Page 41 of The Crownless King
They stared at each other, a battle of wills that both were determined to win. The king’s pupils were red, pulsing with power he couldn’t get a grip on. For most, they would struggle with that chaos magic, and while the king did fight to keep it at bay, through their blood bond she saw the way he embraced it in this moment.
Motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention and Amaya swallowed a growl as the hostess from earlier sauntered her thirsty ass into their section.
“You called for me, your Highness,” the woman cooed.
Amaya wanted to scratch her eyes out.
Levi smirked and walked backwards to the sofa in their section, his eyes never leaving Amaya’s. The madness was still there in his gaze, the peek of the beast inside of him warning her that she’d pushed him, perhaps too far. Instead of cowering, she notched her chin higher.
Levi sat and waved his hand for the hostess to come closer. “On your knees, pet.”
His tone was cajoling, yet the unrelenting power beneath the words almost made Amaya obey his order. The hostess rushed to do his bidding, dropping into position beside him on the sofa. She didn’t want to watch, didn’t want to see him feed from another woman, and yet winning this battle between them seemed more important to her.
Levi lengthened his fangs and lifted the woman’s arms. The sounds around her quieted, her vision tunneling to focus on the king and his prey. He finally dropped his eyes to the hostess, his very willing victim, and Amaya took what felt like her first breath in hours.
“How do you want it, shawty?” Levi’s voice had deepened, its hypnotic tone lulling the woman at his feet.
“I want pleasure,” was her breathless reply.
Amaya’s magic roiled around her body, her anger feeding it.
‘Should I allow her pleasure, baby doll?’Levi slipped into her mind, his tone taunting, menacing.
Instead of answering, she slammed up a wall between them. His eyes hardened even more, the fire within them glowing brighter as his anger fed the monster inside of him. His gaze pierced Amaya as he raised the woman’s arm to his face. The hostess sighed in pleasure as the king bit down. He closed his mouth over her wrist, his jaw moving as he fed from her.
Seething jealousy burned through her.
As he fed, Levi’s gaze captured Amaya’s eyes, and the walls she’d built around her mind were destroyed with his power.
‘You are mine, Amaya. No matter how you fight me, shawty, I will win this war between us.’
‘I’m nothing to you.’
‘You areeverythingto me.’
She tried to turn her body, to look away from the spectacle of him feeding, but Levi’s magic had full control of her mind. This was what Sebastian had warned her about. The king’s power was immense, and she realized that up until this point, Levi had been allowing her defiance. Because clearly, he could take what he wanted and there would’ve been nothing she could do about it.
It was a humbling feeling.
The pleasured sounds of the woman at his feet tore through Amaya and she wanted to shut out the image, to look away. But Levi held her in thrall, showing her that all along, he had been playing nice with her.
“You’ve proven your point,” she whispered aloud.
Levi released her and Amaya quickly turned her body away from the scene in front of her. Her hands trembled as she lifted the wine glass to her mouth. She guzzled the whole thing to relieve her dry throat. The king’s show of power shook her, she could admit that. She’d clearly been operating under false delusions. The vampire was everything they said he was, and Amaya had allowed his concessions to her to lull her into a distorted sense of security.
She needed to get away from him. To get her and her mother out of this current situation, but more than ever, his little display had reinforced to her how hopeless it was. She would never be free of Levi unless he allowed it, and from his words to her, that would not happen.
“I’m not a bad guy, Amaya.” Levi’s voice at her ear startled her.
She looked back as he crowded her body against the railing. So lost in her thoughts, she’d missed when he finished with the hostess.
“I would be a fool to believe that.”
Levi nuzzled into her neck and Amaya couldn’t help the shudder that shook her body. “I’m trying to play nice, baby doll.”
She heard the warning in his voice. He wrapped his arms around her waist, his hand splaying against her stomach. He kissed her neck softly and she reached back and mushed his forehead.
“Don’t put your lips on me,” she snapped.
