Page 2 of Forced Vampire Mate

I sprang forward and swung. My fist cracked into Luken’s nose, sending him stumbling back.

“Ha!” I crowed. “Let’s see you try to force me to stay now!”

***

I hadn’t quite escaped the way I planned. Luken was still stronger and faster than I was. Our ensuing fight had almost been as pleasurable as the lovemaking—fucking—we’d done the night before.

“They’re waiting for you,” Marissa said.

I turned, taking a deep breath to settle my nerves. I’d been trained to be an assassin. I could get through this wedding without letting my true feelings show. Marissa’s glowing silver eyes lingered on me, a slight pinch between her eyebrows. She was one of Luken’s most loyal allies in the court and had sort of taken me under her wing, but I still couldn’t trust to confide in her.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said gruffly. I shook out my shoulders, rolled my neck, and plastered a smile on my face. “There. Can you tell I’d rather gouge out my eyes?”

Marissa smirked at me. “No. You look every bit the blushing bride.”

I had to laugh at that. Nobody would ever accuse me of being a blushing bride. I was ready, though. Marissa walked with me out of the bride’s room and through a low, covered tunnel toward the glade where I’d be married. Vampires didn’t have much for wedding traditions themselves. They tended to borrow from other cultures.

Luken had incorporated some human elements into our wedding. He’d even offered to have a selkie tradition, in honor of my distant selkie heritage. But I’d refused. So, we were having an elven wedding in honor of his mother.

Marissa left me at a set of doors leading to the glade and slipped away. I would be walking to the altar alone. Once I was alone, my heart started to pound even harder. Would Luken drag me down the aisle if I refused to go? Would he be furious that I embarrassed him? If I did kick up a fuss, would he let me go?

And take another woman into his bed.

My jaw tightened at the thought. Two weeks. He hadn’t touched me or drank from me since our fight. Was he taking from another woman? Marissa assured me he was not, that vampires didn’t really need that much blood, especially born vampires like Luken. He could subsist on regular food for long periods before he grew weak.

The thought of him penetrating another woman, either by fang or cock, made me want to claw her eyes out.

No point in pushing this off any longer. I stepped through the doors, holding my head up high. Only to be met with a blast of glamor that knocked the breath out of me. The glade dripped in ropes of flower-shaped crystals. Everything glittered. It was so bright that it almost hurt my eyes. A long carpet rolled from where I was to the tallest, widest tree I’d ever seen.

And then there were the people.

Hundreds of eyes were on me, all of them staring and judging. For a moment, I was rooted to the spot, searching the crowd. In the sea of faces, I was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of loss. I should have a mother, father, brothers, and sisters in this crowd. They should be beaming at me. They should have gathered around me in the bride’s ready room, giggling and reassuring.

My heart ached. They weren’t here. They never would be here.

I almost turned and left. Not out of spite but from the sheer grief that washed through me. Before I could turn, a pair of dark eyes caught me.

Thessa, my one ally in the court. She loved Darcie as much as I did, and we were going to get her back. We had a plan—I just had to get through this.

I strode forward, letting my mask slip back into place. I wasn’t going to let a wedding, of all things, disrupt my plans. Thessa and I were getting out of here. We would find the temples and save Darcie. We only had a few months left, but we would be successful.

I passed her and tore my eyes away to look ahead, searching for Luken. I found him standing beneath the tree, next to a low altar that looked as though it was carved from a single piece of crystal. He wore a black tunic and pants, edged in gold. A blood-red sash was tied over his shoulder. His black hair was braided, though from here, I couldn’t tell what kind. No doubt, it was as intricate as usual. A golden crown sat on his head.

His lips were curved into a smile, and his amber eyes glowed brighter than usual. My heart skipped. He was always devastatingly handsome, but the way he looked at me right now… he lookedhappy. Happy to be marrying me. My feet slowed as it seemed as though everyone else disappeared.

Gods, but I loved him. Heat swept through me, pooling between my thighs. Two weeks. It had been two weeks, and my body wanted him again. It was no wonder he’d broken down my defenses so much the night he took my virginity… or rather, when I’d given it to him.

As part of the Blood Trials, I’d killed Thessa. But after I begged Luken to save her, he did. And it was that, more than the intensity of the pleasure from when he drank from me, that had me pulling him closer, begging him to take me. I thought since he saved Thessa, he actually cared about me. I thought…

I started walking again, feeling out my facial muscles to make sure I looked appropriately happy. I wanted him more than ever, but I’d be damned before I let him know that. The truth was, sex wasn’t enough. I needed more if I was going to be with him. And he wasn’t about to give it to me. He’d said it himself. He was a cruel man. He couldn’t give me the warmth and safety I wanted. He wouldn’t save Darcie. Wouldn’t even try.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered to me when I reached him.

“Liar,” I answered coolly, quiet enough that nobody else could hear.

Disappointment filled his eyes, and I resisted the urge to punch my fist into the air. Good. Let him see how it felt! He took my hands—fuck, why did something as simple as holding his hand have to feel so good?—and led me to the alter. We knelt on either side, and he picked up a small silver knife.

“I swear with blood that I will protect you,” he said. “I swear I will guard you, stand with you, and support you. I will appreciate everything you bring to my life, and I will not turn my back on you.” He sliced the tip of his finger and held the knife to me. “Do you accept me?”

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