Page 11 of Queen Takes Knights
The monsters cut his legs and knees until he fell. They tried for me, but I was able to bash one in the skull with my bat. But the other one ripped out Dad’s throat.
Mom had wailed like something from a horror movie. But without hesitation, she’d picked me up and raced for the house.
Leaving Dad bleeding on the street.
“Every queen’s power is different, even in the same line, though similar,” Alrik said. “The goddesses decide what gifts to give, but each line has its own unique…” He hesitated, either trying to find the right word, or afraid to say it.
“Flavor,” Daire finished for him.
“True, but that wasn’t quite the word I was searching for.”
“Curse?”
Alrik grimaced. “I don’t want to scare her.”
I wanted to say that I didn’t scare easily, but I knew that wasn’t true. Not with those monsters running around the woods hunting me everywhere I went.
I shivered, tightening my arms over my front.
Several moments went by before I realized something very important.
Both men simply knelt there. Waiting.
They didn’t touch me, even though they wanted me. I’d just had Alrik’s dick in my fist. I’d had as much of their blood as I’d wanted, and I stood here, nearly naked, and they didn’t press their advantage.
I met Alrik’s gaze but didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to.
“You’re our queen, Shara. Our life. Our blood is yours to command. If you want our blood and nothing else, that is how it will be.”
“I don’t want that,” I whispered, letting my bra fall away. “I want it all. It’s just… I’ve never done this before.”
Alrik’s eyes narrowed and he looked angry again, like when he’d seen my room. Which was damned near a palace compared to some of the dumps I stayed in. Then he looked at Daire, and this time, I heard his words in my head.
:Unfucking believable. A virgin queen at her age.:
:A travesty.:Daire winked at me. Evidently he knew I was eavesdropping.
“Um,” I said aloud, not wanting to betray a confidence. “I can hear you.”
“Of course,” Alrik replied, each word short and bit off. “You’ve had our blood. You can access our thoughts now.”
“Why are you angry?”
Even on his knees, he looked up at me and somehow managed to glare and look intimidating. “Myqueen does not suffer in silence with no one to ease her need. My queen is not alone. My queen is not hungry, sad, hurting, or scared. My queen will have as much pleasure as you can stand. And for that reason, I suggest you allow Daire to entertain you with his mouth. None’s as good as he, and that will ensure the rest is just as enjoyable for you.”
My eyes met Daire’s and he leaned forward slightly, but didn’t touch me.
Power. I was starting to understand what they meant, but this power had nothing to do with blood or magical vampire shit. I could stand here, topless, and Daire wouldn’t touch me until I gave him permission. Even if he desperately wanted to do so.
Both men had let me take their blood and touch them as I wanted, intimately, in Alrik’s case. Yet they had barely touched me at all.
I felt a surge of confidence, not just in myself, but in them, too. I might not know them well yet, but I could trust them implicitly. They proved that every moment that they waited for my permission.
It was like throwing back heavy drapes in a room that had been closed off from the sunlight for decades. I hadn’t even realized how dark and gloomy my life had been. I’d gotten used to being alone, unable to trust anyone.
I tangled fingers in his hair and pulled his face against my chest. His lips touched my skin, dancing across the tops of my breasts in soft, light kisses. The rasp of his tongue on my nipple made me jolt in his arms. He looked up at me, checking my reaction. Or maybe he just wanted to watch the way my head rolled back when he took my breast into the heat of his mouth. His tongue curled and stroked over my nipple and I shivered as sensation poured through me. Nerves flared to life, a cascading pleasure circuit that coursed through my veins. He switched to my other breast and my knees quivered. He licked a path down my stomach with small, teasing nips on my flanks and hipbones.
He nudged his face against my crotch, a playful bump that still made me groan. His tongue stroked over the top of my panties and I suddenly couldn’t get them off fast enough. As soon as I pushed them down my hips, he took over and pulled them down to my feet.
