Page 13 of The Crownless King
Levi took a shuddering breath. Hands shaking, he used his nail to slice through his wrist, holding it up to Amaya’s mouth. He held his breath in anticipation. Fear and trepidation covered her countenance, but she lifted his wrist and placed her lips on his skin.
“God damnit, baby doll,” he whispered in yearning.
His pulse beat heavy, his dick throbbing as she sucked on his skin. It took every ounce of his control to keep from taking her in front of his men.
“Enough,” he said hoarsely, extracting his arm from her.
Amaya looked up at him, his blood on her chin and a dazed look in her eyes, and control be damned. Levi grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him. He licked her lips before plunging his tongue into her mouth. The kiss he took was rough, desperate. He tasted the combination of their blood and knew instinctively that they would be magnificent together.
‘Levi.’Bas’s tone was firm.
He pulled back from the kiss, steadying Amaya in his arms as they both fought to drag air in their lungs. Tense, heavy energy blanketed the two of them, blotting out everything around them. His best friend cleared his throat and finally, reluctantly, Levi stepped back.
He nodded to the maid he’d summoned. The humans had come with the mansion, enslaved to the Buru who had originally owned the compound. Levi had freed them all, but because of the spell the vampires had over them, they stayed. Their loyalty seemingly came with the compound, no matter its occupants. It had taken him years to get used to having domestic help and no matter what he tried, they remained under some kind of thrall.
The maid grabbed Amaya’s arm gently. Amaya snatched it from her and the woman looked to him for guidance.
“Amaya, don’t take your anger at me out on my staff. It would change my assessment of you.”
She stared him down before nodding, then followed the woman from the room, her head held high.
Absolutely exquisite.
His best friend sighed as he approached, handing him a tissue. “The hell are you doing, Levi?”
“She’s stunning, Bas.” He wiped his face of the blood trying to dry on his chin.
“Fine as hell, but that doesn’t answer the question. Why are you keeping them here?”
Levi sighed. The problem with having friends for decades was that they didn’t let you get away with shit.
“She’s mine,” he said matter-of-factly.
Bas snickered. “You can’t keep the girl because you feel like it, Levi.”
“Says who?”
The chuckles of his men filled the room. Bas just shook his head.
“You wouldn’t have had to buy a whole separate condo for your mate if you had just kidnapped her,” he reminded his best friend.
Lucas busted out laughing. “Raven would’ve burned all this shit down around us if Bas had kidnapped her.”
His men agreed, joining Lucas in laughter, and Levi waved them off.
“She’ll get over it.” At least he hoped so.
Bas crossed his arms over his chest and stared his friend down. “How long you keeping her?”
He didn’t answer because he didn’t know. How long did it take a woman to get over a kidnapping and willingly come into his arms? Until she agreed to be his?
Sebastian snorted. “You don’t think that will complicate matters? Last thing we need is the Collective searching around for them.”
Levi grunted. “Weren’t you just complaining about being bored?”
“That was you and Lucas,” Sebastian growled.
He snickered because yeah, that had been them. He spent his days running his empires, both illegal and legal, and the shit was becoming monotonous. And yet, as Bas so kindly reminded him, the Collective had been on their heads, watching them, fearing that Levi would use his Bayi to overrun the South. He’d already rid the city and state of the Buru and it was his intention to do that with the rest of the South, but running shit had never been his intention despite his moniker. He kept the Bayi under his rule loyal and well-fed and that was all anyone could really ask of him.
