Page 33 of Hitched to the Vampire King

Gabriel tensed beside me. “What on earth couldyoube apologizing for?”

“Logically, I know this isn’t my fault, but I feel responsible. I don’t regret saving you from the original bounty. I could never regret that. I just wish it hadn’t caused this avalanche of repercussions. We never would have learned about the council’s corruption if fate hadn’t made us mates.”

Gabriel growled something unintelligible beneath his breath, then shoved to his feet and stood before me, heat flaring in his eyes.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself,” he said, his words biting. “Absolutely none of this is your fault. Do you understand me?”

“I didn’t mean?—”

“The Academy is to blame for all of this,” he chided. “And me and Adrian.Iam the one who chose to kill my mother to save Vlad and Anna. That had nothing to do with you. Yet you’ve been dragged into this mess. As for the Academy, let’s play that little scenario out, shall we? Say you hadn’t involved yourself. Do you truly believe I would have let Chris take me out?”

I shook my head.

“The moment I learned the Academy had put a bounty on my head, I would have figured everything out. And we’d be right here, all over again. So don’t apologize to me. And do not blame yourself.”

I couldn’t help but notice that his speech was remarkably similar to Jaden’s.

“It’s hard not to,” I admitted. “I can’t promise I’ll stop feeling guilty, but I’ll try.”

Gabriel sighed and dropped to his knees before me. “You’re mourning, luv. Your emotions are supercharged. Of course you’re regretful that all this happened. Who wouldn’t be? But don’t mistake that for guilt.”

Before I could say a word, he leaned in and kissed me—our first kiss since we’d escaped the cages. The instant our lips met, my breath hitched and my heartbeat quickened. This wasn’t just a kiss, it was a culmination of everything we were feeling, and an acknowledgement of everything we’d been through together. The hard press of his lips awoke something within me, but it was the tender stroke of his tongue that had me turning to jelly in his hands.

He pulled back too quickly, but he lifted his hands and framed my face, holding me gently, as though I were something to be treasured. His touch ignited a spark within me, one that warmed the cold dread that seemed to permanently reside within me lately.

“You are not a reflection of the Academy. They may have trained you and molded you into the warrior you are today, but you aren’t the same as them. You’ve proven that time and time again. Nor are you responsible for their actions.”

I nodded.

Gabriel offered me a small smile before he drew me into another kiss, deepening it with a tenderness that stole my breath. I reveled in the feel of his tongue stroking mine and craved more. If there was one thing death gave, it was an appreciation of life. And right now, I wanted to do exactly that. I wanted to revel in Gabriel, tofeel. Life was simultaneously the longest thing we’d do, but also far too short and fleeting—especially for those of us not graced with immortality like Gabriel. But for us mere mortals, life could end at any moment. Chris’s passing had taught me that. Yet, it’d also sharpened my perspective. It made me acutely aware that I didn’t want to missanythingand reminded me to value every second givento me.

Determined to savorthismoment, I slid my hands beneath Gabriel’s shirt, exploring his back with my fingertips, tracing the lines of muscles that defined his back and sides. His body was like an artist’s tapestry, a masterpiece sculpted into hard contours and planes that I wanted to lick and touch.

When I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and started pulling it up, Gabriel broke from our kiss and frowned. “Maddie?—”

I shook my head, then pulled him down into another kiss, using my mouth to silence him. I hauled him closer until his body pressed me into the soft mattress beneath me. My fingers sought the hem of his shirt once more, seeking the comfort of his skin, but he caught my hands in his, holding them still.

“Wait,” he whispered. Then he closed his eyes and forced out a breath. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I do. Ialwaysdo. But you just lost someone very near to you. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

Had I been standing, that kind of comment might have made me weak in the knees. Gazing into his eyes, I couldn’t help but smile, my chest practically bursting with emotion. For years, the Academy had beaten it into my head that vampires were devoid of empathy and incapable of genuine emotion. Meeting Anna and Vlad had helped chip away at that idea, but it was moments like these with Gabriel that showed me how incredibly wrong the Academy was. Gabriel—who was the epitome of vampire prowess—showed more depth and love than I’d ever thought possible. It made me hate the Academy with a fervent passion. It also made me want to rip their damn building down brick by brick until nothing remained by the foundation. They’d trained their slayers to hate, and then they’d turned us into their personal assassins, all for a quick buck.

A gentle touch on my cheek snapped me out of my reverie. I refocused on the man perched above me, and all those dark thoughts about the Academy took a backseat. They would face their reckoning, and I would be the one to bring them to their knees. But right now, Gabriel was all that mattered. The rest of the world, including the Academy’s downfall, could wait.

“I lost you there,” Gabriel murmured. “You seemed miles away. Where’d you go?”

I chuckled, then slipped my arms around his neck and stole another kiss. This moment wasn’t about settling scores—it was about us. He was the only thing I wanted to think about right now.

Breaking the kiss, I drew back and said, “Thank you.”

“For what, luv?”

“Just for being the amazing person you are. For loving me,” I said, warmth spreading through me.

A soft smile pulled at his lips.

“Now, get naked,” I said.

His expression comically shifted from genuine affection to surprise. “What?”

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