Page 127 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

“You?” I pushed out a cold laugh, interrupting him. “Let’s speed up with the Vincent for king campaign, shall we? What can you do for me that an army of vampires can’t? I’ll be queen, right? Don’t we have forces, other covens with warriors who will stand with us? Why do I need you?”

Shadows masked his features, but I could hear the smirk in his answer. “Because I have a secret hidden in my blood.”

Completely lost, my brows crinkled in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Come here, and maybe I’ll tell you.”

He lounged back and tilted his head just enough to the side, so moonlight washed over him, lighting up half his face. His dark brows arched as if daring me to obey him.

My feet began to move, carrying me to him before my brain had a chance to intervene. It’s like my instincts wanted to obey him, eager to please the powerful male. The monster inside me gave me new reasons to hate her every day.

I moved slowly in his direction, taking my time to approach The Feral King on my father’s throne. I should have felt ridiculous, or at least embarrassed, since all I wore was a sheet. But the spell between us hadn’t shattered yet. He was looking at me like he had in the car that night.

Like I already belonged to him.

When I was directly in front of him, he patted his thigh. “Sit.”

I wanted to defy him, mostly because I was quickly developing a mad love affair with getting under his skin. But if my time with Eros had taught me anything, I loved a dominant male who knew how to handle a woman. The question was, would Vincent continue to keep his walls down and handle me with that tenderness I also craved?

Too intrigued to turn back now, I bent at the waist and seated myself in his lap.

With a muscular body that could have been hewn from stone with a demeanor almost just as cold, snuggling up to him was like cuddling with a rock. But I was coming to learn that was just his armor. I was sure there was a soft interior because I’d seen glimpses of it. He was allowing me to see some of it now.

But I wanted more. Not only did I crave that oh-so-rare soft spot of Vincent’s, but I loved how honest and vulnerable I knew he could be when he let that part of him out for me to see.

“Vincent, what kind of secret do you have in your blood? What the heck are you talking about?”

He reached for me, pulling me tighter against him. My skin heated under his touch, filling me with a fire that quickly sunk into my core. Grasping my wrist, his fingers stroked over my skin as if the smooth flesh there was something special to be savored. Maybe it was. We didn’t have the sort of relationship where he could just touch me like this, as if we were already lovers with not so much as a drop of hatred between us.

It was a dangerous game of pretend.

Handling me with a sort of gentleness I didn’t even know he was capable of, he turned my hand so that the inside of my wrist faced up and lifted it to his nose.

Inhaling deeply, his chest swelled with my scent-laced air, like he couldn’t get enough inside him.

For one intense beat, I thought he was going to bite me, but he only pressed a kiss to the delicate skin. Then he slid the point of his nose up my arm and over my shoulder. I tensed when he paused, his mouth hovering over Eros’ mark. Was he going to bite me now? The thought had to be going through his mind.

If I had ended up having that heart condition where I could die if my pulse became too elevated, and I had somehow managed to survive up until this point, this moment would have been my last. My kidnapping, my botched getaway, being pressed up against the gas pump with Corry buried between my thighs, Eros’ workbench, claiming Sterling, none of it was as surprising as VincentkissingEros’ mark.

Before I could think of anything to say—because for a second there I forgot every word of the English language—he moved his lips to the hollow of my throat. His mouth hovered there, his breath feathering over my skin. He moved his hands to grip the delicate juncture between my neck and shoulders. And then he just…held me.

There were no words that could describe my level of shock. Was this even Vincent? How could it be with the caress of gentle hands and the graze of lips that rained a trail of sultry kisses, oozing nothing but heart-bleeding devotion?

Fuck me. He was good.

If this was another one of his seduction tactics, working me into impossible knots only to demand I make him king before untangling them, it was working.

He flicked his gaze up to lock with mine while keeping his lips to my throat. “Bleeding hell. You used to smell like heaven. Now you smell like paradise and damnation.”

I blinked, my cheeks burning up under his blood-red gaze. “Why?”

“Because I scentmyblood running through your veins, coursing through your entire body. Along with mine, I scent all of us, filling you up. While Sterling’s blood is the most potent, mine is the most powerful. Do you know why?”

All I could manage was a sloppy shake of my head. I was a trembling mess of nerves with my breath coming out in short little pants. Trying my best to keep my composure, it was a failing battle. Here I was, sitting on Thomas Knight’s throne in the lap of his most lethal creation, naked and very,veryturned on.

Vincent’s mouth curved into a wolfish grin. “Because of what I am.”

All the air in my lungs emptied, but by some miracle, I managed to find the air to voice a question that had been plaguing my mind from the moment I met him.

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