Page 123 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

I wasn’t sure if it was the way my eyelids drooped or how my jaw clenched with the remark I bit back, but Vincent rolled off me and tucked me into the covers. “Time for sleep, Princess. We have all day tomorrow to play.”

They tucked me into the center of the bed between them. I wanted to savor the three of us snuggled in bed together, but the moment my head hit the pillow, I was out, swept away in dreams filled with my brutish princes and all the seedy promises tomorrow held.

I woke at early dusk with Eros still asleep beside me, his face buried in my hair. But I found Vin wide awake, sitting with his back propped against his brother’s headboard.

The moment my eyes found his through the basement’s murk, my heart stilled, and my breath latched in my chest. I wondered if I’d ever get over his handsome features, the way his dark as sin hair fell in soft waves against his alabaster brow, how his strong jaw flexed when he realized I was awake.

“Are you watching me sleep?” I whispered. My eyes danced over the intricate network of inky veins covering his body, imagining for a moment what it would be like to trace them with my tongue.

The corner of his mouth quirked, catching my greedy gaze. “I couldn’t sleep. I’ve already read through your mother’s Helsing Guide.” He gestured to Eros’ side table where my mom’s book sat. Vin frowned, a brief glint of guilt carving his stony mien. “I probably should have asked before I touched it, but I didn’t want to wake you. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s alright.” My brows plucked together in confusion as I propped myself on one elbow. “How did it get down here though? Thought I left it in Sterling’s room.”

“You did. He brought it down for you this morning just before dawn. He said to give you this when you woke up.” Cupping my chin, he pulled my lips to his in a stolen kiss that was almost as soft and sweet as Sterling. It was nothing like Vincent’s kisses. I sighed against his mouth and collapsed into him. The kiss ran its course and ended on a pleasant note rather than with weaponized words or passionate looks that were filled with as much hatred as they were with love.

Hooking one of my arms around his neck, I lounged my head on his chest with my leg thrown over his hip. “Wow. If I closed my eyes that kiss could almost pass as one of Sterling’s.”

“Maybe I’ll kiss you like that more often.”

“I like the way you kiss me. Like we’re going to war. Course it would be nice if we could cut down on the wounds sustained from our battles.”

“I’m working on that.” His hand snaked around my waist to press between my shoulder blades as he pulled me back to his lips. This time the kiss was consuming and demanded the attention of all my senses. He licked and bit and groaned into my mouth, feasting on me like he’d already won our war, and I was just the prize to savor at the end.

“Fuck. You’re still in heat,” he moaned in that masculine timbre that had me trembling in his arms.

I leaned back to look at him and arched a brow. “Did you just expect it to go away?”

His lush green eyes blazed with red flakes, like embers hailing down from a forest fire. “I was hoping it wouldn’t. I like knowing that some part of you is so eager for my cum because that little monster of mine is desperate to be fucked and bred.”

“I’m still mad at you.”

His sinfully full lips pressed into a deliciously devilish smirk. “I know. I plan to spend all night making it up to you.”

“You’re off to a good start. You got along so well with Eros last night, I’m so proud of you.” I batted an eye at him in a teasing wink.

He snorted. “It’s easier now that we both understand that we’re not fucking around with you. We’re both in this for the long haul. As a half-blood princess about to claim the throne, we’re going to have plenty of enemies. We can’t go weakening our coven by being divided within it.”

“Not only can you kiss like Sterling, but for a second there, you almost sounded like him.”

“I take that as a shining compliment.”

I brandished a smile so warm and bright, I felt it spread through my entire body like sunlight. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“As clueless and thick-skulled as you can be, I know you love me. You’re making nice with Eros for me. You also gave up your pursuit of the throne for me, which means you trust me. You trust a Helsing to not only wear the crown but to not kill you. I still don’t know how you trust I won’t go ape-shit on you one day.”

Vin picked up my mom’s book and pointed to the section where she’d made notes on Sterling. “The same way she fell in love with Sterling and made the decision not to kill him. I’m not an expert on the human heart, but I know for Lockhearts especially, their will is stronger than any nefarious destiny given to them by the devil. Besides, if you were going to kill me, you’d have done it by now.”

My heart pulsed. “You think my mom was in love with Sterling?”

“Maybe not romantically. But she did love him on some level, I think. Can you blame her?” His mouth flattened into a melancholic grimace. “Sterling is easy to love.”

Laying in Eros’ bed, cuddled up in Vin’s embrace, a sense of peace washed over me that I’d never felt before. I laid my head back on his chest and nodded at the book. “Read me the section on dark fae.”

He paused long enough for me to think he was going to protest, then flipped to the page.

Vincent read to me in a hushed voice, his low-pitched baritone rasping the words, making the dry text captivating with his sexy voice.

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