Page 33 of Queen Takes Checkmate
:Gladly, birdbrain.:
Shara's head fell back on a deep, guttural cry. She kept her right hand on Guillaume's throat. I assumed she was trying to control whatever wound she'd dealt him.
It didn't dawn on me that she was feeding from the wounds until he quaked with release, and then slumped. Drained.
Dead to the world.
“G,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Rik, I think I killed him.”
I came to her, then, enfolding her against my chest, though Llewellyn’s head remained between her thighs. “You forget who he is, my queen.”
“Please,” she sobbed against my neck. “Help him.”
I reached down to check his pulse despite the five jagged, deep punctures in his throat. “He's fine. Sluggish and weak, but he has a pulse. He's no worse off than me or Daire were earlier.”
Cautiously, she lifted her head. “He's alright?”
G stirred, his eyes fluttering as he sensed her worry. “Fine,” he mumbled. “Sleepy.”
“You've seen us heal before,” I reminded her as I lifted her fingers closer. “If anyone can walk, flip the lights on.”
Llewellyn ran his mouth down the full length of her slit, making her twitch and groan in my arms. Then he shoved up out of bed and stomped over to the wall to hit the light switch.
I turned Shara's hand over and examined the silver tips of her nails. They were two inches long, wickedly sharp, with tiny holes near the tapered ends. “I've never seen such a wonder before.”
She tugged on her hand self-consciously, but I didn't release her. “They suck up the blood somehow.”
I raised her index finger and sucked the tip into my mouth, running my tongue all over the gleaming nail to clean it. “I've heard that some of our kind can suck blood through their fangs too, but this is much more efficient.”
Her mouth sagged open a moment. “Efficiency? That's what you care about when I've decimated my entire Blood?”
“Not quite,” Llewellyn retorted as he plopped back down on the mattress beside us. “You didn't feed on me, Shara.”
He started to lean back down toward her pussy and the tantalizing blood, but she stopped him with her other hand on his chest, mindful of her nails. “You need time to heal first before I drain you like I did them.”
“Not with this blood powering me. Don't you feel the difference in me? After tasting you earlier, I was strong, yes. But now, I'm a fucking unstoppable beast.”
She curled her fingers slightly, deliberately digging the silver tips into his skin. “I know you were my mother's alpha, but Rik is mine. I won't have any challenges to his authority. Do you understand?”
He leaned closer, piercing his skin on those sharp tips. Not deeply, but enough that his blood scented the air. “I understand, my queen. He got to you first. It's his right. But you can't fault me for wishing that I could have flown out from Skye Tower and searched for you myself.”
Her eyes glittered and the fine hairs on my arms prickled. Her power sparked around her like static electricity. “You didn’t even know that I existed.”
“I did. I knew. I couldn’t feel you, not in Skye’s nest, but I knew you were loose on the world somewhere. It was the only thing that kept me sane.”
“How?” She whispered, her eyelids fluttering. “How did you know?”
In her bond, I felt the first taste of his blood hitting her system. Her fingers burned and pulsed, drawing fresh blood up those long nails to feed her magic. She could taste his fur on her tongue, flavored with the scent of supple leather, even though his blood wasn’t in her mouth.
Llewellyn leaned closer, pushing her nails deeper, and pressed his forehead to hers. “Because an Isador queen is always successful in what she sets out to do.”
12
Shara
Istood outside in the street. It took me a moment to realize that I was dreaming. The streets of Manhattan were never completely empty like this. Streetlights lined the road outside the Isador house, but they didn't interfere with the glorious sprinkling of stars across the dark sky. No moon tonight. No clouds. I wasn't sure what that meant, if it meant anything at all.
I hadn't dreamed since Snake Mountain. Just remembering how I'd met Coatlicue and gained the glittering red serpent around my throat made me shiver. I hoped it wasn't that kind of dream. Not now. I already had too much to do, and goddess help me, I couldn’t bear to lose anyone else. I already feared I wouldn’t be able to endure such a loss.
