He’d released inside me before he delivered his end of the bargain. The bastard.

“Make good on your deal or—” Or what, I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t decided. Rip his throat out? Pull out his organs and make myself a crown from them since the Elders didn’t seem keen to give me one of my own? Luckily, I didn’t have to settle on a revenge method. He flipped me upside down, his arms banding around my waist with my navel to his chest and the tops of my thighs resting on his shoulders.

His sizzling lick lingered over my pussy, dipping his tongue inside me, purring at our entwined flavors. Penetrating me with his tongue, he gripped my hair and shoved his cock into my mouth.

He filled my throat with ease, and I sucked it down gratefully, knowing the impending bite that would come any freaking second now.

I could feel the anticipation in his mouth, like a tightly wound, spring-loaded mechanism that finally set loose.

Then he bit at the stretch of flesh between the triangle of my pubic hair and the juncture where my leg met my torso. The same place he’d pointed out in the throne room, what felt like an eternity ago.

His mark burned, hot and scorching, like a brand’s kiss. But the pain washed away with the explosion of pleasure from the lingering effects of my orgasm and the sensation of the scar setting in.

Weak and out of breath, we both slid to the mud in a heap. I could hear our hearts pumping in unison, both going a mile a minute. It was a strange feeling, considering everything below my beltline was just about numb from overexertion.

He repositioned us, so we were laying side by side in the mud, with his meaty arm thrown around my waist.

“When my seed takes root, you’re mine, little monster. I’ll do anything it takes to keep you safe from the vampire king.Anything.”

The caustic violence in his timbre made a shiver shoot down my spine.

He dropped his head to the mud behind mine and fell into a shallow sleep a moment later.

We laid there, side by side, for I didn’t know how long. Too long, judging by the way the sky started to lighten. The rain had let up. Birds chirped. A dim orange made the horizon glow bright. It was a cheery promise of a beautiful day to come.

It didn’t feel right. Not after this.

As I came down, I shifted back to my human self.

That’s when panic set in like a plague.

It was the crash after a high, the hangover after a wild night of drinking. I was recovering from a bender I couldn’t have ever pictured before this.

What had I done? The bloody birth control implant lay not too far away from Lexi.

Oh,God.

Oh fucking God, no. No, no,no.How could I have let this happen?

How did I let it get this far?

How?

Too weak to sit up, I turned my head and vomited. As if I didn’t feel pathetic enough, I started to cry. Not because it had been a horrible experience. Hell no. It had been good, too good.

I’d enjoyed our twisted fuck in the graveyard way too much. I’d wanted Vincent to do all those things to me, had begged him even.

That was the problem.

I’d indulged his darkest side, and I’d indulged mine. I wasn’t an expert on dark fae, but I believed Feral when he’d told me he could impregnate me on his first try.

Guilt wound through me like an icy snake around my heart.

I hadn’t discussed this with Sterling. This really should have been a group conversation. What would he say? Knowing him, he’d probably be understanding, but…somehow that just drove the dagger of guilt deeper into my chest.

I felt like a traitor. To Sterling, to Vincent and to myself, most of all.

My gentle sobs must have woken Vin. He stirred and looked at me with his obsidian eyes, feathers twitching as his body awakened. His bushy brows stopped low on his face when he registered my tears. I wasn’t sure if it was concern I caught in his expression or annoyance. Since this was still Vincent’s fae form, where his baser instincts dictated his every move, I’d put my money on the latter.