Page 38 of Forced Vampire Mate

“Now, isn’t this better than that ugly little human?” Donelle crooned.

I thought I knew what a broken heart felt like. But this was unlike anything I’d experienced. The betrayal cut to my very soul. Luken might as well have opened my chest and ripped out my heart. Now I wanted to open the bond and push these feelings through, so he’d know I knew and… and… what? It wouldn’t change anything.

The man groaned again. His voice was husky with sex, strangled. “So much better.”

I whirled, unable to stand another moment. Tears blurred my vision as I raced down the hallway, only to crash into something hard in just a few steps. Hands caught me, steadied me, and I struggled against them. I didn’t want to be taken back to that room, to have to—

“Elara,” Luken’s voice hissed. “What are you doing here?”

I blinked the tears from my eyes. The man who held me so tightly stared at me with wild eyes. Wild amber eyes.

“Luken,” I gasped, freezing once more.

A loud groan echoed down the corridor. He wasn’t in the queen’s chambers. He was here, with me. His hair was in disarray, the braids undone, and that wild look in his eyes didn’t dim. His clothes were in perfect order, but why was his hair like that? He pulled me to the wall, glancing behind me as his jaw tightened.

“Why aren’t you in prison?” he demanded, pulling me close.

“I escaped. And came looking for you,” I mumbled. Too much emotion. I didn’t know what I was feeling, so I tried very hard not to feel anything at all.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Luken hissed.

“So I should be locked up in a cage while you fuck another woman?” I spat back.

He hadn’t fucked her. Or had he? Was that the reason his hair was like that? Why were his eyes crazed? Or was he coming to her chambers to join her and the other man? Accusations pressed against my lips. Now, listening to the queen cry out in orgasmic pleasure, I couldn’t recall the exact expression that had made me decide to come after him.

Luken’s hands tightened on my arms. “I didn’t fuck her.”

I opened my mouth, but before deciding what to say, a cool laugh came from behind me. I flinched and turned. Donelle stood in her doorway, naked, the evidence of sex on her body. A dark-haired man who looked suspiciously like Luken lingered behind her, nuzzling her neck. Clearly, he was ready to go again—maybe she hadn’t let him finish.

“It looks like we’re going to have a regular orgy, aren’t we?” Donelle cooed, not bothering to hide her nakedness. “She might be amusing at that. Although I must say, I’m disappointed you would defy my orders to keep her locked up.”

I snarled under my breath and shifted to the balls of my feet, ready to spring across the room and snap this broomstick over her head. Then, use its jagged end to stab through her heart.

Luken’s arms snaked around my waist, and he pulled me back tight against his chest. The residue of the slime made it difficult for him to hold me. But I felt the thumping of his heart against my back and stilled. His arms were tight, and for a moment, I wondered if it was more than just preventing me from attacking.

“Queen Donelle and I made a deal,” he whispered in my ear. “I can’t have you messing it up.”

A deal? Meaning, if he hadn’t already slept with her, he’d been coming to her chambers to sleep with her now? Numbness swept through me. A sinking, sick feeling that left me cold and emotionless. Okay. He’d made a deal. How could I be surprised when he kept making all these plans without telling me? From what I’d seen at this palace, my inexperience had to be annoying for him. Of course, he’d go to bed with this stunning woman.

Or maybe, some part of me whispered,we shouldn’t make assumptions and make an ass of ourselves?

“What sort of deal?” I whispered through frozen lips.

Donelle looked down her nose at me. “I know you said it was prophesied, but really, Luken. You should just compel her to obey you. Forget this nonsense about a sister. I can’t understand why you didn’t just use your talents to wipe her mind. She’d be easier to control that way.”

“He can’t do that,” I protested.

But when I turned toward Luken, I caught his flinch.

He could.

Memories of how he compelled the guards at the sketchy motel store flooded me. He could do that to me, too. And I wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Chapter 18

“What does she mean?” I demanded, my voice high and strained. I knew exactly what she meant, but my mind was so full of awful possibilities that my heart raced. “Luken, did you—”

“Hush, child,” Donelle said, looking down her nose at me again. “Let the adults finish their conversation.”

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