Page 35 of Queen Takes Knights
I agreed. Wholeheartedly. But our queen stood, gently pulling away.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
I followed on her heels, still hungry for her scent. Her skin. Her warmth. I wanted to bury myself in her all over again. I laid my forehead against the door, waiting for her to come back out.
“Are you all right?” Daire whispered. “Rik? Rik!”
“What?” Something poked me in the back. Hard. I jerked my head up and glared at him, my lips twisting in a snarl.
“Something’s wrong with you.”
I shook my head, trying to shake the rage crawling through me. It felt like millions of fire ants marched through my veins. “Does she smell different to you?”
“Not different. Just… tasty. Like I’m not going to be able to get my fill.”
“Yeah.” I blew out a sigh and dragged a hand through my hair. “Maybe it was that dream. Fuck, Daire, you should have felt that thing she was calling out of the night. I’ve never felt anything like it.”
The door opened and she jumped a little, her eyes widening to see us standing there. Then her eyes narrowed on me, which made me guiltily back up a step. “That’s creepy.”
“Forgive me, my queen. I’m feeling… unsettled.”
“I used that trick you showed me to clean my clothes, but I still think I want a nice long bath tonight.”
“As you wish, of course.”
She hesitated, watching me, and I wanted to drop to my knees and plant my face against her stomach. “A little space would be good.”
I suddenly realized I was completely blocking the door. No wonder she stood there looking at me strangely. I ducked my head and stepped aside, letting Daire take over the small talk. He’d made breakfast, but all she wanted was coffee. She sat on the leather couch in the sitting room and pulled her knees up to her chest. Her cheeks looked a little pale to me. I wanted to touch her forehead, search our bond for any ailment, but I’d already alarmed her with my possessiveness.
Daire rattled off a list of shops we intended to take her to, asking her frivolous questions to make her laugh. The more he flirted and giggled with her, the more silent and grim I became. She needed that lightness. I got it. He’d be able to tease and coerce her where I would only make her dig her heels in, even if in the end, the result was the same.
It wasn’t like me to feel so… jealous. Petty. Shame tightened my throat, which only made me feel worse. I was her alpha Blood. I had to act like it. I had to use her other Blood to their best advantage. Even if that meant I was excluded. It’d never bothered me before.
Daire’s flirtatious mischief hadn’t offended me in the slightest last night.
But right now…
I wanted to fucking rip his head off.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Shara
I didn’t really want to go shopping, especially this close to Christmas. The streets and shops would be packed and I’d never been comfortable around lots of people. I didn’t think that feeling would suddenly dissipate just because I’d discovered I was Isis’s last heir. But Daire was so excited to take me somewhere new, and yeah, part of me had to admit I was curious how it’d feel when I could walk into any store I wanted and buy anything that caught my fancy without batting an eyelash.
Alrik, on the other hand, had turned into a granite lump without shifting into his stone troll. I wasn’t sure what was the matter with him. He’d been appalled by my dream. Maybe I’d unconsciously broken some terrible rule by calling the creature. I hadn’t meant to. I just felt it out there. Alone, wild, tormented, enraged. I could feel it screaming in silent agony that no one could hear but me. How could I not reach out to it and try to help?
Not it. Him. He’d definitely been male.
Alrik had said I should call more Blood to me. How was that different than what I’d done last night? If I’d felt him or Daire prowling around in the night as their beasts, would I have been too afraid to reach for them too? I knew better than that. Something inside them resonated in me too, even when they weren’t human and didn’t look human. The same as the man from this latest dream.
I stood beside him on the front steps, waiting while Daire brought Mom’s red Jaguar around. Alrik kept looking at me, his eyes flickering as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t want to upset me. Or offend me. And then he’d turn aside, his jaws working as he bit back whatever he’d wanted to say.
I slipped my hand into his and his head whipped around, his eyes locking on my face. “Are we all right?”
His eyes narrowed and he took a menacing step closer. Yes, menacing, bumping into me in an aggressive way that sent a hot wave of sudden desire flooding through me. I couldn’t help but remember the way he’d fucked Daire last night. So hard, brutal, raw. He’d never touched me like that.
And I wanted it. I wanted him.
