Page 125 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

He leaned into me, pressing so close I could feel his warmth bleed through the bedsheet. Brushing his hand down the length of my throat, he watched my flesh prick and heat at the kiss of his fingers. “If this is how you react to guys you hate…”

He moved to kiss me.

“Then I want you toloathe me.”

A heady mixture of panic and dark desire knotted my insides. Jerking my head back, I withheld my lips from his, and he snarled his disapproval, which only made the crux between my thighs burn all the hotter.

“I love Sterling,” I blurted without thinking.

Vincent didn’t pull away, but the look of pure shock was enough to make him freeze.

With a quick survey of the hall, I sent out a little thanks to whatever deity fucked enough to listen to vampire prayers for making sure there was no one currently around to witness this. Here I was, on my ass with Vincent crouched over me, nothing but a sheet holding together what fragments of my modesty I still clung to. Toss in my love confession, and I doubt I’d ever erect the kind of opinion I wanted these people to have of me.

The silence that stretched between us was agony. I expected Vincent to either make fun of my love confession for Sterling or restate what he’d already told me. That I wasn’t capable of love. So when he didn’t do either of those things, I was speechless.

“Fine. Keep loving him,” Feral muttered, his voice taut with an indiscernible emotion. “Fuck knows Sterling deserves a little happiness. But the sad fact is, he won’t ever be king.”

That cruel fist of reality squeezed my heart, making tears of pain spring to my eyes.

I hated crying in front of Vincent, but I couldn’t seem to make myself care enough to fend off the encroaching tears. This was the first moment I’d had to really process what happened between Sterling and me. I had found something deep and meaningful with the blind prince. The crazy, passionate, magnetic chemistry that had ignited between us in a single night had been bitter-sweet. And now that I was no longer in the sweet warmth of Sterling’s company, all that was left was bitter tears.

“He’d be a good king,” I sniffed.

Vincent cupped my cheek, the softness of his touch taking me by surprise. “He would.”

“I can get him to change his mind.”

While the vampire’s caress remained tender, his gaze hardened. “No, you can’t. There is nothing that can fill the gaping wound inside him, Ruby. Not even a love like yours.”

The unexpected compliment, the gentle lilt in Vincent’s voice, the calming stroke of his palm against my cheek… This was the version of Vincent Feral I had glimpsed in his car that night at the gas station. I was completely mesmerized by the sudden shift in his demeanor. It made me want to get closer, but I was too afraid I’d break the spell.

“Ruby, listen to me. Even if you were able to convince Sterling to take the throne, he can never give you children.”

“I don’t care about that.” It was only partially true. I’d been prepared to ask Sterling to turn me into a full-blooded vampire, which would have made my reproductive organs useless. I’d made my peace with that, or at least I thought I had. When that primal side of me awakened upon seeing Sterling’s mating mark, I realized I did care about having kids.

I cared a lot.

There was no doubt in my mind that one day, when I was ready, I’d be a mother. The sad fact that Sterling could never be the father sat in my stomach like cement.

Vincent studied me with furrowed brows. “You really want him to be your mate and king? Why him?”

“He’s gentle, honest, and—oh yeah—he isn’t fucking other girls!” The shrill in my tone settled, and I was back to crying. I felt so freaking vulnerable right now, basically naked, sobbing on the floor. I had put myself in the perfect position for Feral to completely crush me. But something had shifted in the dynamic between us, even if it was just for a moment. Both our walls had come down, and just like in the car, it felt right.

“I have no idea what I’m doing, Vincent. This whole queen thing was shoved at me, and I’m so terrified I am going to fuck it up. I don’t know anything about being vampire queen. People already want me dead, and I haven’t even been crowned yet.

“Don’t get me wrong, I can hold my own,” I went on. “The more time I spend here with you guys, the more I can feel some of my father’s power, this raw, monstrous strength slowly bubbling to the surface. I need someonestrongto show me how to control it.”

The prince leveled me with a stormy expression, his bloody eyes brewing with a thousand thoughts. I would give damn near anything to know what exactly he was thinking. “It would be a waste to just control your power. You are a weapon, a dangerous one with unlimited potential. In the hands of someone like Dagon Knight, you could be the end of our people. You need a mate and king who can properly wield you.”

Before I could ask Vincent to explain what in the world he was talking about, he grabbed me by the waist and hauled me over his shoulder.

“What the—Ow!Put me down!”

With me thrashing against him, he grabbed hold of me so that his hand gripped my upper thigh, keeping me firmly mounted over his shoulder. His shoulder blades dug into my cheek as he strode down the hallway, and it wasn’t a bad view back here, where I could see his ass and reach out to smack it. But knowing Vincent, he’d only take it as encouragement.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Someplace I can show you just how much you and I belong together.”

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