Page 26 of Queen Takes Queen
“Guillaume, Daire, our queen’s life is in your hands.” He didn’t say Xin, even though my wolf prowled in a slow circle around us, invisible. He wouldn’t be able to do much against ants either. I thought we could trust Ezra, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I’d had his blood, and then it might be too late. I felt better knowing my assassin Blood was close, an unknown threat Ezra wouldn’t know to guardagainst.
Cold and silent, Xin hovered just paces away, ready to pounce. He wasn’t thinking about whether or not he’d be able to kill his target. I had no doubts. I knew he’d defend me in a heartbeat, silent ornot.
Ezra moved closer, wrapping an arm around me so Rik could leave. My alpha gave him a longlook.
“You don’t have to tell me to feed her long and well,” Ezra muttered. “She’ll be fit as a fiddle in notime.”
“They’re here,” I whispered, my stomach quivering. Not with fear, exactly, or even dread. Just… anxiety. I didn’t want my Blood hurt in any way. Three. Against a marauding army of viciousants.
Rik kissed the top of my head and lumbered toward the center of the grove as quickly as he could. I watched him go, straining to keep my head turned, even though it hurt. Everything hurt. Ineeded…
Guillaume shifted his weight and I started to slip. Ezra stepped closer, bracing me against him. I knew my hell horse had done it on purpose, a way to distract me from the battle. It still irritated me. I didn’t want to be distracted. I didn’twant…
Ezra’s neck was warm against my cheek. His beard tickled my face. Wiry, but strangely soft, too. Very much like what I expected his bear to feel like. He smelled like warm cinnamon and sweet tobacco, utterly masculine, yet also soft and rich and soothing. Despite his belligerence, I suspected he was a big old marshmallow on the inside. With Daire watching, ready to tease the man about the side effect of my fangs, I took pity on him. “You may want to tear open your wrist for me, like Rikdid.”
He nestled me closer against him, making sure his throat was pressed to me. “Nah. I like fangs. Sink ‘em deep,sweetheart.”
:You heard the man,:Daire practicallychortled.
I pressed my lips to Ezra’s throat, pressing soft kisses to his skin until I found his biggest vein. I gave him a good long lick to let him brace, and then I sank my fangs into histhroat.
His back bowed on a bellow that made Guillaume twitch slightly beneath me, an ancient flight instinct that kicked in despite being a hell horse. Or maybe he had to catch his balance, because Ezra’s knees sagged and he sank against Guillaume’s side. But he didn’t let go of me, and he didn’t let me falloff.
Ezra tasted as good as he smelled, and just as soft and gooey on the inside as I’d imagined. In fact, he tasted like a snickerdoodle cookie. Slightly crispy on the outside with spicy cinnamon and sugar, but soft and fluffy on the inside. I sucked him down, absorbing his bond. He’d led a lonely existence in New York City. He’d never fit in. A mountain man at heart, the city had been a prison for him. He wasn’t alpha, so Skye had no real use for him, and he’d had no friends, even once Daire came to court. Everybody loved Daire. He was playful and fun, the life of the party, amiable and easy to get along with. Where Ezra was crusty and gruff and had no patience for fools or pretenders. He didn’t care what you thought, and he couldn’t give a fuck about your feelings or playingnice.
While it’d cost him dearly, his solitude made it easier for him to slip away, giving him more freedom. Especially when he realized what Skye was upto.
In fact, for all his standoffish ways, he had the uncanny ability to sniff out secrets, always in the right place at the right time to hear the soft whispers and clandestine meetings. He’d just happened to be sitting on the stoop of the servants’ back-door entrance of an ultra-modern high-rise condo when Keisha Skye had stepped out onto her balcony dozens of stories above to make her threats regarding Christabel Devana’s fosters in hercourt.
He shifted back upright after the initial shock of my bite forcing him into climax, taking his weight off Guillaume and cuddling me against his big barrel chest. For all his gruff ways, his big hands cradled me like I was a baby bird that had fallen out of my nest. He didn’t take my blood for himself, though he certainly could have. I was still bleeding from so many wounds he could have swiped his fingers across my skin and had hispower.
He didn’t know for sure that he’d be a bear as so many Ursula males before him, though he hoped to honor his blood, his queen mother, and most especially,me.
I lifted my bleeding wrist to his mouth and he still hesitated. “You’ve been hurt, myqueen.”
I couldn’t send him my thoughts, not without giving him my blood first, but I wasn’t letting go of his throat. I pressed my wrist harder to his mouth, insisting. The pressure felt good on the wound, helping stop some of the bloodflow.
He swallowed and pulled me back in time to his childhood mountain. Tall pine, thick carpet of needles, snow on the air, his breath frosting in his beard, heavy fur boots and coat, muffling his steps and giving him that broad bear look. Then he was a giant grizzly, standing on his hind legs, big paws draped around me, holding me up. His fur pressed against my face, soft and thick, still smelling of cinnamon and a hint of tobacco, but now with added pines and mountain air and the deep, wild Ukrainian forest of hishomeland.
:Thank you, myqueen.:
:Thank you, mybear.:
10
Mehen
Iwould never admitit under the most dire torture, but I had finally found peace with losing control of mybeast.
I coasted in slow, silent circles around the perimeter of our nest, watching for any sign of invasion. Though how she thought I could blast millions of ants without harming the trees, I wasn’t sure. Hopefully I didn’t turn them into a bunch of glowing torches accidentally. Though I would continue to bitch about losing the ability to shift whenever I wanted, it was actually quite freeing. I didn’t have to worry about who I’d slaughter now. My queen would use me to slaughter her enemies as she saw fit, and she’d make sure she leashed me before I could harm those she didn’t want roasted or tornapart.
Simple.
She pointed. I would blast with fire and rend limb from limb. Perhaps she’d send me after Skye directly now that Xin felt like he couldn’t assassinate her. The thought made smoke puff out of my nose. A giant dragon flying over the sprawling hub of New York City. It could totallyhappen.
Nevarre made a gods-awful screech and dived toward the ground, hopping around like flames scorched his tail feathers.Bullseye.
I focused on that spot.:Gotit.:
