Page 63 of Fated In Forever
A high, peaked roof now soared over the Great Hall, torches blazed on every wall, the once-tattered banners were rewoven, red and white with a single black marking, copied from the carved obsidian stones outside the gates.
I had yet to figure out how to give Vicious the sun-drenched lake she desired, but I had given her everything else—a luxurious bedroom, comfortable chairs to curl up in, roaring fireplaces to stave off the chill. Her every wish was mine to grant, and I yearned to give this female everything she’d ever been denied. I reached down and wiped the smudge of my blood off her full bottom lip.
There was no food here, no water, but…
Feeding. We’d done plenty of that.
In fact, the taste of her still coated my mouth from earlier. But while neither of us ever grew hungry or thirsty, she was so pale—she needed more than my blood.
Once I completed the castle repairs, I’d used my talons to carve her a little swan from a chunk of black obsidian, then another, and now there were a pair of the delicate creatures sitting on her bedside table. Right on top of The Book, with the key and the cold iron blade stowed safely in the drawer beneath them.
When she returned to her own realm—now that I’d finally discovered how to send her to safety—I would make sure she took those carvings with her, a reminder of our time here, a token of my undying love.
As for the cold iron dagger…
On one hand, the dagger was the one weapon that could harm Ravok, on the other…it had taken days for the burns on Evangeline’s hands to heal and I needed her safe and whole and unharmed, more than I required air to breathe.
Perhaps the dagger would remain here.
I found myself savoring the dark beauty of my castle more and more, much like I’d once cherished my lonely castle in Nova Scotia. I admired the way shadows moved through the halls like living things, painting constantly changing murals across the floors. The haunting melody of the wind whistlingthrough the courtyard, like singing into the void. The stories carved into the stone, every word a fated warning.
This place was horrible, but also breathtaking.
When I had left, Vicious had been fast asleep, and I slipped back into bed beside her, moving her until her head rested on my chest, cradling her slight form in my arms, all warmth and curvy softness, smelling like me.
Mine.
I ever so carefully slipped my fingers between her soft thighs and she moaned, eyes still half closed, biting her bottom lip when I pushed a talon gently into her and withdrew, scraping softly against her inner walls until her scent deepened and her arousal slicked my hand.
I wanted to do this forever. Taste her, pet her.
Lick and kiss and bite her until she called my name.
But…
Wake up my love. I’ve found something. I think it might be the other doorway.
She tensed in my arms, a long, shuddering breath whooshing out, her fingers digging into my skin. I discovered a portal in the lower levels which looks like it hasn’t been opened in forever, but this could be your way out of here.
I pulled my hand free and began licking her sweetness off my fingers, lapping until I got every last drop, and still wanting more. So much more. I wanted to shackle her to my bed and never let her go, drown in these sheets with her until I filled every hole with my spend.
Malachi, be real.She wiggled her ass tighter against my growing erection and I didn’t stop her.You know better than to think you can get rid of me through some hidden portal in the basement.
You can’t stay here, Vicious. You need food. You need to eat.
She wiggled tighter against me.I have been feeding plenty and you are all I need.
You need sunlight and fresh air and real food, Evangeline. You cannot survive here. Not like…
Not like me, was what I’d been about to say. Not like a monster, born and bred to exist in the dark. I smoothed back her hair and when I did, ice flooded my veins despite the rush of power coursing through me.
Her hair. Evangeline's beautiful honey golden hair, which had always caught light like captured fire, was darker at the roots. Not just darker—black. The same black as my own. And her skin, which had always held the warm glow of life, had grown translucent, as if the very essence of mortality was bleeding out of her.
Evie,I said softly, tipping her face up to mine, searching blue eyes that now held flecks of darkness I had never seen before.
This is not something you can deny, or get through with your usual stubbornness.This place is bad for you.I swallowed.I’m bad for you.
Let me be the judge of that. I decide what’s good and bad and where I want to be, Malachi. Not you.Even her voice sounded different inside my head—deeper in tone, with a resounding echo that seemed to come from somewhere far away.
