us.”

I could barely believe I had the strength to utter the words. Everything in me was screaming for me to claim her, that she was mine. It took far more willpower not to take her than I cared to admit. Especially with the way her eyes were glowing and her breasts were barely concealed in the gown. My cock was like steel, and I wanted inside her,neededinside her, but I couldn’t. She needed to trust me. I couldn’t let this mean nothing, and I knew she thought our coming together now would just be an exchange of pleasure. I couldn’t let it be that. It needed to be more.

She pouted. “What does trust have to do with sex?”

I cradled her face again, letting my lower body imprison hers, her hands bound by one of mine above her head. She was at my mercy, her body begging for me, my hardness lining up with her softness. We fit together seamlessly. “It would not bejustsex between us.”

When I claimed her, I would sink my fangs into her neck while pounding into her body, our scents morphing, changing, becoming one. Most vampires would be able to identify her as their queen by scent as if me being at her side wouldn’t be clue enough. There would be no going back for either of us. It was not a decision to be made lightly or impulsively.

Her lips pressed into a line of suspicion, her voice deepening. “Are you hoping that I’ll become so desperate that I’ll beg for it?”

I groaned at the idea, already picturing it, preferably on her knees, with a collar around her throat. She would spread her legs slightly, rocking her hips, pushed past all control, begging for my cock.

“As arousing as the image of you begging for my cock is,” I said, punctuating my words with another groan. “We must wait. You must be sure.”

She tipped her head slightly, biting her lip in that maddening way. “Sure about what?”

I pressed a sweet, lingering kiss to her lips. “That you want all of this, that you want to be queen.”That you wantme.

Phoebe frowned, and I kissed her down-turned lips again. I couldn’t stop touching her, kissing her, reassuring myself that she was here. “That doesn’t mean we have to live like monks in the meantime.”

She licked her lips, and her eyes sparkled as she whispered, “Oh? And what did you have in mind?” Her entire body blossomed for me. She arched her back, wiggling her hips beneath me. I knew she felt my cock when she gasped and then tried to rub herself against me.

My hold on her wrists remained. With my free hand, I grabbed the silk tie from the nightstand, looping it around her wrists and anchoring it to the bed. I needed to be able to think, and I couldn’t do that if she touched me. I expected her to balk at yet another binding, but she purred, her eyes glowing brighter. It was obvious that she liked it. If there was any doubt that she was my mate, it was put to rest. She was a perfect female. I took a step back from the bed from the moment, my cock clearly outlined in my briefs, and her eyes fell to it. She bit her lip, rocking her hips again.

Since she submitted so sweetly, I would reward her with a glimpse. I hooked a finger in my briefs, drawing them slowly down my legs, feeling her gaze on me. I stroked myself, watching as she licked her lips again, arching toward me with a soft moan of need. The sound of her hunger threatened my control. I leaned over and, using a single claw, I sliced down the gossamer material of her gown, careful not to touch her. The silk slid from her body and pooled beneath her. She struggled slightly against the tie, wanting to reach for me.

“Put your knees up and spread your legs,” I ordered, moving to the base of the bed, lightly touching myself again.

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