Page 36 of Queen Takes Checkmate
“I understand you perfectly, even before you taste our queen's blood.” She looked at him doubtfully, so he held up his hand and ticked off each statement. “Even if our queen takes another woman to her bed, she has asked us not to touch anyone but her. So there's no reason for you to worry about any of us so much as laying a finger on you. Our queen wants you, and what our queen wants, she receives. I'm alpha and I never leave our queen’s side unless she orders it. As long as you don't challenge me, we're good. Any other questions?”
Vivian turned back to me, her eyes blazing bluer, as if someone had turned up the flame inside her. “You want me, my queen?”
I tugged her closer, inhaling her scent. “You smell so good. Different. I recognize the cinnamon, but what else is it?”
“Myrrh. According to legend, the phoenix makes a nest of these herbs and then dies in the raging fires to be reborn every thousand years.”
I clenched my jaws, fighting down the instant pain, regret, and desperate hope that burned through me as brightly as her flames. Coatlicue required a life. If She took Vivian's life, so she could be reborn... Maybe my other Blood would be spared.
Guilt twisted my heart into knots. I didn't want to accept another Blood, only to see her die. It wasn't fair to her. To any of us.
She must have read the turmoil and regret in my eyes. The chiseled planes of her face hardened, so coldly gorgeous despite the blazing fires in her eyes. “I'll die for you. Gladly. Especially if it's to stop Ra.”
“Because fuck Ra.” Daire sat up, delightfully mussed with a sleepy, sexy look heating his gaze. “Hey, Nevarre, another bird for you to play with.”
“Everybody out of the bed,” Rik ordered, giving a snoring Mehen a shove to wake him up. “Our queen has some serious shit to do and she doesn't need helpers for this one.”
Lightly, I ran my other hand up her arm, feeling her strength. She was built like Llewellyn, though not as tall. Long legs, slim hips, and a muscular physique that spoke of her training with the swords she carried. There wasn't anything delicate or soft about her. Even her breasts looked imposingly hard, though maybe that was the chainmail.
Her eyes were ice-cold or blazing hot—I wasn't sure which.
She leaned down slightly, and her vibrant hair slipped over her shoulder to tumble onto my lap. My eyes flared wide at the sensation of liquid fire moving over me, though it didn’t burn. Tipping her head to the side, she offered me her throat.
I wasn’t sure if my silver-tipped nails would cause her to orgasm the same way as my bite. Itztli had come hard with my nails planted in his chest, but I suspected that had to do more with the pain than the way I was feeding. “Do you—”
“Please,” Vivian said roughly, her breathing loud and ragged. “Please, take me.”
I leaned closer and brushed my mouth over her skin above the high neck of her leathers. “My bite will make you come, though we can easily do this other ways, too.”
“Bite me hard, my queen.”
13
Vivian
Desperation burned in me hotter than the deepest pit of hell.
Please, take me, as far as you can. Before it’s too late.
Before you change your mind. Before you realize…
Her fangs sank into my throat and my spine bowed. White-hot sheets of pure light blasted through me. Every muscle in my body spasmed and I thrashed against her. My cunt clenched desperately in a vicious ache of need. I wanted her pleasure.
Her blood.
Her scent.
Burning, blowing sands of the desert, softened with night-blooming jasmine. Pure, sweet water. Crystal moonlight. A balm to the punishing, blistering fires that raged inside me. She pressed her lush body closer, an oasis of touch and welcome that I’d never dreamed possible. She lay back on the pillows and drew me with her, her mouth locked to my throat.
My queen. On her back. Taking the lesser position. A queen of such power.
Ra must be thrilled.
It’s too late, I told myself as she cupped the back of my head and pulled me into the cradle of her thighs. I couldn’t turn back now. All I could do was hope that she could spring the trap.
I felt the moment she realized something was wrong with my blood. The pleasant heat curling through her burned a little too hot. A little too painful.
The alpha growled, baring his teeth at me. “What did you do to her?”
